• Chapter 36

Two days before the family council.

After barely three hours of sleep, Kaelan dragged his weary body back to the study, hoping to catch up on the paperwork he hadn’t been able to handle the night before due to replying to numerous letters.

He sat in his now-familiar chair, slowly rubbing his tired, throbbing eyes. As he looked over his desk to assess what still needed to be done, his hand—midway to his temple—froze.

His eyes locked onto the desk.

Kaelan’s gaze meticulously scanned the surface. As he took in the sight, the tension in his brows eased and his taut facial muscles slowly relaxed. He brought his left hand to cover his mouth.

“Ha…”

It wasn’t a sigh—it was more of a scoff, mixed with disbelief.

He smiled, raising his hand to cover his eyes, lips curling upward.

The desk that had been a disorganized mess was now immaculately arranged, with all the documents stacked neatly in the center.

When he picked up the stack, he noticed each document had been perfectly sealed with the family crest.

A clear trace of her.

A deliberate message.

An unmistakable confirmation.

When the conference room doors opened and Bella appeared—someone no one had expected—the room fell into stunned silence.

Everyone glanced at each other, hesitant to speak. Bella offered a gentle smile and strode past them, heading confidently to the seat at the head of the table.

Once seated, directly across from the entrance, she placed a few sheets of paper on the table and looked over the gathered retainers.

“It’s been a while. I hope you’ve all been well.”

The strength in her voice, along with her unexpectedly composed appearance, lifted the spirits of the retainers seated on Kaelan’s side. In contrast, the faces of those aligned with Viscount Kranos darkened considerably.

How the hell is she here?!

With just her presence, the atmosphere in the room had flipped. Underneath the table, Viscount Kranos clenched his fists so tightly the veins bulged.

“It is a relief to see the Duchess safe and well. It seems everything the young lord told us was true,” one of Kaelan’s supporters said, speaking quickly to seize the moment.

It was the perfect chance to shake the confidence of those who’d been pressuring Kaelan before Bella appeared.

Bella looked at Kaelan, who was sitting to her left, then turned back to respond.

“Yes. That’s correct.”

As murmurs of “I knew it.” rippled through Kaelan’s side, the lingering tension dissipated entirely.

Their side began speaking more openly—some with smug tones—as they remarked how Kaelan would never lie, how they had believed him from the start, and how Viscount Kranos must have misunderstood something to even call this council. They said it loud enough for the opposing side to hear.

Knock knock.

Just then, the conference room doors were knocked on again. A servant entered and handed Kaelan a piece of paper, whispering something in his ear.

“Bring them in.”

Kaelan nodded and dismissed the servant, then addressed the rest of the room.

“The doctors who examined the Duchess will arrive shortly.”

“What? That’s impossible! There’s no way they could get here so soon—there’s still time before—”

Kranos began to object, claiming the doctors couldn’t possibly be at the manor yet.

Kaelan answered calmly.

“Other than the family’s chief physician, the rest of the doctors were housed within the estate and had all their needs taken care of until the Duchess awoke.”

“W-What? Impossible. The doctors I met were all at their own homes!”

“What were their names?”

“…They were Hobin, Baden, and Ritan.”

“Their genders?”

“…Excuse me?”

Something about the question threw Kranos off, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. Still, he stalled for time.

He couldn’t quite guess what Kaelan was getting at.

“They were… all men.”

“The doctors who treated the Duchess have been living inside the estate since the beginning. They agreed to this arrangement of their own will, not under coercion. Their names are Illia, Keran, and Nozia. And furthermore—”

Creeeak—

The doors opened again.

When the true physicians entered, Kranos stared in shock.

“They’re all women.”

“No…”

“As per the chief physician’s advice, we hired female doctors for a more thorough examination.”

The newly arrived doctors answered the barrage of questions calmly and consistently. When asked about the names Hobin, Baden, and Ritan, they said they’d never heard of them.

Nor had they ever seen Viscount Kranos before.

“We’ve never met that noble over there.”

“N-No! I definitely met the doctors! They told me the Duchess was gravely ill, and—”

As the conference room buzzed, Kaelan flipped through the papers the servant had brought, then calmly placed them back down and turned toward Kranos, who was glaring at him.

“The men you claim to have met aren’t on the official list of physicians for the duchy, nor are they in any visitor logs. Which means… your story doesn’t add up.”

“…”

“Did you fabricate evidence to trap me, Viscount?”

“No! I swear, I met them! This doesn’t make any sense… then who were those men?!”

Kaelan pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile as he watched the visibly shaken viscount.

Those fake doctors—Hobin, Baden, and Ritan—were probably out bragging to their fellow ravens with the pouch of gold they’d been paid.

Kaelan had already pulled the three undercover agents, who had been impersonating doctors, out of the duchy the day before. He had even instructed them not to show their faces around the area during the mission.

There was no way anyone could have known they’d been there.

I knew you’d go looking for the doctors the moment you left the estate.

And yet, you never stopped to question your own eyes—or the greed clouding them.

As murmurs filled the room and fingers pointed in his direction, Viscount Kranos, who had been about to collapse into his chair, straightened and raised his voice.

“This is a setup! I’ve been deceived! The knights who accompanied me can confirm that I met doctors! I only acted out of concern for the young lord, who was left alone to manage everything. I’m innocent!”

“And you’ve all seen Lady Reyna’s letter! Didn’t she just say the young lord was managing the household because the Duchess had collapsed? Am I wrong?!”

Yes—Reyna’s letter. That would be his salvation.

If the impostors had been trying to frame him, all he had to do was point to Reyna’s letter as supporting evidence. The contents matched perfectly.

Feeling the room’s suspicion ease, Kranos let out a shaky breath.

“I only made the decision after reading Lady Reyna’s letter. I thought the young lord might be too overwhelmed to inform the council, so I took the liberty of sending the letters myself!”

As murmurs of agreement spread, Kranos regained some of his lost confidence.

Riding the momentum, he pressed on.

“But isn’t it all too convenient? How did those impostors know to meet me at the homes of the real doctors? How could their claims match the contents of Lady Reyna’s letter so precisely—in timing and detail? That’s no coincidence!”

“…He does have a point. How could the impostors and the Lady’s letter say the same thing if they weren’t connected?”

“Lady Reyna even came here herself and confirmed the letter’s contents. Perhaps someone deliberately deceived the Viscount.”

The retainers on Kranos’s side exchanged glances and murmured in agreement. Meanwhile, those seated with Kaelan began to grumble.

“Still… it’s suspicious he sought out outside doctors in the first place.”

“Exactly. Even after the young lord announced the Duchess was recovering, he didn’t believe it and went searching for confirmation. That doesn’t sound like mere concern.”

“Or maybe he truly cared about the duchy and wanted to be sure.”

“If he hadn’t gone looking, he wouldn’t have met the impostors in the first place!”

“And how can you still defend him after reading Lady Reyna’s letter?!”

As the conversation turned back to Reyna, the retainers on Kaelan’s side quieted and muttered among themselves.

So the letter did play a big role.

Thank goodness we received it before acting. If we had trusted only the impostors… things might’ve gone very differently.

Kranos pushed forward.

“The so-called doctors I met aren’t even listed anywhere. Does it make sense for unknown individuals to roam freely within the duchy? Doesn’t that suggest someone on the inside was helping them?”

“Viscount! Are you now accusing the entire ducal household?!”

“Why not?! I’m the one who’s been wronged here! I nearly got framed as someone trying to falsely accuse the young lord! This needs to be investigated thoroughly!”

Kranos insisted he was the real victim and demanded an investigation. The conference room erupted again in debate.

Bella raised her hand and clapped sharply to silence the noise.

Clap.

“Let me clarify something. Lady Reyna wrote to the Viscount because she didn’t know the truth about my condition.”

“Then… you deliberately hid your condition from others?”

“Yes. The only people aware of my situation were the chief physician, Kaelan, myself… and one of my maids.”

“…A maid?” Kranos echoed, stunned.

Bella turned to him with a cold expression.

“Yes. The very maid you planted inside the duchy, Viscount Kranos.”