Chapter 29:
“After the meal.”
Everyone turned to the Duke in surprise.
They had all expected him to believe Mia’s words without question and immediately reprimand Irene.
But once the Duke, seated at the head of the table, picked up his knife, the meal began.
No one could speak easily, uncertain of what he was thinking.
After some time had passed in silence, Mikhail finally spoke.
“…Did it really come from there?”
He was indirectly asking if the corrupted substance had indeed been found at the Katen River.
The Duke of Licaon nodded.
Mikhail’s face stiffened.
“It really was at the Katen River…”
The corrupted matter, which wasn’t supposed to be discovered for another six years, had surfaced now.
Irene felt both relief and astonishment.
“So they really searched for it…”
She had never expected the Duke of Licaon to take her words seriously enough to conduct a thorough search.
It had been something of a gamble.
“His suspicious nature worked in my favor.”
She was reminded that this man, who stayed out in the field until dawn just based on the words of a young girl, was no easy person to deal with.
As she took a spoonful of soup, she suddenly froze.
“What is this?”
It didn’t taste like the usual soup—it had a slightly bitter, tingling taste.
And she recognized it immediately.
Because she had tasted it once in her previous life.
“A sprouted potato.”
At the time, she had noticed the strange flavor, but her hunger had won out and she’d eaten it in haste.
Soon after, she’d been struck by stomach pain, a high fever, and diarrhea.
The soup had contained sprouted potatoes. Back then, it was chalked up as a kitchen maid’s human error, and she had been reassigned without much fuss.
“Human error?”
Irene’s gaze shifted to Mia.
Mia Renier, who had just been smiling at her with a twisted smirk, changed her expression the moment their eyes met, as if she’d never done such a thing.
It was clear Mia’s pride had been bruised after yesterday.
“What’s with that face? Like she knows exactly what she’s doing?”
Meanwhile, Mia was feeling increasingly uneasy.
Ever since returning from her long vacation, the atmosphere in the house had felt off. But the most outrageous thing was Irene Licaon eating at the main dining table.
“How dare she enter my territory without permission?”
Mia, who had long flaunted her influence by ostracizing Irene, found this utterly unacceptable.
What was even more intolerable was how Irene—once always meek—now carried herself with confidence.
At that moment, Irene’s crimson eyes gleamed.
“Dietrich, I have a proposal.”
“What?”
“If you switch soup bowls with me, I’ll kneel before Madame Renier and apologize.”
“…What?”
“But if you refuse, I’ll make her life even more miserable than it is now.”
All eyes turned to Irene. Her audacity in saying this at a table where the Duke himself sat made her seem utterly mad.
“Irene Licaon.”
The Duke raised an eyebrow and called her name.
Irene met his gaze head-on.
“Please don’t interfere in this matter. I ask you as a member of this household.”
Silence fell.
Not even the sound of breathing could be heard—it was suffocating.
Everyone looked to the Duke.
Irene had a strange certainty that he would listen.
“If he intended to scold me, he wouldn’t have let me sit here to begin with.”
Thinking back, the Duke had always been the same.
He neither went out of his way to exclude her nor to look after her.
As if she simply had nothing to do with him.
But sometimes, he gave the impression of someone who didn’t know how to treat her.
After a brief pause, the Duke quietly wiped his mouth with a napkin.
It was a signal—he wouldn’t stop her.
With the head of the household giving tacit permission, no one else dared to intervene.
Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Mia finally spoke with a panicked expression.
“M-My lord! You mustn’t do this on my account!”
Irene looked at her coldly and said,
“When someone interrupts a superior’s conversation, what kind of punishment should they receive? You tell me, Dietrich.”
Dietrich bit his lip.
“Switch the soup.”
“My lord!”
Mia stomped her foot in distress. Her face turned pale. Chloe and Mikhail both noticed her strange reaction and stared at her closely.
They weren’t the only ones who sensed something off.
Even Dietrich, usually oblivious, realized things were heading in a weird direction.
“If you want to back out, now’s the time.”
But Irene knew he wouldn’t.
The people of House Licaon were proud. And Irene was no different.
“Fine! But you’d better keep your word.”
Just as she expected, Dietrich accepted. Irene silently passed her soup bowl over.
Mia looked on, her face frozen in disbelief.
Her crutch clattered to the ground, but she was too shocked to even notice as she rushed toward Dietrich.
“Milord, please—let me eat it instead!”
“…Mia, what’s wrong with you?”
Dietrich frowned.
“I mean, yeah, she had a few bites, but it’s the same soup anyway.”
“St-Still…”
Mia opened her mouth in a panic, but no words came.
Dietrich, looking slightly puzzled, took a spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth.
“Ugh!”
He grimaced at once. Clang! He slammed his spoon down and glared at Irene.
“What did you put in this?”
“Did anyone see me put anything in it?”
Irene casually scanned the table. Everyone who met her gaze lowered their eyes and said nothing.
The Duke, who had been silently observing, turned to a nearby servant.
“Bring me that soup.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The servant quickly brought the soup Dietrich had eaten over to the Duke. The Duke took a new spoon and tasted it himself.
His eyes turned ice-cold.
“Mia Renier.”
“…Y-Yes, Your Grace.”
Mia answered with a pale, trembling voice.
“Who oversees the meals?”
“…I do.”
Her voice shook visibly.
The Duke pushed the soup toward her and pressed,
“Then explain what happened here.”
Mia shifted her gaze, then quickly dipped her fingers in the soup and tasted it.
Feigning surprise, she said,
“It must have been a mistake by one of the kitchen maids. I’ll make sure a fresh soup is brought out immediately.”
She was clearly trying to weasel her way out by pretending she had no idea and blaming someone else.
“As expected.”
Irene hid a smile.
But Mia had made a fatal mistake. The kitchen maids, now fearing they’d be scapegoated, turned pale.
“Do you cook separate soup for each person at this table?”
“Well…”
“Answer me. You there.”
The Duke pointed to another maid.
The maid looked back and forth between Mia and the Duke before replying in a trembling voice.
“We usually cook all the soup together… but today, Madame Mia instructed us to prepare Lady Irene’s separately.”
“Who gave the order?”
“M-Madame Mia Renier did…”
It was the obvious answer.
Mia had tried to slither away from blame and pin it on the maids. But there was no reason for the maids to defend her now.
“Your Grace, that’s a complete lie! Why would I give such an order?!”
Mia cried out in panic, face ghostly pale. Dietrich, who had been biting his lip, suddenly stood up.
“I-It was me! I told her to do it! Because the crow hurt her leg and I wanted revenge…”
But his lie was too clumsy. His eyes shifted awkwardly—just like whenever he lied.
And everyone in the Licaon family knew that about him.
“T-The nanny did nothing wrong…”
After Dietrich’s poor excuse, a long silence fell over the table.
Mia Renier stared at Irene with resentment, then glanced nervously at the Duke.
People’s true nature surfaces when they’re in danger.
Having spent a long time on the battlefield, Irene knew this better than anyone.
She knew how deeply ugly human nature could be.
“You saw it, Dietrich.”
Irene looked him straight in the eye.
“You were willing to risk yourself to defend her—but Mia Renier only cared about saving her own skin.”
