Iona turned and looked up at the ceiling. With her limbs hanging limply, she vividly recalled her death.

'Why did that person do that?'

Why did the Duke come to rescue her?

Maybe it was because of a shallow sense of justice that he couldn't let his wife die, even if it was only a nominal one.

In return for the undeserved kindness he showed her, did that sweet man eventually die?

Iona was seized with an irrational desire to visit him immediately and check on his well-being.

However, since she had returned 10 years in the past, it was impossible to get answers from the present Duke, and above all, he was most likely in the dukedom now.

It wasn't difficult to go a long way to see him, but she knew they had already made an appointment and were going to meet soon.

Even if she left to meet him right now, there was a high possibility that they would stray in the middle.

'When we meet... What should I do? Is there anything I can do for him?'

It was a humiliating marriage that was forced by the imperial family in the first place.

No matter how well she interpreted it, she couldn't evaluate her relationship with him as more than a bad one.

To be honest, the duke would have been most happy if he didn't have to marry her at this stage. However, she couldn't refuse to marry him even for his sake; it was doubtful whether the higher-ups will accept her rejection, and even if they respected her wishes, there was a high possibility that they will find another woman to play the same role.

And above all...

“Is there a need to be strangers with my husband who even died to save me?”

Iona muttered quietly as if to convince herself.

She didn't intend to do everything as she did in her previous life, but changing her husband was out of the question; It was one of the few fruits of her past life that she liked.

Iona put her fingertips on her lips and slowly closed her eyes.

She felt lukewarm warmth from her calloused finger. The kiss was also similar to this, but she still remembered a different texture.

Surely she will repay the favor she owed to her husband. However, she decided to choose the method herself.

***

Not waking up from this realistic dream even after two more nights of sleep, Iona decided to admit that what had happened to her was real.

Because that was much more comfortable than accepting the miserable assumption that she had to go to work even in her dreams.

In the meantime, the holidays that coincided fortunately were spent very quietly.

There was no news from the dedicated maids after they went to meet the Count, and the family members also did not come to visit Iona to reprimand her for her actions either.

Hayden once asked for a conversation, but when Iona refused, he easily backed off.

Even if he didn't know it, it was certain that the Count had started treating Iona differently.

'Wow. It feels so good to not be treated as a worm.'

Iona thought whenever she saw the changed eyes of people surrounding her.

Right after going to work, Iona stopped by the Knights Headquarters to finish some office work. It was because she couldn't go in front of the Royal Family with her bruised face.

As soon as she knocked, a voice came from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Iona quietly opened the door and entered.

Saskia, the leader of the Knights, was busy playing with her nails among the papers piled up like a mountain.

Saskia, who had just raised her eyes and checked Iona's face, asked in a non-trivial tone.

“It happened again?”

“It's as you can see.”

Iona, who answered calmly in the same way, immediately got to the point.

“For that reason, I think I will have to do some office work for a while. It looks like you need a hand.”

“Your help is very, very, very necessary, but unfortunately, it won’t work; You are to stop by the crown prince's palace as soon as you return."

“Crown Prince, Richard?”

“Of course.”

Iona hesitated for a moment with her hands behind her back.

There was a blue bruise on the side where Nils hit her. As a makeshift measure, it was roughly powdered, but there was no way to hide it.

Above all, the only time Iona wore makeup was when there were scars that needed to be hidden. That meant anyone could easily figure out what happened to Iona during the break.

“Should I go?”

“If you ask me a question with the intention of pushing me on the back, I will answer it; Yes, you have to go.”

Saskia flipped through the paper and answered insincerely.

Iona eventually swallowed a sigh and turned her back.

“…I'll be back.”

“Iona.”

A hard voice called Iona, whose hand had reached the doorway.

As Iona turned around, Saskia pulled out her index finger and said as if she knew.

“As I said earlier; you shouldn't receive—”

"—Such a treatment...? ...I agree."

Saskia raised her eyebrows as Iona finished reciting her earlier words as if Iona had been waiting. It seemed that Iona's consent was not readily accepted.

Saskia stared openly at her bruised cheek and said.

“No matter how much he harbored an inferiority complex towards his half-sister, who is more capable than him Nils is definitely overdoing it. You don't have to put up with all of his ugliness.”

Was there anything more shameful than an illegitimate child in an aristocratic society?

Like a man of shame, Count Modrov tricked Iona into accepting the Modrov surname as the child of a distant relative.

Because of that, most people knew that Iona was the adopted daughter of Count Modrov.

Officially, Hayden was not Iona's biological father, so the estranged family relationship was also taken for granted.

Of course, there were those who, like Saskia, sided with beings outside the boundary of 'kin'.

“If you come back with one more bruise, I will challenge Nils to a duel as your boss. And I won't listen to you this time.”

“Maybe he won’t accept it. At least my duel challenge was like that.”

“How can't he accept my request for a duel? I'm sure he'll lose his reputation if he did— What?"

Saskia, who was just going on with what she had to say, suddenly stopped. Then, she quickly asked again with an expression like 'This isn't the Iona I used to know.'

“Have you requested a duel? You?"

Saskia's eyes widened at the disbelief remark.

It wasn't the first time that Iona came to work with a bruise, and Saskia admonished her about it.

However, Iona consistently maintained a lukewarm attitude toward the unfair treatment of the Modrov family.

Saskia, who was angry, raised her voice a few times, but it was meaningless.

Can the situation be improved if the person concerned does not have the will to resolve it?

The same problem was always repeated like a pendulum.

'But what kind of wind suddenly blew and that innocent girl did such a cool thing?'

Looking at Iona suspiciously, it didn't seem like she was lying.

Saskia stroked her chin admiringly.

“Huh. I should have seen it. It must have been interesting.”

"If you don't have anything else to say, can I leave?"

She wanted to hear more of her subordinate's exciting gossip, but there was too much work left to do.

Saskia, who was agonizing over work and fun, eventually said, “leave,” and got back to work.

Iona lightly bowed to the captain and went outside.

Just then, as if Iona had bumped into someone else in the hallway, Saskia could hear the faint sound of conversation through the door.

“Dame Iona Modrov, have you returned? I don't know if you had a good rest during the holidays... … I really don't know. Why is your face—”

“—Sir Theobald Mayer! Stop talking nonsense and come to see me.”

Saskia raised her voice loudly and cut off Theobald's words.

It was to save a subordinate who was going to be plagued by the same question all day long.

[ T/N: 'Dame' is used for female knights and is equivalent to the 'Sir' title for males. ]

Theobald hurriedly exchanged farewells with Iona and ran into the office.

Saskia clicked her tongue and said, “what are you pretending to be ignorant of? It's obvious who did it."

“I was surprised. Aren't you surprised, Captain, when your teammate's cheeks are swollen like loaves of bread?"

Even Saskia, who couldn't stand it and even gave him an admonishment, wasn't in a particularly proud position.

As Saskia fell silent, Theobald leaned over and whispered to her.

“But is it okay for Nils to keep doing that? No matter how much she is an adopted daughter, Dame Iona is soon to be a duchess.”

“Originally, people who think you are inferior to them can’t accept it easily when you succeed. They still think it must be either an accident or just luck.”

It was well known that Nils felt inferior to his half-sister because of her talent.

Unlike Nils, who was only going to inherit everything from his parents, Iona was a talented person who became an aide to the crown prince on her own.

In addition, it was natural for her to be treated as a competitor, as she was planning to take the position of the duchess through the arrangement of the imperial family.

Yvonne was already going to all the parties and openly mocking her half-sister's presumptuous greed.

Saskia was not usually the type to agree with a mean young lady like Yvonne, but she agreed to some extent with Yvonne's opinion that Iona and the duke were completely out of place.

Saskia, who covered the back of her head with both hands, looked up at the ceiling and asked.

“By the way, why do you think the crown prince wants Iona to marry His Grace, Duke Leroy?”