“It was a scheme to remarry Iana and Duke Ervin.”
“Riel, say that again. What did you just say?”
Karion's eyes turned cold. Like the calm before a storm.
‘Now the Count must be out of his mind.’
Riel smiled inwardly while maintaining a serious expression on the outside.
“I said that Iana and Duke Ervin were having an affair.”
Riel began to explain one by one.
Why Iana left home,
Why she went to Duke Ervin's territory,
Why Marquis Retchels pushed for their divorce even at the risk of war,
She explained according to the scheme she had devised to frame Iana.
“... In other words, it was a fraudulent divorce.”
As Riel finished speaking, her uncle glared at her and asked,
“But how can we trust that what you’re saying is true?”
The eyes of the Dietrian family members, who were watching Riel, were no different from her uncle's.
“I found out from the dedicated coachman who moves in tandem with Marquis Retchels. Of course, it was that coachman who took Marquis Retchels to Ervin as well.”
“...!”
At her words, the Dietrian family members stirred.
“If you find it hard to believe what I’m saying, then believe the logic of the situation. There are more than a few strange points, aren’t there?”
“What?”
After a long time of piecing together the puzzle, the Dietrian family members erupted in anger.
Bang-.
Her uncle slammed his fist on the table and shouted.
“So you’re saying they brought in a magical legion to cover up Iana’s affair and remarry her to royalty?”
The family members beside him continued.
“Then Duke Ervin coming personally to give the knightly reward was also pre-planned with Marquis Retchels?”
“We’ve completely been played by Duke Ervin! We had no idea and begged the Retchels family to stay in the castle, fearing they might attack.”
Step by step.
Karion walked slowly toward the table with a stiff face.
Her uncle, knowing his temperament well, spoke with a tense expression.
“Karion, calm down a bit.”
At that moment, Karion picked up a chair and threw it out the window of the parlor.
Crash-.
With a loud noise, the large arched glass window shattered.
Glass shards flew everywhere, and the broken window became an eyesore.
“Hahaha.”
Karion began to laugh like a madman.
A chilling laugh echoed throughout the parlor.
After a moment, Karion muttered with a crazed look in his eyes, still holding a smile.
“Right. It was strange. Iana’s changed appearance, her tantrums about the divorce, and Duke Ervin meddling in Iana’s affairs were all odd.”
“Karion. Calm down.”
Her uncle tried to soothe him again, but Karion turned and said.
“I told Iana that if she had another man, I would kill them both.”
As Karion’s eyes turned wild and he tried to leave the parlor, the Dietrian family members rushed in to stop him.
“Let go! Let go!”
At that moment, Riel sneered in a low voice.
“Did I come here for nothing, risking my life?”
Karion glared at Riel as if she annoyed him.
“What did you say?”
Riel met Karion’s gaze directly and pressed on with a cold voice.
“You said the Retchels family’s magical legion couldn’t last a day, right? Then how do you plan to deal with the First Knights of Rubena, the best knight order?”
“Shut up.”
“Kill him? How do you plan to kill Duke Ervin, the commander of the First Knights of Rubena?”
“Shut your mouth!”
Karion strode over and roughly grabbed Riel by the collar. But Riel smiled wickedly without showing any sign of fear.
“Count, you need to make a good judgment from now on. People have a very peculiar heart.”
“...”
“On the surface, they condemn those who deceive them, but in their hearts, they treat those who are deceived as fools.”
Riel attacked his pride to break Karion’s momentum. Like a devil whispering with a sneer.
“How lacking of a man must you be to not even realize your wife was taken from you?”
“What?”
“How foolish must you be to not know about the conspiracy and deception, and to hastily agree to a divorce in just one day? Like this.”
Slaap-.
Karion, whose anger exploded, slapped Riel’s cheek.
Riel fell to the ground.
Blood flowed from her split lip again. But Riel wiped it away with her sleeve and spoke without hesitation.
“That kind of foolish treatment will be a fatal blow to the Dietrian family. Then will His Majesty the Emperor continue to entrust royal policy advice to a foolish family?”
“...!”
Karion and the Dietrian family members, who hadn’t thought that far, looked shocked.
Bang-.
Karion slammed his fist on the parlor door.
‘Having punished him, now I must soothe him.’
Riel stood up and gently spoke to Karion, who was standing at the door.
“Count, now the Retchels family, entangled with royalty and scandal, will not be able to act recklessly. So from now on, punish the Retchels family calmly and meticulously.”
“How?”
“First, you need to eliminate the sympathy towards Iana. Not as the pitiful Countess betrayed by a maid who received kindness from her family...”
“...?”
“But as a wicked woman who tormented a maid abused by the Retchels family and committed adultery.”
A wicked smile spread across Riel’s lips.
At that moment, in front of the parlor door.
The head maid hurriedly brought cleaning tools after hearing the sound of shattering glass.
Then, upon hearing Karion’s words, the head maid sent the other maids away and eavesdropped on the conversation coming through the crack of the parlor door.
‘Did the lady have an affair with Duke Ervin?’
The head maid recalled the time Duke Ervin had stayed.
‘The lady was different from usual, but she didn’t seem like a woman in love.’
She had many opportunities to interact with her mistress due to the broken statue, so she remembered clearly.
Suddenly, Iana’s words flashed through her mind.
“Riel will not be a mistress, but will become the Countess.”
At first, the head maid thought it was impossible.
But with this incident, if Riel gained great trust from the Dietrian family, she might really become the Countess.
The head maid quietly walked down the hallway, making a vow.
‘I should inform the lady. So that things don’t go as Riel plans.’
Four days later, after leaving the Tems Count’s house, Iana traveled in a carriage with Charles.
The aftereffects of the binding magic being released were more severe than she had thought.
She frequently felt feverish and her body ached.
There was no maid to care for her, and since it was crucial that Iana’s magical powers not be revealed, Charles took care of her himself.
‘This is uncomfortable...’
Iana was grateful for Charles, who was taking care of her with such care.
However, sitting face to face in the carriage and being attended to by a duke was quite uncomfortable.
He placed his hand on her forehead.
“It seems your fever has gone down a bit.”
Though it was unavoidable, such contact made Iana feel embarrassed.
She awkwardly changed the subject.
“Your Grace, you must be tired too, so please rest now.”
Charles, wetting a handkerchief, suddenly asked a question.
“How did you know? What happened to me in the palace?”
“... I shouldn’t have, but I overheard what the knights were saying.”
“Thank you. Your words were comforting.”
Charles handed Iana the wet handkerchief. She took it with both hands and fell into thought for a moment.
Looking back, there had been words of courage and comfort from Charles at every critical moment in her life.
So even though she was burning with fever and felt faint, she wanted to convey words of comfort to him somehow.
“Thoughts without answers can make a person lonely.”
Being threatened with death by family was something that could not be resolved no matter how many times she thought about it.
“I just thought that I hope Your Grace doesn’t feel lonely.”
Iana smiled softly. Seeing the touched look in his eyes made her feel a sense of pride.
At that moment, Charles crossed his arms and spoke with a serious face.
“Mule said that creativity is important for wizards, but you seem to lack creativity.”
“What?”
Iana blinked in surprise at the unexpected remark.
“Isn’t it a bit, no, not right to just repeat what I said?”
Charles asked without any preamble.
She couldn’t tell if he was speaking to himself or using a friendly tone.
“So that’s...”
Iana was confused about how to respond, and her face turned bright red at his criticism.
Seeing her like that, he chuckled. He then picked up Rue, who was eating hay on the floor of the carriage, and opened the window.
Whoosh-.
A warm breeze gently tousled Charles’s gray hair. Flap flap. Rue’s small ears also swayed in the wind.
At that moment, his broad shoulders caught Iana’s eye. As the wind blew in, his thin shirt clung to his body, revealing his back muscles.
‘So broad...’
Iana marveled at how a person could have such broad shoulders. She shook her head, thinking it was a silly thought.
“Over there is Ervin.”
Charles pointed out the window.
Iana followed the tip of his finger with her gaze.
Before them, a majestic stone mountain bathed in a red sunset stretched endlessly.
A land of hope to start a new life.
Iana gazed out the window with a look of deep emotion.
‘Finally, I have returned. To my Ervin.’