Knock knock.

The sound of knocking interrupted the flow of conversation.

Startled, Karina looked at the door, and a familiar voice was heard as if to reassure her.

“It’s me.”

It was Mikhail’s voice.

“Ah, come in.”

As Karina told him to enter, Mikhail stepped inside carrying a tray with teacups on it.

“The others are having dinner downstairs right now. We can buy some time for a while.”

Mikhail placed a cup of warm tea in front of both Karina and Selena.

And he confidently sat down next to Karina.

“…?”

Karina looked at Mikhail with a puzzled expression.

Mikhail smiled gently, his eyes curving.

“I am Karina’s one and only guard. It’s only right that I should know everything related to what Karina is trying to do.”

Mikhail gave Selena a look as if to say she could continue now that he was ready.

Selena calmly continued her story with an expression that suggested she didn’t mind Mikhail listening.

“Actually, I came from the capital. My husband was originally a physician who practiced surgery in the capital. He was so skilled that nobles would often come to him for treatment.”

Selena began to lay out her story about herself and her husband.

“My husband always wanted to create a new anesthetic. The anesthetics used for treatment at that time had the side effect of being too strong in narcotic components, causing hallucinations or severe addiction symptoms. Then some nobles came wanting to sponsor my husband’s anesthetic research, and a year later, the research that had been accelerated with their sponsorship bore fruit. That was Croana.”

Finally, in the continuing story, the content about Croana came up.

“When results came out, my husband joyfully announced it to those around him. Including the noble families who had invested.”

‘Ah… don’t tell me.’

Karina inwardly groaned as she listened to Selena’s story.

‘The physician who first discovered Croana and announced it to the world…’

She never dreamed it would be Selena’s husband.

Karina quietly continued to listen attentively to Selena’s story.

“But when the dangers and precautions of Croana also became known, the situation flowed in a completely different direction from my husband’s intentions.”

For a moment, Selena bit her lower lip as if suppressing something, then continued speaking with difficulty.

“It began to be used for the purpose of assassinating people.”

“……”

“My husband was distressed and said we should inform the world about this fact. He said that if people knew, there would be fewer unjust deaths.”

“……”

“While informing people about Croana as much as possible, he simultaneously devoted himself to creating an antidote for Croana poison.”

As the story continued, Karina wondered if she should continue listening quietly.

Because she felt she knew what was coming next without having to hear it.

“As we spent our days like that, one day we received threats. They said we would die if we kept talking about Croana.”

A complex emotion flashed across Selena’s face and quickly disappeared.

“But my husband didn’t stop. He felt guilty that people were dying from Croana poison because of him.”

“……”

“In the end, my husband was murdered. With Croana poison.”

Silence fell in the room.

Even as she spoke of her husband’s death, Selena’s expression remained calm.

Rather, Karina, who had heard the circumstances, looked more troubled, as if not knowing what to do.

“I tried to uncover who killed my husband. But at that time, there was nothing I could do alone.”

“……”

“There was evidence, but even so, I couldn’t win against the nobles. That’s how I became a fugitive and came to the North.”

Selena finished her story in a flat voice until the end.

And she lifted the teacup in front of her.

The cup could be seen trembling slightly.

Looking closely, Selena’s fingertips were shaking.

Selena, who drank the cold tea in the cup in one gulp without stopping, took a deep breath and put the cup back down.

Mikhail silently stood up from his seat.

He took Karina’s cold teacup and Selena’s quickly emptied one and refilled them with warm tea.

“……”

During this time, Karina couldn’t find the right words to say.

She couldn’t understand why Selena had told her this story.

‘What should I say first?’

Hearing the inside story of the incident made her even more flustered.

‘Should I comfort her? But would it be comforting if I gave words of comfort in this situation? Is this that kind of situation?’

A heavy silence settled in the room.

Mikhail, who had finished pouring the tea, returned to his seat and offered the teacup to Karina.

Karina took the teacup Mikhail held out.

As the warm heat seeped into her hands, the confusion seemed to settle a bit.

Karina took a sip of tea.

Watching Karina, Mikhail asked Selena directly.

“So. Is the reason for revealing these circumstances that you want to take revenge for your husband?”

“…!”

Karina almost spat out the tea she was holding in her mouth.

“Revenge is not the goal.”

It was a voice neither heavy nor light.

“However, I want to stop Croana from being misused like this. Croana is a substance that my dead husband found to help treat patients better.”

Mikhail calmly asked in response to Selena’s words.

“You want to stop the misuse of Croana? To do that, wouldn’t you have to expose to the world all the dirty deeds they committed using Croana to kill your husband?”

“…That’s right.”

“So in conclusion, it is revenge, isn’t it? And using Karina to do it.”

Mikhail’s expression turned fierce as he said the last words.

“……”

Selena did not deny it.

“The starting point of Croana distribution is ‘them’. I will let you know who ‘they’ are.”

“Ah, was that all? If we investigate the ‘them’ you’re talking about, we’ll naturally find out who’s behind the maid’s death too?”

Despite his calm tone, Mikhail’s face showed clear, cold mockery.

“Is this why you wanted to meet Karina in person? You wanted a deal, not a report.”

Selena’s eyes wavered greatly.

Mikhail cut it off in one stroke.

“Refuse, Karina. I don’t think we need to hear any more.”

It was the right thing to say.

‘Investigating the crimes committed by Revals and punishing him’ and ‘finding and exposing the mastermind behind Croana poison’ were worlds apart.

The noble family distributing and selling Croana was likely to be a powerful family holding strong authority in the capital.

And turning such a noble family into an enemy.

That was not simply making an enemy of one noble family.

The noble forces with power in the capital were complexly intertwined like a spider’s web.

It was a dangerous act that could turn all those intertwined noble families into enemies.

‘Who in their right mind would do such a thing? It’s nonsense.’

Karina recalled Selena’s past appearance and compared it to her current one.

She had been involved in the black market, taking on any request as long as money was paid.

‘This emotional side is unexpected. But that’s that and this is this.’

Karina recalled her past memories related to Croana.

Croana poison was used extensively underground during its heyday, then surfaced due to one incident.

It was when the Imperial Chancellor was assassinated with Croana poison.

At the time, the Chancellor was a supporter of the Crown Prince.

And among the nobles, everyone already knew about Croana poison openly.

The Crown Prince, upon learning that the Chancellor’s death was due to Croana poison, was enraged.

The Crown Prince declared war, saying he would root out everything related to Croana poison, and indiscriminately arrested and tortured those involved.

In the end, within three months, all those who had targeted the Chancellor were hunted down and executed.

‘I really thought he was crazy.’

Karina shuddered as she recalled that time.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince said he would eliminate the very possibility of forces emerging that would similarly abuse Croana, and released the antidote for Croana poison and its manufacturing method to the public.

After that, Croana could no longer be misused for crimes.

‘A poison with an easily obtainable antidote is meaningless.’

But there was a more important fact here.

‘That such a reckless act was forcefully pushed through by the Crown Prince. And that he could do such a thing without harm because he was the Crown Prince.’

The Crown Prince may have faced more checks from other hostile forces, but he was not killed.

In other words, to eliminate crimes caused by Croana, it took someone like the Crown Prince, the future Emperor, acting like a real madman and stirring things up to barely make it possible.

‘Me doing that alone? That’s nonsense.’

It would only hasten her own demise.

‘I want to live peacefully for a long time.’

Karina judged coldly, excluding sympathy.

“What will you do if I refuse?”

Karina asked, looking straight at Selena.

Selena made a gloomy expression.

“I’ll still tell you.”

Nevertheless, the answer came out immediately as if she had expected this.

“Huh…?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but in return, please take me along as a servant when you go to the capital for this year’s New Year’s Festival. That’s enough.”

“What are you planning to do in the capital?”

“……”

Selena avoided a direct answer to Karina’s question.

“I’ll take care of what comes after. I’ll make sure there’s as little harm as possible to you, Duchess.”

Karina furrowed one eyebrow.

In other words, those words meant that if she took her to the capital, she would definitely cause some trouble.

“No matter what I do, the Duchy and the Duke’s reputation will protect you, Duchess. They may threaten, but they won’t dare to touch you carelessly.”

“Hey!”

Mikhail frowned fiercely and slammed the table.

Selena continued speaking quickly without stopping.

“If they don’t want things about Croana to surface, they won’t be able to hold you responsible either, Duchess.”

Mikhail flashed his eyes, emanating a fierce aura.

“Anything that puts Karina in even the slightest danger is absolutely not allowed.”

Mikhail growled.

Karina raised her hand to calm Mikhail.

“Selena. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me just ask you this one thing.”

Karina looked at Selena with a stern expression.

“As long as you can expose what those bastards did, you don’t care what happens to yourself?”

“I don’t care.”

“They will try to kill you first.”

“I know.”

“……”

Karina was at a loss.

Selena’s resolve was firmer than she had thought.

Karina raised her hand to her forehead.

Now that Selena had become Karina’s informant, she was an essential figure for Karina to enjoy her leisurely life after divorce.

‘If something goes wrong with Selena, it will interfere with my comfortable life after divorce.’

Besides that, the opportunity to soon contact the black market and the ways to find out about the potion of wishes afterwards would all disappear.

Karina couldn’t allow that.

‘How hard did I work to build this information network? I can’t give up so easily.’