“Heila.”

“Yes.”

“Is the Marquis really sleeping?”

Erina, who was flipping through documents, couldn’t help but ask in astonishment.

An overwhelming number of projects were being carried out simultaneously, too many to be managed by a single person.

Mana stone mining, road maintenance, preparation for trade caravans, preparations for imperial supplies, and more.

The speed was breathtaking, even if multiple families were to tackle these projects together.

“Well, I’m worried too, but don’t worry. Despite appearances, the Marquis has extraordinary stamina, as impressive as that useless Sir Eols.”

Although Peiron was a knight highly trusted by the Emperor, Sandes was also a knight of comparable skill.

With many talents surpassing his skills as a knight, he positioned himself closer to being the Emperor’s advisor rather than staying by the Emperor’s side as a knight.

Moreover, the Emperor’s trust in Sandes was incomparably strong, relying on him heavily.

Of course, there were hidden circumstances between them, but Erina knew that this fact would only be helpful, not problematic.

“Still, I hope he’s not overexerting himself. This is just the beginning, not the end.”

This was just the start.

Beginning with the mana stone mine, there was an enormous amount of work to be done.

Additionally, there would be many ongoing matters requiring constant attention and handling.

If he starts to tire at the beginning, this long marathon-like business venture and the revenge might both come to a halt midway.

“My, you’re worried about the Marquis? How lucky he is.”

“Pardon?”

“Hmm, well, even if the Marquis’s personality isn’t great, his face is quite…”

“Heila!”

Startled by Heila’s clearly teasing words, Erina cut her off in embarrassment.

“So Erina admits it too!”

Erina didn’t respond to her mischievous words and quickly averted her gaze.

“Oh well, Revil said he was looking for me. You should rest now.”

Heila let out an amused snort and quietly left the room.

The moonlight piercing through the dusky sky between the windows captivated with its subtle beauty.

Somehow, today felt unusually long.

Time passed faster than expected, and on the eve of the Founding Day, Peiron and Erina were engulfed in different emotions.

“Butler.”

“Yes.”

“Is this… true?”

On Peiron’s desk lay three stacks of documents of varying thickness.

These were the documents that would resolve the suspicions he had after settling the bill for the items his mother had purchased when Rose visited four days ago.

“Yes, Master.”

“Why wasn’t this reported?”

The butler, trying hard to swallow a sigh that threatened to escape, answered.

“I reported it for a month or two, but you told me not to bring it up anymore.”

Was it just telling him not to bring it up? He hadn’t even looked at the documents that were initially reported.

Peiron’s face hardened.

He moved his creaking arm to flip through the documents again.

The contents included the amount allocated to Erina as the Countess after marriage, a list of dresses and accessories his mother bought every month, and lastly, a list of items Erina had purchased.

Erina always spent the exact amount allocated to her.

It seemed as if she was protesting that the amount wasn’t enough, not leaving even a penny unspent.

That’s what Peiron had thought.

It felt like she was complaining, “Is this all you’re giving me?” so he always allocated the same amount, even on special days or joyous occasions.

He had even considered reducing that amount.

But when the truth was revealed, it turned out that after marriage, all she had bought were just a few dresses.

She hadn’t even bought proper accessories.

The only jewelry she frequently wore were the wedding gifts she received when they married.

Among the three stacks of documents, the thinnest one, with extremely little to report, was the list of Erina’s purchases.

So why hadn’t he known?

“I…”

‘Why didn’t I know?’

His mother, not content with the money she received from Peiron himself every month, even scraped away his daughter-in-law’s money to indulge in luxury.

Erina couldn’t say anything about it and gave up her own share.

‘Why didn’t she say anything to me?’

Shocked, Peiron crumpled Erina’s thin document as if he might tear it.

Did she really not say anything?

Once again, scenes flashed by where Erina repeatedly tried to approach him, saying it was a misunderstanding.

Every time, he turned his back on her and left.

At the time, he thought she was lying every time she opened her mouth, and he was irritated by the same words repeated over and over.

Erina’s words about misunderstandings were not lies.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t said anything to Peiron.

It was just that he had closed his ears and refused to listen.

Peiron felt suffocated by the truth that peeked through the veil covering his eyes.

Erina was not a woman who indulged in luxury like his mother.

Erina was not a woman desperately trying to cling to him and talk to him at any cost.

He had simply thought so and blinded himself.

“Damn it!”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Peiron abruptly stood up with the crumpled document and left his office.

“Master?”

Although the sky had already darkened and it was time to prepare for bed, Peiron, oblivious to this fact, went straight to find Erina.

His office and Erina’s bedroom were in completely opposite directions, requiring him to walk, almost run, for quite a while.

Contrary to the expectation that she would have finished preparing for bed and be in her room, the area around Erina’s bedroom was in an uproar.

The bedroom door, which should have been tightly closed at this late hour, was wide open, and loud noises were coming from inside the room.

As Peiron hurriedly approached to enter, his steps halted due to the voices of two people that shouldn’t be heard here at this time.

“How could you deliberately make such a big deal out of this!”

The excessively high and shrill voice belonged to Mirea.

“Mother, please calm down. I’m sure the Countess didn’t intend for this to happen.”

The tone seemed to be trying to calm things down, but it didn’t really sound like that was the intention. The person speaking was his beloved, Rose.

“Why are the two of them here at this hour…”

Feeling something was off, Peiron lowered his voice and stood by the door, out of sight, peering inside.

Erina’s face, as she sat on the bed listening to the two, looked extremely bored.

She seemed to be brushing off Mirea’s unpleasantly resonating voice as if it were familiar.

Peiron’s face, secretly observing from outside, twisted strangely at Erina’s unfamiliar expression.

“You could have just stamped the seal as usual, but you had to act like that? You’ve lost all sense of propriety since you started bringing that maid from outside!”

Erina had finished preparing for bed early because Heila said she had preparations to make for tomorrow’s Founding Day celebration and had to go out.

She had been about to go to bed in a very refreshing mood, knowing that everything would be settled tomorrow.

Somehow aware that Heila was absent, Mirea and Rose barged into the bedroom as if they had been waiting for this moment.

From what Heila had told her, Mirea had been refused approval for documents she brought to Erina, and Rose had gone directly to Peiron to get approval.

After that, she heard that Peiron had checked all of his mother’s past shopping lists.

It was too late to check now.

Erina decided not to care either way.

Since everything would be settled after the Founding Day celebration, worrying about it now would only give her a headache.

So Erina had ignored the three of them until the end, but it seemed her great mother-in-law couldn’t do the same.

Mirea, needing someone to vent her anger on after being scolded by Peiron, had come at an incredibly inconvenient time.

Emboldened by the absence of Heila, who would have openly joined in the scolding, Mirea took a step closer to Erina.

Erina, ignoring the unnecessary noise that continued, noticed silver threads swaying by the wide-open bedroom door.

The silver, shimmering even more brightly in the corridor lights, was the unique color associated with Peiron in this mansion.

So, right now, Peiron was hiding and watching this situation.

A small chuckle escaped Erina’s lips.

His current act of secretly observing was truly meaningless.

Tomorrow, she would no longer be staying here, so knowing the truth now was of no use.

“You, you’ve really grown bold. Don’t you see me as your mother-in-law anymore?”

Erina momentarily wanted to reply “Yes,” but seeing Peiron still peeking, she lowered her head to hide her smile.

“This is why your husband doesn’t pay attention to you. Well, I guess there’s nothing more to say about someone who doesn’t even get a glance from her own family.”

“What… did you say?”

“Why? Did I say something wrong? Tsk, this is why those without parents are…”

“Duchess Eols!”

Enraged by Mirea’s words mentioning her parents, Erina suddenly stood up and shouted.

“Oh my! You startled me! Staying with that strange maid has made you act just like her!”

As Erina glared at Mirea with blazing eyes, Rose pretended to restrain Mirea by pulling her arm without any real force.

“Mother.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? Don’t you know that children loved at home, like Rose, are loved by their husbands too? I heard Countess Medelia say that child was quite suspicious… Tsk, you should have listened carefully.”

Erina felt her vision go white with rage at Mirea’s words.

Erina was neither an orphan nor without parents.

Her parents had simply passed away early due to an accident when she was young.

When her parents were alive, she too had grown up receiving all the love as a precious person.

It was just that her parents had unfortunately passed away early due to an accident, and her uncle had taken over the Medelia family.

At that time, when she was grieving the loss of her parents, she really thought that was the best course of action.

It was simply because the situation left no other choice.

Erina’s pale hands, tightly gripping her nightgown to control her rising anger, trembled violently.

Peiron, only able to see Rose’s back, couldn’t see her face, but Erina could clearly see Rose’s expression.

“Mother, please don’t.”

The moist, fresh green eyes gleamed mischievously like a fairy who had found a new toy.

Although her words expressed concern, her expression clearly mocked Erina.

Seeing that smile, Erina felt the burning in her mind cool down abruptly.

“Lady Rose Asila, unlike me, grew up loved by her family and became the mistress of the Eols family.”

Rose’s innocent smile cracked and froze.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.