Chapter 27…………………………….
After a business meeting and some light drinking, Count Adeline visited a certain estate.
“It’s been a while, Count.”
A beautiful young woman who had only just come of age welcomed him.
She was his fifth mistress.
Publicly, Count Adeline was known as a devoted family man.
A man who cared only for his wife—and who had never fathered an illegitimate child.
But that was a carefully manufactured image.
“I thought you weren’t coming tonight. You’re always with your beautiful wife, after all…”
Saying she couldn’t bear the anxiety, the mistress threw herself into his arms. He embraced her gladly.
Unlike his wife, who was cold and unyielding like stone, his young mistress always entertained him.
“Is the Countess still living in seclusion?”
The young woman asked, half-hidden beneath the covers.
Perhaps fearing the day she might be discarded, she often asked about his wife’s situation.
“The weather’s so nice—I wondered if you two might even go on dates.”
So that was the real point.
Count Adeline was pleased by the way the young mistress gauged his mood and sought his affection.
So he deliberately gave her a half-answer.
“Well, I don’t know about me—but it seems she still keeps in touch with Her Highness the Princess.”
He spoke with a pipe between his lips.
“She does attend the banquets or tea parties hosted by Her Highness now and then.”
Though his wife had withdrawn completely from society, her connection with the Princess continued.
On the surface, it looked as though the Princess alone was looking after his wife—but perhaps they were secretly in close contact.
He hadn’t looked further into it, afraid that prying too much might alert his wife.
“Then how about seeing a play with me? Just to lift your spirits!”
“I’d like to, but I’m busy. I need to go.”
He hadn’t been home for over a week.
Staying at his mistresses’ residences was enjoyable enough, but he needed to return home once or twice a week.
That way, he could maintain the image of a loving, devoted husband.
More than anything, he had no intention of playing lovers with his fifth mistress.
If he were caught, he had too much to lose.
“I’ll come again next time.”
“I’ll be waiting, Count.”
Leaving behind her farewell, Count Adeline departed the estate—
Without noticing his mistress anxiously biting her nails.
Late that night, when he returned to the mansion, the servants and Countess Adeline greeted him.
“Welcome home, dear.”
He kissed his wife with the same lips that had kissed his mistress.
He felt no guilt whatsoever.
“I heard you met with Her Highness the Princess.”
Countess Adeline paused as she helped him change clothes.
“Yes. I visited recently.”
“I thought you’d cut ties with the imperial family entirely after leaving your position as a lady-in-waiting…”
Loosening his cravat, Count Adeline continued,
“Yet she still seeks you out. That’s impressive.”
At first glance, it sounded like pure praise.
But the Countess knew better than anyone that it wasn’t.
“Her Highness has always been considerate of me. This time as well, she merely wished to know how I was doing.”
“That just means you haven’t lost her trust. It really is impressive.”
Count Adeline smiled warmly.
“That may be so.”
In the end, the Countess nodded.
‘Cold-hearted,’ he thought, clicking his tongue inwardly.
They had been married for over ten years, yet he could never quite grasp what was going on inside his wife’s head.
He had married Judith Adeline—formerly an empress’s lady-in-waiting—by order of the Marchioness of Devon.
Judith learned the truth only afterward and was deeply shocked, thereafter hiding everything about herself.
Pretending to be timid and fragile.
Pretending to be traumatized by the Empress’s death.
Pretending to have grown weary of high society.
She changed everything—closed her eyes and sealed her lips.
Judith only opened her mouth for Princess Hestia, the Empress’s successor.
Knowing this, Count Adeline still refused to let his wife go.
Especially now, when Princess Hestia might call her back at any moment.
‘As long as there’s no divorce.’
His wife couldn’t give up the Adeline household.
He had become Count Adeline through marriage to Judith.
Which meant that unless there was fault sufficient for divorce, he would remain Count Adeline until death.
“You must be tired. You should rest early.”
With a satisfied smile, Count Adeline kissed his wife’s forehead.
Outwardly, they looked like a perfectly affectionate, respectable couple.
The Adeline household was peaceful again today.
That night, after Count Adeline had fallen asleep, Judith awoke and left the room.
Though they shared a bedroom for the sake of their “loving couple” act, it was unbearable for her.
She felt watched even while sleeping.
She checked one of the letters on the desk in her study.
“I’m sorry. I failed again today.”
With a blank expression, she placed it into the fireplace.
‘Another failure.’
She had bribed her husband’s fifth mistress.
To prove his fault, she needed to catch him in the act of adultery.
‘I can’t burden Her Highness the Princess with something like this.’
Hestia knew of Judith’s situation and had promised to help, but it wasn’t easy.
Moreover, this was Judith’s shame—her disgrace.
Not something she could show to the woman she had served since infancy.
‘And yet… a new path has opened.’
Judith checked the envelope tucked between her books.
An invitation to a banquet hosted by Viscount Wedain.
A place infamous for its decadent atmosphere, where masks were mandatory.
“If you go to the third balcony at midnight, you will obtain what you desire.”
The letter spoke as though it already knew what she wanted, which made Judith hesitate.
‘Just to be sure, I checked—there was no invitation sent to me from Viscount Wedain.’
There was no way none had been sent.
Viscount Wedain would have invited every noble house of count rank or higher.
He was on bad terms with Duke Winchester and had no connection at all with Duke Mason.
All the more reason he would desperately want nobles of count rank or higher at his banquet.
‘Which means my husband intercepted the invitation.’
It was suspicious—especially since he had never interfered with her invitations before.
Almost as if he didn’t want her to attend.
‘But deciding to attend like this…’
It felt wrong. Even more so because the sender’s name wasn’t written.
Then her eyes caught the illustration on the envelope.
‘This is…’
Wine—and the number 923.
From that alone, Judith realized the sender was the Duchess of Mason.
Perhaps the Duchess had stepped in out of gratitude for Judith’s testimony during the poisoning incident.
But Judith had to consider another possibility.
Trisha was a member of the Mason ducal family—she might have ulterior motives.
‘If it’s a trap, I’ll be caught in a scandal. Perhaps even Her Highness…’
But she couldn’t keep delaying and give her husband leverage.
If pushed, he was the sort of man who would use her as a hostage to control the Princess.
In the end, Judith decided to take the hand Trisha offered.
‘Whether the end of this path is a cliff—or a bridge to the future—I’ll find out soon enough.’
The Mason ducal estate was packed with people seeking favors.
“This tea came all the way from the Far East. It’s excellent for headaches—”
“Only silk of this quality can truly be called a luxury.”
“Surely gold is the only thing with lasting value?”
“What could be more precious than a diamond that symbolizes eternal love?”
And at the end of it all stood not Edwin, but the Marchioness of Devon.
Though she had angered the Emperor due to a recent incident, she was still a favored mistress.
Those who knew how influential she was flocked to her under the pretext of visiting the Mason estate, eager to build connections and profit.
It wasn’t unusual—but this time, it was excessive enough that even onlookers frowned quietly.
Trisha included.
‘She’s gathered nothing but useless people.’
She judged the Marchioness of Devon’s taste rather harshly.
The Marchioness evaluated not only the quality of the gifts, but how well the giver flattered her—and even their appearance.
If she disliked the request, she flew into a rage.
“A person who claims he’ll build a railway brings only this? I doubt he’s fit for such a task!”
That was how it went.
If the request outweighed the offering, she exploded.
Normally she would have let it slide, but her unusually strict attitude left everyone confused.
Naturally so.
‘She’s fallen out of His Majesty’s favor—she can’t grant favors as easily as before.’
So when faced with difficult requests, she nitpicked the gifts instead.
