Sizzlorn was bustling with countless merchants and sailors.

Known as the bridge of the sea, this place was the center of the Imperial Bitel Merchant Association, where vast amounts of goods gathered and dispersed.

The streets were filled with the scent of unfamiliar spices, the smell of the sea, the odor of people, and the thick aroma of alcohol.

“Step aside! Everyone, make way!”

Carts loaded with goods hurriedly passed through the alleys.

The man kept his gaze fixed on the large golden castle on the central hill of Sizzlorn.

It wasn’t actually made of gold, but rather built with yellowish stones that sparkled like gold when touched by sunlight.

His bloodshot eyes stared at the eagle emblem of the Bitel family hanging at the top of the castle.

“Hey! I told you to move!”

A group pulling a cart shouted roughly at the man standing still in the street.

When the man didn’t budge, a bulky soldier escorting the cart shoved him.

However, the man didn’t move an inch, like a solid rock.

The startled soldier drew his sword and threatened the man.

“Hey. Didn’t you hear me telling you to move? How dare you block the way of this cart…!”

“…You’ve been noisy for a while now.”

The man’s eyes slowly turned towards the threatening soldier as he had been staring at the golden castle.

“What did you say?”

The moment the angry soldier thrust his sword forward, a large hand grabbed his collar and flung him aside.

Crash! Boxes collapsed as the soldier fell noisily.

Those nearby were surprised and drew their swords together.

“You, do you think the Bitel Merchant Association will let this slide?”

As the sword-wielding men shouted, the violet eyes slowly moved again.

“Ah, right. Bitel.”

A languid and dry voice flowed out as if everything was tiresome.

He rolled his eyes to glance at the golden castle once more and muttered.

“If I cause a scene here, will I be able to meet that bastard?”

The soldiers instinctively took a step back at the sharp gaze.

The madness in those violet eyes was not something an ordinary person could handle.

Moreover, didn’t he just grab the soldier’s collar, lift him up, and throw him like an object with ease?

“It might save me the trouble of making an appointment to meet him…”

The man mumbled as he turned his stiff neck.

At that moment.

“Even without causing a scene, we would gladly arrange a meeting with you right away, Lord Lester.”

A smooth voice came from behind on the street.

The violet eyes swiftly turned beneath the gray robe.

Discovering Eclas, who had personally come to greet him, the man pushed aside those blocking his way as if clearing away luggage and strode towards the viscount.

“How have you been, Lord Lester? It’s been a long journey from Blankas…”

Thwack!

A fist flew and struck Eclas’s face as he was greeting him.

“Young master!”

Eclas staggered and barely managed to steady himself from falling by leaning against the wall.

As he removed the gray robe covering his face, a brutal countenance was revealed under the scorching sun of Sizzlorn.

Eclas spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and raised his eyes.

“It seems the habits acquired on the battlefield haven’t left you yet. Using violence as soon as we meet.”

“It’s thanks to your help. I searched all over Blankas because of you. But everywhere I went, it was a wild goose chase. How could my temper not worsen?”

Anger was evident in the dry voice coming through gritted teeth.

“By the time I arrived at the places you mentioned, she had already left, or died, or there were only women who didn’t even resemble her.”

Sched roughly spewed out his words like a curse.

After the long war ended, he had trusted the information provided by Eclas and traveled throughout Blankas.

If it was information about Riana, he went searching without discrimination, from the damn snowy mountains to the desert and the marshes teeming with magical beasts.

However, it was a wild goose chase every time.

At some point, he began to think that Eclas might be playing games with him.

His intuition was usually accurate, so it was probably right to believe his suspicions.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t ignore the information Eclas provided.

He needed even a glimmer of hope.

Even if it was flimsy information that might be wrong, he had to verify it himself.

What if this time it was really her?

What if giving up now meant losing her?

Anger surged every time he confirmed the information was wrong, but Sched blamed himself.

Yes, not every piece of information could be correct.

Shouldn’t he be grateful that Eclas was even finding information about Riana for him?

It was Sched himself who had asked to be informed even of the smallest leads.

So he was prepared to endure the wild goose chases and wasted efforts.

However, after hundreds of failures, he realized the truth.

Eclas was not helping him, but merely playing along with him.

He was just taking advantage of Sched’s desperation.

“From information about Lady Riana to matters related to black magic, I actively cooperated with your requests, yet I’m treated like this. I guess people really can’t be trusted.”

“Then the Bitel family’s information network has fallen to the ground. Unable to find even a single maidservant.”

“Unfortunately, there are limits to what people can do.”

Eclas retorted with a humorless face.

Despite his stern expression, Eclas was quite flustered.

He had heard the news of Sched Lester’s return to the empire, but he hadn’t expected him to visit the Sizzlorn Islands immediately.

‘Of all times, when Lea is here…’

The timing was not good.

It seemed the god of fate was playing a trick on him.

The urgent priority was to prevent Sched from encountering Lea.

Eclas racked his brain.

He couldn’t just drive away the duke who had just arrived in Sizzlorn.

He could make an issue of the punches thrown, but discord with the Lester family, currently wielding the greatest influence in the empire, was troublesome.

Even if they had more money, there were times when one had to bow their head before power.

“You seem tired from the long journey, so let me arrange a place for you to stay.”

Eclas turned to walk away from Sched first.

However, Sched grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

“Riana Serpens.”

That dreadfully worn-out name.

“You know where she is, don’t you?”

Sched’s voice chillingly brushed against the back of Eclas’s neck.

Eclas frowned at his confident question.

There was no way Sched could know about Riana.

Information about Riana was perfectly controlled, and every time Eclas went back and forth to Zanna Island, he made preparations for maintaining secrecy, including alibis, and moved accordingly.

The fact that she was here now was also not known to anyone except those involved, thanks to arranging carriages and ships in advance through his people.

‘…He’s testing me.’

Eclas shook his head with his usual brazen face.

“I really wish I knew. Your punch really hurt, Lord Lester.”

Eclas answered in a somewhat irritated tone while rubbing his sore jaw where he had been hit.

Sched Lester’s eyes narrowed.

Eclas stared at the duke without wavering.

In the past few years, Sched had become thinner compared to before.

As a result, his jawline and nose bridge stood out more sharply, and his eyes were more deeply set, giving him a previously absent sensitive aura.

However, that didn’t mean he looked frail.

After all, hadn’t he just thrown a soldier moments ago?

The difference was that if he had previously resembled an overwhelming predator crushing with force, now he was like an agile beast waiting for a covert hunt.

‘His actions… are at the level of a rampaging colt.’

Eclas thought to himself as he watched the duke raging, unable to control his emotions.

“Eclas, you have a good memory, so you should remember this too. My ability to make inferences based on experience is better than others.”

Sched quietly looked down at Eclas.

Sched was certain.

Riana was in Eclas’s hands.

The reason why the maidservant at the mansion had disappeared without a trace.

The evidence proving that Riana had boarded a Bitel Merchant Association ship bound for Blankas.

The fact that Eclas, who had nothing to do with Riana, cooperated in providing information about her without expecting a significant reward.

All the other minor things that bothered him.

Sched weighed each of those things on a scale.

Then the arms of the scale tilted abnormally to one side.

The Bitel family’s scale was not balanced.

That couldn’t be.

Eclas Bitel was someone who had always thoroughly maintained the balance of the scale.

If the scale still appeared unbalanced, there was only one answer.

‘In a place I don’t know about, he is gaining a significant benefit that balances the scale.’

Sched was convinced that the weight on the opposite side of the scale was ‘Louise Ideana’.

He remembered the way that cunning merchant’s eyes had looked at her.

Although not overtly revealed, those red eyes had always shone with deep interest in her.

Sched stepped even closer to Eclas.

His tall shadow loomed over Eclas.

Then, like a languid predator, he slowly bent his waist and brought his face close to Eclas’s ear.

“…So I came to find Riana myself.”

Sched whispered softly.

Eclas hardened his face to hide his agitated emotions.

Sched grinned at his stiffened expression.

“I want to rest a bit. Guide me to the Golden Castle.”

A satisfactory smile spread across Sched’s haggard face for the first time in a long while.

As Eve’s fever subsided, Lea finally managed to lie down beside Eve and close her eyes.

After dozing off like that, she suddenly woke up with a start.

Perhaps because the tension had dissipated? She thought she had only closed her eyes for a moment, but two hours had passed.

However.

“Eve!”

Lea, raising her head, noticed that Eve, who had been lying on the bed, was gone and immediately got up from her spot.

She promptly searched the bed and every corner of the room.

But Eve was nowhere to be seen.

Belatedly, she noticed the slightly open door.

“No way…!”

Lea hurriedly ran out into the corridor.

The Golden Castle was so large that the end of the corridor seemed distant.

In this immense castle, Eve had disappeared.