“There are still more stories left to hear. From now on, I will have a private conversation with the Countess.”

Riena barely managed to shake her head.

“No, it doesn’t make sense for me, the person involved, to be absent.”

“Do you know how pale your face is? What if something happens to you?”

She wanted to argue that she wasn’t that weak, that she could endure this much.

However, Cassel’s expression as he looked down at her was so serious that Riena couldn’t bring herself to refute him.

“I will tell you about the conversation with the Countess in a little while, so please go up to your room for now.”

Riena reluctantly nodded.

‘There’s no point in listening to the story in this state, it will only make me look bad.’

She had already heard all the necessary information anyway. It seemed better to leave the conclusion of this story to Cassel, as he suggested.

“Alright. Then I’ll go up and collect myself for a moment. I’ll also check if Bianca has arrived.”

“Yes. I will come up as soon as the conversation is over.”

Riena glared at the Countess one last time before leaving the reception room. After she completely disappeared, Cassel’s expression as he sat back down lacked even the remaining traces of humanity.

His presence alone was so overwhelming that it suffocated the Countess in front of him.

The Countess realized that Cassel had been treating her decently only because of Riena.

The atmosphere that changed in an instant made it actually difficult to breathe. All she could do was lay flat on the floor and tremble.

“Please sit, Countess. There is no need for you to remain like that.”

At least Cassel maintained a minimum level of courtesy until the end, unlike Johannes. If the man in front of her was Johannes, he would have already trampled on her head or hand to show his superiority.

When the Countess showed no intention of getting up, Cassel personally lifted her up and sat her on a chair. Sitting back in his own seat, he brought up the most important topic to the Countess at the moment.

“Anyway, I will protect you at Winkler for the time being.”

“Really?”

Cassel lightly nodded his head.

“Because you are an important witness. Only when you are under my protection will I have the legitimacy to deal with Johannes Belliard.”

The Countess swallowed her saliva in fear at the word ‘deal’.

‘Did I make the right choice?’

Because Cassel exuded a marshmallow-like soft atmosphere in front of Riena, she had underestimated him. She thought he was merciful, unlike the rumors, so she came here without hesitation, abandoning Johannes.

But somehow, the situation wasn’t going smoothly as the Countess intended.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to go back to Duke Belliard at this rate? I have nothing to lose as long as I hand over Riena as he wants.’

However, if she joined hands with Cassel, she would likely end up in prison for being involved in Count Dyke’s accident.

At that moment, as if reading her mind, Cassel muttered.

“It would be best not to entertain the foolish thought of joining hands with Johannes Belliard again at this point.”

“…!”

The Countess lifted her head in surprise. Cassel calmly continued.

“Don’t you know his true nature after seeing it firsthand?”

“Wh-what…”

“Do you think he will leave you and the Dyke family alone once he gets his hands on Ria as he desires?”

The Countess’s face turned pale.

“Are you saying that Duke Belliard might kill me and my children?”

Cassel answered without any hint of agitation.

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Why…”

“Because he’s worried that the secret might leak out. You might say you’ll keep it a secret for life, but will he believe that? And…”

“And?”

“No, never mind.”

Cassel trailed off, recalling memories of the past. Things that had already become undone.

‘Johannes Belliard wanted Ria to be isolated.’

Even Cassel didn’t know why he blindly desired Riena. All he knew was that Johannes won Riena’s heart with a gentle attitude and married her, and completely changed after the marriage.

Far from respecting and cherishing her as an equal wife, he treated her like a possession that he could handle as he pleased.

Like a toy or doll that he could break whenever he wanted to.

Perhaps Johannes wanted to become Riena’s everything. He probably wanted her to only look at him and cling to him.

So he gradually isolated her from high society.

He made her refrain from going out, saying she disliked crowded places, but Cassel, who knew Riena’s lively personality, could easily tell it was Johannes’s lie.

He even prevented Riena from interacting with not only the Dyke family but also the Donovan family.

‘And the Countess died of an unknown illness, I heard. Soon after, the Belliard Marquis also died, and Johannes inherited the title.’

Both deaths must have been Johannes’s doing.

Cassel didn’t figure out exactly what happened between Riena and Johannes.

So he reached out to help, but Riena had already completely closed her heart due to Raoul, who had turned his back on her, and she was wary of his help instead.

Even after she became somewhat close to Cassel, she never talked about her story.

However, Cassel could roughly guess from the wounds and bruises he could find all over her body, and her attitude of cowering in fear whenever he made even the slightest sudden movement.

Riena was being abused by Johannes Belliard.

As soon as he realized that fact, Cassel sent one of his people disguised as a maid to the Belliard Marquis residence.

Every time he received a report on how Riena was being treated there, it felt like his blood was flowing backwards.

He couldn’t help but blame himself for not heading straight to her even after receiving the letter from the previous Count Dyke.

Cassel tried to save Riena and ultimately bring down Johannes.

While slowly eroding Belliard, Riena was withering away.

Cassel wanted to at least get her out first.

But Riena…

Cassel, who clenched both fists at the dizzying memory he never wanted to think about again, warned the Countess once more.

“So you must not let Johannes Belliard know that you made a deal with me.”

“I understand… Your Grace.”

“As you already know, it would be best for all three of you to refrain from going out until everything is resolved. Especially the one you called Bianca Blüte. Please inform Lady Blüte well.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

Cassel looked at the Countess’s trembling hands and stood up from his seat.

Now it was time to go and comfort his lovely and delicate lover.

Riena, who was about to head to her room with heavy footsteps after leaving the reception room, heard a familiar voice from the bottom of the stairs and headed to the first floor.

Bianca, who had said she was going out, was entering the mansion, guided by the head butler.

“Riena, what wind blew for her to invite us? The last time I saw her, she looked like she was going to kill me with her eyes. As expected, Mother must have persuaded His Grace well… Oh my, Riena!”

Bianca, who was in high spirits, spotted Riena standing on the stairs and ran up to her. She tried to link arms with Riena in a friendly manner, but Riena carefully pulled her arm away, clicking her tongue.

“There’s no need to look at me like I’m a bug, is there? I don’t know why you suddenly changed your mind, but anyway, you invited us here. We’ll have to see each other under the same roof for a while, so it’ll be awkward if you keep doing this, won’t it?”

I didn’t call you here to share family affection with you.

Instead of saying those words that had risen up to her chin, Riena asked what she had been curious about.

“Where have you been?”

“Huh? Oh, I went to Kasia Street. It was amazing when I went before, but going back after a long time, it had developed even more. There were so many dazzling things that I lost track of time while looking around.”

“Bianca.”

Riena let out a sigh without realizing it.

“It’s only been about a week since I asked you to take good care of Aaron. But you left Aaron behind and went out again. Are you in your right mind?”

Perhaps offended by her unusually sharp choice of words, Bianca also frowned.

“Aren’t you being a bit harsh? I’m grateful that you helped us, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat us like that.”

“…”

“And as you’ve already seen, Aaron is completely healed. He doesn’t need nursing and is in a state where he can be alone. I still asked the staff to take care of Aaron just in case. Unlike that shabby inn room, the staff there won’t disappear and leave Aaron alone.”

“Still!”

“You said to go back as soon as Aaron got better. After going through all that hardship to come this far, does it make sense to leave without even getting to see the capital’s bustling streets once?”