There was a strange feeling, a sense that this wouldn’t be the end.

For now, Carlothian was moved to another room to continue his treatment.

Fortunately, all the poison was neutralized by my divine power, and I only heard that fatigue would come from the blood he had vomited.

“…Do you have any idea who might be behind this?”

I sat beside him, looking down at him. At those words, Carlothian made a vague expression.

“There are too many possibilities.”

“Even though the Duke of Denaves has many enemies, there haven’t been any direct assassination attempts on you before.”

At that, he looked at me with an expression that seemed to indicate he didn’t want to say much. Oh, could it be…?

“…There have been?”

“…It has been quiet recently.”

“Exactly when?”

“Well, the last assassination attempt was definitely before our divorce.”

“Are you saying there were assassination attempts while we were married?”

“….”

He shut his mouth tightly and chose to remain silent. I let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.

Of course, considering our past, he has no reason to confide in me about this. But, we are still married.

I lifted my head for a moment to clear my thoughts and shook it lightly.

‘No, Carlothian might have thought that one of the families attempting the assassination was mine from the start.’

I loved Carlothian dearly, but my family doesn’t.

‘That definitely needs to be clarified.’

Thinking about it, I considered my family. My kind parents, my slightly foolish but playful and energetic brother.

I didn’t think my family would engage in such acts, but they were ultimately nobles. I couldn’t completely exclude them from suspicion.

“Carlothian, how are you feeling?”

“Thanks to you, I’m okay except for feeling a bit tired.”

“You should rest today. Let’s postpone all appointments with business guests.”

Saying that, I stood up. Then he grabbed the hem of my dress.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to visit my family. I think it’s best to confirm a few things.”

At that, Carlothian muttered.

“…I’m sick.”

His words made me pause for a moment without realizing it.

“…You’ll be fine soon.”

I thought I left the room rather coldly.

I felt the lingering gazes on my back for quite a while.

I called a maid and summoned Sir Maicher.

Soon, I gathered my outerwear and spoke to Sir Maicher, who arrived shortly.

“You’ve heard the news, right?”

“Yes. What kind of scoundrel…?”

“We need to find out starting now.”

I informed the maids that I would be visiting the Duke of Atlosia family, and the carriage was naturally prepared.

With just one maid and one escort knight accompanying me, I headed straight to the Duke of Atlosia residence.

As soon as I arrived at the mansion, my entire family came out to greet me.

“Adeline! What’s going on?”

My mother welcomed me. I smiled lightly and greeted her by pressing my cheek against hers.

“I’ve had some things come up.”

At the mention of “things,” a shadow quickly crossed my mother’s face. I have indeed been through a lot lately.

“I don’t think this is something to discuss here. Let’s go to the living room.”

Once I arrived in the living room and took a seat, three people gathered around me in a circle.

I looked at my father, who was sitting across from me, and asked.

“To be honest, I’m going to ask directly.”

“What is it that got you so serious?”

“Did you ever send an assassin to Carlothian while I was married to him?”

At those words, the family’s faces instantly hardened. Their wide eyes were filled with nothing but confusion.

What does that confusion mean? But the answer came easily. My older brother Erwin slammed his hand down on the armrest in disbelief.

“There’s no way we would do that!”

“Our family didn’t approve of my husband.”

Then my father cleared his throat and calmly said.

“It seems something has happened. But I swear, our family has never sent an assassin after him. There would be no reason to.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I’m quite sensitive about this right now.”

At that, my mother looked at me with a worried expression. Even though her child had come home after a long time and was pressing for answers, her face was filled only with concern.

“What on earth happened that made you look so uneasy?”

My mother’s warm hand wrapped around mine. I squeezed her hand tightly and looked directly into her eyes.

“Carlothian has been poisoned.”

“What did you say?”

“Oh my. So, what happened?”

“That guy was poisoned?”

I waved my hand as if to calm everyone down and replied.

“I don’t want to suspect Mother, Father, or my brother. That’s why I came to confirm things.”

“Of course, it wasn’t us!”

I narrowed my eyes.

“It’s a relief to hear that, but…”

My father stroked his chin with a serious expression.

“More importantly, to have an assassination attempt on Duke Denaves happen so suddenly… I can’t understand the motive.”

“Isn’t it just because there are many people targeting him?”

“There are indeed many who are targeting him. But just because they dislike him doesn’t mean there are many who would actually attempt an assassination.”

“What’s the reason?”

“Well, the power structure of the Empire is currently very stable. If one side collapses, it would likely lead to chaos.”

“What if they want that chaos?”

“Even so, the timing is ambiguous. After Duke Carlothian collapses, they would need to be confident that they could take his place to initiate such actions, and right now, it’s neither a time of war nor a succession struggle.”

I nodded at my father’s words. Indeed, the timing was ambiguous. I was glad I listened to him.

“Then, if we deduce it this way, we can definitely narrow it down to those who have a real motive to act.”

“Probably. But it won’t be certain.”

“Thank you, Father.”

“…No, Adeline. I know how much you love your husband.”

My father frowned.

“I know that well.”

I simply smiled at his words.

“…Then I’ll be heading back now.”

“Hey, are you really just here to confirm this?”

“Is there any other reason?”

My brother crossed his arms and grumbled in dissatisfaction.

“Still, since you’re here, you should spend some time and have a meal together…”

“Carlotian coughed up blood during our meal, so I don’t feel like eating. I’ll come back when I’m in a better mood.”

“Unfilial daughter.”

“Yeah, you too, brother.””Yep, you too.”

I left the mansion.

“Leaving already?”

A maid standing guard by the carriage asked.

“Yeah, it wasn’t a long errand.”

“Still, it’s your family home. I thought you would have dinner here.”

“No, I have a lot to do, so I need to return to the mansion.”

I got back into the carriage and fell into thought. The clattering sound was consistently audible.

‘There must be a solid reason to send an assassin.’

As I thought this, someone suddenly came to mind. Wait, no way.

‘Seth Dolorante.’

If Carlothian were to disappear, he would definitely be a man who could obtain what he wanted.

And that would probably be ‘me.’

I let out a hollow laugh. No way, he couldn’t be that insane.

Resting my elbows on the window frame, I tapped my chin with my fingertips.

It can’t be, it can’t be, I kept thinking to myself. But no matter how much I considered it, it felt off.

‘Should I check this?’

I frowned.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

Thankfully, Carlotian recovered faster than expected.

‘My divine power is indeed impressive.’

I sighed deeply. The sudden assassination attempt had stirred the family.

Carlothian had arrested the maid’s family and began investigating the maid’s corpse.

‘The maid’s reaction was too trained for a servant.’

I sat at my desk, tapping it repeatedly.

‘For now, the suspicious one is Seth Dolorante. Could he really have attempted to kill Carlothian in this way?’

Moreover, the maid had said she had been employed here for ten years.

No matter how skilled Seth Dolorante was, I thought he couldn’t have bribed a maid who had been here for a decade.

‘No, wait. What if he threatened her family?’

I touched my forehead.

‘Or maybe she was planted beforehand? No, that doesn’t make sense, she’s been here for ten years.’

The idea that a maid had been planted in the duke’s house ten years ago seemed too far-fetched. For now, I leaned back in my chair to cool my head and let out a sigh.

‘Should I go see Carlothian?’

Honestly, I thought that even without racking my brain like this, Carlothian would manage just fine on his own.

Knock knock

At that moment, I heard a knock.

“Come in.”

“Milady, a letter has arrived.”

It was Dolly. I looked at her when she mentioned the letter. Since I had instructed her to handle most letters, her wording suggested it was from someone special.

“Who is it from?”

“From the temple.”

“From the temple?”

I widened my eyes. What could the temple want to send me a letter for?

‘I returned the holy relics properly.’

I received the letter from Dolly and used a paper knife to break the seal. Inside, it read:

[We have something we would like to discuss, so please visit with Duke Denaves at your earliest convenience.]

It was a very concise letter. I blinked as I looked at it.

‘With Carlothian…?’

I frowned.

‘I don’t know what it’s about, but it seems I should go…’

It appeared that there was something they wanted from me at the temple. Since they had already accommodated my request once, it would be right for me to respond in kind.

I let out another deep sigh and then stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“To Carlothian.”

I had a bad feeling about this. I thought it would be best to go as quickly as possible, so I headed to Carlothian’s office.