The Tamed Heiress

“Sit down.”

Owen was not very surprised to see them with serious faces. He was just thinking.

How far should he tell them?

In truth, it was better not to know at all. But Sophia was still alive, and she confessed her sins every day by herself.

Owen, who often visited Sophia, also heard what she said every time, so his son and his wife were expected to hear it soon.

Dana hesitated with her lips closed tightly but eventually opened her mouth.

“Did the Duchess kill my mother…?”

Unable to speak, Dana looked up and made eye contact with Owen.

“Did she make your mother die?”

Instead, a low voice ended her speech. Of course, the person referred to was “Elisa”.

Leon’s inner thoughts were unknown, but his voice was calm.

Owen sighed deeply as he heard them.

“Okay.”

After a little silence, Owen affirmed their question. Leon breathed in and shut his mouth tightly. While feeling melancholy and hotness in his heart, he looked at Dana’s expression.

Dana did not react much and blinked slowly.

“Why?”

Dana asked again, and Owen fixed his eyes on his son and began a long story.

* * *

“You…”

Rian looked at the person who entered the investigation room with a puzzled face.

“Ah, we’ve met before, right?”

Unlike the polite appearance he showed in the past, he came in somewhat slouchy and sat on the chair opposite him.

“So… You…”

Rian had a memory of meeting this person, but he couldn’t remember who he was.

“Oh, if you’re the son-in-law of Duke Hamilton, you won’t even remember a nobleman like me.”

“Who are you?”

Knock knock~

“Come on in.”

Rian was asking, but there was someone following Marvin. This time, it was the first time Rian had seen the face.

“Yes, Daniel.”

“The Chief Inspector, you’re here. Why did you come so early?”

Contrary to his polite remarks, Daniel talked to him in a rather playful way. He was Count Marvin Coast and was in the position of Chief Inspector of the Intelligence and Inspection Department.

It was Marvin who collected information from him throughout and tracked Rian’s whereabouts. Of course, most of the information was asked by Grand Duke Tertius.

“What about Leon?”

“Since he has found the Grand Duchess, he’ll be absent for a while.”

At his words, Marvin naturally thought of something and shook his head.

“You are out of luck, Rian Felice. You’re talking about having an affair with him, no, are you lucky that you haven’t been caught?”

Rian had no choice but to listen because he had ears. The Ministry of Information and Inspection was an existence of high-ranking nobles only known about but no one knew who it was. But he didn’t want to know.

This was because it was widely believed that a family would collapse and lose their lives as soon as they knew it.

Rian stared at Marvin’s face with his mouth half open and a pale face.

“It was such a long time ago, can I get a confession?”

“Well, it’s not a good way to use it…”

Marvin spoke to Rian with a meaningful voice.

“I often use the hallucinogen that this guy is circulating. But that’s really a last resort, and once you’ve beaten a few, most of them are squeamish.”

“Ah, that hallucinogenic drug is also used for that purpose.”

The two talked while staring at Rian but spoke as if there were no people around. And their conversation made Rian even more stunned.

“You mean hitting me? Who do you think I am? I’m sure the Duke of Hamilton told you to treat me properly!”

“I know, we were worried about that, too.”

Marvin sighed and scratched his head as if embarrassed.

“Strangely, Hamilton didn’t say anything. There’s no conventional request, at least to be fair. It’s very quiet.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you get abandoned?”

Marvin said it lightly, but not to Rian. Anxious, Rian flinched and lost his balance even more.

“Well, that’s enough. Shall we get started then?”

“Dana Deniz, so now you’re charged with attempted murder against the Grand Duchess Dana Tertius.”

Daniel, who had been relaxed, turned into a serious tone when the investigation began in earnest, and Marvin gradually calmed down.

* * *

There was a small room next to the investigation room. The investigation room was blocked by walls and part of the ceiling was connected.

Hales was sitting there.

…I can’t believe Ryan and I were lovers.

Rian admitted that he maintained a relationship with Dana even while he was just meeting her.

Although Rian desperately denied killing her, that alone was a huge shock to Hales.

Hales sat there listening to conversations coming and going from the investigation room. The maid standing next to her handed Hales a handkerchief.

Hales wiped away her tears and recalled the Dana Deniz she saw at the ball.

It was a little awkward as it was her first social debut, but next to Leon Tertius, she was elegant and beautiful.

Already, Hales would often put people to keep eyes on Rian from the time as he was slowly changing. And when she found out that he frequently visited Spielplatz, it was a shock in its own way to Hales, who had a love marriage.

But up to that point, it was considered a common deviation of male aristocrats. Hales and Rian were a little special, but in the case of a married couple due to a political marriage, they were also lovers, and it was not uncommon to enjoy entertainment even if they were. Although Hales’s heart hardened coldly, this alone could not be the reason for divorce.

However, his track record became increasingly suspicious.

Especially in the capital, when she heard that Rian looked at Dana the whole time, she was a little jealous, saying that she was beautiful.

“I don’t think we need to listen to it anymore.”

In the investigation room, there was a quarrel about something related to the Deniz merchants.

Of course, this was only a preliminary investigation and a formal trial would be held separately, but Rian seemed to be at a disadvantage just by hearing the story.

Hales stood up from the chair with a dry face, whether it was a topic of great interest or whether her mind was hardened.

And she left the room without hesitation. Her maid hastily followed her in stride.

The security captain clicked his tongue as he saw Hales disappear, and he also headed to the investigation room.

* * *