Riona, who had entered the Klaus mansion, was so surprised by the changed scenery that she couldn’t move for a while.

She had heard that Esika had bought the Klaus mansion using the assets of her family, Brigitte, but this was the first time she had seen the changed appearance. The Klaus mansion had been remodeled and repaired into a large business district.

Chimneys emitting steam rose here and there between the buildings.

Some were rolling barrels of wine, some were carrying milk and cheese, and there were many young women who looked like maids.

Their expressions looked joyful and happy.

The garden was well-maintained with seasonal flowers in bloom, and the sound of water trickling from the fountain could be heard.

“……”

All the scenery looked peaceful and beautiful.

Riona’s insides began to boil more and more.

This mansion is an old heritage of Klaus.

And they had been robbed of everything and driven out.

Yet Esika, who was once just an insignificant daughter-in-law, now owns all of this?

While she and Callian, who were above her, were barely surviving day by day in a cold cave hut……!

An even more infuriating fact was the rumor that Esika was being considered as the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

When Callian heard this story, he seemed to be in shock and hadn’t come home for a week already.

Yuri was making her take care of her just a day or two before her due date……

So everything is a mess. Nothing was right.

Angry and dumbfounded, she was so furious that she couldn’t stay still and came all the way here.

As she was sitting in the newly decorated reception room, fuming, the door opened.

And Esika entered, wearing an expensive-looking dress.

She saw Riona and sat down across from her without even nodding.

Then she poured tea into Riona’s cup.

“Bring one Marnel cake.”

She casually said to the maid who followed her in, and the maid said, “Yes,” and went outside.

Riona’s insides were boiling.

The luxurious reception room, Esika’s clean attire, even the maid…… none of it should have been hers.

Once, all those things belonged to Riona.

All that was allowed to Esika was one dress she brought from her family and a small room.

“What brings you here?”

Her haughty voice and disrespectful gaze were truly irritating.

Riona answered with glaring eyes.

“Is there a problem with the Klaus Grand Madam coming to the Klaus mansion to see her daughter-in-law?”

At those words, Esika raised the corners of her mouth.

“It is the Klaus mansion, but it’s no longer the Grand Madam’s mansion.”

Her gaze turned to the large window on the wall of the reception room.

Outside, the movements of busy employees could be seen.

None of the original Klaus employees who once clung to the Grand Madam and abused her were there.

“And I am no longer the Grand Madam’s daughter-in-law.”

Esika said calmly.

“Ha!”

At those words, Riona crossed her arms and made a sound as if in disbelief.

“You seem to think you’ve returned to being a maiden just because you’re divorced. No matter what, the Klaus label will always follow your tail!”

Riona’s eyes were filled with hatred and venom towards Esika.

“Because of you, I can’t even raise my head in front of the Imperial family out of shame!”

She shouted at Esika.

“Do you know how displeased Her Majesty the Empress was when you married Callian? The marriage of Klaus’s legitimate son to a mere daughter of Brigitte. But now I hear even more preposterous news that I can’t stand.”

Riona pointed her finger at Esika.

The maid who suddenly opened the door hesitated, but Esika gestured nonchalantly, and the maid placed the Marnel cake on the table.

“That someone like you is going to remarry His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Riona’s loud voice echoed.

The maid closed the door as she left, and Esika calmly drank her tea, as if using Riona’s anger as a side dish.

That sight seemed to anger Riona even more, and she banged on the table.

Then she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Wake up! Esika! Know your place. Someone like you doesn’t have even a speck of qualification to be the wife of His Highness the Crown Prince!!”

Even after Callian and Esika divorced, Riona always spoke ill of Esika.

From the moment they got married, there wasn’t a single thing she liked about it.

When she dared to start fighting back, her resentment and anger reached its peak, and even after the divorce, it remained a regret that she couldn’t grab Esika’s hair and shake her.

But as she spent time with Yuri, that anger began to dilute a little.

Yuri was truly lazy and really uneducated.

Using pregnancy as an excuse to dump all the housework on Riona, Yuri was extremely lazy.

And she started to reveal her true nature and raise her voice at Riona.

When Callian was around, she would sob every day saying she was being mistreated by Riona—although Callian seemed uninterested—but when Callian wasn’t around, she would treat Riona carelessly, bringing up how she had been bullied when she was once the head maid.

Neither of them was likable as daughters-in-law, but she had thought that the fox-like Yuri might be better than the bear-like Esika…… But that wasn’t the case.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to miss Esika.

If it had been Esika before she changed, she would have done her best for Callian and Riona even if the family went bankrupt.

She was just stupid but obedient, so if intimidated, she would have quietly followed orders.

As she thought about it, she even started to regret abusing Esika.

What if she hadn’t tormented Esika so much and had maintained a cordial relationship with her, acknowledging her as a daughter-in-law?

She wouldn’t be in this ruined situation, being mistreated by a new daughter-in-law.

Riona, who had gritted her teeth at Esika when Callian divorced, was now thinking of subtly suggesting a reunion with Esika.

“Don’t smear ink on the face of Klaus and your family, and cancel that engagement immediately!”

Riona’s cold voice was heard.

She spoke with her arms crossed and her chin raised.

“If you come to your senses now, I’m willing to build a bridge for your and Callian’s future.”

And she blurted out what she had originally intended to say.

As if she was about to bestow a great favor.

Esika’s eyebrows twitched.

“…?”

“I’m talking about Callian. Your husband. It seems you’ve been up to all sorts of things while we were away from home.”

Riona said, looking around the reception room with cold eyes.

“Even if you’re divorced, no one doesn’t know this is Klaus. And you haven’t left Klaus. We have something that could be of help to you.”

“…Something that could be of help?”

“Honor, I mean. Her Majesty the Empress has conveyed His Majesty’s intention to soon pardon Callian’s crimes. We may have made a mistake for a while, but Callian is still of Klaus blood. Unlike you, who’s clinging to the Klaus title using the name of those damned brothers.”

Indeed, Esika couldn’t directly inherit the Klaus duchy.

The business she’s doing now is with the help of the duchy, but still.

“You’re just a divorced woman with only money, and Callian has no territory or wealth, isn’t this all a situation prepared for reunion?”

Unlike her voice that had been criticizing the engagement with the Crown Prince as nonsense earlier, Riona’s voice became much calmer.

“I admit that I made things difficult for you under the pretext of educating you, and I regret that there were many misunderstandings between us. But as they say, the ground hardens after rain.”

“Pfft.”

At Riona’s words, Esika couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore.

The end of Riona’s eyebrow, who had been speaking seriously and gently, raised.

Esika let out a few more laughs, “Puhut,” and then opened her mouth.

“You really haven’t changed at all.”

“What? You?”

“Yes, it was like this when I first came to the Klaus duchy.”

Esika recalled the events from years ago.

Of course, Riona would have forgotten. It was literally just the beginning.

“At first, you were angry. Saying I had been poorly educated in my insignificant family. Denying my roots and breaking down my self-esteem……”

“……Esika……”

“Then you offer a carrot. It’s a carrot filled with poison, but the poor woman who’s been scolded to the point of being dazed grabs and eats it hurriedly, thinking it’s a reward. That’s how you turned a person into a slave.”

Riona’s lips hardened.

Esika’s blue eyes were shining brightly.

Riona Klaus. This time too, after thoroughly criticizing her for being engaged to the Crown Prince, she suggested reuniting with Callian as if bestowing a favor.

Even though she knew, no matter how you look at it, that reuniting would be a loss for Esika.

She wanted to somehow stand above Esika with such a method.

She spoke coldly to Riona.

“To be honest, I didn’t let you in to hear your story.”

Riona’s eyebrow moved.

“What?”

“I was curious about the appearance of you who once made me miserable.”

At those words, Riona’s eyes widened.

“…How shabby and worthless you’ve become.”

And her face hardened.

The worn-out dress, the dark complexion, and the drying hands and visible wrinkles…… All of it was contrasting with Esika like light and darkness.

As she became aware of her situation, Riona’s blood cooled and then boiled again.

“……How dare you……”

Riona stood up, hitting the table, but Esika’s overwhelming aura came over her.

Esika spoke to her with eyes filled with clear killing intent.

“I’m quite pleased to see you fallen so low, I think I’ll have a good dream tonight.”

Riona’s hand was trembling with anger and contempt.

But she didn’t think she could grab Esika’s hair.

“Well then, go back safely. Give my regards to your son too.”

Smirking, Esika got up from her seat and left the room.

Her teacup was completely empty.

The Marnel cake that Riona hadn’t touched had also been eaten by Esika at some point.

Nothing was left.

Riona collapsed into her seat.

Meanwhile, as soon as Esika left, she met Resban who had been listening to all of this.