Eloise looked up and saw Athena arriving with a group of people. Among them were officers from the patrol bureau.

One officer stepped forward and cupped his hands respectfully at Henry, “Your Highness, we heard there was a theft in your estate’s storage. We’ve come to investigate.”

Henry looked at the officer with a pale expression, then glanced at Athena. Her expression was calm, with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips.

In that moment, everything became clear to him. This officer must have been brought here by Athena. She had reported the theft.

His chest felt like it might burst from rage, but he forced a smile and said, “This is all a misunderstanding. Athena reported the matter before clarifying it. Nothing has been stolen from the estate.”

Athena cut in, her voice steady and firm. “Your Highness, how can you say nothing was stolen when Grandmother’s entire storeroom is empty? Among the missing items is a glazed porcelain vase with a blue underglaze, a gift from the late emperor.”

Henry’s face twisted into a stormy scowl. His eyes turned cold as he looked at Athena.

The officer frowned and said, "If an imperial gift has gone missing, that’s no trivial matter."

If it had been a common item, he could’ve pretended not to hear. But a gift from the emperor was another story. Now that he knew about it, he couldn’t just look the other way.

Eloise trembled slightly, her eyes darting to Henry in panic.

Joseph clutched her hand, whispering, “Mother, is it really that serious? It’s our own family’s stuff…”

Eloise shot him a look to shut him up, and Joseph fell silent.

“The estate has lost nothing,” Henry said, forcing calm. “It rained heavily last night, and my son saw that the storeroom was leaking. So, he moved the items to his own courtyard. Everything is there.”

He turned to Joseph with meaningful emphasis, “Isn’t that right, Joseph?”

Still dazed, Joseph didn’t answer right away. Eloise quickly jumped in. “He’s a good child. He’s always been close to his grandmother. He moved the boxes out only because he didn’t want them damaged by rain.”

She smiled, then added, “Athena, how could you report the matter without figuring out the truth first? You’ve troubled the officer for no reason.”

With that, she gave a signal to a nearby maid.

The maid immediately handed a pouch of silver to the officer. “You’ve had a long day, Officer. Please accept this small token for some tea.”

The officer, feeling the weight of the coins, broke into a wide grin. “Lady Eloise, you’re too kind. Since this is just a misunderstanding, we’ll take our leave.”

Just as he was about to turn and go, Athena spoke again. “Officer, won’t you at least take a look? If the imperial gift is even slightly damaged, it would be a capital offense.”

“You…” Joseph realized Athena was deliberately setting him up.

He opened his mouth to object, but Eloise stopped him, and Henry shot him a glare. Joseph swallowed his protest with great frustration.

The officer snuck a glance at Athena. Her expression was calm, with a smile.

But to the officer, that smile was annoying.

He cursed inwardly. ‘Unbelievable bad luck. This is clearly the Duke family’s own mess, but that lady just had to drag us into it. Now we’re stuck.

And yet… she was someone he couldn’t afford to offend.

Since the words had already been spoken, he had no choice but to follow through. With a forced smile, he turned to Eloise.

He said, “Just a quick look then. After all, we can’t afford even the slightest mistake with an imperial gift.”

Eloise pulled a strained smile. Her face looked stiff as she nodded, “Of course.”

She led the way into the courtyard, and Joseph seethed with boiling rage. He hated Athena to the bone at this point.

He never thought that his usually quiet sister would pull such a ruthless move.

She had forced him to return everything exactly as it was.

In the courtyard, boxes were stacked high.

As they opened them one by one, each was filled with items from Margaret’s storeroom.

Henry snapped, “Joseph, go fetch the imperial vase.”

He was livid. Today’s humiliation was beyond anything he’d ever known. His own son, stealing from the family. If word got out, he would lose all face.

“Yes, Father,” Joseph replied and stepped forward to search.

Soon, he found the glazed vase with the blue underglaze.

“Father, it’s here,” he said, reaching to lift it.

But fate had other plans. The rain had left the ground slippery. As soon as Joseph picked up the vase, he slipped and fell, right on top of it.

A piercing scream escaped Eloise’s mouth. She rushed forward, covering her lips in horror.

The vase was pinned beneath Joseph, and it was still intact.

Both Joseph and Eloise breathed out in relief, on the verge of tears.

Henry wiped his sweaty forehead with his sleeve and turned to the officer. “You’ve seen everything now. You may return and report.”

“Wait.” The officer raised his hand to stop him. He looked nervously at the vase. “Your Highness… look closely. Is one of the vase’s handles… missing?”

Henry’s heart jumped. He stepped closer and took a good look, and felt his world collapse.

One of the handles had broken off and lay in pieces on the floor.

Eloise fainted on the spot.

Joseph clutched the broken vase, tears streaming down his face. “Father, I… I didn’t mean to…”

“You… You…” Henry held his forehead, stumbling back a few steps.

The officer rushed to support him. “Your Highness, don’t faint now. I still need to go make a report…”

Henry clutched the officer’s arm, desperation in his voice. “This… can we not report it? Name your price. Anything you want.”

The officer panicked and waved his hands, “I can’t do that. I truly can’t. Lady Athena reported this as a theft of an imperial item. I don’t dare cover it up. Damaging an imperial gift is treason!”