“I’ll make you realize just how miserable you’ll be if you leave me.”
“……”
“I want to take that bastard’s name away from our Dia as soon as possible.”
Veronica spoke through clenched teeth. In her quiet muttering, there was a deep, immeasurable fury.
Neither the Duke nor Vincent could say a word to that. Both of them sighed at the same time.
“Haa… In that case, do as you wish.”
“But make sure to take your escort. Absolutely do not go alone.”
With Vincent’s worried warning and the Duke’s permission, Veronica nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, Father. And you too, Brother.”
“Whew…”
The two men sighed again in perfect sync. Seeing their mirrored expressions, Veronica smiled deeply.
“This time, it’ll be different.”
She murmured to herself.
She didn’t know what Cedric was trying to achieve by meeting her, but Veronica no longer had any feelings left for him.
Even if he cried and begged, or got angry—it didn’t matter.
She was confident that seeing him would no longer affect her at all.
So, in this final meeting, she would make sure he realized that for himself.
Veronica’s red eyes darkened.
“I wonder if the two of them are meeting by now.”
While out on a stroll in the garden, I looked down at the fully bloomed flowers and murmured inwardly.
Today, the townhouse was unusually quiet.
The Duke had gone to the palace for a noble council meeting, and Vincent had accompanied him as the next Duke.
Henrietta had just left to manage the businesses in the capital.
Brandon, a professor at the academy, had been relatively free during the break, but today he had been summoned by the dean.
And Veronica had gone to meet the male lead at the Marquess’s estate.
“Well, nothing should happen.”
Yesterday, I had secretly eavesdropped on the conversation between Veronica and the direct-line family members.
I hadn’t expected Cedric to still be obsessed with Veronica, but thinking it was because his “regretful male lead” stat hadn’t filled up yet made it easier to accept.
Besides, the Duke, concerned for Veronica, had assigned Raven and an elite escort to protect her. So I didn’t need to worry about her being harmed.
“It’s been peaceful for the first time in a while.”
Thanks to that, I was enjoying a leisurely day.
With me in the garden were Sophia, a knight standing in for Raven, and Abel, who had been invited as a playmate once again.
“This flower looks like Dia!”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
Abel looked at me with a bright smile. He still had a beautiful face.
Veronica seemed to view Abel favorably for having given me Dolens, but the other direct-line members were not the same.
Especially the Duke and Vincent, who had glared daggers at Abel before heading to the palace.
I felt so bad for Abel, sweating bullets under their fierce stares.
I had no idea why they were so harsh on a child. I couldn’t understand how those people thought.
Clicking my tongue, I turned my head and looked at the flower Abel mentioned.
I didn’t know the name, but the white flower was very beautiful.
I wasn’t sure what made Abel say it resembled me, but seeing both Abel and the white flower reminded me of someone.
Nathaniel.
A dream I had shortly after possessing this body came to mind—
A collapsed building, Nathaniel standing alone in the middle of it, begging me to save him.
Nathaniel was the most powerful weapon of the Temple’s radical faction.
He was even referred to as the final weapon in the original story.
The Temple hadn’t yet sent Nathaniel to the North.
That meant even they couldn’t act too recklessly without a just cause.
“But just cause is easily fabricated.”
Manipulating public opinion was what the Temple did best.
They had even made Marianne a saint earlier than in the original story.
No one could say when they might frame the North as evil.
Before that happened, I was going to steal away the Temple’s final weapon—Nathaniel.
Staring at the white flower, I sank into thought.
“They say Nathaniel is locked deep underground in the Temple.”
The problem was how to get to him.
The relationship between House Winston and the Temple was at rock bottom.
Even if I managed to get inside the Temple, they would never allow me access to anywhere but the chapel.
“Hm.”
“Dia? What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“…?”
Abel tilted his head as I stared at the flower in contemplation. I turned away and smiled faintly at him.
Surely, an opportunity would come.
A chance to get into the deepest part of the Temple…
And when it did, I would make sure to take Nathaniel away.
If I could turn him to my side, great.
And even if I couldn’t, just breaking his loyalty to the Temple would be enough.
“Dia, if you’re bored, wanna play?”
“Play?”
“Yes.”
Abel, thinking I was bored, made a suggestion.
I looked at him with wide eyes.
“Let’s play tag! I’ll be it!”
“Haha…”
That’s certainly the kind of game little kids would play in a wide-open garden.
I grumbled inwardly.
I really didn’t want to play tag, but with Sophia and the knight watching me fondly from afar, I had to at least pretend.
“Abel, then you have to count to 100, okay?”
“Okay!”
Now that it had come to this, I’d just try to waste as much time as possible.
Playing with kids was exhausting.
[Master, I hate flower smells. Let’s go far away. Far away!]
“If we go too far, the knight will chase after us.”
[Ughhh, I hate flowers!]
Desmond continued whining in my head.
Ignoring him, I moved away quietly.
Abel had turned his back and was counting, and I tiptoed farther from him.
I didn’t forget to press a finger to my lips to shush Sophia and the knight, who were stifling their laughter.
Great. I’ll hide near a reasonably big tree and relax for a bit.
That’s what I thought—
SPLASH!
“……!”
“Miss!”
“Dia!”
Something black shot up from beneath my feet.
In an instant, everything went black.
I could only stare blankly at whatever had just engulfed me.
Veronica stared indifferently at the Marquess’s mansion she hadn’t visited in a long while.
Though it hadn’t been long since she returned from the North, it strangely felt like ages had passed.
“Welcome, Madam.”
“……”
Veronica lowered her gaze to the man bowing politely before her.
It was Oswald, the chief butler of the mansion.
He’d always been cold and sharp—much like his master—even to her, the former lady of the house.
But today, he seemed unusually polite and formal.
“Where is the Marquess?”
“…He’s waiting inside.”
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Veronica acted like nothing more than a guest.
She ignored how Oswald addressed her as “Madam” with perfect courtesy.
Walking down the eerily silent corridor, she muttered, almost to herself,
“It’s quiet.”
“…It’s been like that since the master was injured.”
Cedric had suffered a crushing defeat in a duel against Dantellion and shut himself inside the mansion afterward.
But even so, this level of silence was unsettling—like the mansion itself was dead.
Even when Veronica was the lady of the house, it had never been this quiet.
And strangely, the woman and child who were supposed to be managing things in her place were nowhere to be seen.
“Please go in.”
“……”
Her thoughts came to a stop as they arrived.
Oswald opened the door to Cedric’s room and bowed.
“The knights will wait here.”
“What?”
The knights who had followed Veronica frowned at Oswald’s words, but she stopped them.
Even under normal circumstances, Cedric was capable of defending himself.
Now, injured as he was, it would only be easier to handle him.
Veronica entered the room alone.
“…My wife.”
“……”
The room was filled with a thick, acrid smoke.
Veronica quickly realized it was the scent of burning medicinal herbs.
She slowly turned her head.
“You came… my wife.”
Cedric looked calmer than ever. Strangely, that made her even more uneasy.
Still, Veronica looked at him coldly and said,
“Let’s get divorced.”
“……”
“Please stamp the papers. That’s all I came here for.”
At that, Cedric’s face twisted into a strange expression—
It looked like he was angry.
“Hahahahaha!”
“……!”
But to her surprise, Cedric suddenly burst into laughter.
Veronica flinched as she stared at him laughing hysterically.
“Divorce? You think you’ll be happy after leaving me?”
“What are you…?”
“No. Absolutely not. Never.”
Cedric’s wild eyes locked onto Veronica.
Startled, she instinctively took a step back.
“I’ll never let that happen, Veronica. I’ll make sure you realize how miserable you’ll be without me.”
Obsession practically dripped from his voice.
Veronica’s face twisted in disgust.
