“…Ma-Mareena, you believe me, right?”

“What is this about?”

“There’s nothing between me and Cameron.”

“…”

Cameron smirked.

You’re an idiot. She knows everything. From the start, she had orchestrated this entire engagement—

—and yet you still don’t get it.

“Now that it has come to this, I can’t find it in me to believe in you.

“Mareena, don’t be like that. We’re a married couple, we should talk this out.”

“That’s unnecessary.”

“Mareena—!”

Be it Mareena’s icy glare, or her emotionless voice—Mason didn’t notice any of them.

Mareena still loves me! I still have a chance!

“We’ve been together for so long. Don’t let such a silly misunderstanding come between us?”

“Mason, you must think that I’m stupid.”

“Mareena…?”

“You tried to get rid of me, didn’t you?”

“W-what are you talking about…?”

“The tea I usually had before bedtime, what did you put in it?”

“I don’t know anything about that! Besides, Cameron was the one who served the tea!”

…Did Mareena find out?

“Well, that’s true. By the way, you bought it from our previous doctor, Jason, didn’t you?”

“J-Jason? What are you…”

“He pretty much revealed everything after receiving a large sum of money.”

“No way—!”

Mason regretted not paying Jason to leave the city.

“…At the guest room of the Westmont residence.”

“…Huh?”

“Four times a week.”

“What…?”

“Weren’t the two of you enjoying yourselves?”

“T-that’s not—”

“A tea that can prevent pregnancy, and also serves as an aphrodisiac… I misspoke, by the way. That tea makes it easier to get pregnant.”

“You—…”

Mareena smiled as Mason sank onto his knees while Cameron shivered.

“Honestly, I was concerned when I discovered my tea was diminishing. I wondered if someone other than me was drinking it by mistake?”

“You did it on purpose…”

“How so?”

“You said that it’d prevent pregnancy!”

“So what if I did it on purpose?”

“Why are you so nonchalant about it!?”

“It’s not like I made you drink it, did I?”

“Wha…?”

“You’re the one who treated yourself to my tea.”

“…You’re so manipulative…”

Cameron crumpled on the floor in tears.

“Mareena, you can’t divorce me. What about the heir? We don’t have children. Do you honestly believe that you can get remarried!? Could it be, with Alfred…!?”

Mareena sighed.

“Thank you for your concern, but my child is doing well, so it’s fine.”

Mareena stroked her stomach.

“…You’re lying, right!? With whom!? Whose child is it!?”

When Mason tried to grab Mareena, Silas and Johan stood in his way. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by the servants.

“It’s ours.”

“W, what?”

“Did you forget? Even though we had a blast… Oh, no. It seems that you’ve truly forgotten.”

“…”

“Anyway, don’t concern yourself with it. Just sign this document and leave.”

When Mareena fluttered the divorce paper, Mason went livid.

“How absurd! As if I’d sign anything like that!”

Mason pushed Silas aside. However, when he was about to snatch the document away, the stout cook pinned him down from behind. With his face pressed against the floor, Mason couldn’t move.

Kneeling, Mareena brought her face closer to Mason.

“Then, would you like to take me to court? Do you think you have a chance of winning?”

“Damn! Damn it all! You’ll absolutely regret this!”

Desperately resisting, Mason tried to free himself, and Mareena muttered to herself.

“As I thought, this is hopeless. We can’t let him go. Johan, summon Marquis Liddell.”

Johan tacitly left the room.

After a while, Marquis Liddell, who was waiting in another room, entered.

“I apologize for having you come all this way.”

Mareena respectfully bowed to him.

“No problem, I was looking forward to it. Just when I was wondering when the next time you’d call for me would be, it turns out I have to take responsibility for what my nephew has done.”

“Haha, meanwhile, his parent immediately gave up.”

“That’s why I dislike Earl of Huntington. Trust him to make a fuss if it’s for his own benefit. If not, it’ll be up to me to clean the mess.”

“It must’ve been rough.”

“Indeed.”

Marquis Liddell looked at Mason before shaking his head.

“I honestly believed that Mason was one of his more decent sons.”

His gaze, which was transfixed on Mason, was filled with scorn.

“If I had known something like this was going to happen, I’d have proposed you marry Alfred.”

“Oh, my. I’m sure Lord Alfred would have been reluctant to marry someone older.”

“Truth to be told, he was smitten by you. If anything, he was the one most worried about the age difference.”

As of the present, Alfred should’ve been 19-years-old. Mareena—on the other hand, was 25-years-old, making her six years older. When Mareena got married at the age of 20, Alfred was merely 14-years-old. As such, she was far too old.

“I sincerely apologize for this. Hey, Mason.”

Marquis Liddell looked down at Mason who was tied up with a rope.

“You did something outrageous. What a waste of such a good woman.”

“…”

After saying that, he forced Mason to stand and dragged him to the carriage.

“I’ll never let him appear in front of you again, so rest assured.”

“Thank you.”

“Next time, let’s have a lighthearted conversation.”

“Yes, do call me anytime.”

Mason would be deported to a mine in the Liddelll Territory. It was a harsh place where felons were sent. He might never return. As she saw off the carriage carrying both Marquis Liddell and Mason, Mareena muttered.

“How foolish…”

From the start, there had been no talk of an engagement between Alfred and Cameron. What actually happened was her asking Marquis Liddell to put up an act. The only one in the dark was the Earl of Huntington.

Afterwards, Cameron returned with Silas to their territory. She gave birth and was then sent to a monastery. Despite the place being known for its strict rules, Cameron adhered to all the rules and spent the remainder of her life there. Her baby grew into an adorable, red-haired boy whom Silas decided to adopt.

Neither Mason nor Cameron ever apologized to Mareena, not like she wanted it in the first place. Although, if they had, she might’ve consider it.

If they had admitted the truth, she wouldn’t have resorted to such measures. Sure, forgiving them would have been difficult, but she could have simply just expelled them.

Moreover, if the two were truly in love, she might’ve come to terms with it despite the excruciating pain. After all, such was the kind of person Mareena was.

While it took her damnedest to suppress her anger, after exposing their crime, all that remained in her weary heart was emptiness. Only then did she realize that she’d been wasting her time.

A condemnation that consoled no one. Now, the two were no longer the objects of her anger. In the end, after she got rid of them, they became people who simply existenced to her. All she did was execute her plan.

Was it necessary to carry out a condemnation that only resulted unhappiness?

Upon thinking that, a wave of regret washed over her. For her own self-satisfaction, she roped those who were precious to her and hurt them.

Can a person like me, who exacted such a childish revenge solely based on emotions, truly be called innocent?

Otherwise, what am I supposed to do? Pretend to be oblivious? Kill them?

…I can’t do any of that.

What about Cameron’s child? Despite his innocence, he was deprived of his mother.

If Mareena hadn’t been born, Mason would’ve succeeded the Westmont family. In the first place, the Earl of Huntington was the one who set him up to it. If she were to think of it that way, perhaps Mason was also in need of salvation.

It’s useless to regret.

Despite knowing that, her humane side still regretted it—perhaps to not become any shallower and twisted than she already was.

Now, all she had left was the life in her belly. At the very least, she wanted to spare the child from her pitiful appearance.

A few months later, Mareena gave birth to a handsome boy with silver hair and dark blue eyes.

---

***T/N: Yo, Luke where?

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