RHRTD 08

Chapter 08

But no answer came.

Naturally, there wouldn’t be one.

This annex was practically abandoned. Selena knew that better than anyone, considering she had been the one who had personally sent Ines here in the first place.

“Aaaaaah!”

Selena screamed and collapsed onto the floor.

‘This can’t be happening. This has to be a dream.’

How had things ended up like this?

Her preparations had been perfect. Although her relationship with Zekard had never been particularly good, she had thought that after five years, she would have plenty of opportunities to make up for the past.

And yet, before she could even make a move, she had been banished to this annex!

Zekard hadn’t said much, but Selena couldn’t possibly misunderstand what this meant.

It was essentially the same as telling her to fend for herself and die.

Just as she had done to Ines.

‘This is all because of that woman.’

Selena gritted her teeth.

In fact, Selena had been sent here immediately after Ines left the banquet hall.

The moment Ines disappeared, Zekard’s expression hardened completely, and he suddenly gave an order to the knights.

“Take everyone out.”

After that, Selena had been thrown outside along with the servants before she even had a chance to do anything.

It was a humiliation she had never experienced, not even when she had been the previous Duke’s mistress.

Selena was perceptive enough to realize it immediately.

Her damned stepson had already fallen completely for his wife.

‘When did those two become so close?’

It was strange.

Five years ago, the two of them had not been particularly close.

Nor had anything special happened between them during those five years.

They hadn’t exchanged even a single letter.

So why had Zekard suddenly begun looking at Ines with such intense affection?

What was even more maddening was that it seemed to be entirely one-sided on Zekard’s part.

Ines herself seemed completely unaware of what was happening and had simply fled as she always did, wearing her usual blank expression.

As a result, Zekard, left behind alone, had taken out his frustration on Selena.

‘Who would have thought he’d start going through the ledgers the moment he arrived?’

After being expelled from the banquet hall, Selena had been relentlessly interrogated by Zekard’s aide throughout the night.

Only this morning had she finally been released and confined to this annex.

She hadn’t expected Zekard to return so quickly, so she had not yet finished organizing the double-entry ledgers.

Everything had been fine until now.

But at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the secret funds Selena had siphoned away were discovered.

‘I need to think of a way out. Somehow……!’

She was alone, desperately pulling at her hair while trying to come up with a solution when—

“It is an order from His Grace.”

A knight with a stern expression arrived and conveyed Zekard’s instructions.

A grand celebration was needed to honor the knights who had suffered through the war and commemorate their victory.

Since Selena had already been preparing the banquet, she was to finish it properly—‘on her own’ and ‘to a high standard.’

For a brief moment, hope appeared in Selena’s eyes at what sounded almost like a restoration of her authority.

But then the knight added coldly,

“His Grace also said that everything you do from now on will be monitored, so you are not to even think about trying anything foolish.”

The knight left.

Left alone once again, Selena let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.

“Ha.”

There was a limit to how much a person could be treated with contempt.

Wasn’t he essentially saying that he would use her as a ‘tool’ and then throw her away once she was no longer useful?

Selena trembled with humiliation and shame.

But soon, her eyes suddenly widened.

‘No. This is an opportunity.’

No matter how closely she was monitored, there would surely be gaps.

As the person in charge, there were countless ways she could siphon money from the banquet budget.

And she would also have opportunities to contact people outside while avoiding the eyes of her watchers.

And yet her stepson had given such an important position to Selena.

He was underestimating her far too much.

So that was how he wanted to play it?

Fine.

She would make him regret it.

Thinking of Zekard and Ines’s faces, Selena smiled coldly.

Ines really did have a meal with Zekard.

‘He was even stranger than I thought.’

All they had done was eat together, yet she felt completely exhausted afterward.

Ines let out a deep sigh.

The problem was that so many things had happened so suddenly that she had lost her appetite and had barely touched her food.

The moment Zekard saw her picking at her meal, he immediately tried to fire the chef.

“〈No! I’ll eat properly!〉”

The chef here was one of the few people who had shown Ines even the slightest kindness over the past five years.

If the warm-looking chef hadn’t secretly prepared proper meals for her while avoiding Selena’s eyes, Ines would probably have starved to death long ago.

Eventually, when Zekard went so far as to personally cut her steak into pieces and try to feed her himself, Ines had no choice but to eat on her own.

Thanks to that, she actually managed to eat until she was full for the first time in a long while.

‘Come to think of it, is Selena really over there?’

After returning to her new room, Ines glanced outside.

The shabby annex.

It felt strange to think that her circumstances and Selena’s had been completely reversed overnight.

During their meal, Zekard had briefly explained what had happened the previous day.

“〈It seems she has been siphoning money from the territory’s budget behind my back. Once I have gathered all the evidence, I intend to punish her and drive her out.〉”

Although Selena had been the former Duchess, embezzlement was still a serious crime that could not simply be overlooked.

And since she wasn’t even his biological mother, Zekard had no reason to show her leniency.

There was only one problem.

Selena still had something left to do.

“〈On the surface, I intend to continue having her oversee the banquet preparations.〉”

“〈However, my aide, Finn Delaine, will handle the budget, manpower, and purchasing of supplies. Selena will have no authority beyond organizing the existing vendors and guest list.〉”

It seemed Zekard intended to let Selena have just enough freedom to lure out anyone who tried to contact her and then capture all of her remaining accomplices.

On the surface, it seemed like a reasonable plan.

‘Still, it would be better not to let our guard down.’

Ines had experienced Selena’s cruelty firsthand.

She knew better than anyone how persistent and tenacious Selena could be.

Then, surely……

‘Selena will definitely cause trouble. I should stop her before that happens.’

At present, there was no one in this castle who knew Selena better than Ines.

Ironically, that was because she had spent five years suffering directly at Selena’s hands and observing her from the closest possible distance.

Ines’s gaze toward the annex grew calm and steady.

This would not only be her way of thanking Zekard.

It would also be her revenge against Selena.

‘……Enough about this. I should think about something else.’

No matter how vicious Selena was, her downfall had already been decided.

Ines merely needed to sit quietly and wait for Selena to dig her own grave.

Now was the time to seriously consider Zekard’s proposal.

Extending their contractual marriage.

‘Could he have some other motive?’

But realistically speaking, Ines was hardly worth deceiving.

In vulgar terms, there was nothing to gain from exploiting her.

Perhaps the only thing of value was her divine power?

But everyone knew the story of how Ines had failed to become a Saintess.

Although she had revealed yesterday that she could use a ‘small amount’ of divine power, everyone would know that it was hardly enough to be meaningful.

“〈I have very high expectations of you, Ines.〉”

Suddenly, Ines remembered a voice buried deep within her memories.

A gentle, warm voice.

It belonged to the Pope.

On the first day she had gone to the Temple to receive her baptism, he had gently patted young Ines on the head and said those words.

And the moment it became clear that Ines could not become a Saintess—

The Pope’s gaze had turned cold in an instant.

‘……Of course it would.’

Ines smiled bitterly.

Yes.

She didn’t know what Zekard’s intentions were, but one day, once he fully realized that Ines was of no use to him, he would abandon her too.

He might be treating her this way now, but there was no telling how drastically his attitude might change once he successfully completed his succession to the title.

‘I shouldn’t rely on anyone else. The only person who can protect me is myself.’

Ines needed a foundation that would allow her to support herself even if she were thrown out of the castle tomorrow.

But she couldn’t obtain power or physical strength overnight.

So, for now—

Money.

That was what she needed.

There was only one problem.

‘Realistically, it’s difficult for me to move around myself.’

Although she had not yet given Zekard a definite answer, Ines was considering agreeing to extend their contractual marriage.

If she did, she would have to live as a flawless Duchess for the next year, which would severely limit her freedom of movement.

‘Is there anyone I can trust to move around outside in my place?’

Just then, Ines happened to look out the window.

Her gaze soon became fixed on a particular spot.

Several knights and servants were surrounding a young boy, saying something to him in a threatening manner.

The atmosphere was unusually hostile.

‘Perhaps……’

After thinking for only a brief moment, Ines stood up without hesitation.