I think one of the reasons the people of the Kingdom of Lahti feel so content with their lives is because we absolutely adore gossip.

Put two or more people together, and all you’ll hear is:

“Really? That happened?”

“No way!”

“I can’t believe it!”

And they’ll enjoy every second of it.

While working on the railway project, I ended up marrying into the House of Lautavaara by what was practically a royal decree.

But I had no idea the ducal family was in such a distorted state.

After all, none of it had ever reached me through rumor.

Ordinarily, scandals involving Lady Yuliana would have spread like wildfire, but somehow I had remained completely unaware.

There had been far too little information available beforehand.

Someone in her position would naturally resent me for marrying Lord Olivier.

And if ruining me could benefit her, she would have done absolutely anything.

I truly had been standing on the edge of a cliff.

“I never meant for this to happen…”

“I never meant for this to happen…”

If Lady Yuliana had tearfully said something like that, I would have instantly become the villain.

And once a label is attached to someone, removing it is never easy.

That was precisely why I chose a different battlefield.

I understood perfectly well that using rumors was a double-edged sword.

Even so, I felt this was the best approach.

Because Lady Yuliana was simply too entertaining a character.

She surrounded herself with multiple men and reveled in it.

How could anyone not find that fascinating?

And those two ducal sons weren’t any better.

The sheer stupidity of those brothers left me speechless.

Fortunately, Lady Yuliana genuinely believed she possessed the same status and value as a member of the ducal family.

That made things much easier for me.

Eventually, Lady Yuliana was arrested for committing an act of disrespect against Prince Adolf.

Afterward, she was sent to a monastery in the far north where troublesome nobles were usually exiled.

Lady Paula, who had doted on Yuliana endlessly, was so devastated that she withdrew to the family estate.

The duke, unwilling to leave his beloved wife alone, decided to relocate with her.

At the same time, he resolved to hand over the title of duke to his eldest son, Niklas.

Since Lord Niklas had no fiancée, he married Princess Katarina of the Kingdom of Ruleo and assumed his role as the new duke while continuing the railway project.

Naturally, my in-laws’ retreat to the countryside was their way of taking responsibility for Lady Yuliana’s contact with the enemy nation.

The royal family ultimately chose to protect the House of Lautavaara.

However, that meant the duchy now owed the Crown a tremendous debt.

The royal family would undoubtedly make all sorts of demands in the future.

Still, they had only themselves to blame.

Since Lady Paula moved into one of the villas on the family estate, Glen the butler and the head maid, both of whom had served the family for many years, relocated with her.

Because the railway project still required his involvement, Duke Sigmund was permitted to travel between the estate and the capital.

Lady Paula, however, accepted full responsibility for her actions and entered permanent seclusion.

She would never return to the capital again.

Princess Katarina eventually married Lord Niklas.

Yet neither the former duke nor duchess attended their son’s wedding.

Of course, they were forbidden from attending as part of their punishment.

However, many people praised their restraint.

Even though a princess was marrying into their family, they refused to use her prestige to restore their own standing.

People admired the dignity with which they accepted their downfall.

The princess who came from the neighboring kingdom turned out to be surprisingly approachable and intelligent.

One month after she became Lord Niklas’s wife, an incident occurred.

A shocking incident.

An unbelievable incident.

Lady Yuliana escaped from the monastery in the far north and appeared in the capital.

Armed with a knife, she charged directly at Lord Niklas and Lady Katarina while they were shopping.

Lord Niklas protected his wife and threw Lady Yuliana aside.

The moment she hit the ground, the guards overwhelmed and restrained her.

Since such a major event had occurred, my friends naturally wanted the full story.

That was why Christina and her merry band had gathered around me, their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“I’m only telling you this because we’re close friends.”

“But don’t repeat it to anyone else.”

With that introduction, I began explaining everything to the three women staring at me with excitement.

“After Prince Adolf sent Lady Yuliana to the northern monastery, she learned about Lord Niklas’s marriage through a newspaper given to her by a kind merchant.”

“The bride was Princess Katarina from a neighboring kingdom.”

“Lady Yuliana had convinced herself that she was Lord Niklas’s true wife.”

“When she learned about the marriage, she flew into a rage.”

“She escaped from the monastery and headed straight for the capital.”

That merchant had actually been planted by the royal family.

This was a test.

They wanted to see whether Lady Yuliana could sincerely celebrate Lord Niklas’s marriage.

In the end, she chose to escape.

The helpful merchant guided her all the way to the capital.

Then she armed herself and went after the newlyweds.

The royal family had another objective as well.

They wanted to observe Lord Niklas’s reaction.

After all, Lady Yuliana was both a criminal who had collaborated with the enemy and the woman he once loved.

Nobody could predict how he might react.

“Lord Niklas may once have been in love with Lady Yuliana.”

“But now he’s completely devoted to Princess Katarina.”

“He’s utterly infatuated with her.”

“So when Lady Yuliana appeared carrying a knife, of course he was furious.”

In the end, Lord Niklas protected his bride.

That made the answer clear.

Large national projects really are ruthless, aren’t they?

“Speaking of devotion, Lord Olivier seems completely obsessed with you these days, Kastehelmi.”

“No, no, no, no.”

Ever since my husband made that knightly oath to me, he had become an entirely different person.

He had spent most of his life believing that women only cared about power, money, and status.

Then I repeatedly humiliated him, proved him wrong, and handed him one painful reality check after another.

Apparently something inside him had awakened.

Anyone could see that he was now absolutely obedient to me.

Prince Adolf, in particular, seemed endlessly amused by the situation.

“Lady Kastehelmi, Lord Olivier has arrived to escort you home.”

“What? He’s already here?”

Lately, picking me up and dropping me off had become standard behavior for him.

If anything, he usually arrived much earlier than expected.

“Oh my!”

“What devotion!”

“That’s true love!”

My troublesome friends were practically glowing with excitement.

I knew this would become another juicy piece of gossip.

The same Olivier Askam Lautavaara who had looked utterly miserable at his own wedding was now incapable of being separated from his wife for even a moment.

If Lady Yuliana were still around to hear that rumor, she would probably be furious enough to explode.