This Villain Is Mine Now

Chapter 104

Just as she had said she was attending the ball to see Lyle, Elaina stayed at the event for only a short while before returning home. On the way back, neither she nor Lyle so much as glanced at each other, as if they were strangers. People remained in the Harvest Festival banquet hall late into the night, chattering about the two of them.

“Haa.”

Returning home, Elaina lay on her bed without even changing clothes, her expression grave. Staring blankly at the ceiling, she pieced together the information she had gathered that day.

First, Lyle Grant.

“Idiot.”

Recalling Lyle’s sorrowful expression as he looked at her, the word slipped from her lips before she realized it.

“Foolish idiot.”

If it was so painful, he should have just been honest. Watching him stubbornly persist to the end had made her angrier than she had ever been.

Why hadn’t she noticed before? Looking back now, it was filled with inconsistencies. First, he began avoiding her, then suddenly handed her divorce papers—it was all too deliberate.

“I must have been blind.”

What had she seen in that man…

The moment their hands had met during their brief dance, the resentment she held toward him melted away on its own. She had thought she would never forgive him easily, but seeing him already punishing himself made her feel sympathy before anger.

Lyle had refused to explain anything to her, but after hearing Nathan’s account, Elaina had already grasped most of the situation.

The time Lyle started interfering with the Marquis’s businesses coincided almost exactly with when he began distancing himself from her. The fact that he continued pressuring Marquis Redwood even while handing her divorce papers meant there had to be a compelling reason.

His goal was not difficult to infer.

The villa in Deftia.

The place hiding the secrets of the rebellion from ten years ago. Lyle was determined to reclaim it from the Marquis of Redwood.

What Elaina couldn’t understand was his reaction.

What kind of threat had the Marquis made for Lyle to be so terrified that he sought divorce just to distance himself from her?

Frowning slightly, Elaina mulled over the thought.

But if that were the case, something didn’t add up.

If his intention was to cut off the Marquis’s financial support, then he should never have tried to relinquish the rights to the medicine. If she retained control over it, the Marquis would become even more isolated.

“…Why?”

It had been over two months since Lyle had begun pressuring the Marquis from all sides to obtain the Deftia villa. Yet, asking her to give up the rights to the medicine was practically admitting that all his efforts had been for nothing.

The contradictions were giving her a headache.

Elaina decided to set that thought aside for the moment and focus on the facts she had gathered.

First, inheritance laws.

James—was that his name? She clenched her teeth as she recalled how he had treated Lyle like a villain and warned her to be cautious. Smiling in front of him had made her facial muscles ache.

“Speaking nonsense without knowing a thing. Once this is all over, I won’t let it slide.”

But personal dislike aside, he had provided valuable information.

Just as James had said, the reason Lyle hadn’t finalized the divorce was likely this.

If James had figured it out, then Lyle had certainly realized it much earlier. As James had pointed out, Lyle had “a monstrous Drane” at his side.

Again, the same cycle of thought.

“The Marquis of Redwood.”

Lyle’s reluctance to finalize the divorce must have meant he believed that the moment she ceased being a member of House Grant, the Marquis’s reach would extend toward her.

If anything happened to her, the rights to the medicine would be passed to Nathan.

Elaina’s brow furrowed.

Something was off. Something elusive and unnatural.

Then, in a flash, a thought struck her like lightning.

The horrifying realization sent chills down her spine.

If Elaina Winchester, divorced and no longer affiliated with Grant, were to be killed, the rights to the medicine would pass to Nathan Hennet.

And then…

If something happened to Nathan—

“According to imperial law, when a married individual dies, their entire estate is inherited by their spouse. My god, Diane!”

Elaina shot up from her seat, pale as a sheet. She dashed to her father’s study, pulled a thick legal tome from the shelf, and frantically flipped through the pages.

She barely had time to reach the desk before she dropped to the floor, scanning through the inheritance laws with trembling hands.

「If an individual dies without a spouse or descendants, their estate shall be inherited by their parents.」

Elaina’s vision darkened.

***

Elaina urgently summoned Diane and Nathan, who were staying at the academy, to the ducal residence. She believed that the ducal estate would be far safer than the academy dormitories.

Nathan and Diane barely had time to gather their belongings before being hurriedly ushered into a carriage. It was not just the ducal staff who appeared anxious. Elaina was so tense that she stood outside the entrance, waiting for their arrival. The moment the carriage came to a stop, she rushed forward, opening the door before it had fully halted.

“Diane!”

“Elaina. What’s going on?”

“Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.”

“Elaina? Your hands are freezing. How long were you waiting outside?”

“There’s no time for that now. Quickly, come inside.”

Elaina led them into the drawing room. She had already laid open a legal tome from the study, and without hesitation, she began explaining the laws of inheritance to them.

As Diane listened to her explanation, her face grew pale.

“…No way.”

But she couldn’t bring herself to say it wasn’t possible. She knew her father all too well. He was a man capable of exactly this kind of scheme.

Nathan, meanwhile, calmly read over the legal text. After going over the same passage multiple times, he finally nodded slightly.

“I see. That makes sense. If this is true, the rights to the medicine would undoubtedly become the property of the Marquis of Redwood.”

“The academy is too dangerous. Stay here until this is resolved.”

“No.” Nathan shook his head. “If what you’re suspecting is true, then Marquis Redwood won’t take action against us just yet. We are not the first targets in this plan.”

Diane turned to Elaina, looking distraught. Nathan was right. If anything were to happen, it would start with Elaina first.

“I’m sorry, Elaina.”

Diane’s face twisted as if she were on the verge of tears. She despised the blood of the Redwood family running through her veins. Even if all this turned out to be mere speculation, the fact that she couldn’t confidently say, ‘My father would never do such a thing,’ made her feel sick.

“We should do as His Grace says. My father is truly capable of this. It could be extremely dangerous.”

“No, Diane, that won’t help.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Nathan?”

Nathan turned to Elaina, his face unusually serious.

“Elaina left the ducal estate a long time ago. That means your father has another reason to target her.”

Unless that issue was resolved completely, Elaina would always be at risk.

Nathan’s calm gaze met Elaina’s. Seeing his composed demeanor helped settle the anxiety that had been gnawing at her.

“…You’re right. The inheritance issue is just one part of this. Lyle had already been wary of the Marquis of Redwood long before this.”

“The real issue is that we don’t know what exactly His Grace is worried about. We need to hear it from him directly.”

Nathan was unexpectedly cool-headed in his assessment. Listening to him, both Elaina and Diane felt some of their unease begin to dissipate.

“But how? His Grace refuses to explain anything to us.”

“First, we meet with him.”

Nathan picked up his coat and stood.

“Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“To Grant.”

Elaina and Diane stared up at Nathan in surprise, as if he had just said something obvious.

***

The Harvest Festival was one of the most significant social events of the year. Many nobles would stay at the banquet hall until the early hours of the morning. This was fortunate for the three of them, as it meant they could head to the ducal estate without drawing unwanted attention.

The sight of a Winchester carriage arriving had the butler rushing to the entrance, not even properly dressed.

“Madam..!”

Seeing Elaina again, whom he had never expected to return, brought tears to his eyes. She noticed how gaunt he had become, and her heart ached. But there were more urgent matters at hand.

“Butler, has His Grace returned? I need to see him immediately.”

“Ah, Sir Hennet. Yes. He arrived just a short while ago.”

“Where is he now?”

“I saw him heading to the study, madam.”

There was no time to waste. The moment the butler finished speaking, Elaina broke into a run, heading straight for the study.