Knock knock.

There was a knocking sound.

“Your Highness.”

“Come in.”

Ron entered the office and bowed politely.

Jeremiah put down the official documents he was reading and looked up.

“The Duchess?”

“She is currently meeting and conversing with those who were held hostage in the northern part of the city.”

“How’s the security situation?”

“An entire building in the city has been cleared, and knights are guarding the exterior, the approaches, and the surrounding areas like an iron wall. No suspicious person can approach the Duchess.”

“What about inside the building?”

“The Duchess said it was uncomfortable and asked for all the knights to be withdrawn from inside.”

“As expected.”

Jeremiah’s expression remained unchanged, as if he had anticipated this.

“Don’t worry, as we’ve cleared the interior, only thoroughly vetted people are allowed inside.”

“I see. Have you looked into the poison?”

Jeremiah asked about the next item on the report.

“Yes, we found a poison with similar properties to what that maid mentioned.”

Ron handed Jeremiah a report containing the details of the investigation.

“It’s a poison called ‘Croana’. It’s said to have been circulating secretly in the capital for the past few years.”

“So it really was a poison distributed in the capital, as the Duchess said.”

“That’s correct.”

Jeremiah’s eyes sank deeply.

He became certain that Karina knew something he didn’t.

“From this time on, closely observe the Duchess and her surroundings.”

“May I ask what you mean by that…?”

Ron cautiously inquired.

“The Duchess is hiding something. We need to know what it is.”

“There have certainly been a number of strange occurrences around the Duchess lately, but…”

Ron trailed off before continuing.

“Are you suspecting the Duchess?”

“Huu.”

Instead of an answer, a deep sigh escaped from Jeremiah’s lips.

Jeremiah realized that even he wasn’t sure how he felt about Karina.

His feelings were complicated whenever he thought about her.

While Karina was bedridden, seeing her unconscious made him feel like he was going mad.

Seeing her sick made him anxious, and watching her sleep made his lips dry with agitation.

After she woke up, seeing her with the guard mage made him uncomfortable and angry, but when she was out of sight, he worried.

Seeing her angry face made him flustered, yet her direct gaze towards him gave him a strong sense of satisfaction.

Whenever he had a moment to breathe, Karina came to mind, and he wondered where she was and what she was doing.

Jeremiah was frustrated to the point of madness, not knowing why she was constantly on his mind and why he cared so much.

No. In fact, he vaguely guessed the reason.

“Huu.”

Jeremiah’s sigh deepened.

Jeremiah rubbed his face with his hand, giving himself a dry wash.

He wanted to know Karina’s thoughts.

He needed to know what Karina was seeing and acting on. What she was thinking and why she was doing things.

“We’ll find out when we investigate.”

Jeremiah muttered in a low voice.

“Seeing that you want to continue reinvestigating the maid’s death, it doesn’t seem like she’s in league with those who used the poison.”

Ron tactlessly spoke nonsense.

Jeremiah furrowed his brow sternly and gave him a sharp glare.

“I apologize.”

Ron bowed his head and continued his report, reciting information about Croana.

As Jeremiah listened to the report, he asked,

“Where is it distributed?”

“The Vestiane Count’s family.”

Vestiane was a noble family based in the capital, involved in the medical business.

They had a good image, running free medical centers for poor patients, investing in developing treatments for incurable diseases, and providing care for disabled patients.

That was on the surface.

“The Vestiane Count’s family.”

Displeasure was evident in Jeremiah’s voice.

“Have you found the distribution route through which the poison entered the north from the capital?”

“It appears to have come through the Hesna trading company owned by the Unio Viscount family.”

The Unio Viscount family was a vassal house of the Lambert Count family.

“So it was them after all.”

A cold aura began to emanate from Jeremiah.

He was already aware that the Lambert family was desperately trying to establish connections with the nobles in the capital.

“I doubt the Unio Viscount family acted alone.”

Ron nodded in agreement with Jeremiah’s words and added,

“We will investigate all the related families as well.”

“Keep a closer eye on my sister and the Lambert family. If you find out anything additional, report it to me immediately.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

[This is the timeline separator]

The atmosphere in the room with Karina, Mikhail, and Selena was heavy.

Karina began to persuade Selena by pointing out the clear reality.

“I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but even if you expose their evil deeds to the world and they get punished, can you be sure that another group won’t emerge to misuse Croana?”

“……”

“If that happens, you’ll die for nothing. Dying like that would just be for your own satisfaction.”

“I don’t care. Now that I’ve seen with my own eyes that Croana is still being used to kill people, I can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

Selena was resolute.

That made it even more frustrating.

“I don’t care if people call it a foolish act.”

It seemed that no matter what was said, Selena’s determination wouldn’t change.

“Haa.”

Karina let out a long sigh that rose from deep within her.

“I can’t help it.”

“Lady Karina?”

Mikhail’s eyebrows furrowed sharply.

“This isn’t a matter to be accepted out of sympathy.”

Mikhail spoke coldly, almost harshly.

“If we’re not careful, Lady Karina’s safety could be at risk! There’s no need to get involved in unrelated matters and take risks!”

Karina stopped Mikhail’s words with a look that said to let it go.

“Selena, I……”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

“I won’t grant your request.”

“……!”

Selena’s expression twisted, and a gasping sound escaped her lips.

Karina spoke again in a composed voice.

“Selena. You said clearly at first that revenge wasn’t your goal, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I promise.”

Karina spoke in a strong voice.

“I will create an antidote for Croana and distribute it widely in the market so that anyone can easily obtain it, and I will also release the manufacturing method of the antidote to everyone.”

‘Not me, but the Crown Prince.’

She kept the last part to herself.

“Then, the misuse of Croana will gradually disappear. Right?”

“……Pardon?”

Selena, hearing Karina’s words, looked dumbfounded, as if she hadn’t thought that far.

“Release the antidote manufacturing method to everyone…?”

After a moment of silence, Selena covered her mouth with both hands and trembled.

“I was foolish…… Your Grace, you were looking much further ahead than I was.”

Selena said in a moved voice.

‘No. It was the Crown Prince who did that.’

As Karina was thinking this, Selena got down from her chair and knelt in front of Karina.

“Selena?”

A surprised Karina tried to raise Selena.

But Selena didn’t move and spoke in a firm voice.

“Thank you, Your Grace!”

“I’m not saying I’ll do it right away.”

Karina said in confusion.

“It will take time.”

Because it would be a few years before the Crown Prince would root out the Croana faction.

“It might take a few years. Can you wait that long?”

“Of course!”

Selena looked at Karina with a determined expression.

“Your Grace. Thank you so much.”

“Hold onto that gratitude for now.”

‘Because I’m not the one who should receive it.’

Karina sighed and said this only in her mind.

Mikhail silently watched all of this from the side.

“By the way.”

As soon as Selena sat back down, Karina quickly changed the subject.

“Have there been any strange movements or suspicious signs from the Lambert family recently?”

Karina asked Selena.

She was curious if Revals had made any reckless moves while she was unconscious and bedridden due to the big incident of being taken hostage.

She had asked Selena to keep an eye out beforehand, so she was checking.

Selena, who had quickly composed herself, calmly began to speak.

“There haven’t been any notably big movements, but there is one suspicious sign that’s been bothering me.”

“What’s that?”

“Recently, the way they give food to children on the streets has changed. Instead of handing out bread on the streets, they now take the children directly to a mansion on the outskirts owned by the Lambert family.”

Karina frowned.

“Surely not human trafficking or slave trade?”

Selena shook her head.

“At first, I suspected that too, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. They send the children back in the evening. I tried to investigate what they do inside, but the security at the mansion is too tight.”

“Can’t we just ask the children who’ve been to the mansion directly?”

Mikhail asked.

“I’ve already done that. But contrary to expectations, all the children answered that they spent time warmly inside the mansion, playing, eating, and sleeping to their heart’s content. Every single one of them gave only positive answers.”

“Is there a possibility that the children were threatened to give only good answers?”

“It didn’t seem that way.”

“……”

The three of them were perplexed by this inexplicable situation.

It would be difficult to make so many children all tell the same lie.

‘Then it must be true.’

It was concerning what they were planning.

“For now, it seems we need to keep watching.”

As Selena said, all they could do for now was wait and see.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Be careful not to get lost. Don’t follow strange people. Understand?”

Aiden repeatedly cautioned.

“I got it. How many times are you going to say it?”

Dino responded with a sullen expression.

Philip nodded, watching the situation.

“Then I’ll be going.”

Dino and Philip set out on their errand today as well.

Dino had been in a bad mood since yesterday.

‘I should have just eaten as much as I wanted yesterday instead of holding back.’

Such thoughts crossed his mind due to his frustration.

He felt it was so unfair that he had held back his desire to eat and brought it back, only to be scolded by Aiden.

“Brother doesn’t understand my feelings. It’s too much!”

Dino grumbled.

On the way back after finishing their errand.

They were passing through the same street as yesterday.

As the woman had said they would do it again tomorrow, today too, they were distributing food to children on the street.

Seeing this reminded him of Aiden getting angry yesterday and telling him not to bring it back again.

‘Hmph! I’m not going to follow strange people or anything like that!’

Dino muttered.

But as the delicious things appeared before his eyes again, he was tempted.

Seeing other children eating bread and snacks made it even harder to resist.

The memory of receiving but not being able to eat yesterday urged him on.

Dino swallowed his saliva and asked Philip,

“Should we eat some snacks without Aiden knowing?”

“Uh… But Aiden will get angry…”

Philip hesitated.

“It’s fine if we don’t get caught. If we eat it all before going back, he won’t find out.”

Dino quietly tried to persuade Philip.

“Still…”

“Don’t you want to eat those cookies we had yesterday again?”

“Uh…”

As the taste of the cookies they had shared on the way back yesterday came to mind, Philip spoke honestly.

“No… I want to eat them.”

“Right?”

Dino’s voice brightened.

“This time it’s really a secret. Okay?”

“Mmm…”

Philip mumbled.

Dino took Philip’s hand and approached the stand.