Merian, who had been whispering in Charlotte’s ear, pouted her lips mischievously and moved away. Charlotte’s face hardened coldly as she closed the book she was reading.

“Who met whom?”

“Baron Zimmerman and Eveline. They had a long conversation in the rear garden, I heard.”

Lowering her voice, Merian viciously criticized the other party.

“It must be a habit. She’s like a bat, clinging here and there. It gives me chills to think that such a woman is in the same space as you, young lady. And the other party is your fian…”

When Charlotte shot her a sharp glance, Merian’s voice trailed off and she closed her lips, intimidated. Charlotte, lost in thought for a moment, took a deep breath and then exhaled all at once. A bitter laugh followed.

Unlike Merian’s criticism, Charlotte could imagine roughly what the situation had been. So the emotion she felt now was, unlike Merian’s, directed towards Baron Zimmerman.

The Baron was a man who didn’t know how to give up.

If he had expressed his feelings sufficiently, the gentlemanly thing to do would have been to understand and withdraw from this marriage.

So what did Vivian say to Baron Zimmerman?

Eveline wasn’t the type to do bad things for a price. Edwin wasn’t one to fall for cheap tricks either.

It was just that there was nothing quite like hurting Vivian.

Charlotte had not the slightest intention of apologizing, but she was well aware that it was improper behavior.

So the crumpled pieces of her heart pricked at her conscience.

Charlotte, feeling unable to sit still any longer, immediately left the room. She needed a change of mood. She didn’t want to reflect on her mistake of criticizing Vivian.

But contrary to her worries, she encountered Vivian entering the lobby from the path leading west. Although she had just considered it wrong to insult Vivian, when she met those innocently widening eyes, she felt a lump in her throat, unable to hurt her further.

So she should have just passed by. If they collided here, unintended words would surely spill out.

“Um, Miss Windler.”

Charlotte had tried to pass by treating Vivian like an invisible person, but Vivian finally stopped her in her tracks. Something on the verge of exploding was boiling in her chest.

She turned her arrows towards Vivian, wondering why she had stopped her steps, why she was making her the bad person.

Charlotte deliberately didn’t look back at Vivian. She hoped Vivian wouldn’t generously forgive this disregard.

“I have something to tell you. Actually, I was just with Baron Zimmerman. It’s about your marriage issue.”

Chewing on the soft flesh inside her mouth, Charlotte scanned the ceiling of the mansion as if counting seconds.

“The Baron is trying hard to win your heart. Although it’s the first time I’ve talked with him, it seems the Duke has found a good match for you, which puts my mind at ease as well.”

Vivian Eveline was, how should I put it.

She had a talent for making others seem evil. The more Vivian proved herself to be a good person, the more Charlotte’s position fell to the ground, to the mud, to the gutter.

Such feelings couldn’t possibly be pleasant.

“For whatever reason, I wonder if you might reconsider once more. I said I would find out what you like, but I think it might be better if you yourself planted hope in the path you’re about to take.”

Vivian steadfastly continued speaking to Charlotte’s back. Merian openly glared at Vivian, her upper lip twitching in displeasure. Despite it being clearly visible, Vivian overlooked Merian’s crossing of the line, pretending not to notice.

As the sticky silence lengthened, Vivian, feeling unwelcome, was about to turn back dejectedly.

“Do you have that much free time?”

Charlotte, who had seemed like she would never turn around, finally faced Vivian.

“Was the talk about debt a lie? Seeing how you have time to spare meddling in others’ affairs, I suppose the debt must have been a lie.”

“…That’s not it.”

“Then prove to me where I’m wrong. At least pretend to repay your debt. Won’t you do some embroidery? Since that’s all you know how to do, shouldn’t you do at least that to repay your debt and leave the Duke’s side quickly?”

Charlotte smiled cruelly. It was the first moment Vivian felt antipathy towards Charlotte, who seemed determined to drag her down to the bottom, but clearing up the misunderstanding came first.

“I’m trying. I sincerely want to repay the debt more than anyone else.”

The rather strong voice and unwavering gray eyes instead provoked Charlotte. The desire to break Vivian overwhelmed her, but fearing Edwin’s anger, she didn’t cross the line any further.

“You asked about the things I like.”

Charlotte, suppressing her anger, looked directly at Vivian with calm yet sharp eyes.

“Fine. Then I hope you’ll convey this accurately to the Baron. Since he doesn’t seem to understand even though I’ve been beating around the bush, unable to be direct.”

There was no hope to be seen in Charlotte’s lowered tone. Vivian recalled Baron Zimmerman’s innocent face and blamed herself. The Baron had tried hard to win Charlotte’s heart and had staked everything on Vivian, but if what came back was a heartbreaking message of farewell, it was clear that the Baron’s heart would be torn in two.

“I have someone I love.”

Vivian hadn’t foreseen that this small, doll-like girl with charming freckles would utter the distant word ‘love’. Vivian, who had never even held someone she loved in her heart, carefully tucked away the shock she felt now.

“It’s not because Baron Zimmerman is bad, or because he doesn’t seem like a good man that I won’t marry him. I have someone I love. That’s why I won’t marry. Is this answer enough?”

Who on earth? Who does she love?

Whoever it was, the fact that she couldn’t insist on marrying the person she loved while facing a marriage to someone she didn’t love meant that either Edwin opposed it or it was a relationship that wouldn’t be welcomed.

“I hope you’ll convey this without fail.”

Her heart grew heavy with worries piling up like the bookshelves in the library.

“So that Baron Zimmerman can give up on the marriage as soon as possible.”

***

Tonight too, the lake surface was bright with moonlight. Vivian, gliding smoothly across the lake, was engulfed in deep thoughts thanks to the enormous crater Charlotte had left behind.

She has someone she loves?

For Vivian, who had never loved anyone, it was impossible to gauge that feeling. In Preston, there had only been men approaching her with an eye on her inheritance, and they always spoke of love.

So for Vivian, love was nothing more than a means to deceive others. After the incident with King Mayer, she had to give up on true love and marriage altogether.

After crossing to Newway, the situation improved a bit, but given how precarious everything was, her own marriage issues had to take a back seat.

Love and marriage were dreamlike words that had never existed in Vivian Eveline’s life. Once she repaid her debt, she was destined to die by the Duke’s hand, and no man would love a woman destined to be served on the dining table.

Even if by great luck she met a man she loved, that person would likely end up as the Duke’s prey. A Duke Baitness who had taken family and friends hostage was unlikely to leave a man she claimed to love passionately alone.

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head before diving below the surface.

Falling into sweet love with someone, starting a family, having children. Even with wrinkles on their faces, holding tightly to the hand of the person they love, promising tomorrow under the warm sunlight.

It’s really trivial but really warm. Even just imagining it.

If she let her heart be stolen by such things, regrets would remain. Regrets, beyond one’s will, control the firmly made-up mind and eventually make the heart turn back.

That’s why what she submerged below the surface was not her body, but those warm imaginings.

A loved one, a family, children. She put them all deep under the water and placed a rock on top so they would never surface again. Then what rose with her body were debt, death, and guilt.

Vivian exhaled the breath that had risen to her chin and rubbed her wet face. As she panted deeply, shallow ripples spread around her. It looked like the struggle of things submerged under the surface, but she cruelly ignored it.

Reality was too gray to dream, and the only refuge for her had to be satisfied with just Lake Lanua.

Now I have to earn money. I must. By doing so, I must lighten the burden of the people I love and escape from this suffocating helplessness.

Vivian felt her heart becoming firmer with this resolve. She was filled with confidence as if she could do anything, but when she heard a rustling sound from somewhere, she looked around the dark surroundings with frightened eyes.

Her spirit completely broken, she crossed the lake and climbed onto the dock. After drying off and getting dressed, Vivian headed straight for the mansion.

***

Baron Zimmerman left the mansion in the morning, and in the afternoon, a relay of meetings with directors from the capital continued.

The large loss due to the shipwreck was somewhat compensated by insurance money after a trial with the insurance company, and as Eremen readily stamped the contract sent by the company, they secured a justification to overwork the weapons factory.

However, the unresolved issue was how to overcome the royal family’s scheme to turn it into a state-owned business.

The royal family cited reasons such as Baitness Company’s aggressive development of new weapons, the sale of weapons with excessive killing power, and the threat of war as Baitness Company even won the rights to build railroads in the west and east.

Moreover, they were eyeing the company, saying that the speed at which the weapons company was extending its reach even into the financial sector was extraordinary. The directors continued their discussions throughout the afternoon, heating up to deal with the current issues. In the end, without finding an answer, the sun tilted to the west.

As the red sunset crossed the window and intensely scratched their eyes, they could finally end the long meeting. The directors returned to their rooms, and only Edwin remained in the study.

If it weren’t for the knock that sounded just then, he would have leaned deeply into the chair and closed his eyes for a moment to avoid the glare of the sunset. Edwin, exhaling a long breath full of fatigue, granted permission to enter.

And when he confirmed that the person who came was Sophie with a pale face, the fatigue that was settling deeply with the sunset dissipated in an instant. And in its place, an unpleasant discomfort settled.

“L-Lord Duke. Wh-what should we do?”

Even in front of the restless Sophie, Edwin’s face remained composed. Without bothering to part his lips, he asked the reason for her anxiety with a nod of his chin.

“Miss Eveline has disappeared.”

Sophie’s voice, unable to contain her anxious emotions, trembled severely and was simultaneously high-pitched.

“I’ve searched every nook and cranny of the mansion from the afternoon until now, but she’s nowhere to be seen. It seems Miss Eveline has left the mansion!”