Callian moved towards the office with heavy steps.

Every conversation he had with her became thorns, endlessly piercing his chest.

Resentment towards Esika blossomed freshly inside him.

No matter how much disappointment there was, did it have to go this far?

Moreover, that ring…

“…”

Callian frowned as the sparkling emerald came to mind.

For a married woman to wear a ring that another man had worn. It shouldn’t be done.

But he had nothing to say.

“The same as Yuri?”

Callian had never bought Esika an Allet ring exchanged between lovers.

There wasn’t even a wedding ring between them.

However, Yuri, pregnant with Callian’s child, wore the Allet ring he had given her.

“Damn it…”

How could he be forgiven by her?

It was when he reached the front of the office.

“Your Grace.”

Hearing a pitiful voice, he turned to see Yuri standing there with a pale expression.

For a moment, his eyes reflexively went to her white hand.

The evidence of his sin was placed on her hand.

“…”

Callian’s eyes trembled.

For an instant, he felt the urge to pull it off and throw it away.

But Yuri’s slightly bulging belly came into view.

Inside it, Callian’s own seed was planted and growing.

It felt like standing on the edge of a cliff.

“Your Grace.”

Yuri’s face, which once seemed so beautiful that he thought it would be better if she were his wife instead of Esika, no longer looked pretty.

Rather, she looked like the ugliest woman in the world, covered in greed.

“What brings you here?”

Callian coldly asked, extending his hand to keep distance as Yuri tried to approach him.

Yuri’s red eyes were wavering pitifully.

“…Help me. Please help me, Your Grace.”

Yuri sobbed, cradling her slightly protruding belly.

“The room is too cold. The maids only bring cold water, and all the food is stale. I’m carrying Your Grace’s child… I can’t bear it.”

Yuri’s whining voice was utterly irritating.

“I thought it was the room Esika used before.”

“That… that’s…”

“Wasn’t it not bad to stay in, and didn’t you say Esika’s complaints were excessive?”

Yuri flinched at Callian’s sharp question.

Yuri looked at Callian with trembling eyes and parted her lips.

“But… but… Esika wasn’t pregnant.”

“…”

“I’m not asking for my own well-being, but only for the sake of the Klaus child. Your Grace.”

Clear teardrops rolled down Yuri’s cheeks.

She was skilled at pleading, and she begged Callian again.

“Your Grace… I know you’re disappointed in me. But even if I was jealous of my friend Esika because of my affection for you, it doesn’t change the fact that I love you and Klaus, and that I’m pregnant with your child.”

The child was Yuri’s only lifeline.

“Please forgive me now. I love you, Your Grace. Please…”

Callian stared at Yuri.

And with emotionless eyes, he said to her.

“I’ll take care of it when I have time, so go now.”

Yuri asked back, seeming bewildered.

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t I say I’ll handle it when I have time, so go now?”

Even after the long plea, Callian’s eyes showed nothing but annoyance.

It was no different from the gaze he once directed at Esika.

Yuri thought her appeal would have some effect on Callian.

But now Callian seemed to only want to get rid of her.

“…Your Grace!”

“Should I call someone to drag you out? I’m busy with official duties and don’t have time to listen to your complaints.”

At Callian’s cold voice, Yuri collapsed to the floor as if falling.

She thought if she could make Duke Callian Klaus, who never even glanced at Esika no matter how beautifully she dressed up and tried, her own, the sense of conquest would be unimaginably great.

When she felt Callian’s heart leaning towards her, she was certain she could make him completely her man.

But Callian was treating Yuri coldly, just as he once did to Esika.

“…This can’t be happening.”

As Callian’s office door closed, Yuri, left alone on the floor, clenched her fist and trembled.

Callian Klaus. How could he do this to her, carrying his child!

She recalled something Esika once said, as if mocking her.

“To me, Duke Klaus is a golden carriage full of horse dung.”

And now she seemed to vaguely understand its meaning.

**

The imperial investigation team’s inquiry into Riona Klaus had concluded.

The conclusion was that while there was no evidence of involvement in treasonous activities with Ganeshof’s remnants, the charge of instigating them to kill Esika Klaus was acknowledged.

Riona was fined, and the social circles were once again greatly stirred by this news.

Now, no one sent Riona invitations to tea parties or social gatherings.

Even Marshal and Bolan, Riona’s friends, were deliberately denying their friendship with her.

“That Yuri went to see the Duke?”

As Riona raised the end of her eyebrow, the maid Annie answered.

“Yes. She reportedly requested the Duke to improve her treatment.”

“Ha, she should be grateful for being stuck in a room instead of a prison, that presumptuous woman.”

Riona’s eyes blazed with anger.

“If she weren’t pregnant, I would have given her a severe punishment.”

The three maids shrank slightly at the murderous aura emanating from Riona’s body.

If Yuri hadn’t been pregnant, she would have had a hard time surviving.

As she was carrying Duke Klaus’s child, Riona was holding back for now, as she couldn’t cause any definite harm that might affect the child if something went wrong.

“And… and… the Duchess…”

The maid, trembling with tightly clasped hands, reported.

“She says she wants to have shoes made from black four-horned mountain goat leather.”

“…What?”

Riona’s eyebrow ends rose even more sharply than before.

The black four-horned mountain goat was a very rare animal, and its leather was of high quality, so only royalty and a few high-ranking nobles used its leather to make shoes.

Last time, they had received one black four-horned mountain goat as a gift from the imperial family, and Riona had planned to make shoes for herself.

Wearing those shoes would have been an annual event where numerous ladies would look up to her and praise her.

Now, with her reputation tarnished by malicious rumors, if she didn’t wear shoes made of four-horned goat leather, other nobles might secretly laugh, thinking Riona’s prestige was over.

“Such nonsense…!”

Riona slapped the maid’s cheek.

But she couldn’t continue speaking.

Esika, that damned Esika, must be doing this on purpose, knowing they feared divorce.

But if they didn’t give her what she wanted and she handed in a divorce request…

“…Damn it. She’s completely playing us!”

Riona gritted her teeth.

The maid who had been slapped fell to the ground, holding her cheek and crying.

“…But how does Esika know about the precious things in the house?”

Riona muttered, suddenly feeling suspicious.

Esika had never entered Riona’s Faminas greenhouse.

She shouldn’t know that a large portion of the ducal house’s budget goes into Faminas.

She shouldn’t know that they received a four-horned goat from the imperial family this year either.

To know such details, one would need access to the ducal house’s ledgers.

“…I haven’t handed over the authority to manage the family finances yet!”

When the incident with the poisonous plants in the garden occurred, Callian had suggested gradually transferring financial authority to Esika, but Riona had no intention of doing so.

Rather, she ordered the servant acting as the steward to manage the ledgers even more secretly.

However, Esika seemed to know it as clearly as if she were looking into her own jewelry box.

“Surely… they’re not all cooperating with that woman, are they?”

Klaus was supposed to be her kingdom.

The servants and maids were all supposed to be loyal to Riona.

Everyone did whatever it took to gain Riona’s favor.

But at this moment, Riona was confused and afraid.

As if a new queen bee was taking over the hive, was she losing her house…?

**

“…The world will be turned upside down next week.”

Esika sipped her tea while looking out the window.

Next week, there will be an announcement about the western stronghold.

What will Riona’s expression be like when she hears that announcement?

She could imagine without even thinking about it.

“Madam, I’ve brought a letter.”

Cella approached Esika with a letter.

“It’s from the Viscount.”

Esika lightly took the letter and opened it.

And she began to read the contents of the letter leisurely and unhurriedly.

But at a certain passage, Esika’s eyebrows twitched.

‘Could it be…?’

The letter contained greetings from her father and family, and information about Torres’s movements.

Among them was written that it seemed Tzuchen had been decided as the western stronghold to be announced next week.

He seemed to be worried about Esika, who had invested in Elmur instead of Tzuchen.

‘…Brigitte’s information is quite accurate.’

If Speurt was so certain, it meant the information wasn’t groundless.

‘I’ll need to look into it.’

The attempt to swallow Klaus whole could end up handing them the upper hand if they weren’t careful.

A moment later, Esika folded the letter, stood up, and said to Cella.

“I need to go out.”

“Who… are you going to meet…?”

To be honest, she wasn’t entirely keen on it, but there was no one closer to accessing information about the emperor’s intentions.

Esika’s lips moved.

“…His Highness the Crown Prince.”