The police inspector treated Cordelia with overwhelming kindness. He even called for a police carriage without being asked and loaded Craig’s coffin onto it.

Cordelia was a bit bewildered at first, but then belatedly realized that he was treating her so kindly because he knew she was Leonard’s disciple.

Whenever she experienced moments like this, it struck her anew how impressive Leonard’s name was.

“Oh, and don’t worry. I’ll make sure to deal with that coachman properly.”

“I have a request regarding that matter.”

“Anything you say.”

“Could I take custody of the coachman who killed my husband?”

“Ah.”

When the inspector hesitated for a moment, Cordelia tensed up, thinking he was going to refuse. But instead, he lowered his voice and suggested discreetly.

“Of course, Mrs. Abrams. Where should I send him?”

“Send him to Atilei.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“Don’t lay a finger on him. I want to do it myself.”

“Of course. I’ll do as you wish, madam.”

He said with a meaningful smile. The inspector offered to escort her home, but Cordelia politely declined.

Just as she was about to board the carriage prepared by the inspector, someone suddenly appeared and grabbed Cordelia’s arm.

“Who… you were still here?”

“You didn’t give me an answer!”

Dennis anxiously scanned the surroundings.

“Promise me. Promise you’ll talk to Grand Duke Atilei about me.”

“Why should I do that?”

“What?”

“Maximilian tried to kill, no, almost killed my master. You let the culprit escape during transport, so how can I ask for forgiveness for you?”

“Why can’t you? Why are you so selfish? Can’t you just bow your head once for your brother, for your family?”

This sentence was familiar, having heard it many times before. Back then, she could only bite her lip and be dragged along without properly refuting, but now it was different.

Cordelia looked straight into Dennis’s eyes and said,

“No. I can’t. Because I am selfish.”

To be honest, she was angry.

Even though it wasn’t the real situation, seeing him go on about his circumstances after witnessing Cordelia’s husband die right before his eyes made her lose all affection for him.

Dennis glared at Cordelia fiercely and tightened his grip on her wrist.

“Just because you became some kind of magician or whatever, you’re looking down on me now?”

“Ugh.”

“I guess when you become that great magician, you throw away everything, family and all, huh?”

“Let go of this hand.”

Dennis was certainly his father’s son. How could his words be so similar? It was almost laughable.

Cordelia shook her hand forcefully from Dennis’s grip. Fortunately, he released her wrist.

Dennis glared at Cordelia with eyes full of hatred and contempt.

“I’m the fool for trusting you and rushing all the way here. Go ahead, try living well after abandoning your family. Well, you’re under Atilei, who even crushed father’s ankle, so I guess you’re not a decent person either. Giving you just a few coins…”

“What did you say?”

“What? Am I wrong?”

“What on earth are you talking about? Father’s ankle… Did Master visit Father?”

“Lady Cordelia.”

The Baron, who had been quietly standing behind until then, spoke for the first time.

“Let’s board the carriage. There are people watching around us.”

“Ah.”

Cordelia briefly looked around. As they were not far from the police headquarters, there were quite a few people passing by, as the Baron had said.

“Where are you staying now?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’ll go there. Tell me quickly.”

At Cordelia’s urging, Dennis quickly changed his attitude, forgetting his previous grumbling.

“The Horse’s Hoof. I’m staying on the second floor there. Sis, I’ll be waiting, so you have to come, okay? Got it?”

“Alright, I’ll wait.”

With those final words, Cordelia boarded the carriage. Although it had only been a few hours since she left Atilei, she felt as tired as if she had spent days.

Dennis’s last words lingered in her mind.

“Baron.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what Dennis meant?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The Baron’s apology was not because he didn’t know the meaning of Dennis’s words, but rather a polite expression of ‘I can’t tell you.’ Cordelia didn’t press further.

What on earth had been happening?

The carriage’s speed slowly decreased. It seemed they had arrived at Atilei. It was time to start the act again.

The moment Cordelia stepped out of the carriage, she forgot about Dennis and imitated the grief of losing her husband.

“Oh, my goodness! Lady Cordelia!”

Her white dress was soaked in blood. The mansion’s servants rushed over in a panic at the sight.

“What on earth happened, what’s going on? Are you hurt somewhere? What are you all doing? Call for a doctor immediately!”

“Alex. I, I’m… fine. It’s not me who’s hurt. Sob.”

Cordelia squeezed out tears once again. Her eyes stung from crying so much, but it was necessary.

As she sobbed and couldn’t continue speaking, the Baron took over with a gloomy face.

“Count Abrams, Lady Cordelia’s husband, has just passed away in an unfortunate accident.”

“Oh my.”

“Oh, goodness. Lady Cordelia.”

“What do you mean by that, Baron? An accident?”

“He was walking without noticing an oncoming carriage and unfortunately lost his life.”

“Was he with Lady Cordelia?”

The Baron nodded sorrowfully. Alex let out a sigh. At this point, Cordelia staggered severely.

“Ah, Craig. Craig…”

“Lady Cordelia witnessed the accident directly, so she’s in great shock. Quickly, take her upstairs.”

“Yes, understood.”

Cordelia was supported by the maids as she went up to her room. Leila burst into tears while helping Cordelia remove her blood-stained dress.

“Oh, just this morning you left with such high expectations, and now…”

“Leila.”

“I’m sorry. You must be feeling much worse, Lady Cordelia.”

“I’m sorry, but I want to be alone.”

“Yes, I understand. Rest well.”

Leila finished helping Cordelia change and quietly left the room.

Cordelia didn’t let her guard down. From now on was important.

Although she was inside the Atilei townhouse, she had to maintain the role of ‘a noblewoman whose husband died suddenly in an accident’ to avoid suspicion.

She closed the window and drew the curtains before finally catching her breath. Her whole body ached terribly, probably from being tense all day since morning.

Cordelia got into bed. And she fell into a sleep as silent as a grave.

* * *

It’s a familiar touch.

For some reason, Cordelia felt that touch was somehow warm, comforting, and intimate.

That’s why it was more difficult than usual to open her eyes.

The touch that carefully arranged each strand of her hair was full of affection.

Cordelia opened her eyes very slowly. As expected, her master was sitting on a chair by the bedside.

Leo removed his hand from her face and asked,

“How does it feel to be an official widow?”

“It feels great.”

Cordelia smiled brightly. Leonard returned a faint smile in response.

“I heard from the Baron that your acting was excellent.”

“It can’t compare to the Baron’s. He cried so sorrowfully that I thought he had lost a child.”

“Did you say that to the Baron?”

“Huh? No. I just thought…”

“Don’t. He actually has lost one.”

“Oh. Ah. I see.”

Cordelia was so flustered that only incomplete syllables came out of her mouth. Of course, she thought the Baron might have been married given his age, but she didn’t know he had such a past. It’s a thousand times fortunate that she didn’t mention this in front of the Baron.

“But why are you in my room, Master?”

“Alex kept hinting at me.”

“Alex did? Why?”

“He asked me to comfort poor Cordelia, who lost her husband.”

“Ah.”

Even without seeing, she could imagine how Alex and the other servants were fretting beyond that door.

“When I checked Craig’s body, it seems the poor Cordelia who lost her husband had quite thoroughly crushed her husband?”

“What do you mean crushed? It was just moderately hit by a carriage.”

Cordelia said sheepishly. To be fair, even she thought the body was severely mangled, trampled by hooves. The Baron had managed it well so that only the head wasn’t damaged, but the body was almost completely crushed.

“I’ve refrozen the body for now. When did you say you’re leaving for Abrams?”

“After preparing everything, I think we’ll depart in five days.”

“I see. If you need anything, tell Alex and he’ll take care of it.”

Going to Abrams and finishing the funeral would finally put an end to her long and terrible marriage.

“And…”

He unusually hesitated a bit.

“I heard you met your younger brother today.”

“Did you hear from the Baron? Dennis said he lost Maximilian while transporting him, is that right?”

“To be precise, it was Embly’s doing. Your brother was just used.”

“So they used Vasquez as a scapegoat.”

“That’s right.”

Cordelia fell into thought for a moment. It’s not surprising that they used Vasquez, who had fallen and lost power, as a scapegoat to get Maximilian out.

However, what she couldn’t understand was why they specifically chose Vasquez among many others.

“But why Vasquez? Wouldn’t it have been better to bribe a suitable knight and handle it quietly if they were going to do such a thing? Was there really a need to push Dennis into the knighthood to use him?”

“Well…”

Leonard knew the reason but didn’t say it.