“What about the child’s father?”

“It seems even the maid doesn’t know. Most likely, he’s from a humble family or a commoner. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have left her unmarried for so long.”

“Or he might be in a state where he can’t marry.”

“Pardon?”

“Now the puzzle fits together.”

He had finally discovered the connection between Maximilian and Embly that he had been desperately searching for. And why Anton Embly had made the dangerous choice to confront Leonard.

“May I ask what you mean by that?”

“The child’s father is probably Maximilian.”

“What? That can’t be. If so, couldn’t they just get married?”

“It’s obvious. Maximilian must have set conditions using marriage as leverage. Cooperate in killing me, and I’ll make your daughter an Atilei. Even the stray dogs in Yebo Delim know how much Embly cherishes his daughter. He must have deliberately approached that daughter with this in mind.”

As Leonard explained, the Baron’s eyes widened as if he had realized the truth.

“That explains everything.”

“Didn’t you say it was Embly who got Dennis Vasquez into the royal knights?”

“Yes. Embly strongly recommended him to His Majesty.”

“Then this escape plot must have been designed by Embly as well…”

Leonard stroked his cleanly shaven chin. There was still one unanswered question.

“What I don’t understand is why Embly chose to save Maximilian. From his perspective, it would be much more beneficial if Maximilian died.”

“Hmm. Indeed, that’s puzzling.”

“For now, keep digging into Embly. We can take our time catching Maximilian, but we must secure solid evidence of their connection.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

Finally, the day had come.

Cordelia’s heart was pounding so much that she couldn’t sleep at night. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she spent the dawn with her eyes wide open.

As soon as morning came, she muttered the plan she had already rehearsed dozens of times.

“When the carriage comes from the right, the Baron waiting will push Craig into the center and…”

At that moment, Leila opened the door and entered, temporarily interrupting Craig’s death plan.

“Oh my, you’re up early today.”

“Yes. I have something important to do.”

“Something important?”

“My husband is finally arriving in Yebo Delim today.”

“Oh my.”

Leila seemed a bit surprised. She noticeably studied Cordelia’s face while attending to her, as if trying to guess her emotions.

“What kind of person is the Count?”

“Hmm. He’s a good person.”

“I see…”

She could say that now that he was dead. The living Craig was never a good person to her, but the dead Craig would set her free.

Leila seemed somewhat disappointed by her answer.

“This outfit will do.”

Usually, Cordelia just wore whatever Leila recommended, but today she chose her clothes carefully.

Which one would show blood well?

“This one will do.”

“White? Yes, understood.”

Since it wasn’t a color she usually wore, Leila looked a bit puzzled but didn’t comment further.

After finishing all preparations, Cordelia took a short deep breath and left the room. When she went down to the dining room, the Baron was already seated and eating.

“Good morning, Lady Cordelia.”

“Good morning, Baron.”

Cordelia sat across from him. The servant soon brought out the food, but she was so nervous that she couldn’t tell if the food was going into her mouth or her nose.

Noticing this, the Baron smiled lightly.

“Ho ho. Are you nervous?”

“Terribly. You don’t think anyone will recognize us, do you?”

“Of course not. Don’t worry too much. We’ve practiced this several times already, haven’t we?”

“That’s true, but…”

She nibbled at her soup, barely eating. The Baron wiped his mouth with a napkin and said,

“In Yebo Delim, a simple accident only needs to be reported to the patrol.”

“What about the coachman who causes the accident?”

“The best method is to say we’ll punish him ourselves and take custody. If they refuse, citing administrative reasons, we can just bribe them with money. Hmm. It’s time. Shall we go now?”

“Alright.”

Cordelia left the mansion with determination. As they waited at the agreed location, a shabby carriage pulled up.

The man on the driver’s seat got down and bowed in greeting.

“Good morning, Mrs. Abrams. And Baron.”

“James. Right on time.”

The man recruited as the coachman was one of the Baron’s subordinates, so loyal that when the Baron said he needed to run over a corpse with the carriage, he didn’t even flinch and just asked where to do it.

“He’s inside.”

James gestured towards the carriage with his eyes. The Baron and Cordelia got in. Craig’s corpse was lying quietly inside, having been loaded earlier.

“Hmm. Since it’s a corpse, even if it gets injured, it won’t bleed much.”

“I thought of that and brought some pig’s blood. This should be enough, right?”

Cordelia took out a glass bottle sloshing with blood from her bosom. The Baron seemed a bit taken aback by her surprising level of preparation.

“…You’re thorough.”

“Of course. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this day? Let’s go.”

When she knocked on the carriage wall, it slowly started moving.

The Baron muttered a short spell. Craig’s corpse, lying down, sat up awkwardly on the seat. Cordelia carefully covered Craig’s body with a cloak.

“Just be careful with the head. The face needs to be recognizable so there won’t be any questions.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

They were almost at the street they had scouted earlier. The timing was good too. It was just the right time, neither too crowded nor too empty.

The Baron got out first and used puppet magic to make Craig exit the carriage. Up close, it looked a bit awkward, but not too strange.

“James. When I give the signal, come rushing in then. Just like we practiced. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

James drove the carriage to the standby position. The Baron walked a little distance away.

Cordelia’s heart was pounding so hard she felt it might burst through her ribcage. She glanced around at the other people walking on the street. None of them seemed to think the person walking next to Cordelia was a corpse.

She looked at Craig walking beside her.

Their plan was simple.

When James drove the carriage roughly, Cordelia would pretend to argue with Craig. Then Craig’s body would walk towards the carriage, and James would hit him at the right moment.

“Alright. I’m ready, Baron.”

“Yes. We’ll begin.”

The Baron signaled James. From the end of the road, James slowly approached, driving the carriage. The Baron manipulated Craig to push Cordelia’s shoulder with his hand.

Cordelia cleared her throat and recited her prepared lines.

“Ouch, Craig. What are you doing?”

“Sister?”

“No matter how angry you are—huh?”

“It really is you, sister!”

A familiar voice came from behind her. Cordelia turned around in surprise. There stood her younger brother, Dennis Vasquez.

She was quite flustered, having never imagined she would see him here, at the moment she was killing her husband.

“Sister. I’ve missed you so much. Do you know how many times I’ve looked for you? I went to the Atilei townhouse several times.”

“You looked for me? Why?”

“Lady Cordelia.”

The Baron, standing a little distance away, drew her attention. Only then did Cordelia realize what they had been doing.

“Dennis. Later, let’s talk later.”

“When later? Sister, I’m really in a hurry. Can’t we talk now?”

“I’m busy now too. Where are you staying? I’ll come there.”

“No, I don’t have time.”

Dennis grabbed her arm and persisted. The carriage James was driving came closer and closer. Faced with this unexpected situation, Cordelia was at a loss for what to do.

‘Should I stop the carriage now? Or just go through with it? No. I shouldn’t involve Dennis unnecessarily.’

Cordelia glanced at Craig standing awkwardly. At that moment, Craig staggered towards the road.

Because they had told him to speed up on purpose, the carriage was already right in front of them in the blink of an eye.

“C-Craig! Dennis, let go of me.”

“Why? Who’s that man?”

“Baron, wait—”

Craig ran towards the oncoming carriage as if throwing himself.

The accident happened in an instant. She had meant to tell the Baron to stop for a moment, but the carriage was a bit faster. James, as planned, ran over Craig precisely with the horse.

“Ahhh! Someone’s been hit!”

“Who is it? Who died?”

People screamed.

The glass bottle hidden in Craig’s body shattered, scattering blood everywhere. Because of this, the scene looked quite convincing.

Perhaps because Dennis was beside her, or because the situation unfolded a bit differently than she had expected, Cordelia was more flustered than she had anticipated. She shook off Dennis and ran to Craig.

Up close, Craig’s condition after being trampled by the horse’s hooves was more gruesome than she had thought. Therefore, no one thought he could be alive.

“Craig!”

“Sob, sob, My Lord. Whatever possessed you to run into the road…”

The Baron cried naturally, putting on an act. He wept so mournfully that it looked as if his own child had died.