Chapter 215

“Were you unable to figure out their objective?”

Before Erich could even finish speaking, Iona fired off another question.

He instinctively started to respond but then hesitated, clamping his mouth shut.

Erich’s gaze fixed sharply on Iona.

Staring intently at her, he remarked,

“You’re not surprised.”

“I expected this.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

Iona subtly turned her head, avoiding Erich’s gaze.

Since she had yet to finalize an agreement with Leroy, she couldn’t recklessly reveal the full details to Erich.

She attempted to communicate silently with Leroy once more, but the effort ended in failure—again.

Before she could even call out to him, Erich, now looking grave, posed his next question.

“Was there truly some connection between the House of Modrov and Archduke Ernst?”

The question was absurdly out of place.

Both Iona and Leroy turned to Erich with identical expressions of disbelief, as if wondering if they had misheard.

Erich, seemingly more flustered than them, instinctively recoiled slightly.

Iona, still dumbfounded, repeated,

“…What?”

A connection between Count Modrov and Archduke Ernst?

She had no idea where such an assumption had come from.

And yet, Erich had used the word ‘truly.’

As if he had already harbored suspicions for some time.

Iona’s eyes sharpened, and Erich, realizing his slip, wore a troubled expression.

But she had no intention of letting him off the hook so easily.

With her face hardening, she immediately pressed him for details.

“What are you talking about? Why is the name Modrov suddenly coming up here?”

“…Her Majesty the Empress first showed interest in Bilfaud right after the late count’s passing. That’s why the captain sent me here out of concern for you.”

There were still many unresolved suspicions surrounding the late count’s death.

Erich added this with a look of unease.

He was pointing out that the Empress had been involved with Hayden behind the scenes.

A flicker of confusion crossed Iona’s face.

‘Was there really something linking Bilfaud and the House of Modrov?’

She recalled the strange remarks Hayden had made regarding Bilfaud when he visited Modrov’s territory.

When she had first heard the story through Fleur and Fin, she hadn’t thought much of it.

Hayden was already dead, meaning there was no one left to ask why he had shown such interest in Bilfaud.

Given how little information she had, she had chosen to focus on other, more pressing matters rather than chasing shadows.

She had believed that was the most practical decision.

That was—until she uncovered this new link between Archduke Ernst and Hayden.

“Have you ever met with the Archduke directly? How did he react?”

Iona continued questioning urgently.

The possibility of finally uncovering the truth about this tangled situation made her restless.

She now had yet another reason to meet with Archduke Ernst.

“Have you investigated whether there’s a secure location where he could be contacted in secret? If there is, then maybe—”

“Wait, wait. My Lady, just a moment.”

As Iona fired off her words like a machine gun, Erich raised both hands in front of him, signaling her to slow down.

She hesitated, falling silent.

Erich calmly reorganized the conversation.

“You want to meet with His Highness the Archduke, correct?”

Iona turned to Leroy, silently asking for his approval.

Leroy gave a small nod before answering on her behalf.

“Yes.”

It seemed he had already noticed her desire for an open discussion long ago, as he explained in an indifferent tone.

“We also discovered signs that the Empress has been continuously pressuring Bilfaud. If we can meet directly with the Archduke and discuss this, that would be ideal.”

“Then why not formally request an audience with him? There’s no reason your status or the current situation would prevent it.”

“If we approach him first, wouldn’t that raise suspicions on the Empress’ side?”

“…Ah, so you don’t want it to seem like you’re voluntarily seeking him out. Understood.”

Erich nodded in comprehension before rising to his feet.

He carried himself with an air of finality, as if every question had now been answered.

Leroy and Iona, still feeling somewhat unsettled, could only look up at him with reluctant expressions.

As Erich brushed the dirt off his trousers, he caught sight of their expressions and quickly added, belatedly realizing his mistake.

“Ah, I forgot to mention—I’m currently staying at the Archduke’s estate. I’ll speak to him and arrange a meeting.”

“…You’re staying at the Archduke’s castle? How did that happen?”

Iona was even more puzzled.

If Erich had come here under Saskia’s orders, he should have been moving in secret. So how had he ended up as a guest in the Archduke’s domain?

But instead of answering her curiosity, Erich deliberately changed the subject.

“That’s a long story. So, will you meet him or not?”

The answer was obvious.

After a brief exchange of glances with Leroy, Iona set aside her lingering doubts and nodded.

“Of course, I’ll meet him.”

****

However, the meeting between Iona, Leroy, and the Archduke unfolded in a way quite different from what they had envisioned.

In Iona’s mind, their first encounter with the Archduke would go something like this:

A secret rendezvous at a discreet location, late at night, with only the three of them present.

But in reality, not a single one of her conditions was met.

Peering out the carriage window at the passing scenery, Iona then glanced down at her extravagant dress.

No matter how many times she looked at it, the outfit was needlessly ostentatious, its lavishness grating at her nerves.

She rubbed her temple and muttered in frustration.

“I should have insisted on a more thorough discussion beforehand.”

“Try to see the bright side. This might not be such a bad approach after all.”

Leroy’s voice was warm, as if trying to comfort her.

Sitting across from her, he was also dressed in attire just as luxurious as hers.

Iona gazed at him for a moment before allowing a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips.

Watching her husband dressed so elegantly was, at the very least, a minor consolation.

With a faint smirk, she spoke.

“It’s just… I wasn’t expecting to be summoned at the crack of dawn like this. It’s not as if we were dragged here in chains, but still.”

“At least this way, we don’t have to worry about suspicions that we sought him out first.”

Leroy had a point.

Iona could only shrug, unable to refute him.

After parting ways with Erich and returning to Count Nigel’s estate, Iona and Leroy had woken up the next morning to an unexpected situation.

A messenger from the Archduke had arrived at the count’s residence, extending an invitation to Bilfaud.

And the Archduke’s message? Not exactly the warmest greeting.

To put it bluntly: “You traveled all the way to the North, yet you failed to pay your respects to me? How insolent.”

If this was his way of offering them an excuse to meet, then it was actually quite considerate.

The problem was, they couldn’t be certain that was his true intention.

Who knows? Maybe Erich provoked him into doing this.

Erich had only promised to arrange a meeting—he hadn’t shared any details beyond that.

And judging by this abrupt summons, it was clear that no real planning had been done.

By the time Iona and Leroy had woken up, it was already past noon, and the dinner invitation was for that very evening.

Considering the distance to Bilfaud, they had barely enough time to freshen up and depart immediately in order to arrive on schedule.

Had it been anyone else issuing such an unreasonable invitation, they would have rejected it outright.

It’s far too disrespectful to be simple impatience.

Iona couldn’t shake the feeling that the Archduke harbored hostility toward them.

More precisely, not toward Leroy—but toward her, as someone who had once been a devoted subordinate of the Crown Prince.

Unfortunately, Iona’s suspicions soon proved correct.

The moment they arrived at the Archduke’s estate and finally stood face to face with Archduke Ernst, his first words to her were laced with barely concealed disdain.

“So, you’re a distant relative, are you? Looks like the bloodline didn’t stray too far after all. You take after your adoptive father completely.”

-- End Of The Chapter --

 

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