It had already been a week since Erina entered the Medelia mansion.

After first entering the mansion, she was so busy that it was hard to come to her senses.

Because all the servants were fired, she quickly hired the minimum number of people to organize, and completely renovated the parts touched by their hands.

Of course, Heila and Terek moved the busiest, but all the decisions had to be made by Erina.

Just when she thought she could catch her breath, a messenger came from the Imperial Palace.

Erina hurried to the Imperial Palace with the messenger at Enzo’s request to briefly visit and discuss the mana stone mine business.

As if waiting for Erina, Enzo was already seated in the reception room.

“Somehow it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Countess Medelia.”

“Your Majesty, have you been well?”

“I am always living happily like this thanks to you.”

Enzo answered flippantly as he looked at Erina who had come to see him.

“Is the cleanup going well?”

“Thanks to the convenience you provided, we finished cleaning up quickly.”

“That’s a relief.”

Erina wetted her throat with the tea placed in front of her and caught her breath for a moment.

“I heard there was an urgent matter.”

“Ah, yes. I called you urgently because I thought I needed to get your consent.”

Enzo paused for a moment and then continued.

“Do you know that currently the market for processing mana stones is limited to the Empire?”

“Yes, Marquis Kerenik said so too, and Your Majesty also mentioned it once more.”

“Currently, mana stones are restricted from being leaked out of the Empire, but there are those who are rampant in smuggling them out.”

The value of mana stones was infinite, and human greed was endless.

The kingdoms surrounding the Empire could not raise their voices at the Empire that dared not circulate mana stones, and only looked on nervously.

Then, when one force started to siphon off mana stones, the hesitating kingdoms began to move together.

“I found out who the representative forces are that are siphoning off mana stones, and I called you because I thought Countess Medelia should know.”

“Forces?”

“It’s the small kingdom alliance of Tula, Smale, and Trumto Kingdom.”

“Could it be……”

“That’s right, they are the ones who caused the carriage incident that tried to kidnap you.”

Erina’s face turned deathly pale for a moment as the incident in the carriage came to mind.

It was the alliance that had tried all sorts of methods against Rose, who was the owner of the mana stone mine before Erina regressed.

She had expected them to move, but she didn’t think they would move so blatantly like this.

That was because she thought they would be more cautious as the Empire’s position was stronger than before the regression.

But truly, human greed was immeasurable.

“I intend to take this opportunity to discipline them.”

Enzo’s eyes shone eerily.

“I’m thinking of allowing the circulation of mana stones to the surrounding kingdoms. However, only to kingdoms that have never had smuggling incidents.”

It meant showing that he would reject kingdoms that openly opposed the Empire.

“Also, I plan to expose and dismantle the small kingdom alliance that is using dirty tricks in the shadows.”

“Do you have a method?”

“There are many methods. It’s just that in order to expose them, we need to make it public, and for that, I called because I need the Countess’ consent.”

Erina finally understood what Enzo was trying to do.

Enzo was not trying to handle things in a complicated way, but openly pointing at them to make an example.

He wanted to clearly let them know what happens when you rebel against the Empire that possesses the mana stone mines, using them as sacrifices.

“You’re trying to re-examine the carriage incident.”

“That’s right, after all, the victim of this incident is the Countess, so I have to get your consent, don’t I?”

Erina relaxed at Enzo’s kind consideration and laughed.

Then she remembered the time before the regression.

Rose was also placed in the same situation as herself.

But the incident was buried as it was.

No one tried to publicize the incident after that.

Neither Peiron who stayed with Rose, nor Enzo who was in front of her eyes.

It was just that the person was different, but Erina felt strangely pleased by the odd gap that was twisted.

“I will gladly agree.”

“Thank you, Countess.”

Just as Enzo was about to wrap up the meeting and move, Erina called out to him as she remembered something.

“Your Majesty.”

“Hm? Is something the matter?”

Romdrik’s screams that squawked in Erina’s mind brushed past.

‘How did I get that, the things I got while doing all sorts of things!’

Strangely, since entering the mansion, Romdrik’s screams kept lingering and wouldn’t leave Erina.

It was a sentence that could be passed over.

There were times when he forcibly took the family head’s seal from young Erina, and there were things he obtained from the deal with the Iolls family while marrying off Erina.

But clearly, Romdrik mentioned his brother, Erina’s father.

Erina’s intuition kept whispering that there was something.

She wanted to ask someone, but there were limited people who could answer.

It was because Erina’s parents had already passed away 18 years ago.

Then, Enzo came to mind.

Enzo, who was the crown prince at the time, handled all the overall affairs of the empire in place of the prodigal former emperor.

Perhaps he might know, and with the thought of wanting to ask, Erina couldn’t control her desire and ended up calling Enzo.

However, Erina hesitated, wondering if it was right to ask Enzo about this matter.

Reading Erina’s concern, Enzo tried to get up from his seat but sat back down and asked.

“Tell me.”

“18 years ago, do you remember the carriage incident where my parents passed away?”

Suddenly, Enzo’s expression hardened.

Facing such Enzo, the color drained from Erina’s face.

Erina’s mind went blank for a moment as she sensed that there was something.

“Did Viscount Zilon tell you directly?”

Enzo let out a deep sigh at the sight of Erina, her face as white as a sheet, tightly pursing her lips.

“I also recently found out about it, so I couldn’t tell you right away.”

“Your Majesty.”

“It was quite intertwined. Your parents, Sandes, the former Count Iolls, Viscount Zilon, and me, who was the crown prince.”

“Pardon…?”

Erina was startled by the names she didn’t know why they were involved in her parents’ deaths, and she couldn’t say anything stupid.

“First, I want to apologize. Perhaps, I may also be one of the reasons why the former Earl Medelia had to be disgraced.”

“Your Majesty, I don’t understand what you mean at all.”

Enzo faced Erina, who looked confused, closed his eyes tightly, and continued.

“I learned of Sandes’ existence at the Imperial Palace when Sandes had just turned one year old. I felt sorry for the poor child and the maid, so I helped them escape from the Imperial Palace.”

Erina pressed her lips together and clasped her hands tightly at the sight of Enzo looking more distressed than herself.

“I asked your father. To help Sandes and Sandes’ mother escape to a safe place.”

Erina’s eyes widened round.

It was a story she was hearing for the first time.

“Your father helped Sandes, Sandes’ mother, and even his sister settle in a place now called Bril Village.”

“My father did…?”

“Yes. That kind-hearted man didn’t stop at just once, but took care of them for 10 years.”

Erina couldn’t continue.

Erina’s parents, who always told her to put people first, had not let go of the three people who had to be isolated and helped them to the end.

“Everyone’s misfortune began when the former Count Iolls coveted Sandes’ sister.”

Erina couldn’t understand at all why her parents’ story and Sandes’ story were connected like this.

“The former Count Iolls went to Romdrik Zilon to isolate Sandes’ sister, who was under the protection of a nobleman, and make her dependent on him.”

“My uncle?”

“The former Count Iolls ignited the desire hidden in Romdrik’s heart, made him covet the Medelia earldom, and helped him disguise the carriage accident.”

“Then, really…, it wasn’t really an accident….”

Erina couldn’t finish her words and covered her mouth with both hands.

She was afraid that if she finished the words with her own mouth, what she was barely holding onto would collapse.

“Both the carriage accident that happened when I was the crown prince and Romdrik obtaining the title with the consent of his niece seemed to have no problem, so I approved them. I’m sorry, Countess. It sounds like an excuse, but no, I’m sorry.”

Erina’s head collapsed forward.

As her sunken shoulders heaved slightly, Enzo held his forehead and swallowed a sigh.

Unlike what Enzo was worried about, Erina calmed down faster than expected.

There were no signs of tears on Erina’s face as she unexpectedly raised her head.

“Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“Please don’t be sorry.”

“Countess Medelia.”

“The ones who should be sorry are those who did wrong, not Your Majesty.”

Enzo’s mouth closed tightly.

It was because Erina’s father came to mind, with her face pale white but her eyes shining.

When his position as the crown prince was unstable, he was a person who readily accepted Enzo’s shameless request that went against the will of the former emperor and empress dowager, even though he must have known it.

“Your Majesty, the person who was at the forefront of all these deaths is already dead and gone.”

“Countess.”

“If Your Majesty feels sorry for me, please answer me.”

“Speak.”

“Is the House of Zilon necessary for the Asilium Empire?”

Enzo read the blue vengeance in Erina’s solid, shining golden eyes.

It was also a heart that was difficult to face as the emperor who had to maintain the most fair and centered position in the empire.

‘Your Highness the Crown Prince, I will take full responsibility for this matter until the end. So please take care of yourself, Your Highness.’

Enzo recalled the consolation of Erina’s father, who sympathized with Enzo when he was shocked to learn of his mother’s ugly truth and the existence of a half-brother he didn’t know about.

“No, it’s not.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

In the end, Enzo was also human, so he had no choice but to ignore Erina’s feelings.