Richelieu, following Riley’s order, guided Liz to her new home.

She said that there were many spare rooms in the annex used by the servants, and that she could choose whichever one she liked. After helping her unpack her belongings and confirming that she had fallen asleep, she returned.

“Young lady, that child just fell asleep a moment ago.”

Liz cried for a long time. It didn’t seem to be tears of sorrow.

She kept murmuring apologies, and only stopped begging for forgiveness when her tear ducts dried up and no more tears would come.

“Alright, keep watching over her well from now on.”

“Yes, don’t worry, young lady. But… is this really alright?”

“What is?”

“That child. Can we really trust her? I don’t know the details, but I know you’re not on good terms with your family members… She was said to have betrayed her master and been driven out. I’m worried about keeping someone around who was driven out for stealing her master’s belongings.”

“Don’t worry, Liz didn’t steal anything.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Riley didn’t say anything. There was no need to tell her that she had planned this whole situation herself.

“That child will be useful from now on. Treat her well while she stays here.”

Liz was originally a child with excessive loyalty towards Claire.

Of course, that loyalty probably didn’t stem from admiration or affection for Claire.

Recalling old memories, Liz was always overly conscious of Claire’s gaze.

She would take initiative on tasks that weren’t even ordered, constantly pondering what Claire might like, and acting preemptively based on her intuition.

‘…That behavior probably included bullying me too.’

Claire despised Riley terribly, and I remember she would often praise Liz with a satisfied expression whenever Liz bullied Riley.

Each time, Liz would beam proudly like a beloved puppy.

I don’t think that loyalty truly came from liking Claire as a person.

It was just a one-sided relationship. As a result, Claire cast Liz aside without a moment’s hesitation.

The chances of Liz returning to Claire are low.

Having already been branded a traitor and driven out, she probably won’t have the stupid thought that there’s still a place for her there. Whether she likes it or not, Liz will try to settle here for good, having nowhere else to go.

Moreover, most of the servants of the Eadalin family probably know that Liz is not the culprit in this incident.

Although Claire has driven Liz away, Liz will still be able to interact with the Eadalin family’s servants.

Liz worked there for a long time and was friendly with the other servants.

Liz’s value is sufficient with this alone.

She was a perfect fit for the role of easily interacting with the Eadalin family’s servants and bringing back information.

‘It’s really fortunate that Claire moved as expected.’

If coaxed well, Liz could become a very useful confidant.

That’s why Riley intended to coax Liz very well. She was a child with nowhere to go and no one to rely on anyway.

If she could just imprint on her that she was fundamentally different from Claire as a master, and keep her from leaving her side, she would become a very useful person.

She was originally a quick-handed and tight-lipped, capable child. Having enough patience to endure under the eccentric Claire, she would surely be useful time and time again if kept by her side.

Considering Liz’s usefulness, there was no reason not to shake off old, stale emotions.

·

·

·

“So you brought that maid into the mansion?”

“Yes.”

At Sack’s words, Givnen clapped his hands and burst into laughter.

“Interesting. What an ingenious move.”

“She was framed as a thief and driven out empty-handed, and the young lady immediately took her in. I suspect the young lady intentionally created this entire situation.”

Considering Riley’s actions so far, this incident couldn’t help but be very interesting.

“She’s much bolder than she appears. I’m honestly quite surprised. It’s beyond my expectations.”

“I feel the same.”

“She always had a passive attitude towards the Eadalin family’s affairs until just the other day, but people change overnight.”

“Perhaps this recent incident caused a big change in her mindset? It was also an event where she strongly felt a threat to her life, and she clearly realized the existence of enemies, so I think she’s become more sensitive and proactive towards ‘danger’.”

Certainly, while the incident at the recent welcome party was a terrible event that one would never want to experience again, it seems to have brought quite positive changes for Riley.

It was clearly a change for the better. Until now, she had shown such passive tendencies that it was frustrating for observers.

Now that she’s set her mind to it, the situation is unfolding quite interestingly.

Just one suggestion that it would be good to buy off someone from the Eadalin family side, and she immediately put it into action, not just that, but actually bringing a person over to her side.

Quick execution, efficient direction of progress, and flawless follow-through to the end.

It couldn’t help but be interesting how she achieved maximum results with minimum efficiency, in stark contrast to her image until now.

“How is Baron Eadalin these days?”

“Ah, I was just about to mention this, but it seems he recently had another discreet contact at a salon owned by Count Ermeints. The conversation lasted about 30 minutes, not too long. Other than that, he hasn’t contacted anyone else.”

“And Count Ermeints?”

“For some reason, he seems to be actively resuming his social activities lately. His health condition also appears to have improved quite a bit.”

“That’s truly unfortunate.”

Givnen clicked his tongue in genuine regret.

He might throw a grand party on the day Count Ermeints passes away.

“That old man who was quietly holed up at home is now doing things that grate on my nerves, as if he’s found something to rely on. I wonder what this means.”

“Wasn’t he originally an impatient and reckless person? I think he might feel there’s nothing more to be cautious about since the last incident was resolved with the condition of increasing the royalties for magic stones. But even so, I don’t understand why Count Ermeints continues to interact with Baron Eadalin of all people.”

Ryan is, after all, going to become in-laws with the Lianster family.

In that sense, Ryan’s existence must be quite uncomfortable for Count Ermeints.

Given the old man’s personality of having clear likes and dislikes, and the fact that there’s already a precedent of a broken engagement, he’s likely to have a very negative stance towards Ryan.

Originally, Count Ermeints was famous for not associating at all with those he disliked. Of course, in Givnen’s case, he couldn’t completely avoid association because they were closely tied in business, whether he liked it or not.

Instead, he clearly showed his dislike.

It was his specialty to carelessly run his foul mouth and provoke people, which can be seen just by recalling the incident at the reception, without needing to look further.

Why would such a person deliberately interact with Ryan, who is not closely tied in business, has clear differences in status and family standing, and already has one bad connection?

Is it because of Riley? Is he plotting something sinister behind the scenes again like last time?

“Baron Eadalin’s goal is probably to gradually expand his network by continuously being introduced to people who can help his business through Count Ermeints, but I don’t understand what Count Ermeints hopes to gain from Baron Eadalin by going this far.”

“Do you think it’s related to young lady Riley?”

“If not that, is there any other reason he would interact with him?”

“Even so, to take such a reckless course of action after the attempted kidnapping and murder has already been exposed… isn’t that too stupid?”

That’s right.

No matter how much his mental faculties have dulled, he’s definitely not at the point where his mind is wavering back and forth.

He was still the head of the Ermeints family and played the role of an elder statesman well. He had a certain savviness, after all.

Of course, it’s true that he’s not the same as before, but he’s definitely not foolish enough to repeat the same mistake after his weakness has already been properly exposed once.

It just seems like he has something to rely on. It’s clear he’s plotting something suspicious, but…

“Or maybe there’s a backer after all. If I had to guess, it’s most likely those guys who kidnapped Riley back then.”

“Huh? Why do you connect it that way?”

“If information about Riley leaked somewhere, the source is most likely none other than Count Ermeints.”

Originally, only a select few knew about Riley’s existence. Even fewer knew about the deep relationship, enough to get married.

The professors at the Academy only knew Riley as a scholarship student who caught Givnen’s eye, and although she moved around openly within the Academy, it’s highly likely they saw her as just another new girlfriend, given that it wasn’t the first or second time he had been seen with a woman by his side.

“They specifically targeted Riley. If their goal was to take her hostage, they wouldn’t have planned this thinking Riley was just a simple romantic relationship. There’s no way that someone in the position of my countless discarded lovers would have value as a hostage. This means information leaked from somewhere.”

“That’s certainly a reasonable point.”

“And they didn’t harm Riley at all. They even leisurely wasted time. This itself is strange, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem like a kidnapping for the purpose of using her as a hostage. If they wanted to use her as a hostage, they would have contacted me. If the kidnapping wasn’t for using her as a hostage or to threaten, but simply to confirm something from Riley…”

“…”

“With a very high probability, it would be those guys who killed my master. My master told me to protect Riley from them. Those guys probably know about my master’s concern, that is, about ‘something’ Riley has. They probably tried to confirm what Riley has at that place, and if they confirmed it…”

“…They’ll be deliberately targeting the young lady.”

“The start will probably be underground work. They’ll gradually approach the people around Riley, looking for opportunities, and create chances to get close to Riley quite naturally.”

“And you’re saying that start is Baron Ryan?”

“Baron Ryan is, one way or another, family who can’t be separated from Riley. They’ll gradually build connections. And if we think that Count Ermeints is connecting Baron Ryan with them, this situation becomes somewhat understandable.”

Thoughts branched out one after another.

Givnen groaned and leaned back in his chair, slumping down.

“It’s giving me a headache. Well, I might be overthinking it.”

“Still, it seems like a plausible hypothesis.”

“Anyway, keep watching closely. Report immediately if you notice anything suspicious.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

After Sack left, Givnen spun around in his chair, looking up at the ceiling.

Riley’s face floated above the ceiling.

What is she doing now? Is she diligently attending Academy lectures? What does she look like when she’s listening to lectures? I’m curious about her appearance when she’s concentrating on something. What kind of expression would she have?

“I miss her.”

I miss the times when she was chirping noisily by my side.

Especially when I’m buried under piles of documents, crushed by the weight of work like this.

I pretended to dislike it when she stuck by me all day nursing me, but I didn’t really mind. It was quite cute how she clung to me like a tick. I should have treated her better then, not gotten irritated, and enjoyed more things.

Givnen clicked his tongue in regret and muttered.

“…Should I eat poison one more time?”

Liz adapted well to the mansion work. Although she still watched her step, she worked really hard and diligently.

Givnen seemed to have become busier as his birthday approached.

It had been quite a while since I’d seen him, and I thought I missed him, but I didn’t mind much since the birthday party wasn’t far off, and I’d be able to see him all day then.

And I heard news that Ban had been discharged from the hospital. I wanted to meet him, but he was as reclusive as ever.

He wasn’t someone I could meet just because I wanted to. Well, I figured he’d suddenly appear again someday, so I didn’t worry too much about Ban.

Thus, peaceful days continued until the birthday party, but,

“By the way, what did you prepare as a birthday gift?”

The peace was shattered by one careless question from Hilla.

‘G-Gift…!’

I had been so busy taking care of Liz’s work, focusing on Academy classes, and receiving private lessons from Arpeggio right after classes that I had forgotten the most important thing.

“What, you haven’t prepared a gift?”

“…I forgot.”

“What? How could you forget that!”

“I’ve been so busy…”

I had been feeling something was off for a while.

I just couldn’t figure out why I felt uneasy.

“It’s tomorrow, you know! Hurry up and prepare a gift.”

What should I give as a gift? Riley fell into contemplation.

She knew he would gratefully accept anything, but still, it was the first birthday she was celebrating for him, so she wanted to give a more meaningful gift.

I’ve received a lot of help and have always been grateful, but it feels like I haven’t done anything for him in return.

He often casually gave gifts, but I always thought I should give him gifts too, yet never managed to do so.

‘What would be a good gift…’

The only time I’ve prepared birthday gifts for others was when I lived in the mountains with just my father.

Back then, I was young, and gifts were just things like gathering berries from the mountains or going down to the village below to buy a girl’s hairpin as a gift for my father, indulging my own desires—gifts that weren’t really gifts at all.

“Riley. I’m sorry, I’d like to go with you, but I have work today.”

“It’s alright. Then I’ll be going.”

“Okay. Be careful, and see you tomorrow!”

After the lecture ended, Riley headed to the main square. She thought she might get ideas for gifts by looking at the shops in the busy area.

Fortunately, her financial situation was comfortable. Since she had no need to spend the money that regularly came in as allowance and living expenses, she actually had more than enough.

Riley absent-mindedly browsed the showrooms of the stores, looking for things that might be suitable to give Givnen.

In fact, not knowing what men like to receive or what kind of items they commonly use, she became more confused the more stores she visited.

While she was repeating this cycle of browsing and pondering,

A man of average build approached Riley, bumped into her, and then,

“Ah!”

He snatched Riley’s entire bag and started to run away.

Unable to withstand the shock, Riley fell, hitting her bottom on the ground.

‘My money!’

Without time to be dazed by the sudden pickpocketing scene, Riley got up and started chasing the man like a madwoman.

“Thief! Someone catch the thief, please!”

Riley shouted desperately, but no one stepped forward to help.

The pickpocket man was incredibly fast, as if he had made a lifelong career out of pickpocketing.

It was a speed that she didn’t even dare to try to catch up with. The man started to appear smaller as he got further away. The distance between them noticeably widened.

Still, Riley couldn’t give up and kept running. Givnen’s birthday party was tomorrow, so she absolutely had to prepare a gift today.

“Hey, young lady, it’s dangerous!”

“Stop!”

“Kyaaaa!”

In a very short time, threats and screams from several people hit her ears.

A carriage approaching rapidly from not too far away came into view. It was clearly not a normal carriage.

Although there was a designated speed for carriages in the crowded square, this carriage rushing towards Riley was approaching at an incredible speed, as if something had gone wrong.

The moment she saw that carriage, Riley recalled the image of her father being hit and thrown by a carriage.

As soon as that shocking scene of blood spilling everywhere came to mind, her breath caught and her body began to stiffen. The memory of holding her bleeding, dying father and crying loudly dominated her vision.

Just as the carriage came so close that it seemed impossible to avoid,

“What are you doing?!”

In an instant, someone closed the distance and grabbed Riley’s hand.

Riley’s body was pulled like a piece of paper, and soon after, the carriage passed through the spot where she had been standing.

Riley covered her mouth and exhaled roughly, huk, huk, huk, breaking out in a cold sweat, as if hyperventilating.

“Hey, snap out of it! Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

She looked up at the familiar voice.

Ban’s pale white face came into view.