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"What do you mean? Riel tried to kill you?"
Carrion asked Iana with a shocked expression.
Iana saw his past words overlapping Carrion's face.
"Carrion, Riel tried to kill me. With a poison called Seulanka in my food..."
"Iana, don't slander Riel like that. It's pathetic."
Carrion didn't believe her. Not until she was banished from the empire.
His frosty, cold eyes vividly flashed in her mind.
Iana's hands trembled with injustice, anger, and sorrow.
As if it had happened just yesterday.
"Really? Riel tried to kill you?"
Carrion looked at her with a confused expression.
A single question asking if it was true. Shocked eyes.
It was the reaction Iana had wanted from Carrion in her past life.
Tears welled up and fell with a plop as a myriad of emotions washed over her.
She panicked and quickly turned her head away, saying,
"Marcel caught the person who delivered the Seulanka to Riel."
"Iana, I'm asking if it's true!"
He grabbed Iana's face and turned it towards him.
Slap!
Iana roughly slapped Carrion's hand away.
"Believe it or not, I don't care. I'm not asking you to believe me, Carrion."
The two glared at each other as if they wanted to kill each other.
Carrion sighed and roughly swept his hair back.
"If something like that happened, you should have at least told me, your husband."
"Back then, you were obsessed with Riel."
Iana blurted out the story of her past life without realizing it.
"When was I? I wasn't that into Riel. If you hadn't left the house, nothing would have happened between Riel and me."
Carrion looked at her as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So, what are you trying to say?"
Iana wiped away her tears roughly with her hand and retorted, and Carrion went to sit on the sofa.
"Honestly, I don't know about the other things, but one thing you said is definitely right."
"…?"
"The more Riel is favored by His Majesty the Emperor and rises to a higher position, the more precarious my existence becomes."
"So?"
Iana scrutinized Carrion's expression and sat on the opposite sofa.
"From now on, if you have a plan, let me know. Don't just do things in a disgusting way and expect me to follow along."
"…"
"That way, I, as the head of the investigation team, can move according to the plan. Got it?"
Iana stared at Carrion for a moment, trying to gauge whether he was sincere, before answering.
"Okay. I will."
Carrion stared intently at Iana before asking in a gentle voice.
"Iana, have you had lunch? I haven't yet."
"Get out."
She ordered curtly.
"What?"
"I don't want to have a personal conversation with you, Carrion."
"Iana, shouldn't you not be doing this to me right now?"
Carrion retorted with an arrogant expression.
"If you don't want to be used and abandoned by Riel and Duke Havel, don't act high and mighty in front of me."
After speaking, Iana gestured for him to leave.
Carrion was about to lose his temper but got up from his seat and walked towards the door.
He grabbed the doorknob and said quietly.
"At least if I had known that your life was in danger, Iana…"
"…"
"I would never have stood still."
After speaking, Carrion opened the door and went outside.
Bang!
Iana looked at the closed door and thought.
'No, you didn't, Carrion.'
✦ ✦ ✦
Lady Riel returned to her detached residence in the Imperial Palace and received a report from the healer.
"Count Dietrian has become the head of the investigation team for this case."
"That's fortunate, at least."
Riel muttered softly as she sat on the sofa.
Carrion had an awkward relationship with her, but he couldn't ignore Duke Havel's connections.
Especially in a situation like now, where he had to distance himself from the Emperor because of his relationship with her, he would need Duke Havel even more.
"Then what should we do now? The pregnancy you mentioned last time…"
The healer whispered softly, trailing off at the end.
She was lost in thought.
'If I tell His Majesty the Emperor that I'm pregnant now, I might be suspected even more.'
When she used Reparto, the poison used by the Estina family in the past, the claim that she was framed was plausible.
But Seulanka was different.
If her past actions were revealed, she could be accused of being the culprit behind the poisoning attempt.
"Because I have evidence that you did it."
'Rechelles must have found out through their informants.'
The slave in the marble quarry and the death of Raul. The broken Goddess of Pain.
All of her actions were related to Seulanka.
'Iana ruined my plan. Completely.'
Riel was most angry about Iana's attitude.
"Do you know what that poison is? Seulanka. The poison you used when you killed the sculptor's assistant, Raul."
She didn't know what Iana was up to, but she was forewarning her attack as if she was being generous.
Like a strong person who fights with consideration for the weak, as Iana had said.
That made her unbearably angry and upset.
'Iana must be trying to shake me and confuse me.'
Just then, she heard a presence beyond the door.
The healer, thinking it was the Emperor as before, quickly moved away from Riel.
Knock knock.
Along with the sound of knocking on the door, she heard the voice of a guard.
"Lady Riel, Count Dietrian has arrived."
"Count Dietrian?"
Riel and the healer looked at the door with puzzled expressions.
'What could be Count Dietrian's purpose in coming here now?'
In this situation, it was clear that the head of the investigation team had a purpose in visiting.
She gave the order in a calm voice.
"Let him in."
Creak-.
The door opened, and Carrion came inside and greeted her.
"Lady Riel, how are you?"
Riel sat on the sofa and scrutinized Carrion's expression.
An arrogant face that suggested he had taken the initiative.
Riel gave a twisted smile.
'He must have come to intimidate me. Holding a grudge for what happened...'
Riel gave a look, and the healer went outside.
Carrion walked slowly and sat on the sofa opposite her.
A moment of silence passed between the two.
Riel was the first to speak.
"I didn't expect you to visit my room in person, Count Dietrian."
"I hope you don't misunderstand. I'm just here as the head of the investigation team to ask a few questions."
"…"
"Ah, I already met with Iana Archmage first."
Carrion's tone was polite, but the way he leaned back deeply on the sofa was extremely arrogant.
"Who recommended you? As the head of the investigation team."
Riel twisted her lips.
"Was it you?"
Carrion frowned and asked.
Riel looked at Carrion, who was harboring animosity, and thought.
'What should I throw to relieve the animosity that Count Dietrian is harboring?'
Riel leaned forward and said as if throwing something away.
"Iana."
"What do you mean, Iana?"
"I heard you asked His Majesty for Iana as your mistress?"
"…"
Carrion was silent.
"You could do that if it weren't for Grand Duke Ervin. So, focus this case not on me and Iana, but on where you want it to be, Count Dietrian."
"Grand Duke Ervin?"
"It was only for a short time with me, and you didn't really want to divorce Iana, did you?"
"…"
"This is your last chance to bring Iana back. From beside Grand Duke Ervin."
Riel coaxed Carrion and drove him in the direction she wanted.
"…!"
At Riel's suggestion, Carrion's eyes flashed with a different light.
A small smile spread across Riel's lips as she saw him hesitating.
'Maybe I can eliminate Grand Duke Ervin without getting my hands dirty.'
✦ ✦ ✦
Iana was about to leave her room to head to the Imperial Palace when a guard ran up to her.
"Iana Archmage."
"What's going on?"
"Grand Duke Ervin is coming to the gate right now. A messenger has arrived from Ervin."
"A messenger from Ervin?"
Iana instinctively felt that something urgent had happened.
She hurried to the gate with the guard.
When she arrived at the gate, Charles was talking to a messenger with the Ervin flag.
Iana caught her breath and asked Charles.
"Your Highness, what's going on in Ervin?"
Charles said with a dark face.
"As the monster forces on the border have grown, refugees are coming down south."
"…"
"It seems that refugees have come to Ervin because it is relatively safe, but it has exceeded its capacity."
"Then?"
Charles hesitated before speaking.
"Other territories in the northern region will not be able to accommodate the refugees."
"…"
"It seems we will have to open the capital. To the refugees."
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