"Anyway, we will cooperate well with each other as business partners from now on. Understood?"
"Then start working immediately tomorrow and sign the contract with the company today."
"Okay... so please calm down. Would you like some more cookies on your way out?"
Isar glanced down at the last remaining cookie and just nodded.
At the sight, Asha chuckled and pulled the rope.
And so, Isar's visit ended with an armful of wrapped cookies.
***
Come to think of it...
"Carcel, but you said my ex-mother-in-law wrote the waiver of custody."
"Yes. You mean the one I made them write solely through persuasion?"
"Then is my ex-mother-in-law still in detention?"
What was my ex-mother-in-law's special skill?
It is precisely the malicious spreading of false rumors.
And as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; my ex-mother-in-law had friends with similar tendencies throughout high society.
If she were released now, she would undoubtedly be planning to take revenge, even in that way.
To think that an adoptive mother, who wasn't even her biological mother, took her granddaughter with her when she remarried.
If others heard it, it would look like there were problems in the family, and they would think it was a loss of face.
'They'll probably pretend to be a victim to defend themselves in advance.'
It was certain that rumors would spread that Carcel and I had taken away even Linea, the only blood relative of the deceased son.
Carcel answered me with a troubled look on his face.
"She was originally in custody, but it was decided to release her in exchange for signing a waiver of custody. The Cout Delmore is still in custody due to other charges."
"My ex-mother-in-law is a megaphone."
"So, since she came out yesterday, you're saying she'll start going around spreading rumors everywhere."
I nodded.
"Honestly, since it's a lie, I could just let it go, but since she has such a talent for this, I'm worried that Linea's friends might drift away."
I have no interest in high society, so I don't care how rumors spread.
I'm not sure about Carcel, though.
"If it had been a problem involving only me, I would have just let it go even if malicious gossip spread."
"But Linea is our daughter."
Upon hearing those words, Carcel's expression crumbled once again.
“My daughter.”
"But other people might misunderstand if she says that I brought her, even though I am not her biological mother."
"...Asha, please don't misunderstand."
I tilted my head loosely.
"Why?"
"There is also a way for me to handle Yurizella Delmore simply."
"How simply? You don't mean to chop off the head?"
"No, it is not that method; I can just let you know that she will not be able to show herself in high society."
My lips curled into a sour expression upon hearing those words.
'You bastard, trying to bury someone in the ground again.'
Duke Lakan actually had a habit of burying people underground for a very long time, like aged kimchi.
He doesn't actually bury them in the ground; he just keeps them confined in a place like an underground prison.
However, that underground prison was so deep, heavily guarded, and labyrinthine that no one managed to escape.
It is truly the Minotaur's labyrinth.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Honestly, I feel like it would be better to just bury it there.
The Delmore family will go bankrupt on their own even if left alone.
Is this the price for abusing Linea?
They are completely ruined by Count Delmore, who has developed a taste for gambling. It is only natural that my former mother-in-law ends up on the streets as well.
"So, I have a plan in mind."
I realized that the only way was for me to strike first before Yurizella became active.
"Just let me know, and I will proceed exactly as Asha wishes."
"Then, Carcel, could you find out where my ex-husband's mistress is staying right now?"
Even though she has been released from detention, to stop the vengeful attacks of Yurizella before the trial.
"Sometimes, the best way to stop a planned attack is not defense, but offense."
"Are you trying to take the lead?"
“Of course.”
I exchanged glances with Carcel and smiled, pulling up the corners of my mouth.
"I like this side of Asha as well."
Carcel, having said that, immediately ordered Matt to find out the mistress's current whereabouts.
He was like someone who had information guilds under his command.
***
Yurizella read the information she had obtained once again.
"You keep my son and me locked up in a detention center while you happily enjoy a ball?"
Every word she spoke was laced with blood.
For some reason, only the things she had done well for Linea came to mind.
"To think I abused my granddaughter. There were times when I disciplined her a bit excessively, but I did it all out of love. Kids these days."
How wonderful it would be if Linea married into a good family and lived a life of luxury for the rest of her life.
All the discipline she had practiced so far was also for the child's sake.
"Today, I’ll teach both of you a lesson."
Yurizella entered the ballroom and approached her friends, fuming.
"Oh my, honey! You're out?"
"Look how skinny she is, just look at how much she's suffered!"
Friends chattered about Yurizella's concerns.
Yurizella swallowed the anger she had been displaying just moments before and suddenly burst into tears in front of them.
“Oh my?”
The surprised friends helped her up to a chair and began asking her various questions.
"I heard that your daughter-in-law suddenly became a Marchioness and even took Linea with her. Is that true?"
At these questions, Yurizella wailed so loudly that others looked at her in surprise.
Giving an answer that was advantageous to herself was a bonus.
"I can't live like this because I feel so wronged!"
Before anyone realized it, the attention of the ball was drawn more to the commotion breaking out in the corner.
Just then, a dance song ended.
Taking advantage of the moment, Yurizella pointed at her former daughter-in-law, who was dancing and trying to get back into the crowd in the center of the ballroom.
"You see! Even after forcibly dragging away the only blood relative my dead son left behind, did you really think of shamelessly sticking your face in a place like this?"
At her scream, everyone glanced subtly at Asha and Carcel.
Asha tried to walk past, ignoring her. Then Yurizella shouted even louder.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going! You even made me give up custody! You're doing this because you want to take the trust funds from Linea's body that my son left behind, aren't you!"
People at the ball were startled by a shout they had never heard before.
Following Yurizella, her friend also shouted along.
"I see! No matter how great the status of a Marchioness may be, have you taken away even the only granddaughter who could entertain an old woman who lost her son just a month ago in her twilight years?"
Yurizella whispered to the friend who had spoken sharply in an attempt to help.
"I'm not an old man."
"That way you'll get more pity. Shut up, you rascal."
Her friends also helped Yurizella without backing down.
Of course, if you listened only to Yurizella's side of the story, it was understandable that she felt truly wronged and resentful.
Eventually, Asha looked flustered as people's attention was excessively focused on her.
She pushed her way through the crowd and approached her mother-in-law.
"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Mother."
Asha said one thing to Yurizella and received tens of thousands of responses from her friends.
"Are you really in a position to walk around with your head held high right now?"
"No matter how much you hate your mother-in-law, you shouldn't do that. Even though her son died after just a month, she didn't kick you out and still fed you and let you sleep there."
Yurizella's friend who said that snorted as if to make sure she heard it.
"Don't you realize how grateful I am for that?"
"But to think that a month later, as if remarrying wasn't enough, you even took away the only blood relative her son had left! That was too much."
Yurizella had a somewhat triumphant look on her face.
Then Asha asked Yurizella back.
"Mother, blood ties are truly more important to you than anything else, aren't they?"
"Th-that's right! You even took away my granddaughter, the only bloodline my son left behind, so how am I supposed to live?"
"Even though Mother abused that granddaughter?"
"It's discipline, not abuse. Isn't it common sense to respect family discipline?"
Asha nodded at Yurizella, who was saying that, and spoke calmly.
"Then, Mother, if your grandson returns, do you intend to stop the discipline you have been doing so far?"
Asha's lips curved gently upward.
As if waiting for Yurizella to walk in.
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