Diello’s words caused Redias to bow his head. At his gaze, he saw documents related to the Cartiel family.

[ Status of the Cleaners ]

It wasn’t referring to the cleaners who clean the mansion. Diello seemed to sense his gaze and confidently handed over the documents.

“…You intend to retaliate the same way?”

Poison for a poison.

The assassins under the control of ‘cleaner’ Vielle were already on the move towards Cartiel. Redias could feel the burning anger from within the head.

Upon seeing that, he was convinced.

…He was sincere. Diello no longer considered Krua as a contract marriage partner.

* * *

Shortly thereafter, those following Siette Cartiel were struck by a colorless, odorless poison.

Even though Siette quickly used his abilities to form a barrier of wind and block the poison, others couldn’t do the same, so many mid-level Cartiel members were poisoned and collapsed.

[ Report on Cartiel Intelligence Movement ]

Naturally, Cartiel’s intelligence department searched everywhere for an antidote to Diello’s poison. However, it was challenging as Argenta’s poison expert was not an easy opponent.

Diello silently laughed, thinking of Nias, who had quickly made an antidote when Krua was poisoned.

“Send more people to where the antidote is.”

He wanted to prevent them from obtaining the antidote properly — that was how his revenge was carried out very discreetly but surely.

* * *

Sometime later, Duke Alors received an unexpected gift.

“From Diello Argenta?”

“Yes.”

In front of him was a beautifully placed box.

[ Diello Argenta ]

The sender’s name was clearly Diello Argenta, and the sealing power on the box also matched Argenta’s magic.

“Open it.”

As Duke Alors gestured, his knight moved.

When he opened the box, he paused.

“This is…”

As he stopped speaking, Duke Alors couldn’t contain his frustration and stood up from his seat.

“What’s this?”

He muttered as he absentmindedly peered into the box.

“Huh.”

He narrowed his eyes and saw a small note next to the ‘gift.’ It read, [ I hope there won’t be anymore unfortunate incidents. ]

It was written in Diello Argenta’s handwriting.

“Has the atmosphere in Argenta been tense lately?”

Duke Alors asked, looking at the letter.

“Yes, it has become difficult to make contact due to the elimination of some infiltrators, but we obtained crucial information through the upper echelons in contact with Argenta.”

And those who were eliminated were here? Duke Alors thought as he glanced down at the neatly arranged blue gemstones labeled as gifts.

“What’s the problem?”

“It seems that Diello Argenta had an emotional outburst.”

“An emotional outburst?”

He looked at the knight with a puzzled expression.

“Yes, apparently someone targeted Krua Alors in Cartiel and failed.”

“Oh…”

Duke Alors let out a short sigh and burst into laughter. He held a power crystal in his hand.

It was truly Diello Argenta-like to cleanly handle and return even the power crystal of the spy who infiltrated his family. The enemy he was about to kill was as fragile as a sandcastle that would crumble under his foot. However, it was a sandcastle that he had worked hard to build, and there would be great satisfaction in knocking it down.

“We can take care of Argenta soon.”

He uttered with a joyful voice.

Crack!

The power crystal sent by Diello Argenta shattered in his hand.

* * *

“Indeed, Madam was right.”

After sending him to investigate the Cartiel Intelligence Department, Rick came running to me excitedly.

“We’ve caught the tail of the Cartiel Intelligence Department!”

Even though he was trying to say something while jumping around, I calmed him down for now. Still, he couldn’t hide his smile.

“For now, move under the name of Krua Alors, not Diello.”

Of course, there was no one who would reveal their name and attack the enemy. Nonetheless, if the tail was caught, I should be the one to reveal myself.

“…Madam, are you saying that you will take the front line?”

Rick hesitated at my words.

I nodded.

This was also my revenge. Above all, if the tail was caught on this side, I shouldn’t let them suspect anything from the other side.

I couldn’t believe Diello would secretly take revenge from behind. He was not the kind of person to do such things. It was better to do it comfortably in my own name. After all, I was the one who suffered from the poison.

“Plant people in the Cartiel Intelligence Department. Let them slowly become stained with Argenta’s influence.”

I gave the order and handed him a paper.

“Rest a little longer.”

Diello tempted me, but I didn’t think I could rest any longer. I kept postponing my return to work, and I finally came this day, taking advantage of the moment when Diello briefly left his office.

‘I never thought I would have to work secretly like this.’

However, I didn’t want it to look like a mistress who kept lazing around in Argenta. Even if the three noble families might know about Ferro, reputation matters in social circles, right?

Life filled with rumors was a waste of time!

That was why the documents I was currently helping with were originally supposed to be handled by Diello. Since he never prevented me from entering the office, people here didn’t think anything of it when I came in.

“Just plant people slowly.”

I commanded, and Rick responded in an unexpected manner. His face was a mix of curiosity and excitement.

“It wouldn’t be fun if we just got rid of them all at once.”

We have to get everything and then dispose of them.

When Rick’s expression lit up with excitement….

Thud.

Among the documents I was processing, a document with a different format caught my eye.

“….?”

If it was a document that only Diello needed to see, but there was no way I couldn’t look at it. I casually unfolded the document, and my eyes widened.

‘…It’s about the Cartiel Intelligence Department?’

Someone had instructed to investigate its movements.

[ Diello Argenta ]

It was Diello who instructed it.

[ The Cartiel Intelligence Department is focusing its efforts on finding an antidote.
Hence, we have blocked all possible routes to the glacial regions where the herb is native to delay the acquisition of the antidote as long as possible ]

This was a report from the Intelligence Department.

Something was strange when I read the report. Argenta intelligence already knew that Cartiel had been poisoned and that the antidote for the poison was only found in cold places.

In short, they knew the identity of the poison.

Therefore, if it were a simple poison that other families could easily identify, Cartiel wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble. It meant that there was only one conclusion.

“…Did you use poison on Cartiel?”

Rick couldn’t have been unaware of this in front of the head of the Intelligence Department.

“Yes.”

He scratched his head, making me blink.

“…Under Diello’s orders?”

“Yes.”

Finally admitting it, Rick looked troubled. He didn’t think I would come across this information, or maybe he didn’t want me to.

“Did Diello tell you to keep it a secret?”

His face lost the faint trace of laughter at my words. There was only a brief moment when the innocent fool became serious — when he genuinely felt troubled.

“Am I right?”

Rick nodded his head at my words.

That was when it happened.

Creak.

“Krua?”

He had opened the door expecting no one to be there, but instead found me. There was a hint of light in his blue eyes. The aftermath of his rampage was still there.

That was what I thought at that moment.

“Ah…”

The next moment, Diello’s gaze turned to the documents in my hand as a complex emotion briefly flashed across his face. I didn’t expect someone as soft and fluffy as a pudding to seek revenge from behind the scenes.

Surprising, wasn’t it?

Soon, our gazes met.

—