TMH Ch#09

As soon as the commotion began, the butler, who had been watching the situation from a distance, quickly ran off at the Lady Dowager’s command and called for the family knights.

The one who rushed in at the front, responding to the disturbance, was Zurin Valtos, commander of the Duchy of Pandeon’s private knights. He was a milk-sibling of the Duke, born into a vassal family, and because of his close ties with the Duke, his relationship with Karia was predictably strained.

If it had merely been a matter of dislike, he would’ve been no different from the rest. But Valtos went out of his way to drive a wedge between Karia and her husband—the Duke. He would guard the door, preventing their meetings, or refuse to tell her of the Duke’s whereabouts under the pretense of guarding him.

He also often withheld knights under his command, so Karia had no choice but to go out with just a single young knight escort on more than one occasion.

When Karia frowned in displeasure upon seeing Valtos, the Lady Dowager seized the moment and urgently called out to him.

“Sir Valtos, come here at once! And seize this insolent—!”

“Stop right there.”

But instead, it was Karia who gave the order to halt. Normally, they would have obeyed the Lady Dowager. Strangely, however, it was Karia’s command that rang clearly in the knights’ ears. They didn’t know why, but her firm voice rooted them to the spot.

They didn’t realize it was the sheer force of presence in her voice that had frozen them.

Among the knights who obediently stopped, it was Zurin Valtos who demanded an explanation for this confusing situation.

“What in the world is going on here?”

“Can’t you see for yourself?! This vulgar wretch has just—!”

“The Lady Dowager dared lay hands on a royal. Seems you’ve lived too long, madam. Life must have gotten boring for you.”

Karia’s voice was emotionless, but her words were chilling. Within her calm tone was a deadly question: Were you trying to die today?

Never before had she expressed such rage. To Valtos, Karia had always been a docile creature—tamed into submission with her claws and teeth pulled. Always timid and passive, even frustratingly so.

But those eyes now? Valtos, instinctively sensitive like a beast, sensed something was seriously wrong.

The Lady Dowager, too preoccupied defending herself, didn’t notice Karia’s transformation.

“Royal? Royal, you say? You married my son, which makes you a Pandeon now! So what if I tried to discipline my daughter-in-law? What’s the big deal?!”

“Royal status is bestowed at birth and precedes all titles gained later. I didn’t expect the esteemed Lady Dowager of the historic Pandeon family to be ignorant of the royal court’s most basic etiquette.”

The Lady Dowager’s excuse shattered under Karia’s irrefutable logic. No matter how proud the Pandeon family was, all noble houses were vassals to the royal family.

The laws of the royal family stood above all nobility, and royalty must be respected regardless of their marriage titles.

“I am the niece of His Majesty the Emperor, daughter of His Highness the Grand Duke, sixth in line to the throne, and officially registered in the imperial genealogy. So why does the Pandeon family act as if they’re unaware of this?”

In the Kastaros Empire, direct royalty includes those within four degrees of relation to the emperor. Meaning, if Karia bore a child, that child too would be direct royalty. Even if the crown prince took the throne, she would remain a direct royal by blood.

Insulting or deliberately harming royalty was a serious crime warranting immediate arrest—even if the perpetrator was a noble, or one’s own mother-in-law.

“Commander, escort the Lady Dowager to her room and have her rest until she calms down. Once she reflects on her wrongdoing, we’ll talk.”

Though said gently, it was clearly a command for confinement. The knights hesitated between the Duchess and the Lady Dowager, unsure of whom to obey.

“W-what? What did you just say?! You’re going to what, to me, the elder of this house?”

“Commander, would you rather I report the Lady Dowager to the royal family and have imperial knights storm the Pandeon estate?”

Karia flung away the Lady Dowager’s wrist, then brushed off her hands as if wiping away filth.

Looking the Lady Dowager straight in the eyes, she added dryly, not raising her voice:

“Oh, and if that happens, a severed wrist would be the least of the consequences. Is that what you want, madam?”

The Lady Dowager clutched the back of her neck in shock. Born and raised among nobles, she had never been threatened so coldly in her life.

Karia, meanwhile, stood tall, looking as if she were the one wronged. A stranger might’ve thought she was the victim.

“I will escort her.”

In the end, Valtos raised his hand—for Karia. Perhaps it was the first time anyone had chosen her side since she entered the Pandeon family.

The Lady Dowager, dragged off by knights holding her arms, moaned and whimpered, trying to make Karia feel guilty. But Karia neither wavered nor seemed the least bit interested.

“Steward.”

“Yes, madam!”

Karia then called to the steward, who had been watching from a safe distance. He rushed forward and bowed respectfully.

Years of serving nobles had made the steward keenly observant. He, like the others, used to look down on powerless Karia, but now sensed instinctively that things had changed.

Karia looked down at him in silence, then said calmly:

“Bring me the estate’s ledgers and the records of the household’s affairs to my room. Now.”

“Y-yes? But, uh, the Lady Dowager usually handles internal affairs—”

“I’ve been living comfortably under her wise management all this time, but today I realized that was naïve of me. It seems old age has taken her wits. I suppose it’s time I finally did what I should’ve done.”

She said it so shamelessly, as if she’d only been too lazy until now. The steward knew that wasn’t true, but said nothing and bowed his head in obedience.

As the steward moved, Karia turned her head slowly and met the eyes of the remaining servants who hadn’t fled.

Some had run in fear, some looked away pretending not to see, and others still wore rebellious expressions.

‘Interesting.’

Karia remembered each of them clearly. She recalled every moment of rudeness, every slight from the past.

There was one thing she knew that they didn’t: Every action has consequences.

If you strike someone’s cheek, be ready to be struck in return.

Equivalent exchange—the simplest and most absolute truth in the world.

An alchemist’s calculations were always precise. And Karia… was the greatest alchemist in history.

It was time to return everything she had received—plus interest.

—

Sitting at the Lady Dowager’s desk, reading the ledgers the steward brought, Karia didn’t even flinch when the door slammed open. The angry footsteps from far down the hall had already warned her.

“Wife!”

“Oh, welcome back. I saw the carriage arrive through the window, but I was too busy to greet you.”

“Is that what you say at a time like this?!”

The Duke of Pandeon, Rubidev, stormed in still wearing his coat. He had come straight to her after returning home.

He had always been difficult to meet—even when she wanted to—but now he was here in an instant.

Yet Karia didn’t look pleased. She glanced at him briefly, then returned her gaze to the ledger. She didn’t seem affected at all by his anger or presence.

Rubidev stomped over, furious.

“You had the knights confine my mother?! How could you do that to an ailing elder?! Release her immediately!”

Just as she saw—he was angry. Exhausted from a busy season, he returned home only to find his wife had locked up his mother. Of course he was shocked.

But Karia didn’t cower or shrink in fear. She smirked. Her scoffing expression left Rubidev speechless for a moment.

“Did… did you just laugh?”

“You saw it. Why ask?”

Finally, she closed the ledger and calmly looked up at him. The mix of clashing perfumes on him from some party made her stomach turn.

“Since you’re here rather than issuing orders through the knights, I suppose you’ve heard what happened. And yet, you care more about your mother resting in a warm room than your wife, who was struck by her?”

She laughed not because she was amused—but because it was pathetic. That her own husband couldn’t even show concern for her bruised, swollen face.

Who was truly pitiful?

The most pitiful one in this mansion… was the woman who had spent six years depending on a man like him.

“I admit Mother can be hot-tempered. But she’s always been that way. Do you think someone like that will suddenly change? She’s elderly. Just try to understand her.”

“So I’m supposed to just keep getting hit forever?”

At Karia’s sharp response,

the Duke went quiet. He bit his lip and furrowed his brow—his expression full of resentment at being cornered by words. But her thoughts were different.