The communication crystal connected and the light turned on.

As soon as it connected, Mikhail immediately asked.

“Did you receive the mana stones well?”

Then, Max’s voice came from the other side of the communication crystal.

“Yes. The magic tower already had many places that needed them, so they were delighted, saying it was perfect timing.”

Mikhail had moved all the mana stones from the mine to the underground of the magic tower.

“That’s great. Tell them to use as much as they need.”

Mikhail grinned.

Max, who answered that he understood, brought up the main topic.

“I have some information I found out related to the dark magicians.”

Mikhail recalled how he had separately ordered an investigation into the dark magicians related to the escaped prisoners.

“What is it?”

“Some of them stopped by a mine located in the south today.”

“…A mine located in the south?”

The tone of Mikhail’s voice, which had been answering lightly, changed.

“Are you referring to the copper mine owned by the Lamberta family?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“……”

Mikhail’s expression hardened.

“Are you saying those dark magician bastards are related to that guy named Revals?”

“The distance was too far, so I couldn’t hear their conversation. But it definitely seems like there’s some connection. They may have already known that there were mana stones in this mine.”

“……”

Mikhail felt an extremely unpleasant feeling.

“Investigate in detail whether there are any links to that Revals fellow. Report immediately if there’s even the smallest connection.”

Mikhail ordered in a low voice.

“Understood.”

Even after the magic communication crystal disconnected, Mikhail’s expression did not soften.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Are you okay now?”

“……….”

“Have you calmed down a bit?”

“……….”

“Does it hurt anywhere?”

“……….”

At Jeremiah’s barrage of questions, Karina squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Because of that damn dream!’

She had cried her eyes out while being held by Jeremiah.

Karina herself couldn’t understand why she had done that.

‘I must be crazy. I must have gone mad.’

She was so embarrassed and ashamed that she had shown such disgraceful behavior in front of Jeremiah.

‘Why…why in front of Jeremiah of all people!’

The fact that she had done it in front of the person she disliked the most made her want to crawl into a mouse hole and hide.

Karina held her forehead with one hand.

‘Let’s get divorced quickly. Divorce is the only answer!’

Karina repeated her plan in order to calm her mind.

‘As soon as we attend the New Year’s ceremony in the capital, I’ll do it according to plan!’

Karina anxiously bit her lower lip.

Then Jeremiah, who had approached at some point, lifted Karina’s chin and lightly pressed her lower lip with his thumb.

“Don’t do that. You’ll get hurt.”

“…..!”

Karina’s face crumpled.

Karina brushed off Jeremiah’s hand and asked coldly.

“Why did you come to my room?”

“Just…because it’s almost lunchtime.”

After pausing for a moment, Jeremiah gave a trivial answer.

‘You didn’t even come in the morning!’

Karina’s expression didn’t soften.

“I also have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Revals Lamberta has been captured.”

“What?”

Karina’s contorted expression relaxed in bewilderment.

“He’s currently imprisoned in the underground dungeon.”

“Revals…is imprisoned in the underground dungeon?”

Karina had an expression of disbelief.

“The evil deeds committed by Revals Lamberta were incredibly numerous. Among them, there were countless acts that went too far.”

Karina was confused and didn’t understand.

‘I saw him stomping around arrogantly at the mine just this morning, but he was captured?’

She wondered if something else had exploded along with the mine collapsing and the kidnapped children escaping.

But for now, she couldn’t know.

“Is it true?”

“It’s true.”

Even to her question asking for reconfirmation, the answer was the same.

It was hard to believe, but if Revals was really caught and imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the Duke’s residence…

The first thought that came to mind was that it was fortunate.

Moreover, the underground dungeon, unlike a regular prison, was a place to lock up those whose crimes were particularly heinous.

“Did you also find evidence that he killed Genen Yeongsik and the maid?”

Jeremiah nodded.

“He was in possession of Croana poison. He even confessed that he did it himself.”

Karina was surprised at the word “confessed.”

But anyway, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief at the news that Revals was revealed to be the real culprit.

“It’s good that it was resolved before leaving for the capital. Now we just need to prepare to go to the capital.”

Karina spoke as if it was natural.

However, Jeremiah looked at Karina with a rather serious expression.

“Has that person ever directly harmed you?”

Jeremiah asked with a grave expression.

Karina observed his reaction.

‘What’s with him? It’s as if he knows something…’

But to truthfully tell everything about Revals, she would have to reveal everything from creating an informant to investigate them behind the scenes to secretly going out to visit the mine.

Karina shook her head.

“No.”

“…Are you sure?”

Now that Revals was caught and would pay for his crimes, she felt there was no need to mention those facts.

“I said no. If you’re done talking, please leave now.”

Using fatigue as an excuse, Karina quickly shooed Jeremiah out of the room.

[This is the timeline separator]

Having collected her emotions, Karina summoned Jen and Charlotte.

In any case, since Revals was caught and the incident was settled for now, she planned to tell them the result and wrap things up.

Once she went to the capital, there would be no reason to return to the North.

“The real culprit has been caught. Revals Lamberta. They say he confessed to everything.”

At Karina’s words, Charlotte and Jen were surprised.

Jen seemed shocked by the unexpected identity of the culprit and the fact that he had confessed.

On the other hand, Charlotte seemed more surprised, knowing that Revals had a deep relationship with Caroline.

Karina briefly summarized the necessary parts and told them the details.

“I’ve never heard of such a poison before.”

Charlotte couldn’t hide her surprised expression.

“My goodness…!”

Jen made a pained expression at the news that her friend had been deceived with lies until just before her death.

“Anyway, it’s fortunate that the matter has been resolved well.”

Agreeing with Karina’s words, Jen expressed her gratitude.

“It’s all thanks to the Duchess paying attention until the end. Thanks to that, my friend’s unjust death was uncovered. I’m truly grateful.”

Jen held the real letter from the dead maid that Karina had handed over, her eyes brimming with tears.

“What did I do? It was the Duke who caught him.”

Karina spoke indifferently.

“It may sound ridiculous for me to say this now, but I can’t tell you how fortunate it is that you, Lady Karina, came as the mistress of our ducal house.”

Charlotte suddenly brought up an unexpected remark.

“Huh?”

Karina was taken aback by her words.

“I’ve been watching Lady Caroline since she was young. It wasn’t just once or twice that I saw her secretly plotting bad deeds behind the scenes.”

Jen agreed with Charlotte’s words.

“That’s right. She was really despicable! And then, the way she pretended not to be like that in front of others and put on airs was truly spine-chilling.”

Jen frowned and shook her head, her expression turning from tearful to disgusted.

“But because the previous Duke and Duchess passed away too early in an accident, there was no one to properly control her.”

Charlotte made a bitter expression.

“His Grace was too young at the time, and he suddenly became the head of the ducal house, so he was too preoccupied with just handling that.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Karina responded very half-heartedly.

“At that time, there were talks among the servants that it would be better for Lady Caroline, who was at least a little older, to temporarily take the position of the head instead of His Grace, who was still young. But looking back now, I think it’s fortunate that His Grace took over.”

“Oh my, it’s truly a blessing that Lord Jeremiah inherited the ducal house.”

Jen scrunched up her face as if the thought of Caroline becoming the head of the ducal house was horrifying.

“Although His Grace may appear cold on the outside, he’s absolutely not a bad person.”

“……”

Karina didn’t respond to Charlotte’s words.

“He may not express his emotions much outwardly, but the way he takes the lead in dealing with magical beasts while risking danger, and so on…he’s working incredibly hard for the North.”

“Ah, I heard from the knights that His Grace treats those he considers his people extremely well.”

Jen added from the side.

However, even at those words, Karina’s expression remained unchanged.

She only thought that she would never be included in the scope of what Jeremiah considered “his people.”

If she had known in advance that it would be absolutely impossible to cross that line…

‘Then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with him in the first place.’

A faint sneer appeared on Karina’s lips and then disappeared.

It was a completely meaningless assumption at this point.

“Let’s stop talking about this. Now, I’d like you two to help me prepare to go to the capital.”

Karina changed the subject.

She no longer wanted to hear any more talk about Jeremiah.

“Yes, I understand. Please let me know what you need.”

Charlotte answered immediately.

“Um…Duchess.”

Then Jen hesitantly called out to Karina.

When Karina looked at Jen as if telling her to speak, Jen carefully said,

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to become your personal maid.”

“My personal maid?”

Karina was planning to leave soon anyway.

“Is there really a need for that?”

“Of course! Having a personal maid by your side is so convenient!”

Jen started to passionately explain how useful it was to have a maid attending to her.

Karina didn’t really pay attention to those words.

But it was true that when she went to the capital, she would need a few people to serve her.

She couldn’t bring in new maids or servants, and although she didn’t like it, she had to use the existing servants of the ducal house.

‘It should be fine if it’s just for attending the New Year’s ceremony.’

When Jen returned to the North, Karina thought there would be no problem if she told Charlotte to assign her well so she wouldn’t be mistreated.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Karina gave her permission.

Jen repeatedly bowed her head with a moved expression, expressing her gratitude.

“Then for now, please pack some luggage to take to the capital.”

“Yes, Duchess!”

Charlotte looked at Jen with envious eyes.

[This is the timeline separator]

“You said you’ll have the dresses made in the capital when attending the New Year’s ceremony, right?”

Jen asked.

“Yeah. I’ve already placed an order with the capital’s salon.”

After Caroline was put under house arrest and stripped of all authority, Karina regained all the rights, dowry, living expenses, etc. that she should have had.

‘I don’t know about other things, but the dowry and living expenses are money for me to use, so I should spend it freely.’

Even if she saved the dowry, it would be retrieved by the Marquis’ family after the divorce, and the living expenses would also return to the ducal family’s assets.

It was money that was too meticulously recorded in terms of usage, making it unsuitable to secretly siphon off.

‘Then I should spend it while I can. Who would I be saving it for?’