-

Rowan Blackburn watched coldly as his half-sister walked away. The only reason he hadn’t left earlier was his curiosity. He wanted to hear what bullshit she would say. But now, he was a bit alert.

‘That’s definitely the most we’ve talked.’

He looked away and turned around.

「my mother wouldn’t do that.」 

But although he tried to suppress it, he kept thinking about what she said.

It would be a lie to say Rowan never thought something was fishy. He always felt something was missing in the puzzle. His mother had obviously fell to a plot, but he couldn’t pin down everyone involved.

His step-mother was an obvious contender. She had benefited the most from his mother’s death and she was hostile towards him. But like his half-sister said, did she have the gall?

Rowan had to admit she didn’t. The Duchess was a weak-minded woman who resorted to violence when things weren’t going her way. And she was insane enough to poison someone in her path.

But gall? That was something she didn’t have. The Duchess bowed before power. She couldn’t dare to do otherwise.

However, he recalled the conversation he just overheard and laughed.

‘I let that brat get into my head.’

He already had his suspicions of his step-mother’s involvement and his father had only just confirmed it for him. So whatever his half-sister said didn’t matter...

Or so he’d like to think, but one thing was bothering him.

「How would she even accomplish it?」 

Indeed. How would she even accomplish it?

The current Duchess was formerly Arabella Paxton, daughter of the late Viscount Paxton. And as the daughter of a Viscount, the amount of power she could wield was mediocre. Perhaps she could stand straight in front of mere Barons and commoners but that was it.

Yet, she was able to reach into the house of a Duke and have the Duke’s wife murdered?

Again, something didn’t add up.

Rowan suddenly turned around, but his half-sister was nowhere to be found. He took a step forward and paused.

‘What does she know?’

Now that he was thinking rationally, he had to admit his half-sister had a point. And it was now obvious she knew something he didn’t.

He already had his suspicions of a helper. The Duchess had to have had some help from the inside. But he couldn’t figure out who.

‘How does she know?’

But how did his half-sister, a mere 6 year old, know of this? She was only a child so there was no way she had investigated it on her own. Someone had to have told her something.

But who?

He knew all the maids around her and there weren’t many people she interacted with. Unless it was the Duchess herself?

Rowan let that thought hang.

He had been investigating the death of his mother, but something had been obstructing his progress.

The helper.

He couldn’t find who the helper was. It was like they were invisible. So far, the only thing he’d verified was the involvement of Viscount Paxton. Hence why he made the connection that the Duchess was involved too.

Rowan suddenly smiled.

Somehow, he felt like he’d just gotten closer to piecing this puzzle together. And once the pieces were in place, his revenge could begin.

If he just wanted revenge against the Duchess, that would be easy to accomplish. The fool thought her title as Duchess meant she was untouchable.

But the one he wanted revenge against was the King.

It was the king who made his father marry that woman. And it was the king who would pay for it.

It was unfortunate that Viscount Paxton was dead. He would have loved to destroy the man too. However...

Rowan glanced at the study where his father was and tried not to shudder. He knew how the Viscount had died. It was his father’s personal work. He sighed inwardly and began to walk to his room.

The fact that his step-mother was still alive was honestly a miracle, but Rowan knew why. His father had killed the Viscount out of rage but eventually realized there was more to the incident than Viscount Paxton. So he left his stepmother alive in hopes of getting more information. So far, that hadn’t really worked.

So either his step-mother was an amazing actress, or she wasn’t directly involved in any of the planning.

Rowan was leaning towards the later. The woman was a terrible actress so the fact that she didn’t know meant she was simply not involved directly.

Rowan suddenly shook his head violently.

‘Shit.’

He cursed. The words his half-sister said stayed on his mind and refused to leave. Did the Duchess really have nothing to do with his mother’s death?

「Just look into it.」 

He knew he shouldn’t feed into this rubbish. That girl was most likely fed everything she said from the Duchess herself. But honestly, he couldn’t imagine that woman trying to prove her innocence to him. She hated him with a passion and couldn’t care less what he thought of her.

“Lydia…right?”

The name sounded foreign to his lips. And Rowan realized he was actually saying his half-sister’s name for the first time.

Honestly, he didn’t hate the kid. Sure, he wouldn’t care if she fell and died today but he didn’t hate her. The only problem was that she looked a tad too much like her mother so he couldn’t help but feel spiteful whenever he saw her.

He stood in front of his door, holding the knob. Then as he twisted it, he sighed. 

‘Alright, Lydia. I’ll look into it.’

Maybe it was just a child believing in the integrity of her mother and he was a fool, buying into it. However, although he was justifiably infuriated with the Duchess, he didn’t want to let it cloud his judgement.

Rowan liked to pride himself on his rationality. So although he didn’t think anything would come of it, he decided to look into it.

For his peace of mind.