‘Whoa.’
Rodi gave the warehouse door rolling across the dirt an exasperated look.
‘It was already open. There was really no need to smash it to pieces.’
He must be thoroughly enraged.
‘Well, of course he would be.’
She looked at the man standing at the entrance with his subordinates behind him.
‘Likens.’
He was glaring at Heiser Gor, his fury barely held in check.
Confronted by this unexpected arrival, Heiser froze in terror.
“Y-Young Duke Magzeta…?”
Grasping the situation, Heiser turned a murderous glare toward Rodi.
“Y-You wench, you set a trap…!”
“Did you only just figure that out?”
Indeed.
What Rodi had accepted from Likens and swallowed yesterday was a specialized magical potion.
Its effect was simple.
‘The target who ingested the potion can be tracked for twenty-four hours.’
Rodi let the corner of her mouth curl up in a taunting smirk.
“See? I told you that you were stupid.”
“Why, you—!”
“It never crossed your mind that you could walk into a trap, did it? Because you were so convinced of your own brilliance.”
Just as Heiser, his temper flaring past boiling point, took a step forward—
“Enough.”
Likens, who had held his silence until now, cut in with an ice-cold bark.
“In the name of the Imperial Palace Knight Commander, I arrest you in the act, Count Heiser Gor.”
“…”
“Consider this your warning. Do not resist.”
“D-Damn it…!”
Paying no heed to Likens’s warning, Heiser lunged toward Rodi.
‘Trying to take a hostage?’
She watched impassively as the murderer’s hands reached for her.
Shiing.
The moment Likens drew his blade—
“Aaaargh!”
Crimson blood splattered across her pale cheek.
“Gah, huff, huff, huff…!”
In a flash, Heiser had collapsed to the ground, clutching the stump of his severed right arm.
Likens, who had struck like a bolt of lightning, sheathed his sword without an ounce of emotion.
“Are you hurt?”
Hardly expecting him to check on her first in a situation like this, Rodi answered blankly.
“N-No.”
“That is a relief.”
Rip.
Tearing a strip from his cloak, Likens bound Heiser’s arm to stem the bleeding.
“…”
Rodi marveled at his composure.
‘This is the man who murdered his beloved parents. He must want to tear him apart right this second.’
Yet he seemed far more concerned with preventing the suspect from bleeding to death than indulging his wrath.
“Heiser Gor, you do not get to die here.”
Likens pronounced the words with grim severity.
“You will face judgment according to the law.”
“Ugh, urgh…”
Overwhelmed by agony and despair at what lay ahead, Heiser let tears stream down his face.
‘Tears, of all things.’
He had treated the lives of others like handfuls of dirt, yet his own was precious, was it?
Watching the clear droplets splash onto the ground, Rodi let out a scoff.
✦ ✦ ✦
Her limbs were bound tight with thread, rendering her unable to move.
Ominous voices echoed from all around.
‘Our good little daughter.’
‘You’ll listen to Mommy and Daddy, won’t you?’
‘We only say this for your own good.’
Rodi struggled frantically.
No, no, no!
Liars!
You never cared to ask what I thought, not even once!
…She poured all her strength into breaking free, but the slender threads refused to snap.
‘Don’t fight back, sweetheart.’
A chillingly tender voice whispered in her ear.
‘You belong to us.’
“Gah, hah…!”
Rodi woke from the dream, gasping for breath.
‘Ah.’
It took a few seconds to realize this was not ‘Yunseo’s room,’ but a bedchamber with an antique ceiling.
“A nightmare…”
Cold sweat clung to her back.
Rodi stared down at her palms, then clenched and unclenched her fists.
‘They move just fine.’
Even though she couldn’t budge an inch in the dream.
“It was all just a dream.”
Wearing a cynical smirk, Rodi slid out of bed and stretched.
Glancing at the calendar on the desk, she soon recalled today’s plans.
“Right. Today is the luncheon Duke Magzeta invited me to as a gesture of thanks.”
Two days had passed since Heiser’s arrest.
As was always the case with sensational scandals, the news had blazed through the newspapers in no time.
The verdict was not yet delivered, but Heiser’s death sentence was as good as certain.
‘I wonder how Likens will carry himself from here on.’
In the game, resolving this incident led directly to Likens confessing his love to Simone, bringing about his ending.
‘Things have diverged quite a bit from the original plot, though.’
And one of Likens’s vulnerabilities had already laid itself bare.
‘Fearing succession to his house, is it…?’
Lost in thought, Rodi came to a stop before the display cabinet.
The wooden carving Likens had crafted sat quietly inside.
‘I am not perfect.’
…She could almost hear his bitter voice ringing in her ear.
It might be meddling where she had no business, but she wanted to help him.
Rodi liked Likens.
He was an upright, righteous man. Even while wrestling with doubt and wandering off course, he never stopped striving to find the right path.
So if possible, she wanted him to find happiness.
‘Is there no way to help him?’
The word ‘perfection’ was nothing short of a curse.
Humans were born fundamentally flawed creatures who could never attain it.
It was precisely by making up for those shortcomings that people grew and moved forward.
“I need to free Likens from that curse of ‘perfection’…”
Murmuring to herself, Rodi opened the cabinet and gently lifted the wooden carving out.
✦ ✦ ✦
Rodi boarded the carriage sent by Duke Magzeta to fetch her.
“Welcome, miss.”
The moment she stepped down from the carriage, servants bowed with utmost courtesy right from the entrance.
Duke Magzeta approached with a remarkably straight posture.
“A pleasure to see you, Miss Rodi.”
Catching the hem of her skirts, Rodi gave a polite nod.
“I am honored by your invitation, Duke.”
Duke Magzeta chuckled warmly.
“I could hardly leave our benefactor standing out here. Come this way, please.”
She followed the duke to the dining hall as he guided her in person.
Waiting by the entrance to the hall stood Likens.
The rigid line of his mouth softened ever so slightly upon catching sight of her—a shift only William could have noticed.
‘Haha, look at the boy.’
Barely reining in the grin threatening to spread across his face, William stepped aside.
Likens promptly offered a gentle nod and extended his hand.
Failing to grasp the cue, Rodi merely looked at him blankly.
“…Pardon?”
The duke gave a dignified cough.
“I instructed my grandson to escort you today, Miss Rodi.”
“Ah… thank you for your consideration.”
Rolling her eyes slightly, Rodi gingerly took his hand.
To be greeted by the duke himself and escorted by the young duke…
‘This is quite the welcome.’
The young ladies of high society would have fainted from envy at the sight.
Taking the seat Likens personally pulled out for her, Rodi waited quietly for the meal to be served.
Before long, dishes made from the finest ingredients and prepared with the chef’s meticulous devotion arrived at the table.
‘Food that looks this pretty.’
Great care had clearly been poured into the presentation alone.
Recalling her dining etiquette, Rodi calmly took a bite.
‘As expected, I can’t taste a thing.’
At moments like this, when she could clearly perceive the creator’s toil, it felt a little regrettable.
Watching her closely as she ate, the duke asked,
“Is the food not to your liking, by any chance?”
Rodi gave her brightest smile.
“Not at all, it is truly delicious. I am deeply honored to be served such a wonderful meal, Duke.”
Seeming relieved by her reply, the duke chuckled.
“Haha, I am glad to hear it.”
William glanced sideways at Rodi as she cut her food into small, delicate bites.
‘I had heard rumors of a notorious villainess in high society.’
Seeing her in person, she did not match the rumors in the slightest.
Her conduct was graceful and cultured, and her demeanor lacked even a hint of arrogance or conceit.
‘Why on earth was she cast out of her family?’
Around the time dessert was served, William spoke in a measured tone.
“Miss Rodi, thank you truly for your help in apprehending the one who murdered my son and his wife.”
“Please, I only did what had to be done.”
William shook his head.
“No. Had it not been for your suggestion, Miss Rodi, we might never have uncovered the truth behind their deaths…”
Though William spoke with such composure now, he had nearly collapsed on the spot upon learning the true culprit was Heiser Gor.
‘To think Heiser, whom I cherished like my own son, was the murderer…’
In truth, the shock and sting of betrayal had yet to fully fade.
Yet, as someone who had navigated aristocratic society for decades, William swiftly regained his poise and carried out his duties.
And among those duties was expressing his gratitude to the benefactor who had played a pivotal role in capturing the killer.
“Speaking of which…”
Slicing his cake with a fork, William suddenly ventured,
“There is something I am rather curious about regarding the connection between you and my grandson, Miss Rodi.”
Sensing an ominous turn in his grandfather’s hushed tone, Likens stiffened.
“Are you two truly…”
William looked back and forth between the young man and woman.
“…nothing to each other?”
Rodi offered a pleasant smile.
“When you say nothing, Duke, what might you be referring to?”
Casting all dignity aside in an instant, he answered plainly,
“You know, that sort of passionate spark that flies between a man and a woman?”
Likens immediately cut in with an icy tone.
“Grandfather.”
“…”
“Please mind your dignity before our guest.”
Having already let the words slip, however, William pressed on shamelessly.
“I happen to be quite serious about this matter. Is there really not the tiiiiniest bit…”
He stared at her with wide, round eyes wholly unsuited to his advanced age.
“…of anything between you?”
