IDLYA 5

chapter 5

To get to the fourth floor, one always had to pass through the third floor—and Niveia, who knew that better than anyone, would always wait there, no matter how late Valer returned.

Once, when he came back at dawn after staying up all night, he found her asleep leaning against the stairs. He had picked her up and carried her to her bedroom.

But yesterday, she wasn’t there. It wasn’t even midnight yet.

And the same thing happened this morning.

Niveia, who always came out to see him off and wish him a safe trip, stayed shut in her room and didn’t come out.

Is she angry?

The feeling left him strangely uneasy.

Especially because, while he was kind to everyone else, he had been particularly harsh toward Niveia.

That harshness had been intentional.

He truly found her tiresome—but more than that, he thought that if he treated her coldly, she would eventually stop clinging to him.

And yet, no matter how harshly he pushed her away, she always returned with a bright smile.

So when she suddenly began acting as though she had no interest in him at all, it felt… strange.

Like a thorn stuck under his skin, it kept pricking at him. For the past ten years, she had never once bothered him like this.

How odd.

Valer tried to pin this unpleasant feeling on Niveia somehow.

As a result, he grew sharper, and with his mounting workload, his irritability only worsened.

Staring at the tip of his shoe for no reason, Valer eventually looked away.

Let’s stop thinking about it.

A woman that unpleasant wasn’t worth another thought.

Internally grateful that his adjutant hadn’t noticed his foul mood, Valer quickened his pace.

However, there was one thing he had overlooked—the presence of someone watching them.

As Valer and his adjutant walked across the imperial garden, a man watched them grow distant and curled his lips crookedly.

“I heard Valer Eustache was well-liked. Was that all just a rumor?”

Sharp eyes, a smooth, low voice.

A handsome man with deep ocean-colored eyes and silver hair like moonlight let out a quiet scoff.

“I was just out for a walk. Didn’t expect to see something like this.”

“Calling it a walk—more like spying, isn’t it?”

At the grumbling remark from the man beside him, the smile faded from his face.

His expression was cold—but more than that…

“You should learn when to keep your mouth shut. Don’t you think?”

“I’ll keep it shut once I’m dead.”

…he looked like a sulking child.

Clicking his tongue, the silver-haired man narrowed his eyes and made a slicing gesture across his neck.

“Watch that mouth of yours. Keep it up and you’ll lose your head one day.”

“Then please make it painless.”

“Honestly. Shouldn’t a subject at least know how to bow and agree when the Emperor speaks?”

“It’s because my mouth only speaks the truth, Your Majesty. Feel free to cut out my disloyal tongue.”

“That’s enough.”

Letting out a low chuckle, the silver-haired man ended the exchange and turned his gaze again.

His eyes were still following Valer, who had just passed through the corridor.

So this was the cold side of Duke Valer Eustache, famous for his kindness.

Were rumors always exaggerated?

It felt like he had unintentionally stumbled upon something entertaining.

“What are you doing, Your Majesty? We’ve got a long way to go. If you plan to snoop through this entire palace today, you don’t have time to waste.”

“Yes, yes, I know. Let’s go. And I said it’s a walk.”

“Of course it is.”

Casting one last lingering glance at where Valer had disappeared, the silver-haired man finally turned away.

His name was Arent Timotheus Joachim—the 12th Emperor of the Winfried Empire.

Niveia quietly stared at Marquis Solen, who looked older than in her memories—and much gentler.

Her impression?

If she had to name one, it was surprise.

So he could make expressions like that. Say things like that.

The Marquis Solen she remembered had always been cold. She had thought him someone completely incapable of kindness.

Someone who didn’t know how to show affection.

But that wasn’t true.

He could smile warmly. He could casually say he would do anything for someone.

They hadn’t had any contact for ten years—perhaps time had changed him.

She didn’t know.

But it was surprising.

And bitter.

And then there was the girl beside him.

I heard he took in an illegitimate child as his heir…

I didn’t know it was a girl.

The blonde girl, her hair falling to her waist, resembled her father—and therefore resembled Niveia as well.

She was unmistakably her half-sister.

So the Marquis had kept a fallen noblewoman as a mistress—this must be the daughter he had with her.

But Niveia didn’t have long to observe them.

Just as she had easily spotted them, they soon noticed her as well.

As she watched the Marquis’s gentle expression twist into shock and disgust, Niveia did not flinch.

Instead, she lightly lifted the hem of her skirt.

Her movements were flawless, forming a graceful bow like a feather settling to the ground.

“It’s been a while, Father.”

Though it had been nearly ten years, she greeted him calmly.

At her words, the Marquis’s face twisted even more. It was an ugly sight.

“…How dare you step foot here?”

“This is my home—as long as my name is Niveia Solen.”

“I’ve never considered you my daughter. Go back to Eustache. Leave now, and I’ll pretend I never saw you—”

“I can’t. The engagement has been broken.”

“…What?”

Seeing him momentarily speechless, Niveia glanced briefly at her sister.

In a situation like this, one would normally cling to their father nervously—but the girl simply stood there, staring at Niveia with curiosity.

She had clearly grown up loved.

Unlike herself, she was completely unscarred—and that twisted something painfully inside Niveia.

“…This isn’t a suitable place. Shall we move somewhere else to talk?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I’d let you into this house? How dare you—!”

“Please don’t shout in front of the child. It’s unsightly.”

Niveia cut him off flatly and took a sheet of paper from her small bag.

The page was filled with neat, elegant handwriting, like that of a noble lady.

At the top, it read:

“Expense Invoice”

“During my engagement, Solen was supposed to pay Eustache for my stay. But at some point, those payments stopped being properly made. Until now, Eustache didn’t file a claim because I was still the fiancée—but now that the engagement is broken, what do you think will happen? If it were me, I’d send a bill immediately.”

Watching the Marquis’s face turn from ugliness to panic, Niveia raised one eyebrow.

“Would you like to continue embarrassing yourself in front of your beloved daughter, Father?”

In truth, Solen had continued sending money.

The problem was—it wasn’t the correct amount.

Over three years in the ducal house, Niveia discovered that Solen’s administrative staff had been negligent.

Some months, no money came at all. Other times, it was insufficient.

No matter how much he disliked her, Marquis Solen wasn’t the type to behave so petty.

It was widely known that he was upright when it came to work.

He simply hadn’t cared how much money his discarded daughter needed.

There was no way there hadn’t been administrative errors over ten years.

Not wanting to request money from Solen, Niveia had sold her own jewelry to cover the gaps.

At first, the amounts were small—but over time, they grew, until she had almost nothing left.

Of course, she kept records.

She had two ledgers:

One showing the amounts she covered.

One without those corrections.

In reality, she had filled in all the missing money—but if she destroyed that ledger, who would know?

Originally, she had planned to tell Valer everything when he returned from war and praised her efforts—then use it as leverage to extract a large sum from Solen.

But due to Valer’s consistent coldness, that plan never came to fruition.

It had hurt at the time.

But now, it was fortunate.

Because she could use it herself.

When leaving Eustache, she brought both her ledger and a copy of the invoice.

Because that money rightfully belonged to her.

“I have the real ledger—the one showing the deposits made under my name. With this, any invoice sent to Solen will become meaningless.”

In other words, without her ledger, Solen would end up owing a massive debt to Eustache—and suffer disgraceful rumors.

“So you’re asking for the money now?”

“Can you pay it?”

“…No.”

As expected.

Even Solen couldn’t produce such a large sum immediately.

Niveia showed no reaction.

“I came to collect ten years’ worth of debt. I must say, I’m very disappointed.”

“Have you considered that I don’t need to pay you at all? I could have you detained and take the ledger right now.”

“You’re quite naive to think I brought it here with me, Father.”

Of course, she had.

There was no safer place to keep the ducal accounts.