While Karina and Jeremiah were facing off with sharp words, Mikhail, who was actually imprisoned, was lying on the bed humming a tune.

Seeing this, the guard clicked his tongue.

“In all my years, I’ve never seen a prisoner so carefree.”

“That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Haven’t done anything wrong? I heard this latest jailbreak was your doing. If that’s not wrong, what is?”

“If I’ve done anything wrong, it’s accidentally protecting an important person.”

“All the prisoners here say that at first. That it’s a misunderstanding, that they’ve been wronged.”

“Just wait and see. Everyone will know by tomorrow.”

“Hmph. We’ll see if that’s really the case. Here, eat your food.”

“I’ll eat well.”

Mikhail happily accepted the tray the guard handed him.

The guard clicked his tongue again and left the prison.

A while after he disappeared.

A crow flew into Mikhail’s cell.

Seemingly unafraid of humans, the crow immediately perched on the bed, tilted its head curiously at Mikhail, and opened its sharp beak.

“Your luck has improved.”

Surprisingly, what flowed from the crow’s mouth was not an unpleasant caw, but a human voice.

It would be natural to be surprised. But Mikhail remained calm.

“You think so? Well observed.”

Having finished his meal, Mikhail flopped down on the bed.

Though it was a hard wooden bed, he looked as comfortable as if he were lying on a cloud.

“Ah, comfortable.”

“Is that something someone imprisoned should be saying?”

“I think I heard something similar earlier.”

“Why did you needlessly step in and get misunderstood?”

“If you’re going to nag, stop. More importantly, how did it go?”

At his question, the crow’s posture straightened.

“Regarding the magician who helped the escaped prisoners cause an explosion in the city, we have already secured the suspect.”

Mikhail’s eyes narrowed.

“What kind of guy is he?”

“He’s someone who fled after only doing basic training at the magic tower years ago.”

“Such an incompetent guy caused that big of an explosion?”

“We confirmed evidence that he also used illegal drugs.”

“No wonder it seemed so crude.”

“It seems he got involved this time because he was short on money… How should we handle it?”

The crow’s voice lowered.

“Shall we follow magical law?”

“No. Handle it moderately and throw him in front of the grand duke’s main gate.”

“You’re handing over the magical world’s problem to the grand duke’s family? May I ask why?”

“I have my reasons. Don’t ask questions and do as I say.”

“…Understood.”

The crow bowed its head and flew out through the bars.

After confirming the crow had flown away, Mikhail supported his head with interlocked fingers.

Suddenly, he recalled what happened earlier in the day.

The image of Karina nestling into his arms…

‘It definitely felt familiar and recognizable somehow.’

He couldn’t understand why he had such a feeling about a woman he was seeing for the first time.

‘Well, I’ll find out soon enough.’

Feeling like something interesting was about to happen, Mikhail started humming again.

At that moment.

Creak…

With a creaking sound, the firmly closed bars opened.

Mikhail turned his head reflexively and his eyes widened.

“…You.”

Karina.

Standing in front of the wide open bars, she gestured outside and said.

“Come out.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“How did you get here?”

Mikhail asked, sitting up abruptly.

“Can’t you tell by looking? I came to get you out.”

“…Has my charge been cleared?”

Mikhail asked with a puzzled expression.

“The interrogation hasn’t even started yet, so there’s no way your charge has been cleared.”

“Then why are you getting me out?”

“Because I don’t want to see an innocent person suffer after being falsely accused.”

“How can you be sure I’m not the culprit?”

Karina looked at him and retorted.

“Are you the culprit?”

“No.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“But…”

“We don’t have time to dawdle. Unless you enjoy torture, hurry and get out.”

Karina said, hiding her impatience.

She had slipped in during the guards’ shift change, so there wasn’t much time. She didn’t know when the guards would return.

“If you get me out, what about you? Won’t your position become difficult?”

It was a valid point, but Karina didn’t care at all.

“I’ll be bothered for a while, I guess. But I’m the grand duchess after all. It’ll end with just a warning.”

‘If this leads to talk of divorce, that would be even better.’

For Karina, it was just that level of an issue.

But this man’s situation was different.

If he remained falsely accused and the real culprit wasn’t caught, he would inevitably be branded the criminal.

He might even be tortured…

‘And if he’s unlucky, he might really die.’

She couldn’t just let the person who saved her suffer such a fate.

“You don’t need to worry about me. So for now, just focus on getting out of here safely.”

“…”

“When you go back, don’t go out for a while. Unless you want to get caught again.”

Karina added, just in case.

But Mikhail wasn’t thinking about escaping and just stared at her intently.

“Hurry up. And don’t forget what I said.”

“I won’t leave.”

“You’ve thought it through well. Stay holed up at home and don’t come out at all.”

“No. I mean I won’t leave here.”

“…What did you say?”

‘What is this person saying now?’

“We don’t have time to joke around. We need to go quickly.”

“I’m not going. I’ll stay here until the real culprit is caught.”

“Are you crazy?”

A sharp voice burst out from Karina.

But Mikhail remained leisurely.

“I have nowhere to go anyway. Even if I left, I’d just wander the hills and get caught again.”

“What do you mean you have nowhere to go?”

“Didn’t I tell you I’m a wandering magician?”

Mikhail shrugged.

“At least here there’s a roof, something to cover myself with. And after some time, food comes out too. It seems much better than the street.”

“Ha. You call that an excuse.”

Karina let out an exasperated sigh.

“Do you think they’ll leave you alone once the interrogation starts tomorrow? Even though we don’t know when the real culprit will be caught, you still want to stay here?”

“Yes.”

Karina’s voice lowered.

“You could really die. Does this situation seem like a joke to you?”

“I don’t think it’s a joke. But I haven’t done anything wrong, and I don’t want to escape like those criminals I saw earlier today.”

Karina felt frustrated.

“You really won’t leave?”

Mikhail shook his head firmly.

“No.”

“Fine, suit yourself. I’m done too.”

Karina had no choice but to close the door and leave.

She didn’t know when the guard would return. She couldn’t stay here any longer.

“Don’t blame me later. I clearly gave you a chance to escape. You’re the one who refused.”

Karina warned as she turned around.

As she left the prison, Mikhail’s voice followed her back.

“If I’m proven innocent, will you come see me again?”

Karina ignored his words, pretending not to hear.

[This is the timeline separator]

When she woke up in the morning, her stomach churned.

Her body felt as heavy as a water-soaked sponge, and she had nausea accompanied by a splitting headache.

‘Ah, why am I like this? Was I ever this sick before?’

She tried to recall carefully, but she couldn’t remember being particularly ill during this period.

Karina lay face down on the bed, waiting for her stomach to settle a bit.

‘Is it because of yesterday’s explosion?’

But thanks to Mikhail’s protection, she wasn’t directly affected by the explosion.

‘Maybe it’s just because I have a lot on my mind.’

Thinking a drink of water might help, she reached for the water bottle on the bedside table.

Her hands were so weak that even lifting the water bottle was a struggle.

She spilled more than half the water just trying to pour it into a cup.

But her head hurt too much to care.

Fighting dizziness, she barely managed to pour the water.

She lifted the cup and somehow gulped down the water, but it didn’t improve her condition.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly overcome by nausea, Karina rushed out of bed.

Only after dry heaving in the bathroom did her stomach settle a bit.

“Whew.”

Washing her face with cold water also eased her headache somewhat.

‘Sigh, I can’t be sick. If I’m sick, I’m the only one who suffers.’

Karina thought hazily as she crouched down.

She had a sort of compulsion that she couldn’t be sick.

In the past, before she became a villainess, Karina couldn’t get proper treatment even when she was sick.

That was because Caroline had already gotten to the grand duke family’s doctor.

Naturally, the doctor, afraid of falling out of Caroline’s favor, was reluctant to treat Karina.

And Jeremiah, whom Karina most wanted by her side…

‘Jeremiah. Can’t you stay by my side just for tonight? Even if it’s just until I fall asleep.’

‘I’m busy, I don’t have time for that.’

He was never by her side, always citing work as the reason.

At those times, even as she lay in bed groaning with her sick body, she would cry.

Not tears from the physical pain, but tears of loneliness.

The fact that there was no one to worry about her or stay by her side was so lonely and desolate.

‘It’s still the same now.’

Karina pulled herself together.

‘How long do I have to stay in this damned grand duke’s house?’

She suddenly wondered.

All the memories Karina had left of the grand duke’s house were bad ones.

The past Karina was terribly lonely and isolated.

That’s why she became more obsessed with Jeremiah, clung to him, and begged for love.

‘It was all futile.’

Karina clicked her tongue inwardly.

She didn’t know why she had returned to three years ago.

The important thing was that she had no intention of repeating the same unhappy past.

‘Is divorce the only way out?’

But she couldn’t just demand a divorce right away without any preparation.

To properly end this marriage relationship and divorce as Karina wanted, the emperor’s approval was needed.

But this marriage was semi-forcibly arranged by direct order of that very emperor.

There was no chance of getting a divorce for trivial reasons.

Even in the past, when Jeremiah first expressed his intention to divorce, the emperor firmly opposed it.

‘In the past, I went crazy enough to be socially buried in high society, and ended up getting divorced.’

It meant there had to be a major flaw or critical reason to that extent.

Otherwise, the imperial family would have prevented her and Jeremiah from divorcing, never allowing it willingly.

So Karina had to find a justification to receive approval for divorce.

And there was one more reason why she couldn’t divorce right away.

It was because of the Millainer viscounty, Karina’s family.

Originally, Karina didn’t receive good treatment there either.

To Viscount Millainer, Karina was just a trading tool to be used for the family.

She felt that to her bones before her regression.

In the past, right after being forcibly divorced by Jeremiah for being a villainess.

When Karina returned to the viscount’s house, she suffered hardships while being cursed at by the viscount with all sorts of harsh words.

‘You stupid girl! After I went to the trouble of marrying you off to the grand duke’s family! You got divorced and kicked out for causing trouble?’

The viscount slapped Karina’s cheeks several times, raging furiously.

‘How dare you disgrace our family like this! Do you know how awkward my position has become because of you!’

Karina had to spend all night in front of the viscount’s house door, begging forgiveness with swollen cheeks and split lips from being hit so much.

‘Father. I was wrong. Please forgive me.’

To others she might be a vicious villainess, but in front of her father who had been an object of fear since childhood, she was no different from a trembling child.

Karina frowned at the memory that surfaced.

Now, it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t return to the viscount’s house after the divorce.

But she wasn’t interested in being thrown out on the streets penniless and empty-handed.

‘I need power. I should prepare countermeasures in advance for after the divorce.’

Anything would do.

Whether that power was money, authority, or people, Karina needed something of her own.

Among those, the easiest and most reliable was money.

Karina calculated how much money and property she had in her possession.

As the grand duchess from a viscount’s family, Karina had more than enough money and property, never lacking.

On the surface, that is.

But in reality, Caroline, the grand duke’s daughter, had taken away all the management rights that the grand duchess should have had, attaching various reasons.

Those management rights included many things, including the authority to manage various living expense funds allocated to the grand duchess.

‘I don’t need anything else, but I must reclaim the authority to manage funds at least.’

And there was another reason besides this one.

The Millainer viscounty and the Colsberg grand duchy.

Having decided to break free from the influence of both families, there was no point in using their property or money.

To completely escape their sphere of influence and become truly free, she needed a different independent source of funds.

‘I need a source of funds that can’t be traced, that I can use freely as I wish.’

The determined Karina got up from her seat.

At that moment, she sensed an unfamiliar presence in front of the door.

‘…What is it?’

Karina slowly approached the door and opened it.