Sitting at the small round table by her room's window, Seraphina casually sipped tea while reading documents piled on the table with her free hand.

Managing a noble house was no simple task, especially a powerful and influential house like House Ravenshade. There were hundreds of institutions and businesses owned by the family. Reading the reports sent by them regularly and responding to problems arising there would take away most of her time.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg. She had to hold regular meetings with the heads of vassal families, attend politically significant noble gatherings and banquets, manage the family's finances, and much more.

She put the teacup down and let out a sigh.

'Just when is Raelion coming back? These are all his duties, yet he has dumped them all on me so irresponsibly.'

Raelion Caelis Ravenshade, the head of the family, had gone to war when Adrian had been merely four years old, and he had yet to return. Seraphina didn't even know if her two sons remembered their father's face.

Yet the Duke showed no signs of returning anytime soon.

'Well, he will have to return, since the time to appoint the heir is swiftly approaching, and that is something that can only be done by the head of the household.'

Reading through the documents, Seraphina suddenly paused as a report caught her attention.

{Report by the knight commander in charge of the enforcement order of Aevithar

Regarding the news of attacks on noble houses by the terrorist organization Nebulous Veil, there have been three more cases. One was a county on the imperial side, and the other two were baronies of regional nobles. There were no ancient nobles involved this time.

But there have recently been multiple reports of sightings of suspicious individuals throughout Aevithar who are suspected of being part of the terrorist organization in question. }

She frowned.

'Just what is even going on in the empire these days…'

Nebulous Veil was creating chaos throughout the empire, destroying or robbing noble houses for seemingly no apparent reason. The empire couldn't find a pattern in their attacks. They had started with attacks on weak noble houses, but they were gradually attacking stronger noble houses.

They would sometimes destroy the noble house entirely but sometimes leave after robbing it.

'But there is no way that a mere organization would dare to attack House Ravenshade, right?'

Just then, there was a knock on her room's door, and her personal maid's voice came soon after.

"My Lady, it is time for your meetings. The butler also seemed to have things he wished to report."

Seraphina put down the documents in her hand.

Standing up, she went to the closet and changed into a simple white dress that seemed to be fit for the occasion.

As she was putting on the accessories, she paused while reaching out for a pendant. It was a tiny pendant with a thin gold chain and a rainbow-colored gem attached to it. Wearing this pendant had become such a habit for her that she was about to pick it up without thinking.

'I don't think wearing the same accessory repeatedly is a good idea… Hmm, on second thought, it doesn't really matter all that much.'

In the end, she chose to wear it.

This pendant had been an heirloom that had been passed down in her family for several generations. And she was going to be the last one to have it.

'After all, there is no one left to pass this on to… Maybe I should give it to Aristeia when I get the chance.'

After she was done preparing, she left her room with Colette following a step behind her.

Seraphina glanced over her shoulder.

"Tell me who is here to meet me today."

Colette nodded and replied.

"It's four noble ladies who came together to visit. All of them are from vassal families."

Seraphina turned her gaze ahead.

'If they came together, then they must have some agenda they had agreed on beforehand and want Ravenshade's approval. It better not be something tedious.'

And so, Seraphina spent about an hour meeting those noble ladies. As she had expected, they really did have an agenda, but it was nothing major, so she approved after some back and forth.

As the four noble ladies left, Seraphina let out a tired sigh.

'Let's see what Winston has to say. I have a feeling it won't be anything important this time either.'

As he left the guest room, Colette—who had been standing there—handed her a folded letter.

"Our sources just delivered this. It says that Young Lord Adrian and Young Lady Evangeline have returned from their mission without any apparent injury."

Seraphina stared at the letter for a few moments before nodding.

"I see. That's good then. I will read this later."

But as they began walking through the hallway, her personal maid asked hesitantly.

"My Lady, why didn't we secretly send a few men to protect Young Master Adrian and his fiancée? The mission was apparently supposed to be fairly dangerous for them; what if something had happened? We had almost lost him six years ago."

'What if something had happened, huh?'

Seraphina replied plainly.

"If something had happened, then that's it. There was nothing I could've done. How long will I protect him? And if I continue protecting him, then he wouldn't be able to develop the capacity to face danger on his own. That would be nothing more than poison."

Most noble houses—the sane ones, at least—would stop protecting their children after they turned fifteen. Before, they were too young, and protecting them was absolutely necessary. But after the child was past that age, they would need to learn to face danger on their own.

Otherwise, how would they survive when they had to lead the family? They would need to learn to become the protector instead.

Colette didn't press further, and the two of them walked in silence.

Soon, they reached the office where Winston was waiting by the door. He offered her a respectful bow as a greeting, and the three of them entered the office.

Seraphina took her seat behind the desk, Colette came to stand beside her, and Winston was standing in front, facing them.

As she observed him, Seraphina supported her chin with both hands and asked.

"So? Do we finally have a clue as to who the perpetrator is behind that assassination attempt six years ago?"

That was the primary task she had made him in charge of. House Ravenshade had spent a lot of resources on this until now.

But the butler slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid that we are still searching, and there have not been any significant discoveries recently—Ugh!"

But as he was speaking, Winston was suddenly pushed down to his knees along with Colette.

Seraphina was releasing her mana, making her presence larger. While she did it quite often, there were very few instances when she did it this aggressively.

She spoke in a sharp tone.

"Winston, I only have so much patience. You have to understand the gravity of the situation. Someone dared to attack a Ravenshade. We have to make an example of them, or others might develop stupid ideas like that too."

Truth be told, Seraphina was being intentionally harsh on the man.

There was no way that assassination attempt was organized in a day. And considering that Adrian had gone out that day on a whim, the perpetrator couldn't possibly have predicted it. This meant that they had made their preparations a while ago and were waiting for an opportunity.

And considering that they had been able to evade Ravenshade's attempts to search for them, it was clear that they were both smart and had a lot of resources of their own. All things combined, it had to be either the imperial family or one of the two other ducal houses.

It was understandable that Winston was having trouble finding anything.

But it didn't matter. He still needed to find something. All she needed was a single clue…

'If I can just have a name, I will make an example out of them even if it's the imperial family.'

As the butler struggled under the weight of her presence, Seraphina spoke to him in a firm tone.

"Winston, if you can't find anything by the next time, then I will have to give the task to someone more competent. Do not disappoint me more than you already have."

Saying that, she stopped releasing her mana, and her presence shrank back to its normal size.

Both Winston and Colette were breathing heavily, as if they had been choking until now. Colette was the first to stand up, followed by Winston not long after.

Sweat was rolling down the butler's face as he lowered his head.

"Forgive me, My Lady. I will do my very best to bring you results next time and not disappoint you."

Seraphina sighed.

'Was I too harsh? I don't think so. Well, it doesn't really matter.'

After a short pause, she leaned back in her chair.

"Well? You must have something for you to be here. Go on, tell me."