"Let's look around the rest of the house. Ah, yes—where is Vera's room?"
"M-Miss Vera's room is this way."
The order came out laced with barely contained fury.
Not wanting to provoke Lennox further, the servant hurried to guide him.
"Ha!"
The moment he opened Vera's door, Lennox let out a hollow laugh.
The difference was obvious at a glance.
The bed was covered with cute dolls.
The walls decorated with portraits of young Vera, smiling brightly.
Fresh flowers sat neatly arranged atop the dresser.
Vera had gone abroad to study before Estelle's soul marriage—meaning she had been gone for at least five years.
And yet her room was far better cared for than Estelle's, which had been vacant for only a few months.
"Disgusting… like vermin."
Lennox clenched his fist so tightly that veins bulged across the back of his hand, then strode to the window.
When he pulled back the curtains, the sunlight pouring in was so harsh it stabbed at his eyes.
Lennox blinked slowly, letting his gaze drift out over the garden.
The sight only deepened his disgust.
Estelle must have spent her whole life staring at gray brick walls.
Out in the garden, Glesia was shaking the Count by the collar.
The imperial knights stood encircling them, looking awkward. They made a few half-hearted attempts to intervene, but none dared to stop her outright.
"Elder sister."
After inspecting most of the mansion, Lennox descended to the garden and called out to Glesia.
"Let him go."
"Are you giving me orders now?"
"If you keep holding on to the Count, he can't be properly arrested."
"…Fair point."
Accepting her brother's reasoning, Glesia released the Count—
or rather, flung him aside.
"Urgh."
The Count landed hard on his backside.
"F-Father!"
Mathias called to him in a small, timid voice, too afraid to approach for fear of being dragged into the mess himself.
"That day you laid your hands on my wife… Do you know why I let you keep your head?"
Lennox's voice rang out, cold and cutting.
"It was because Estelle was watching. I couldn't show her something so cruel."
"D-Duke…"
"This marriage—belongs to me and Estelle."
"H-how dare—"
He bit down on the words, his tone like iron.
"It means this is none of your business. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes. Yes, I understand. I do, truly."
Count Belonsa bowed his head, servile and trembling.
His face had gone pale as he stole glances at Lennox, cold sweat running down his spine.
There was no doubt in his mind now—Lennox had overheard his conversation with Estelle.
It's certain! He must have heard me pressuring Estelle for a divorce—that's why he's saying this!
The very thing he had feared had come to pass.
"Take him away."
At Lennox's command, the knights seized the Count and hauled him to his feet.
Staggering and dazed, the Count was dragged off.
"F-Father! Where are you taking him?!"
"To prison."
"If you want to join him, then go ahead and follow."
At Glesia's threat, Mathias didn't make a sound—he only stumbled backward in retreat.
His cowardice, abandoning even his own father for the sake of his own safety, was so pitiful it was beyond laughter.
"I'll make him beg to be killed instead."
Lennox muttered, his gaze fixed coldly on the Count's back as he was dragged away.
That was precisely why he hadn't killed them outright.
***
A few days later, at the Winterren estate.
Crash!
Startled, a maid dropped the vase she had been carrying.
"My lady, you're awake!"
Estelle was sitting up in bed with her eyes open.
"When did you wake? No—never mind that. Please, have some water first."
The excited maid fussed over her, chattering eagerly as she carefully tended to Estelle.
Having only just awoken, Estelle was still dazed.
She quietly followed the maid's instructions without resistance.
It feels like I've had a very long dream.
Her memories were hazy and distant, as if wrapped in fog—yet she couldn't recall exactly what the dream had been.
As Estelle tried to steady her dazed mind, a familiar word slipped from the maid's lips.
"You can't imagine how devoted the Duke has been in caring for you, my lady. He'll surely be disappointed that you woke while he happened to be away for just a moment."
"…The Duke?"
Her voice came out dry and cracked.
"Pardon?"
"Where is the Duke right now?"
In a rush, memories from before she had collapsed came flooding back.
The Duke knows… that I wield demonic energy.
That I killed my former husbands.
Fear welled up inside her.
"He's gone to the Imperial Palace. Lately, he's been summoned there often because of Count Belonsa."
"Because of… the Count?"
"Ah, I suppose you wouldn't know since you were unconscious when it happened. Count Belonsa was arrested for tax evasion."
"What?"
Estelle's mind spun, unable to grasp what was happening.
"They say it must be a massive case of evasion, since it's unheard of for the Duke himself to intervene directly."
"…How long… was I unconscious?"
"Ten days, my lady."
Ten days.
More than enough time for many things to have happened.
As Estelle sat there with a stiff expression—
Thud-thud-thud!
A small bundle of life came running toward her and leapt straight into her arms.
"Mommyyy!"
It was Duren.
The tiny warmth wriggling against her chest melted Estelle's heart in an instant.
"Duren, you must have been so worried. I'm sorry Mommy slept for so long."
"I'm okay!"
"You're okay?"
"Yeah! When Dudu grows up fast, I'll protect Mommy!"
His eyes sparkled with determination.
She knew he was barely able to look after his own fragile little body, yet here he was talking about protecting someone else. The thought made her both proud and achingly sorry.
Estelle gently stroked the soft hair on the back of his head.
"Dudu's going to be Mommy's boyfriend."
Clenching his tiny fist with love shining in his face, Duren declared:
"And then I'll protect Mommy!"
"Hm? Duren, do you even know what 'boyfriend' means?"
"Yeah! It means a boy friend!"
Duren answered brightly.
For a moment, Estelle wondered, Wait… am I the one who's misunderstood the meaning of boyfriend?
How on earth am I supposed to explain this?
Her head, still sluggish from just waking, couldn't quite find the words.
While she was lost in thought—
"Mommy is married to Daddy. That means nobody can be Mommy's boyfriend."
A husky voice cut in.
Estelle's head snapped up, and she froze when her eyes met Lennox's.
With her weakness exposed, she couldn't help but feel like the vulnerable one before him.
"Huh? But my friends said I could!"
"Who said that?"
"My friends did!"
At Duren's reply, Lennox let out a faint chuckle.
"What kind of friends are you keeping, I wonder? Once you're married, you can't have another lover. So don't even think about coveting your father's wife."
That's the first time I've ever heard something like that!
Duren's lips parted in shock.
As the boy struggled to gather his thoughts, Lennox turned his gaze toward Estelle.
"Estelle."
"Y-Yes?"
"It's been ten days since you collapsed."
"Ah… I heard."
Would Lennox bring up her demonic energy now?
Or her dead ex-husbands?
Either way, he'd interrogate her like a guard.
Being dragged to the temple felt like the inevitable next step…
"243 hours and 27 minutes."
"…What?"
"That's how long it took—from the moment you collapsed until I heard the news that you'd woken."
To be precise, it was 243 hours, 27 minutes, and 45 seconds.
He didn't bother mentioning the seconds. That would have been too much.
Objectively speaking, what he said was already too much.
But Lennox himself wasn't in a state to realize that.
"I must've taken quite a shock. Even mandrake medicine can't turn someone into steel, it seems."
Estelle gave an awkward little laugh—
while sneaking a wary glance at Lennox.
Now that she thought of it, she was still hiding the fact that the mandrake potion hadn't worked properly on her.
"While I was unconscious, did the physician say anything?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Yes. He only mentioned that, due to accumulated fatigue, you'd likely be asleep a bit longer than usual."
In that instant, Estelle was certain.
That doctor was a quack.
Setting aside his lack of skill, dismissing a ten-day coma as mere "fatigue" was absurd.
Anyone else would have suspected malpractice on the spot.
And yet Lennox seemed to have accepted it without much concern.
He's never been sick himself, so perhaps he's simply insensitive to the suffering of others.
Still, that insensitivity meant he hadn't seized on her fragile condition as grounds for an immediate divorce.
Not that divorce is the problem right now…
A shadow crossed Estelle's face.
"I heard a little about Count Belonsa the moment I woke."
"…"
"They said you even went to the Imperial Palace because of my father."
Awkwardly forcing out the word father, Estelle cautiously glanced at Lennox as she asked:
"What happened?"
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