“Your Grace, you have a letter.”

“Leave it on the desk.”

“Yes… It’s a letter from Young Mistress Avena.”

“…Bring it here.”

Duke Charles sat behind his desk. He took the letter the butler handed him. His expression was a little complex as he looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar delicate handwriting that formed the signature on it.

It really was sent by Avena…

Charles knew that the stubborn Avena would not spontaneously send him a letter for no reason, especially after she had been back in Ansu for so long without contacting him.

He carefully opened the envelope, took out the letter inside, and began to read it word by word.

When he finished reading all the contents of the letter, he put down the letter in his hand, reached out his right hand, gently rubbed his forehead, and sighed.

“Have those people arrived?”

Charles looked up at the butler before him.

“Yes, Miss Avena’s friends, and Knight Nia, arrived with the letter. This letter was delivered to me by Knight Nia.”

The butler bowed slightly and said respectfully.

“See to their comfort.”

Charles waved his hand at the butler. Then he thought of something and called out to the butler, who was about to leave, “Prepare a carriage for me.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Only after the butler left did Charles’s face gradually return to calmness and he fell into thought.

From the contents of the letter, Charles knew that the young girl named Ciel originally intended to have Avena bring those friends to seek Charles’s protection… But the most crucial person, Avena, did not come.

This did indeed seem like Avena had relented to him… But this “relenting” was clearly barbed.

Forte had already extended his hand to the Deton Group, and Avena had stayed at the Deton Member Hotel with that young girl named Ciel… This was already sending a very clear signal, especially given that he and Avena knew each other’s ways of handling things very well.

Avena was gambling.

She knew that after returning to the family, she would most likely be put under house arrest until everything calmed down before she might be released. And after he protected Avena within the family, he would definitely not interfere with matters outside, trying as much as possible not to stir up trouble.

This was Charles’s usual practice of maintaining “neutrality”… To put it nicely, it was neutrality. To put it harshly, it was being stuck between several forces, having to please them.

The red-haired young girl, who had somehow formed a mortal feud with Forte, originally intended to stay at the hotel alone to deal with Forte, without any support. Avena staying there was a gamble that she was important enough in his eyes to force him to come and help that person named Ciel deal with Forte.

“Not a single letter for years… How dare you gamble like this…”

Charles shook his head.

Charles and his daughter had very similar personalities, but their understanding of a single matter was different—Charles was more inclined to maintain absolute rationality and make the optimal decision, while Avena was more emotional and let her feelings guide her choices.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have left home back then, ignoring the consequences, just to avoid being a “hostage” and refusing to hand Nia over to the Church of the God of Order, choosing instead to directly leave with that old “Crown Guard.”

This time was the same. If Avena had returned to the family, she would have lived, but that girl named Ciel would very likely die. But by choosing to stay there, she had a slim chance, with his help, to do something rather than nothing at all.

Would he help?

Charles stood up.

He had already made his choice when he had the butler prepare the carriage just now.

That year, he had made the “right” choice, but almost lost his most important family bond because of it. This time, he would make the “wrong” choice, trying to make amends.

He decided to go to the Deton Member Hotel himself and forcibly “bind” Avena and that girl and bring them back.

The current Forte was extremely unusual. He was disregarding the potential resentment of the two major churches, the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Church of the God of Order, and conducting a strict lockdown on them. Under Forte’s former authority, those two churches might not take any action for the time being.

But if this lockdown continued, those two churches would eventually erupt.

Moreover, in this situation, Seraphim had even reported that Forte had sent people from the Queen’s Sword to arrest a newly appointed executive director from the Deton Group.

And the arrested executive director was the person who had returned from Berren City on the same train as Avena and the others.

Combined with the red-haired young girl’s action of coming to him, Charles could easily deduce—

Something must have happened in Berren City.

The red-haired young girl was hiding a secret.

A secret that was enough to make Forte lose his composure and begin resorting to breaking the rules and arresting people everywhere.

Charles had no intention of directly confronting Forte. He wanted to know what that secret was. After knowing everything, he would decide whether that secret could truly end Forte, and only then would he decide whether to take action… This was Charles’s judgment.