Erina crossed her arms and looked at him, saying:

“I sincerely wanted a divorce, which is why I deliberately spoke to His Majesty at the founding festival banquet. I can’t stand to see you clinging so pathetically when you can’t even abandon your mistress.”

“N-Now…”

Peiron stammered, shocked by Erina’s blunt words.

“So stop trying to hold onto me and go live forever with your beloved mistress in that wretched Iols mansion. Please don’t come looking for me again. Do you understand?”

Peiron was dazed, unable to collect his thoughts in the face of Erina’s sudden onslaught.

She had always been a woman who couldn’t properly say what she wanted to say, speaking indirectly and never uttering vulgar words.

He thought the few things she had said since he brought Rose must have surely been mistakes.

Until the end, Peiron floundered in delusion, thinking she was just surprised by the sudden arrival of Rose.

“I hope you come to your senses and realize exactly what went wrong. Well, that’ll probably be difficult as long as you’re alive.”

Peiron doubted whether the woman in front of him, arms crossed and spitting out biting words with a sneer, was really the woman he knew.

Erina clicked her tongue at Peiron’s pathetic dazed expression.

She felt foolish for having loved such an idiot even for a moment in the past.

As Erina turned to get into the carriage, Peiron finally uttered the worst possible words.

“That child… is the heir to the Iols family.”

Erina’s half-turned body came to an abrupt stop.

She had clearly anticipated that Peiron might try to cling to Revil as she left the mansion.

“You’re not thinking of taking the heir with you, are you?”

She had definitely expected him to do this.

“Either leave the child behind or cancel the divorce. Choose one.”

Erina was so irritated by Peiron’s utterly hopeless words that she sincerely wanted to slap him across the face with all her might right then and there.

Angered, Erina turned her half-turned body back to face Peiron.

The silver she once thought so beautiful now looked as dull as dirty dust, and the scarlet she thought as brilliant as jewels now seemed faded.

“You really are something else.”

Erina took another step closer to Peiron, close enough to touch his face if she reached out her hand.

Peiron’s expression brightened, thinking she might have changed her mind as she approached.

Looking up at him with a smile as pretty as if it had been painted on, Erina said:

“Do you know the name of that child you’ve taken in as your heir?”

“What?”

At the very least, Peiron should have known.

He, who had brought the child to that prison-like mansion, should not have been ignorant of Revil’s name.

“Do you know how old the child is?”

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

“It is important. Because it’s the child you’ve taken in as your heir, the child you need to take responsibility for.”

Even if Peiron had brought him out of a twisted selfishness and momentary impulse to not accept Erina, he was a child he intended to make his heir.

Not even knowing his name was unacceptable for both a head of household and a family head.

Erasing the smile from her face, Erina glared fiercely at Peiron and said:

“You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve to keep the child, nor to make any demands of me.”

Erina had agonized dozens of times internally, and continued to agonize even as she spoke.

She debated over and over whether to pretend to give in to her boiling anger and satisfyingly slap him across the face.

For a moment, the thought of swinging her arm once, using the excuse that she did it impulsively in a fit of anger, truly consumed her mind.

But Erina didn’t want to become the same as Mirea.

Erina suddenly shoved Peiron’s shoulder in front of her with all her might.

Though he didn’t fall from the unexpected push as he stared blankly at Erina, he staggered for a moment, as if she had put her whole body into the shove.

Peiron’s eyes widened in shock.

He couldn’t believe that the woman he had longed just to touch had rejected him and pushed him away.

“I’ll warn you one last time. Don’t speak to me as if you’re giving orders. You’re no longer in a position to treat me that way.”

Peiron felt with his whole body that every glance and gesture from Erina contained rejection towards him.

“No. Just don’t say anything to me at all. Even hearing your voice disgusts me.”

Erina turned her back on Peiron and headed for the carriage.

All this time, Peiron had thought she was just acting out to get his attention.

He had believed that all of Erina’s actions were, as always, her throwing a tantrum for him to acknowledge her.

But Erina’s heart had left, and she had abandoned her place by his side.

As Peiron watched Erina’s unfamiliar back, he realized that what he thought could never happen had become reality.

Erina had truly abandoned Peiron and Iols.

Faced with the truth, Peiron couldn’t hold onto Erina.

Sandes, who had been quietly watching the two, took Erina’s hand as she returned and boarded the carriage with her.

Sandes looked at Peiron, who was still standing there dazed, unable to recover from the shock.

The foolish Peiron had only now realized that Erina had truly cut all ties with him.

Only after everything had become so twisted.

“Let’s go.”

Sandes tapped on the carriage wall to signal the coachman to depart.

The carriage carrying Erina left the Iols mansion.

Silence fell in the carriage carrying the four people.

Erina was lost in thought, gazing out of the carriage, while Sandes quietly watched her.

Revil was anxiously watching Erina, worried that he might be causing her trouble.

Heila swallowed a sigh, concerned for both Revil, who was watching for reactions, and Erina, who was full of worries.

Suddenly, Erina turned her head to look at Revil sitting beside her.

Their eyes met as Revil was watching for her reaction.

Erina forced strength into the corners of her mouth that were about to crumble as she saw Revil shrinking back.

She raised her trembling hand to gently stroke Revil’s soft hair.

“Revil.”

Revil squeezed his eyes shut, unable to answer Erina’s call.

He was worried that perhaps she had changed her mind about wanting to take him along because of the trouble he had caused.

He was afraid that what would follow his name would be another farewell.

Erina’s heart ached for Revil, who was even holding his breath to hide his trembling body.

His tendency to blame himself for every situation despite being innocent was all too familiar.

It was just like her own childhood, desperately struggling not to be abandoned.

“It’s okay, everything’s okay now.”

Erina hugged Revil gently, comforting him.

Crumbling at her kind consolation, Revil uncurled his body and hugged Erina back.

The two stayed embraced for a long while.

Then, as if his tension had eased, Revil fell asleep in Erina’s warm embrace, lulled by the steady rhythm of the carriage.

Erina, who had been quietly patting Revil’s back, was startled when he suddenly relaxed and leaned on her.

“Heila…!”

“Shh.”

Just as Erina was about to call for Heila, worried that he might have lost consciousness, Heila calmed her with a quiet smile.

“He’s fallen asleep.”

“Ah, I see.”

Relieved by Heila’s words, Erina relaxed her body.

Revil had fallen into a deep sleep in that short time, leaning heavily on her.

Erina moved slowly, even holding her breath, to carefully shift Revil’s head onto her lap.

Thanks to the wide seat, Revil could lie down comfortably without being cramped.

Sandes, who had been quietly watching Erina care for the child, spoke up.

“Is there anything you need?”

Erina, who had been tending to Revil, looked up at his quiet words.

Sandes spoke softly with a calm expression, as if greeting her, trying not to burden her.

Erina bit her lip gently, appreciating his attitude that was meant to put her at ease.

Although he had become her patron through the mana stone mine and was protecting her, she wanted to handle Revil’s situation on her own.

Bringing Revil along had been somewhat impulsive and unplanned, so she didn’t want to rely on his help for this.

But for this child who had grown up suffering so much to never be hurt again, she desperately needed his assistance.

“Seeing how Count Iols tried to use Revil, he might accelerate the process of placing him as the heir.”

Heila and Sandes focused on her words as Erina spoke in a subdued voice.

“But until the divorce is finalized, they won’t be able to touch this child legally without my approval.”

That was true until the divorce.

But once the divorce was finalized tomorrow at the Imperial Palace, Peiron could make Revil the heir with just one request.

It could be done simply with a single document.

“Tomorrow, I will directly mention Revil’s existence to His Majesty and request permission to protect him.”

Erina had clearly told Mirea.

That she would formally protest to the Iols family on the grounds of abusing an innocent child.

“I plan to say that the Iols Madam was secretly abusing a child brought from an orphanage, so he cannot return to the Iols family.”

“Abuse?”

Heila, who had been listening to Erina’s words, started in shock and asked again.

“Is that true?”

Erina couldn’t bring herself to answer and carefully stroked Revil’s head.

She felt that if she answered, she would curse and swear at the monstrous Mirea.

Heila was appalled at Erina’s expression as she clenched her lips and couldn’t answer.

“Oh my goodness! That woman!”

Heila, who had been so polite in referring to her as “Madam Iols,” showed an intense reaction.

“But even so, those shameless people could easily take Revil and confine him within their walls.”

The reason was that Revil belonged to an orphanage within Count Iols’ territory.

Although orphanages are generally managed by the Imperial family, they officially belong to the territory they are in.

The orphanage director is appointed as one of the territory’s retainers, and all the children staying at the orphanage belong to the noble who owns the territory.

If they cleverly exploited this point and kept him anywhere in the Count’s territory, not necessarily in the Iols family residence, there would be no legal grounds to object.

“So I’m asking you.”

Erina looked at Sandes with trembling eyes and said:

“Please help me bring Revil safely and perfectly before those dull and stupid people are driven into a corner and think of that method.”

Erina knew it was shameless to ask him for such a favor.

But she wanted to ensure the child would never again feel pain or fear.

Sandes looked at Erina quietly for a moment, then smiled and carefully took her slightly trembling hand.

He gently kissed the back of her pale, thin hand and looked up at Erina to answer.

“Yes, as you wish.”