Ivan, seated on the throne, looked at the scene before him and thought,
A madman.
Heredin Delmark is a madman.
What kind of lunatic drags a noble heir to the imperial palace after beating him to a pulp in broad daylight?
No matter how serious the crime, personally laying hands on the son of a noble house could easily escalate into a feud between families.
There was no way Heredin hadn’t considered that.
Which meant that bringing the heir here like this meant he was prepared to become enemies with the Baldwin family.
‘The eldest son of Baldwin is one thing…’
Ivan narrowed his eyes when he saw Rachel standing beside the battered Wesley, her face pale with shock.
To think he had even dragged in Rachel—his cousin and a relative close to the imperial family.
Ivan pressed his throbbing forehead and repeated the words Heredin had spoken earlier.
“So you’re saying the Baldwin heir and Rachel attempted to rape Blair during this hunting competition to create a scandal?
And in the process, Blair escaped and became lost?”
“Yes.
Everything Your Majesty heard is correct.”
Ivan looked at Wesley and Rachel with obvious annoyance.
When Wesley met Ivan’s eyes, he quickly spoke.
“Th-the Duke’s story isn’t completely accurate!
It’s true we intended to create a scandal, but we never meant to actually rape the Duchess!”
Instead of responding to Wesley’s defense, Heredin presented a small bottle and a piece of parchment to Ivan.
The chief attendant beside him took them and handed them to the emperor.
“This is the bottle of drugs carried by the kidnapper bribed by the Baldwin heir.
The purchaser has been confirmed to be Wesley Baldwin himself.”
Ivan frowned when he read the parchment describing the drug’s purpose.
Wesley hurried to explain, his face desperate.
“I only intended to use it to frighten the Duchess!
I swear I never intended to defile her body!”
When Wesley began explaining, Rachel—who had been silent in fear—looked at Ivan with pleading eyes and spoke.
“I—I only lent him the money!
I had no idea what he intended to use it for!
I just thought he was going to use it for gambling like usual!”
Heredin, still facing forward, asked in a cold voice,
“Then how do you explain falsely testifying that the Duchess disappeared with a knight, Lady?”
Even the pressure in his voice alone made her body tremble.
Rachel hesitated before making an excuse.
“That… was because the Duchess hurt me before.
I was upset, so I lied to damage her reputation.
But I truly had nothing to do with the rest of this!
Please believe me, Your Majesty!”
Wesley scoffed.
“Ha!
You’re trying to escape this by yourself?”
“I’m not escaping!
That’s the truth!”
Rachel felt wronged.
When he asked to borrow money he said he would handle everything himself.
Yet after failing, he dragged her down with him.
Wesley sneered at her.
“Hurt, my ass.
Says the woman who asked to borrow someone else’s husband.”
Rachel’s face turned bright red.
“Stop making things up!”
“Ha!
Who’s the one lying now?”
Soon the two began shouting at each other as if ready to fight.
They had completely forgotten where they were or whose safety was at stake.
Watching them with utter contempt, Ivan swallowed his irritation.
‘These idiots…’
If they were going to scheme something, they should have handled it cleanly.
Were they still children blaming each other?
If Heredin’s goal had been to annoy him, he had succeeded.
As the voices of Wesley and Rachel grew louder, Ivan finally spoke.
“That’s enough.”
The two immediately fell silent.
Ivan asked Heredin with visible annoyance.
“So, what is it that you want?”
“I ask that Your Majesty personally try the two of them and give them the punishment they deserve.”
Ivan glanced at the two fools behind Heredin but had no intention of punishing them severely.
Especially Rachel, who had been close to him since childhood.
‘That girl Blair always pretended to be gentle, but she had a way of irritating people.
That must be why she clashed with Rachel.’
But if he showed leniency only to Rachel, the Baldwin family would complain about fairness.
Better to frighten them a little and release them.
It would also allow him to gain favor with the Baldwin marquis.
“I order one month of house arrest for Wesley Baldwin, heir of the Baldwin family, and Rachel Selden, eldest daughter of the Selden family.”
Heredin’s expression hardened at Ivan’s decision.
Ivan attempted to appease him.
“The Baldwin and Selden families will compensate Delmark for the emotional damage caused by their childish prank.”
But Heredin’s expression did not soften.
“Although they ruined an imperial event because they couldn’t control their personal feelings, the matter seems to have grown beyond their original intent.”
“So because it wasn’t their intent, Your Majesty judges the crime lightly?”
“Exactly.
Since Blair was not seriously harmed in the end, wouldn’t it benefit Delmark to settle the matter here?”
Benefit.
Heredin let out a cold laugh.
Knowing what kind of scandal his wife could have been forced to endure.
Knowing what danger she had faced.
And yet the emperor spoke of benefits.
Ivan even pretended to consider Blair’s feelings.
“If I punish people she shares blood ties with, Blair might feel troubled as well.”
“Are you truly satisfied with that?”
Heredin’s cold gaze carried a deeper meaning.
“My wife is not only the mistress of Delmark.
She is also Your Majesty’s only sister and a member of the imperial bloodline.”
“…”
“Your Majesty’s ruling in this case will become a precedent where those who dared harm a member of the imperial family were forgiven generously.”
Only then did Ivan realize Heredin’s intention.
“So when someone insults Your Majesty or attempts to harm you, will you pass the same judgment as today?”
At first glance it sounded like concern for the imperial family’s dignity.
But the look in Heredin’s eyes was closer to a threat.
Ivan frowned at his insolence, but soon his expression changed to something curious.
‘He’s going this far for Blair?’
For a wife he never wanted.
For the daughter of his enemy.
Things were turning more interesting than expected.
“Now that I think about it, I may have been too lenient because of personal feelings.
You’re right.
Traitors deserve proper punishment.”
Ivan looked at Heredin with interest before delivering the answer he wanted.
“Although Rachel is close to me, she dared attempt to harm my sister.
I cannot overlook that.”
The atmosphere changed instantly, and the emperor’s judgment fell upon the two stunned criminals.
“Wesley Baldwin, Rachel Selden.
You are both hereby permanently exiled.”
* * *
After finishing her bath, Blair returned to the bedroom with Lina and Melly.
The two helped Blair change into her nightclothes and guided her to the dressing table.
While brushing Blair’s hair, Lina cautiously asked after studying her complexion.
“My lady, are you less tired today?”
“Yes.
After sleeping well for several days, I think I’m truly better now.”
Fortunately, the hypothermia had healed without leaving any major aftereffects.
Lina, who had cried and blamed herself for everything, finally relaxed.
However, the sudden drop in body temperature had exhausted Blair, so she had spent several days half asleep.
‘Still, I’m glad I recovered before Lina began worrying again.’
While absentmindedly looking in the mirror, Blair noticed the table behind Lina and Melly and suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.
I’ve been enjoying the marshmallows you leave for me.
But you don’t need to do that anymore.”
“Marshmallows?”
“Yes.
You left them on the table every morning.”
A few days earlier, when Blair woke late, she had found a bowl of marshmallows on the table.
Thinking Lina or Melly had brought them as a snack, she ate them.
Eating the soft marshmallows in the morning even sweetened her mood.
But the next day, and the day after that, another plate of marshmallows appeared.
Like a gift.
However, Lina and Melly looked at each other in confusion as if hearing about it for the first time.
Then they suddenly remembered the small empty bowls they had been finding on the table lately.
“Oh!
That was a marshmallow dish?”
“…You didn’t leave them?”
“We never entered your room unless you called us.
So we assumed you brought them yourself.”
Blair’s eyes widened.
If it wasn’t her, and it wasn’t Lina or Melly, then there was only one person who could have been leaving the marshmallows there every day.
“Sleep well, my lady.”
After finishing their duties, Lina and Melly left the room.
Through the closing door, the faint sound of the grandfather clock striking ten echoed.
Blair looked at the table where the bowl of marshmallows had been placed every morning.
And she thought of the one person who must have left them there