Peiron stopped tapping his finger on the desk and glanced at the scattered documents in front of him.

As a trusted knight of His Majesty the Emperor, he naturally often spent nights at the imperial palace.

So it was only this morning when he returned to the mansion that he learned of the events that had occurred.

The documents before him detailed what had happened from yesterday morning until he arrived at the mansion today.

The time Rose and his mother spent in the flower garden, the actions of the child brought as heir, Erina taking the child out.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy written after that.

Just that Rose had toured the mansion and that his mother had called a designer as she did every year before the Founding Day festival.

The only unusual thing was that the coachman had not returned and came back early this morning.

When summoned and questioned, the coachman prostrated himself on the floor and said the Countess told him there was no need to return, so he went to take care of some business.

He added that since there were no more carriage rides scheduled yesterday, he spoke to the butler and took leave without returning.

Peiron called the butler and asked, who said he had given the coachman leave but had not received any report of the Countess using the carriage for an outing.

Furious, Peiron summoned the head maid and demanded answers. She said she had seen the Countess go out but assumed the butler already knew and didn’t report it.

In short, it was a complete mess.

Even though Peiron had only received one day’s report, he could only describe it as an utter disaster.

The head maid, who should have naturally known the Countess’s daily schedule, had focused on his mother and Rose and paid no attention to Erina.

The butler, who should have known everything, claimed he didn’t even know about it.

“Sigh…”

Though the small matters of the household were said to be the Countess’s domain, ultimately all matters should have been reported to him.

But far too much was being omitted in the reporting process.

There were so many holes in the system that he didn’t know where to start fixing it or who to be angry at.

“How did it come to this?”

‘Knock knock-‘

“Come in.”

His head in a muddle, he answered without asking who it was. The person who had knocked carefully opened the door and entered.

“Are you busy?”

At the sweet voice like candy, Peiron quickly raised his head.

It was Rose Asila, his beloved whom he would give anything for.

“Rose.”

His deeply furrowed brow smoothed out, and his tightly set lips curled up.

Just looking at her filled his chest with happiness to the point of aching.

His lovely sweetheart beamed a big smile at him and ran into his arms.

“Ron!”

Peiron found the small figure throwing herself into his embrace maddeningly lovable.

Holding Rose in his arms, he buried his nose in her hair that smelled as sweet as she was.

“It’s hard, isn’t it? I’m sorry.”

His chest ached at her words tinged with the slightest tremor.

Peiron regretted meeting her only now.

“Don’t say that. I’m happy because you’re here.”

“Me too, me too, Ron.”

The two who had been embracing for a while stepped back at the sound of a knock.

‘Knock knock-‘

“Master.”

It was the butler’s voice.

“Come in.”

The butler paused briefly upon seeing Rose standing next to Peiron, then quickly approached Peiron as if nothing had happened.

“I heard you called for me.”

“Ah yes, wait a moment. Rose, did you come here for a reason?”

“Oh, Ron, here.”

When Peiron called to her, Rose handed him the documents she was holding.

“What’s this?”

“Mother said to make sure to get your approval.”

As soon as he saw the first page, Peiron’s face scrunched up deeply.

The list of expenditures that caught his eye immediately brought back the headache that had subsided.

“This, to you?”

“Yes. She ordered these with me for the Founding Day preparations, but would you believe the Countess refused to pay for them?”

“What?”

“She said she always paid before, but I guess she didn’t like that I ordered with her this time.”

“Why should Erina have to do this?”

“Pardon?”

After their conversation went in different directions, Peiron and Rose understood the meaning behind each other’s words and their expressions hardened.

Rose thought that even though she hated and disliked Erina, since she was still the Countess, she would handle all these purchases.

So she had added her own items to Mirea’s shopping.

She had been quite looking forward to seeing Erina’s reaction as she paid for Rose’s underwear and cosmetics.

But Peiron’s response was somehow strange.

Meanwhile, Peiron was shocked by Rose’s words.

Knowing that his mother had a penchant for excessive luxury unsuited to her wealth, Peiron had handled all payments made in the family name before Erina’s arrival.

Even after marriage, Peiron had not given Erina authority.

He felt that if he gave it to Erina, the Iolce estate would become even more of a mess.

Instead of giving Erina some of the mistress’s authority, Peiron did not restrict how she used the funds allocated to the Countess.

He only received reports on what she spent it on.

But Rose said Erina had always paid for Mirea’s shopping.

“Always?”

Peiron sensed something was off.

He realized there was clearly something he didn’t know.

“Butler.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Bring me last year’s list of Erina’s payments and the records of items my mother purchased right away.”

The butler looked at Peiron silently for a moment, then closed his eyes tightly as he answered.

“Yes, understood.”

Somehow, Peiron felt he could guess the words the butler wanted to say without asking.

‘Only now?’

Everything he thought he knew slowly began to crack, one by one.

The image of Erina persistently requesting to talk early in their marriage, saying it was a misunderstanding, flashed through Peiron’s mind.

As Erina’s desperate image became clearer like an afterimage, Peiron’s expression turned fierce.

Seeing Peiron’s fiercely contorted face, Rose sensed something had gone terribly wrong and pressed her lips together.

Peiron carefully examined the items his mother and Rose had purchased, then firmly pressed his seal on the last page.

“Rose, this is a gift to commemorate your big decision to come to this mansion.”

“Ron.”

“Now that you’ll be staying here, make sure you know this. Everything my mother shops for…”

Peiron paused as he handed the documents to Rose, then continued.

“Must go through me.”

Rose’s hands turned white as she gripped the documents tightly.

“I approve all purchases made in the family name, down to the smallest items.”

Rose quickly lowered her head, afraid her eyes full of annoyance at the unsatisfactory situation would be seen.

“I-I’ll do that, Ron.”

It seemed the foolish or stupid Countess had silently agreed to all of Mirea’s forceful requests for excessive luxury until now.

Rose inwardly cursed the stupid Erina as she suppressed her irritation.

Peiron remained silent, lost in his own thoughts.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

“I’m glad, Erina.”

Erina smiled at the doctor who had carefully examined her for a long time.

“Thank you.”

“I’m just doing my job that I’m paid for.”

Erina was truly grateful to the polite and kind doctor who was different from the ones she had seen before.

The Medelia family doctor was too busy flattering her uncle’s family to even think of examining her carefully.

When she went to see him on sick days, he would just toss her some medicine and disappear.

The funny thing was that the medicine he always threw at her never matched her symptoms.

The Iolce family doctor treated her not as the Countess, but as an unwelcome guest.

Whenever she finally went to see him after enduring for so long, he always said the same thing.

‘You’re faking it.’

One day she went to see him when she was really too sick, but couldn’t even get any medicine and was ill for 3 days straight.

Strangely, on such occasions, Peiron would look at her as if she were a malingerer seeking attention.

Wherever she was, Erina was someone who wasn’t allowed to show she was in pain even when she was.

That’s why Heila’s concern and the doctor’s thoroughness felt unfamiliar yet pleasant.

“You need to take care of your health from now on. Your body has become too weak. I’ll give you some tonics, so make sure to take them.”

“I will.”

The doctor handed her a bunch of medicines and quietly left.

“The Marquis sent him, right?”

“Yes, he’s the Marquis’ personal physician.”

“Please tell him thank you.”

Heila smiled as she organized the medicines.

After quickly finishing the organization, Heila handed Erina a stack of documents.

“These are about the progress of the mine.”

“Already this much?”

“There are only 5 days left now.”

Heila was right.

The time left for Erina to stay in the Iolce family, and the time left until she could escape this hellish place, was only 5 days.

“It seems the Marquis quickly gathered skilled miners. They say mining has already begun.”

As Erina listened to Heila and turned the pages one by one, she could only marvel.

Even she, who had planned this, couldn’t have imagined such speed.

She was amazed at Sandes’ skillful handling, moving accurately and quickly as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“They say construction has also begun on the road connecting the mana stone mine to Kerenik County. I wonder if the Marquis even sleeps.”

Unlike Erina who had only thought about the mana stone mine, Sandes had swiftly prepared for all the tasks that needed to be started because of the mine.

The village with the mana stone mine belonged to Iolce County, but it was on the outskirts at the very edge.

Most people didn’t even know it was part of Iolce County.

At the same time, it was also near the outskirts of Kerenik County.

Sandes put a lot of effort into building roads to facilitate trading the mana stones mined there.

Since places where mana stone mines were established had always achieved great development, Sandes greedily started everything he could secure simultaneously.