Even though the man had only worked at the Venomaine estate for two years and left last year, I clearly remembered him.

He was definitely a servant that the Duchess of Venomaine had hired through her own family connections.

He looked average, but I clearly remembered how much he used to flatter the Duchess to get on her good side. That made him hard to forget.

“Y-You’re…!”

He recognized me and spoke, but then quickly gasped and covered his mouth, realizing his mistake. But it was too late.

Both Edmond and the postmaster had already noticed that the man seemed to know me.

“Take him away,” Edmond ordered.

Wolfgang servants grabbed the man immediately.

“W-Wait! Hold on a minute—!”

Edmond watched quietly as the man was dragged away, then turned to me with a sigh.

“I’ll get a confession from him first. If we get more evidence, we’ll report this officially.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

Thanks to Edmond’s preparation, things were going smoothly.

I can’t just let this go after what they did to Raina.

At first, I was satisfied that the Venomaine family had been banned from the Siliera Tournament forever. But now, that wasn’t enough.

Even after I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with them, they tried a sneaky trick to pull me back—and this time, they even hurt innocent Raina.

“Edmond, did you contact the Harkan family?”

I asked him while we were riding the carriage back home.

“Yeah. I checked with them, and they confirmed that someone at the post office slightly opened the package and switched out the tea leaves.”

Edmond nodded and replied.

“We also checked the gift packaging the servants threw away that day. Out of the six ribbons tied around the bottles, one of them looked slightly different. Harkan said they never used that kind of ribbon.”

“So someone prepared poisoned tea leaves in a bottle and wrapped it to look like the original. They probably didn’t use the real ribbon because they thought it would make the swap too obvious—and that’s how they got caught.”

As expected, Harkan was never working with Venomaine.

“Harkan must’ve been shocked to hear about this.”

“Yeah. The Duke of Harkan said so himself,” Edmond added, looking out the window.

“Anyone would be shocked to learn that a friendly gift they sent was poisoned.”

“Of course.”

Then, a clever idea popped into my head.

Before officially accusing the Venomaine family, I could try pressuring them another way.

This is it.

I leaned back in my seat and asked Edmond,

“Edmond, is there any way I can meet Duke Harkan in person?”

Meanwhile, at the Venomaine estate…

“What did you just say?”

The Duke of Venomaine glared, clearly angry.

Pierson stood in front of him, his head bowed and arms folded neatly, with ointment still covering the wounds he got at the Siliera Tournament.

“Your power has weakened? Is that true, Pierson?”

“I-It’s not completely gone… just temporarily—”

The Duke rubbed his temple, veins bulging in anger, and cut him off.

“Stop making excuses and just tell me the truth!”

“F-Father, please calm down—”

“Do I look like I can calm down right now?!”

Crash!

A vase flew across the room and shattered against the wall.

Pierson, realizing how furious his father was, stepped back in fear.

The Duchess quickly stepped in, trying to calm him down.

“D-Dear, let’s talk first. Please calm down.”

“There’s no need for talk.”

The Duke picked up a shard of broken glass and growled.

“Pierson! Show me your power with this. I need to see it myself.”

Nervously, Pierson stepped forward and took the shard. He bit his lip and cut his own arm with it.

“……”

The Duke stared at the blood dripping from Pierson’s arm.

Unlike before, the blood now looked much redder. It had only faint hints of the black color that was common in powerful Venomaine blood—nothing like Irene’s deep black blood that looked like ash.

“…When did this start?”

Pierson trembled and hesitated before replying,

“After the tournament… my power started to fade a few days ago.”

The Duke stood still, staring at the blood for a long time.

After the tournament?

Pierson’s powers weren’t that strong to begin with, but the Duke had believed more training could unlock their full potential.

But now, things were going completely wrong.

Why…?

He slumped into his chair.

“Father!”

“Honey!”

But the Duke waved them off angrily and pointed at the door.

“…Everyone, get out.”

They didn’t dare resist. Pierson quickly left, covering his bleeding arm, and the Duchess pushed him along.

Even the servant who had quietly been standing in the corner bowed and left.

Now the Duke was completely alone.

…Am I losing everything again?

His dream of defeating the Wolfgang family and producing a “Golden Named” was crushed.

As long as the name Venomaine existed, no one from the family would ever be allowed in the Siliera Tournament.

Ever.

And now, his only heir—the symbol of the family’s power—was slowly losing that very power.

What went wrong?

If he knew the cause, he could fix it.

But he had no idea where the mistake had been made.

Knock knock!

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.

“Get out!! Didn’t I say leave?!”

The butler paused outside, then spoke in a slightly shaky voice.

“My lord… this is not the time.”

The Duke looked up.

“Duke Harkan is here to see you.”

The Duke froze.

“What…?”

In the reception room…

The staff quickly prepared for the surprise visit.

Even though Duke Harkan had come without warning, everything was made perfect.

The Duke of Venomaine was the most shocked. Duke Harkan had never once contacted them first, yet here he was—with attendants—at the front gate with no notice.

Before, he always avoided meetings for “business reasons.” Now he suddenly appeared during such a delicate time?

It was strange. Even rude. But Duke Harkan was not someone to offend carelessly.

The Duke of Venomaine greeted his unexpected guest in the elegant parlor. Right away, he realized Harkan knew exactly what he was doing.

Otherwise, how could he sit so calmly in someone else’s mansion with such a pleasant smile?

“Sorry for the sudden visit,” Duke Harkan said with a chuckle. “I noticed your estate was nearby on my way back from a trip, so I thought I’d drop by.”

“No need to apologize. It’s an honor to have you here. Please, relax and enjoy your time.”

“Thank you. I appreciate the warm welcome, even on such short notice.”

Though he forced a businesslike smile, the Duke of Venomaine was watching Harkan closely.

What is he really here for?

But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t figure it out.

He decided to wait and see what Harkan would say first. He smiled and gestured to the tea.

“Please have some before it gets cold. It’s very good.”

“Ah, thank you.”

But Harkan didn’t drink it.

“With all the rumors these days, it’s hard to trust tea served by others.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Let’s talk about something else, Duke Venomaine.”

Duke Harkan crossed his legs and locked eyes with him.

“Your heir took part in the Siliera Tournament, right? I was very impressed.”

“…Is that so.”

The Duke of Venomaine felt uneasy, as if something was stuck in his throat.

He had no idea what this old man really wanted.

Why suddenly visit, and why bring up the most controversial issue surrounding House Venomaine?

“Yes. His power during the match was very impressive.”

“You flatter us.”

“No. That child truly gave an amazing performance.”

Harkan smiled.

But for some reason, the Duke of Venomaine couldn’t smile back.

“To the point where I almost wanted to steal him away.”

When he saw the icy green-gray eyes, the Duke finally understood why he’d been feeling so uneasy.

“And so.”

Harkan dropped his smile completely and spoke in a cold, angry voice.

“You dared to poison the gift I sent to House Wolfgang… just to get that child back?”

The Duke of Venomaine froze in fear at the accusation.