Late into the night, Emil visited Evenel’s room where the light had not yet been extinguished.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

Approaching her, Emil bowed his head respectfully.

“I came to apologize for what Jena has done. I’m sorry.”

Evenel listened in silence, her expression unchanged.

“His Majesty has ordered that all those involved in this incident be dismissed. From now on, Lia will be exclusively attending to you, Evenel.”

“His Majesty said that?”

“Yes.”

It was extremely surprising for her. She had thought he would just ignore it. She then calmly nodded.

“Alright.”

“Why don’t you blame anyone?”

Emil had prepared himself for any response from Evenel. She was, after all, the daughter of a duke and now an awakened individual.

She surely knows she has that right.

Evenel calmly gave her reason.

“Nothing would change anyway. In Carius, my status is just for show. Being ridiculed by everyone is my current position.”

Hearing her say that, Emil was at a loss for words. So this was why she had always been indifferent to the scornful looks around her.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not angry. I meant it when I said I wanted to kill them.”

But Evenel knew it was not the time. Making noise about her powers in the current situation, where she had no noteworthy achievements, would certainly backfire.

“It’s not too late to raise my voice when I have just cause.”

Emil felt a chill at her even tone. Was it a mere illusion that she felt like a beast holding its breath, waiting for the right time?

“On the contrary, I want to ask you something. Knowing my situation, why do you apologize? Didn’t His Majesty also not order you? To simply observe and do nothing.”

“How did you know that…”

Evenel merely responded with a short laugh. She had an inkling from the beginning how Shuher would act.

He’d probably save her life for the sake of her abilities, but would not prevent any other hardships she faced here.

He was someone who despised her and wanted her dead more than anyone else in Carius.

“Emil.”

Evenel looked him in the eyes and asked seriously.

“Can I truly trust you?”

For a moment, Emil was at a loss for words. Neither affirmation nor denial came easily.

She hadn’t expected an answer anyway, so she soon smiled and said,

“You may go now. It’s quite late.”

“Yes.”
Left alone, Evenel sank into her thoughts, feeling an inexplicable sense of suffocation. She grabbed her gun and bullets and headed outside.

Piercing the darkness, she arrived at the shooting range she’d visited during the day.

Relying solely on moonlight, the training area was dark. Nonetheless, she loaded her gun in front of the target as if the darkness were no issue.

Without hesitation, she raised her hand and pulled the trigger. A loud noise reverberated continuously in the space filled only with silence.

It was as if she were venting her emotions. Her feelings were laid bare.

Given that the training area was in a remote part of the palace and trees acted as sound barriers, there was no need to worry about noise.

Running out of bullets, Evenel lowered her hand and slowly approached the target. However, the result was quite dismal.

Most of the marks were clustered at the outermost part of the target.

“Why are you like this, too?”

Blaming the innocent gun, she let out a hollow laugh.

“Who am I blaming when my skills are so lacking?”

The outcome was to be expected since she couldn’t fully concentrate on the shooting. Her mind was troubled due to the events of the day, and it was just a way to blow off steam.

‘Can I really do well tomorrow with this mindset?’

Evenel refilled her gun and aimed at the target once again. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, a voice cut through the darkness.

“The outcome will be the same anyway.”

Instinctively turning her gun toward the source of the sound, she lowered her hand upon recognizing that it was Shuher.

“Your Majesty?”

Staring at the target, Shuher spoke in a voice dripping with icy detachment.

“You’re just wasting bullets at this point.”

Though her pride was stung, Evenel couldn’t muster a rebuttal. He was right; no matter how many times she tried, the result would be poor.

“Clearly, today is not my day. But why are you here at this hour?”

“I just heard the noise and came to check.”

Shuher had heard faint shooting sounds on his way back to the palace from his office. On a whim, he found Evenel here.

“I thought it would be fine, but shooting at night is troublesome in various ways. I’ll have to be careful.”

“Why aren’t you saying anything about today?”

Seeing her at the shooting range at this hour made it obvious that the day’s events weighed on her mind. Yet he made no mention of it, forcing him to bring it up himself.
“Isn’t this something Your Highness should be pleased about? If I don’t make a fuss and remain quiet. I’ve told you there won’t be any problems regarding the punitive measures.”

At that, Evenel grew curious about my deliberate questioning.