28.

The reason for contacting Julian Tollin was because he was the one who communicated best with her.
The men of the family had a duty to take care of their sister.
Also, as comrades with the same motivation, they were less strict than their parents and took on the role of keeping secrets that couldn’t be told to their parents.
So persuading Julian seemed like the safest method.
To avoid getting caught up in some strange scandal.

“I heard you were riding in the carriage with Emilia.”
Ober Tollin stood leaning on his cane and bowed his waist to Merriot.
“My daughter has received Your Highness’s grace. I offer thanks on her behalf.”

Merriot, sitting on the sofa, only stared intently at the polite greeting without responding.
Since there was no reply like “It’s alright” or “Please rise,” Ober Tollin remained bowed for a long time.

Merriot, crossing one leg and resting his hand on the armrest while nervously touching his lips, radiated the darkest anger a person could emit.
His gaze was like that of a beast contemplating whether to tear the man before him to pieces.

“……”

Without Merriot’s permission, Ober straightened his back again.
The contemptuous look aimed at him seemed anticipated because Ober calmly opened his mouth.

“If this continues, my daughter will become a disgrace to the Tollin family. May I prepare a small gift to make up for the inconvenience caused to Your Highness?”

Since when had someone like him been a noble, questioning family disgrace and following noble customs?
A junior baron barely clinging to the tail end of the noble hierarchy—how many people had to die for him to earn that title?

Merriot glared at Ober Tollin and burst into a sneer.

“Do you think a gift from a mere junior baron would satisfy me?”

“How dare I think so.”

Alternately looking at Merriot on the sofa and Hendrick standing firmly behind him like a guard, Ober answered in as humble a voice as possible.

“As you say, there is nothing in the Tollin family rare enough to satisfy Your Highness.”

But his humility was only in his voice and quickly vanished.
He limped forward toward Hera lying on the bed.

The innocent face that didn’t even guess what Ober intended looked up at him.
Ober, watching his daughter quietly as if observing an object, roughly pulled back Hera’s blanket.

This was not an act of concern for his daughter.
It was clearly the behavior of someone who regarded her as Tollin property.

Because he pulled back the blanket, Hera’s lower body was exposed. Although she was properly dressed, the atmosphere somehow felt embarrassing and vulgar.
This was probably because Ober handled Hera as if she were a cheap object.

“Have you attended to His Highness’s needs?”

Not understanding the meaning, Hera blinked at Ober.

“…What?”

The words Hera couldn’t understand were enough to enrage Merriot and Hendrick.

“Junior Baron Tollin!”

Merriot jumped up from his seat, and Hendrick put his hand on the sword at his waist, growling as if about to attack Ober.
The two men were angry on Hera’s behalf.

Especially Merriot glared at Ober with the expression of someone who wanted to tear him apart immediately to relieve his anger.

Ober glanced at the blazing anger burning like a raging fire in Merriot’s eyes with a look that showed he did not care at all.
Then he lightly tapped the bed’s support with his cane.

Hera wisely understood it was a signal to get up.
In the heavy atmosphere where it was hard to say a word, Hera carefully got out of bed.

“I will skip the seeing off.”

Merriot, still unable to fully calm his anger, clenched his teeth and gave the final courtesy.
If Hera had not been there, he wouldn’t have done even this much.

Ober and Hera gave a brief bow to Merriot and left the room.

After the door closed, Hendrick let out a long sigh and made a contemptuous remark.

“I only heard rumors, but this is my first time meeting Ober Tollin directly.”

He was a man nicknamed the Shadow Assassin, a retainer of the Crown Prince.

Though his thin, almost frail physique and decadent air were unexpected, his talent for making people uncomfortable was just as rumored.

“Unbelievable. There’s nothing he wouldn’t say to his own daughter.”

Hendrick shook his head with a look of disgust.
Merriot agreed, sinking heavily into the sofa.

Why did people with the Tollin name always exhaust him so much?

“Where’s Shane?”

Merriot asked Hendrick.

Scratching the back of his neck, Hendrick answered,

“He’s still asleep. Don’t worry, he’s not badly injured. I should have arrived sooner, I’m sorry.”

“Who could have known? To be ambushed today.”

After advisor Shane was ambushed by assassins and knocked unconscious, Hendrick had miraculously arrived.
It was a great relief for both Shane and Merriot.
Without him, Shane’s life would have been in danger, and who knew what would have happened to Merriot.
Though he could have survived alone, Emilia Tollin was in the carriage, so protecting her while fighting would have been difficult even for Merriot, who was skilled in swordsmanship.

Merriot waved his hand at Hendrick, telling him not to worry.

“Ober Tollin must have sent the assassin.”

“Ew, really? Then I should’ve stabbed him earlier.”

Though Ober had shown a brazen face, Merriot read his thoughts from his expression.
He was certain Ober had sent the assassin today.

“He came to see with his own eyes what I had done. Under the pretense of picking up his daughter.”

If Ober were not the culprit, there would be no reason to appear at the Roland mansion.

Merriot wondered why it was Ober and not Julian who had come, but on reflection, there was a reason.
Though the ambush failed, Ober wanted to check the result of his defeat.

“Then should we assume Emilia Tollin is also siding with Ober?”

Merriot had visited Veronica’s house today because of a painting she saw at the auction.
<The Dancer on the Peony>, whose subject was known to be Veronica, and she had gone to explain the painting’s existence to her.
She wanted to offer help if needed.

Of course, that was half a lie.
First, Merriot judged that building a close and trusting relationship with the Crown Prince’s lover would be beneficial for revenge.
Second, she wanted to meet again the thief who had stolen the painting.

The truth was, she could help make <The Dancer on the Peony> disappear from the world.
It was an item useless to Merriot.

‘It’s disgusting. The buying and selling of such a painting.’

Merriot’s mind again went to the daughter of the Tollin family.
Was that innocent expression really a work of hers?
If so, her performance would be a masterpiece worth ten million Luna at a secret auction.
No one would be able to resist being fooled.

Leaving the Roland mansion and boarding the carriage, Hera was uneasy.
She did not guess why Merriot was angry at Ober, and above all, seeing with her own eyes the hostile relationship between Merriot and the Tollin family made Cecilia’s words resonate with her.
That Ober was trying to use her like an assassin.

“Well done.”

Inside the carriage speeding toward the Tollin mansion, Ober threw a brief compliment.
Without looking at Hera, he stared out the window and spoke.

“You accomplished the hardest task.”

“What do you mean?”

Talking to Ober was a terror for Hera. He was the strangest person she had ever met.
His deliberate stomping of his cane and metallic voice gave her chills.
But the most repulsive thing was his way of thinking.

“You’ve formed a decent relationship with Merriot Roland.”

She thought being scolded by him would be the scariest thing, but today she realized his praise was even more frightening.

“Well done.”

When the laugh that wasn’t really a laugh crossed his lips, Hera could no longer bear it and turned her head away.

“I’ll handle the rest.”

A few days later, nobles closely related to the royal family gathered at a banquet in the imperial palace.
It was just a regular meal, not a grand event like a ball, so the atmosphere was dull and formal.
Most attendees were middle-aged or older nobles, but today the atmosphere was very different.
Thanks to the huge scandal spreading in the Central social circle.

“Have you heard? About the eldest daughter of the Tollin family?”

“Yes, I know. She was in the same carriage as Duke Roland, right?”