“It seems your mother has not yet recovered.”

Although Esika spoke as if saying the lady was not here as she sat down, Callian could barely hear her voice.

After a few seconds of Esika looking at him with puzzled eyes, Callian opened his mouth.

“……That’s right.”

When Callian answered in a low voice, Esika smiled brightly.

“Your cheeks look a bit flushed, Duke. Are you feeling unwell?”

“This is…… No. I’m fine.”

Then the special dishes prepared by Hemos began to come out one after another.

Roasted goose with garnish, scallops, young veal steak……

Esika calmly ate her meal with a knife, but Callian looked at her from time to time with furrowed brows.

‘She’s beautiful. When was the last time I found a woman this pretty?’

Though unintended, he couldn’t help but gaze at her face.

He felt a bit empty seeing Esika eating without noticing his gaze, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Mother seems to be feeling lonely these days. I think she would be happy if you visited her.”

At Callian’s words, Esika held back a smile.

He always wanted Esika to be sincere to his mother, the lady.

He had persecuted and criticized Esika according to the lady’s wishes.

“I will.”

What happened before is not important to Callian.

He has already forgotten it all.

The incident between Esika and Riona was just a private family matter, not worth mentioning anymore.

“And……”

Callian continued in a slightly more difficult voice than before.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that your friend is being investigated at the government office.”

“Oh, you mean Yuri?”

Callian’s eyes flickered slightly as he cut the meat with his knife.

Honestly, he didn’t want to bring up Yuri at this table.

If only she hadn’t sent such a tearful letter……

“I heard she tried to obtain jewels from your family without your permission.”

Esika silently picked up her glass and took a sip of the wine inside.

She liked the acidity.

“……Why don’t you show her leniency?”

At Callian’s words, Esika put down her glass.

Then she looked at Callian and said:

“The complainant is my elder brother. Yuri is being investigated because she did wrong, so is there any reason for me to get involved?”

“But…… Yuri has been your friend for a long time, hasn’t she? She came to the duke’s house for you.”

“I think I told you last time, we’ve ended our friendship.”

At Esika’s clean-cut words, Callian’s eyebrows twitched.

Yuri said she was longing for Callian there, unable to properly swallow bread or water.

The image of her crying every day bothered him.

“You are the duchess of the great Klaus duchy, and wouldn’t it prevent gossip about the duchy if you contacted your family to resolve such minor issues? You can reprimand her privately within the household later.”

“Your Grace.”

Callian’s fingertips twitched at Esika’s clear voice calling him.

Clear blue eyes were looking at him with a cold light.

“I don’t know since when Your Grace has been concerned about saving a mere head maid. If she has committed a crime, you should just dismiss her. Gossip…… Are you really afraid of gossip?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you were worried about gossip, you wouldn’t have given her the Alet ring.”

Callian’s eyes flickered darkly at the pointed remark.

He suddenly felt his throat burning.

“It wasn’t long ago that you told me not to care about Your Grace and Yuri, so I don’t understand why I should care about her at your request now.”

“Esika. So…… That was a misunderstanding.”

Callian spoke to her in an urgent tone.

“It’s true that I treated Yuri well then, but I wasn’t having an affair with her. I just protected her more because you were acting so stuffy……”

Where is the line for infidelity?

He was a lenient person towards himself.

He felt guilty remembering that night, but it was just one night.

And this was just suggesting measures for the head maid of House Klaus.

But it wasn’t right to treat him like someone who had an affair.

Esika spoke to Callian with sharp eyes.

“I’m not sure. Anyway, don’t bring up Yuri. If you really want to save her, shouldn’t Your Grace act on your own?”

“Esika.”

Callian put down his utensils with his eyebrows hardened as if angry.

His heart was beating faster than before.

Esika’s white face, which had only looked beautiful before, now looked like a stubborn white rose.

If she had just said she understood and would do as he asked, this conversation could have ended well, but Esika ruined his mood again.

“……”

Callian silently picked up his glass and drank the wine.

And he stood up before Esika had finished her meal.

What made him even angrier was the sight of Esika eating her food deliciously without even looking at him.

He had wanted to set the mood today and spend the night with her.

Callian was so irritated by this situation that he wanted to punish her somehow, beyond just finding her annoying.

“You’ve changed so much.”

At Callian’s words, Esika stared at him blankly with food in her mouth.

After chewing and swallowing it thoroughly, she asked Callian:

“What kind of person did you know me as, Your Grace?”

“You……”

Callian opened his mouth but suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

“Did you love my docile self?”

Callian had never liked the Esika of the past.

Even when she was obedient and only followed him, he found her stupid and detestable.

His heart thumps.

A pet that was never fed could never have belonged to its master in the first place.

“……”

As if seeing through Callian’s mind, Esika raised the corner of her lips and continued eating.

Callian stared at her pale-faced for a while before fleeing like he was running away.

He thought he heard Esika’s laughter behind him like an auditory hallucination.

**

She never expected a complaint to be filed from the Brigitte baronial family.

The complainant was Schpert Brigitte, Esika’s elder brother.

Who knew Esika would pay attention to such details?

Was it all planned from the beginning, even cutting off the jewels?

Yuri bit her nails with a crunch.

‘Esika, you’ve reduced me to this state?’

She was now locked in an empty room.

It was called a room, but it was more like an interrogation room with prison bars.

It had already been four days since she was confined in the government office, but there was still no contact from Callian.

Even though she had sent a letter asking for help and rescue……

Anxiety washed over her, wondering if she would really become a criminal without any help like this.

One wrong move and she could end up with a ticket to prison for several years.

‘But…… There must be a way to survive. I’m Yuri Anesis. The smartest, most beautiful, and wittiest in Frihatz.’

In the dim room, Yuri’s eyes shone.

Various thoughts flashed through her mind.

A moment later, the rusty door opened and a stern-looking investigator entered.

The investigator, a lower-ranking nobleman, was a man in his mid-40s with a large mole on the bridge of his nose, and the front of his hair was already half-balding.

He had tightly tied back what little black hair he had left, which seemed like it would accelerate his hair loss.

He sat across from Yuri, opened some documents, and stated her name and charges.

“Name, Yuri Anesis. Age twenty-seven…… Yes, you attempted to embezzle jewels from the Brigitte baronial family using the name of Duchess Esika Klaus. According to the complaint, you’ve already embezzled several times…… Are you aware that embezzlement is a serious crime?”

Yuri bowed her head slightly, then slowly raised her face filled with tears.

The investigator visibly flinched at her pitiful expression.

Soon after, Yuri burst into tears, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Hic…… uhuhuh……”

Her sorrowful sobs filled the room.

The investigator looked elsewhere until her crying subsided.

It wasn’t uncommon for female prisoners to cry before interrogation.

A little later, as the crying gradually subsided, Yuri’s voice flowed out.

“Investigator…… I’m truly wronged.”

It’s also common for prisoners to claim they’ve been wronged.

The investigator glanced at her.

Yuri Anesis, head maid of House Klaus.

With her beautiful blonde hair and red eyes, she was strikingly beautiful.

Her shoulders, trembling as she pleaded her innocence, looked so delicate one would want to embrace her.

“I…… I just did everything for Esika, my childhood friend, hic…… I didn’t know my desire to help Esika would become my downfall…… Hic……hic……”

Pitiful tears were falling down her cheeks, drop by drop.

Yuri looked at him with tear-filled eyes to evoke the investigator’s sympathy, and earnestly pleaded:

“Please help me, Investigator.”