Three days after the incident, an unexpected guest arrived at the Winston estate.
“Hestia Frost, receive the decree of His Majesty, the Emperor!”
It was the Emperor’s messenger.
Hestia knelt on one knee before him, holding out her hands to receive the decree.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
The great star of the Winston family, Icarus Winston, has passed away. By Imperial law, Hestia Frost is hereby appointed as the guardian of the lone remaining member, Leonhard Winston.
You are to fully dedicate yourself to his growth, education, and moral development, and ensure he becomes a pillar of the Empire.
This decree grants Hestia Frost all authority regarding the education and upbringing of the young master. You may report directly to the Emperor on any matter concerning his safety and well-being.
All officials and subjects of the Empire must recognize Hestia Frost’s status and authority, and follow her instructions regarding the upbringing of the young master.
The term of guardianship lasts until Leonhard Winston reaches adulthood.
This decree is guaranteed by the Imperial Seal.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
Two months into her role as guardian, Hestia finally received the official decree.
“It took longer than I expected.”
Part of the delay was due to Albert dragging his feet, but even without that, the process was still painfully slow.
If this had arrived sooner, Malrus wouldn’t have dared to cause trouble.
With the Emperor’s seal on the decree, no one would have dared to challenge her role as guardian.
But there was no point in complaining in front of the messenger now.
“Hestia Frost accepts the Emperor’s decree,” she said, standing up as she took the scroll from the messenger.
“Make sure you guide the young master well,” the messenger said.
“Of course, I will.”
The messenger, having finished his formal duty, relaxed and smiled.
“Wow, I’d heard, but I didn’t expect ‘you’ to be the guardian of the young master. What a surprise.”
“I’m surprised too. I never imagined the Marquis of Oz himself would deliver the decree.”
Normally, a royal official would handle something like this, not someone as important as a marquis.
And not just any marquis—the Marquis of Oz was part of the Florance Grand Duchess’s family—he was her younger brother.
Since Tears supplies goods to the royal family and the grand duchy, Hestia had met him a few times in passing.
“I happened to have some business down south, so I figured I’d deliver it personally. The letter was delayed, you know? It should’ve come within a month, but things have been a bit hectic at the palace lately.”
“It’s fine. It arrived safely, and that’s what matters.”
“Haha, you’re quite composed for someone so young. By the way, do you know where I can find Count Humphrey? I stopped by his place earlier, but he wasn’t there. The whole estate seemed a bit… off.”
“The Count is currently imprisoned.”
“Ah, I see… Wait, imprisoned?!”
The Marquis’s eyes widened in shock.
“Imprisoned? What do you mean? What crime could the Count have committed?!”
“It’s a long story…”
Hestia smiled weakly and began explaining what had happened. As the story unfolded, the Marquis’s expression grew more and more stunned.
“Well, I never… I didn’t see that coming…”
“Given the nature of the situation, we had no choice but to imprison him for a thorough investigation. If he’s innocent, he’ll be released soon enough. But if he’s guilty… well, the matter will be taken to the Imperial Court.”
“Good grief…”
Marquis Oz shook his head, still clearly taken aback.
“You mentioned you had business with Count Humphrey. Would you like to visit him?”
Hestia gestured toward the stairs leading to the underground prison, but the Marquis quickly stepped back.
“No, no, I think I’ll pass. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t that urgent.”
“Understood.”
“Well, I must be off now. There’s much to do. It was good seeing you, and I hope we meet again under better circumstances.”
“I look forward to it as well. Let me escort you out.”
Hestia watched as the Marquis’s carriage, bearing the royal crest, disappeared down the road. Then she turned and headed straight for the underground prison. She entered the interrogation room, where they were questioning Oliver.
“How’s it going?”
“Smoothly.”
Kovil, the deputy captain overseeing the interrogation, answered her.
“Some of them are staying tight-lipped, but with so many prisoners, a few of them have already started talking. Especially Oliver—he’s so eager to spill his guts that we don’t even have to ask him anything.”
Through the bars, Hestia saw Oliver, earnestly spilling his guts. There hadn’t been any need for torture, so he looked fine, physically.
Hestia continued walking, inspecting the other prisoners.
Some prisoners had been tortured and were covered in wounds, others sat dazed and vacant, and a few were frantically begging for forgiveness from no one in particular.
She passed by Hubert, the former captain of the guard, who was wrapped in bandages and muttering like a madman. She turned her head away.
“It looks like he’s carrying a ton of guilt.”
It was the Winston knights who had done the torturing and questioning. Given how severely Hubert was hurt compared to the others, it was obvious their aim wasn’t just to extract information.
Hestia walked past Hubert’s cell and stopped in front of another one.
“Open it.”
The guards unlocked the door.
Inside, Malrus stood up hesitantly.
“How are you feeling?”
“I-I’m fine. No complaints.”
Unlike the other cells, this one had a bed, table, and chair. It looked more like a modest inn room than a prison cell.
“So, what brings you here?”
Even though she’d provided him with every comfort, Malrus seemed nervous around Hestia.
It was completely different from when he had barged into the estate and tried to lock her up.
‘The better I treat him, the more nervous he gets.’
Hestia had deliberately placed all the spies they’d caught on the same floor, near the interrogation rooms.
She had intentionally put all the captured spies on the same floor, and the interrogation room was close by too. He’d hear the screams from time to time.
Malrus would be on edge, whether he heard the screams or not. He had no clue when someone might spill the secrets about him.
And judging by the deep bags under his eyes, he’d already been losing a lot of sleep over it.
“An Imperial messenger was here earlier.”
Malrus’s eyes widened.
Hestia waved the decree in front of him.
“It’s the official letter recognizing me as the young master’s guardian. From now on, I’m his legal guardian.”
The more Hestia smiled, the paler Malrus’s face became.
“It took longer than expected, but in a way, I guess that’s lucky for you.”
“Lucky? How?”
“Well, if I’d gotten this decree earlier and then you staged a rebellion, the charges against you would’ve been much worse.”
“Th-that’s true. I have nothing to say for myself. It was all my fault. I trusted Albert and Hubert’s words without verifying them and treated you unfairly. I understand why you’re angry.”
Unlike when he’d first cornered Hestia, Malrus now acknowledged his faults, pretending to take full responsibility. On the surface, at least.
“But I was used, too. How could I have known those two would try to use me to take over the Duke’s estate?”
Even while admitting his faults, Malrus continued to play the victim, shifting most of the blame onto Hubert and Albert.
“Do we really have to go through with this? Wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t make things harder for each other?”
“Didn’t you want to get rid of me when you locked me up?”
“Ahem. W-well, the situation was… complicated.”
Malrus coughed awkwardly and avoided her gaze. Hestia narrowed her eyes.
“Now that I think of it… Marquis Oz was here today.”
Malrus’s eyes grew wide.
“Marquis Oz? Here?”
“Yes, he delivered the decree. The Marquis even asked me where Count Humphrey was…”
“You didn’t tell him I was here, did you…?”
“Of course I did.”
Hestia’s bright smile left Malrus completely speechless in shock.
“…What did the Marquis say?” he asked, stunned.
“I asked if he wanted to see you, but he just left,” Hestia replied casually.
“He… left?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Malrus, staring blankly ahead, covered his face with both hands. He looked more devastated than when he was first imprisoned.
“It’s over. I’m finished…”
Mumbling to himself in despair, Malrus suddenly raised his head, gripping Hestia’s shoulders tightly.
“Please! Don’t let this go to the Imperial trial! I’ll kneel, I’ll do anything! I’ll never come near the Winston family again, I swear! Just, please, don’t let it go to trial!” he begged, falling to his knees in desperation, catching Hestia off guard.
“Get up. Begging won’t change anything,” Hestia replied calmly.
“Hestia! Aren’t we family, if you think about it? Please, think of my wife and children…!”
‘What’s gotten into him?’ Hestia thought, bewildered.
The man who had once been so proud and dignified.
Sure, he had been trying to find a way out of the situation by acting humble, but this level of groveling was new.
“Or is there something you want? Just say the word, and I’ll do it! Anything you want!”
Hestia’s eyebrow twitched slightly. After a brief pause, she smiled faintly.
“Please, stand up, Count.”
Helping the teary-eyed Malrus to his feet, she smiled kindly.
“Do you really think I’d take you all the way to the Imperial court?”
“R-right? Ha, yeah, of course not!”
“Of course. But… there is one condition…”
Malrus’s expression soured at her next words.
“But… isn’t that a bit…?”
“Well, if that’s how you feel, I guess we have no choice but to go to trial…” Hestia sighed dramatically, turning to leave.
“N-no, wait! It’s actually a brilliant idea! I’ll do it! Should I write it down, maybe a contract?!” Malrus blurted out, panicking.
Hestia smiled triumphantly.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
“So… you ended up letting him go?”
“Yes.”
The next day, Hestia released Malrus.
As the newly appointed chief butler, Gallian found himself at a loss for words. He massaged his throbbing head before speaking again.
“You can’t just forgive him that easily. You need to make an example of him,” he argued. This was the first time he had ever openly opposed Hestia’s decision—even though it had only been four days since he was hired.
“A lot of people have turned their backs on the count. Oliver alone is willing to testify as a witness if we proceed with the trial.”
Many others, just like Oliver, had confessed their betrayal, feeling wronged by Malrus.
“Albert, the mastermind behind it all, might be dead, but with Oliver and Hubert on our side, we’ve still got a solid case. We need to catch Count Humphrey again.”
“Do you really think an Imperial trial would resolve everything smoothly?”
“What…?”
“I don’t think it will.”
Gallian tilted his head, totally confused by Hestia’s mysterious words.
