The words that he wouldn’t care about his contract wife during the war with the Tartars were null and void. The Grand Duke had already fallen head over heels for his wife, and the fact that he had rushed here as soon as he heard the news of her affair was proof of that.

“Irovel is…”

Reinhardt’s voice was extremely tired as if he had been running nonstop to get here.

“Where is she?”

‘His eyes are bloodshot!’

Jade realized that this wasn’t the time to nag at him, so he quickly answered.

“She’s in Marquess Leopold’s bedroom.”

“Bed…room?”

The way he uttered each syllable in a chilling manner made him seem like a broken doll.

When Jade nodded, he immediately jumped onto the horse he had been on before he rode straight through the mansion’s front gates without getting off.

“Your Highness! You must get off your horse when entering the mansion—!”

* * *

“What is it this time?”

When I heard that Amil was looking for me, I asked with a tone of weariness as I went to meet him.

“I’m experiencing a feeling I’ve never felt before in my life… Could this also be a symptom of my awakening?”

“So, what’s the reason for this?”

“…I miss people!”

I knew it. It was another ridiculous reason!

“That’s just because you haven’t seen anyone in so long!”

“Though I’m not the type of person who feels lonely.”

“Well, you should know from now on that you’re someone who feels lonely when he’s locked up!”

I let out an exasperated sigh.

…How many times have I been called by Amil for such trivial reasons?

When he called me because the food didn’t suit his taste or because he didn’t like his blanket, I could understand since there was no one else to relay his words to the servants. However, when he called me because he was lonely eating alone or because he wanted me to help him choose which pajamas to wear, I honestly wanted to smack him with a frying pan.

I was busy to death, and he was calling me over for such nonsense?!

“Are you perhaps annoyed?”

“Of course not.”

I forced an idol-like smile. My lips quivered as I tried to hide my rising irritation while I responded, “People can get a little strange… or rather, distressed after being locked up for a week, so why would I be annoyed?”

“You just said it could make someone strange.”

He had really good hearing. When did he hear that?

I tried to deny it.

“I didn’t.”

“You’re clearly annoyed.”

His grumbling tone made it obvious.

Oh, he was even avoiding eye contact. He must be really pissed! Seeing that, I frantically rummaged through my clutch bag to appease him.

“W-well, that ends today. Because… the magic tool is finally complete!”

“Is that true?!”

Amil’s eyes lit up, and I handed him a ring identical to the one I was wearing.

“I chose a common design on purpose.”

He quickly tried on the ring and pressed the button. The hair that had been depressing him for the past week disappeared.

“I can finally go outside!”

Amil rejoiced as he looked at his completely black-haired reflection in the mirror. Fortunately, he seemed to have forgotten about being pissed just now.

“Congratulations. Let’s go outside right away!”

I opened the bedroom door with genuine joy… or at least, I tried to, but before I could even open it, the door suddenly opened from the outside.

‘I told everyone not to enter Amil’s bedroom.’

What the hell was going on? I was frozen in place, wondering what had happened.

“Explain yourselves.”

A man who shouldn’t be here appeared before me.

“Why are the two of you coming out of the same bedroom?”

“Reinhardt?!”

I almost fell over in surprise. After all, why was this guy here when he should be busy slaughtering Tartars in the north?

“Why is Reinhardt here?”

“I asked why the two of you are coming out of the same bedroom.”

His expression was dark and fierce, unlike anything I had ever seen before.

…Was he angry?

Well, the situation was certainly ripe for misunderstanding.

“I understand. I’ll explain.”

Where should I start, and where should I end my explanation?

I couldn’t tell him that Amil was actually a distant descendant of the demon and that I was just helping him out because he was imprisoned due to his hair color. I didn’t want to just blurt out someone else’s privacy when their life was on the line, and if I revealed his identity to Reinhardt in front of Amil…

“Irovel, how could you reveal my identity when we’re on the same side!”

“It’s okay. Reinhardt will never denounce you.”

“How can you be sure of that!”

“That, well…”

“You said we were on the same side, but you lied to my face! Fine. I’ll tell my aunt everything!”

…This was what might happen.

‘So for now, I should just give him the same excuse I gave the others.’

“He sent me a note asking me to come. He’s been secluding himself and hasn’t been meeting anyone.”

“If he’s not meeting anyone, then he must have had very important business to call for Irovel. What is it, Brother Amil?”

It was a cold gaze that seemed to say that if his business wasn’t important, he would kill him right then and there. At the sight, Amil soon replied.

“Ah, I missed people since I’ve been secluding myself. That’s why I called her.”

“You invited someone else’s wife to your bedroom just for that reason?”

“I didn’t want to meet anyone other than Irovel.”

“Only Irovel…”

Reinhardt gritted his teeth.

‘What is this, why is he saying all these things that could be easily misunderstood?!’

“So, what Marquess Leopold said was that I was the only person he knew in this mansion, so he didn’t want to meet unfamiliar people! Right?”

“That’s right. Why would I ask servants I’m not even close with to eat with me or help me choose my pajamas?”

“…So, the two of you had a very enjoyable date in this bedroom.”

‘W-Why does that person keep saying things that will only deepen the misunderstanding?! This is driving me crazy…’

“It’s easy to misunderstand given the location, though it’s absolutely not like that.”

“It’s quite a misunderstanding, but the rings on both of your fingers look very similar.”

They were just a common design, and they were even made in the same workshop! They even have the same function!

“I had so much I wanted to say to Irovel while I was up north… I was thinking about how much I could say and how I should say it so that Irovel wouldn’t run away, but the two of you were matching couple rings.”

Reinhardt muttered in a sunken voice as if he was chanting, and he no longer looked at anyone.

“I was an idiot.”

With those words, he turned his back and left.

“What are you saying?!”

As soon as Reinhardt left, I confronted Amil.

“I never lied.”

“You said things that would make Reinhardt misunderstand on purpose!”

“That’s right, I did it on purpose. Look. I’m not lying now, am I?”

“Are you crazy?! Are you going to take responsibility if I get a divorce?”

“Of course, I will. Is it okay if I marry you instead of Reinhardt?”

Amil smiled slyly as he uttered those ridiculous words. What was that b*stard saying right now?

Haha.

I’m laughing because I’m so angry.

“Don’t talk nonsense! If I get a divorce, do you think I’ll be the only one to die? I’ll expose Leopold’s identity as well!”

“Oh, really?”

Seeing Amil look surprised, I instinctively felt it. Ah. Whatever he was going to say next was going to piss me off again.

“Then Irovel, who hid me, will also be executed, right?”

…As expected.

“Now that you have the ring, you’re done, right?”

“No? Even though I don’t need the labor-inducing herb anymore, I need to get Irovel and Reinhardt divorced to have His Majesty grant me a large sum of money and a villa for my work.”

Now, he was openly admitting that he was someone the Emperor planted here. Seeing his brazen and confident appearance, it seemed like he wouldn’t die alone even if I recorded our conversation with a magic tool.

“Do you really think so?”

Amil’s face hardened at the voice full of laughter.

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s not over just because you changed your hair color. Do you know about the second awakening? Of course, you don’t know because it’s information that isn’t even in the book.”

His face turned pale in an instant.

“I don’t know… What else is going to happen?”

“Do you think I’ll tell you?”

I spat it out coldly, slammed the door to Amil’s bedroom, and went out.

“Wait, Irovel—!”

Even though he chased after me belatedly, I couldn’t be caught like this. I kept running, and I was able to get rid of him and reach the master bedroom with difficulty.

“Reinhardt?”

When I entered carefully, I saw Reinhardt sitting still at the end of the bed with his gaze fixed on the air. I approached him and sat down.

“I’m not stupid enough to protect the privacy of those who betrayed me, so I’ll tell you.”

I pressed the button on the ring and returned to my original hair color, and I looked straight into Reinhardt’s eyes and uttered.

“The ring of Marquess Leopold has the same function as mine.”

—