Moring clapped her hands and guided Olentia to the inner seat.

“Of course! With the rabbit doll and the dress you’re wearing now. I need to sketch it too.”

Though she felt a bit sorry that the doll wasn’t the main purpose, it couldn’t be helped. As Ankedo’s ex-lover, Moring would know him best.

Knowing he was embezzling but staying quiet – was she being blackmailed by Ankedo? Or was she still covering for her ex?

She was so curious what thoughts the other woman might be harboring.

Olentia sat down, arranged her dress, and drank the tea Moring brought out. It had a mellow flavor that was just right for calming her nerves.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

As Moring began sketching and asked, Olentia took a moment to collect herself. It wouldn’t be easy to bring up the topic.

But thinking of the prophetic dream involving her made her so anxious.

Finally, Olentia steeled herself and opened her mouth.

“The place where Ankedo hid the embezzled money. You know where it is, don’t you?”

At that moment, shock spread across Moring’s face. She dropped the sketch paper and breathed heavily for a while.

“I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Moring picked up the paper again and pretended nothing was wrong, but Olentia had seen her agitation.

Olentia tried to meet Moring’s wandering eyes and spoke again.

“A room full of mirrors. You know where that is too, right?”

“How on earth…!”

“Is that where forbidden magical items are traded?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know anything, young lady!”

Suddenly Moring stood up abruptly. As if she could no longer sit, she put her hands on her hips and said:

“Since you didn’t come to buy a doll, please leave now.”

Moring’s voice was cold, but it was clearly trembling slightly. Olentia didn’t want to think of her as being on Ankedo’s side.

‘No. I can’t leave like this.’

She’d recently had a prophetic dream of crying with remorse at the woman’s grave. This was a crucial moment when she needed her information to save her.

Olentia bit her lower lip, got up quickly and grabbed Moring’s hand. Moring blinked in surprise at having her hand grasped.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Why? Don’t you know? It’s dangerous if you stay here. So come with me to the count’s mansion. It’s safe there.”

“What are you saying? What do you mean, dangerous?”

“I mean the disappearance of the man called Thomas. It was Ankedo’s doing. I saw and heard everything – Ankedo’s henchmen reporting to him that they’d dumped the body in the Centmy River.”

At Olentia’s words, Moring sank to the floor, drained of strength. Even so, Olentia didn’t let go of her hand. She intended to drag her along if necessary.

For a long time, Moring exhaled faintly with a face that looked about to cry. Afraid she might collapse, Olentia held her shoulders firmly.

Then Moring spoke in a trembling voice.

“If that’s true… I’m in danger too.”

Olentia met the eyes of the confused-looking woman directly.

“That’s why you need to be somewhere safe until this case is resolved. Don’t even think about dying. Understand?”

“Why would I die? And why are you helping me? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world…”

“That’s right. Nothing’s free. Give me information. Where the money Ankedo embezzled is hidden. What the room full of mirrors is. I’m curious about a lot of things.”

Only then did Moring stand up and say to Olentia:

“I tried to report it several times too.”

“…”

“But I didn’t have the courage. So, cowardly as it may be, I’ll unburden myself by telling you, young lady.”

“Yes, you’ve made the right decision.”

“I should throw away this hairpin now. It’s really goodbye.”

Moring took the shell hairpin out of her hair and tossed it in the trash. As Olentia had guessed, it seemed to be a gift from Ankedo.

Olentia listened carefully to everything Moring said in the workshop. The trading place was a room full of mirrors, and the embezzled money was hidden in the room next to where magical items were traded.

However, she said she didn’t know the exact location because her eyes were always covered when going to that building.

‘So that’s what it meant to move to a secret place after arriving at Ankedo’s house.’

If so, it seemed best to infiltrate disguised as a customer. Finding the location was most important.

Olentia resolved not to immediately share this information with Count Odor. He was unlikely to choose her as someone to conduct an undercover investigation. She had an appointment set up now, and it would be a shame to miss it.

In the prophetic dream, she seemed to regret refusing this appointment, so she intended to push through with it resolutely.

If things seemed strange or dangerous, she could just conduct the magical item trade and leave.

Olentia left the workshop, taking the drained Moring with her. They needed to get to the count’s mansion quickly.

But there was an unexpected person in front of the workshop.

A man wearing a white bauta mask.

It was Dimidius Belial.

Why on earth was he here?

Olentia stared blankly at the two carriages of the Odor Count’s house, then said to him:

“Did you follow me? Or did you happen to see the count’s carriages and stop in front?”

The former seemed more plausible. Even though she thought there was no reason for Dimidius to follow her, she had that feeling.

Dimidius placed his hand on the carriage and said mischievously:

“Which would you prefer? I’ll go with whichever you choose.”

“Stop joking around. Why did you really follow me?”

“Well, it seemed the lady was going somewhere without a knight or maid… out of concern, you see.”

If that was really the reason, it was unnecessary. Hearing his outright expression of concern softened her heart, but she needed to stay focused.

Olentia put her hands on her hips and let out a deep sigh. She felt like she’d been caught at something, even though there was no way he could have heard the conversation inside the workshop.

“I just came to pick up my friend.”

Not wanting to argue with him anymore, Olentia took Moring’s hand and got into the carriage. Moring was trembling, perhaps startled by Dimidius’s aura. The fact that she herself was unaffected seemed to be due to possessing holy power.

“Are you alright?”

Moring nodded at Olentia’s question.

Soon, the two carriages bearing the crescent moon emblem symbolizing the Odor Count’s house began to roll together.

The large count’s mansion had many guest rooms suitable for Moring to stay in. After taking the exhausted-looking woman to a room, Olentia glared sharply at Dimidius, who kept following her. Dimidius looked very bored, as if he had nothing to do.

“At this rate, are you going to follow me into the bathroom too?”

“If the lady permits, of course.”

“Your Highness! Are you going to keep doing this?”

In the sunlit corridor, Olentia clenched her fists. She threw open the corridor window wide and said to him:

“The negotiations are over, and if you have nothing to do, please go back up now! I don’t know what that changed plan is supposed to be, but if it’s something like this, it seems completely useless!”

Dimidius tilted his head.

“The lady cannot judge its usefulness. For me, it’s the most important task.”

“What on earth is it?”

“It’s closely related to my desire to exclusively possess the phantom herb containing holy power, isn’t it?”

‘I should ask now. Do you still not know that you yourself possess holy power? If you saw white light from the phantom herb, that must have been the wave of holy power.’

Olentia recalled what Dimidius had said in the forest. At that time, he had looked very serious, and seemed almost desperate for a moment.

The reason a half-demon grand duke needed holy power…

Olentia couldn’t understand at all. Somehow, it felt like she shouldn’t know.

She crossed her arms tightly and shook her head.

“I have no idea. And I don’t want to know!”

Only then did Dimidius close his mouth. She had been annoyed by his nonsensical talk, but now that he was suddenly quiet, it felt strange.

Olentia moved to leave the corridor.

It seemed she would have to get permission for Moring to stay at the count’s mansion later, when Count Odor returned home.

But suddenly, Dimidius’s voice came from behind.

“Lady Armenia!”

‘Wh-what?’

Feeling inexplicably chilled, Olentia turned around. But Dimidius said something unexpected.

“Please spare some time tomorrow.”

“Wh-why?”

“I haven’t properly seen Odor territory yet. I’d like the lady who has visited Odor territory often to guide me.”

Olentia opened her mouth to refuse immediately, then closed it again. She had just said she didn’t want to know at all, but in truth, she was very curious about why the grand duke needed holy power.

If the reason Dimidius was staying longer in Odor territory despite the negotiations being over was really because of her, who possessed holy power.

It would be troublesome not to know that reason. She absolutely hated feeling uneasy.

Olentia awkwardly said, unable to look him properly in the eye:

“O-okay! I’ll guide you.”

“Really?”

Dimidius seemed to find it strange, so Olentia quickly added:

“You saved me on the train, so I’m just helping you in return. There’s no other reason.”

With that, Olentia left the corridor. She walked strangely, swinging her arms and legs simultaneously.

The remaining Dimidius smiled unknowingly.

Count Odor returned to the mansion only late in the evening. She had intended to go find him, but as soon as Count Odor arrived, he called for Olentia first.

Seeing the count’s serious-looking face, Olentia cautiously opened her mouth.

“Did something happen?”

Count Odor let out a big sigh and said:

“Hah… We found the body. It really was the church administrative officer of Odor province, as you said.”

“Really? So facial comparison was possible! That’s a relief, really.”

“Yes. Since the body was in a sack, it wasn’t suicide. The guards and investigators are treating it as homicide and investigating.”

“Yes. It’s heartbreaking, but we must find the culprit.”

“You say it’s Ankedo. According to you. You heard everything at the church, you said.”

“You still don’t believe me, do you?”

“It’s that I wish it wasn’t true. There’s still no evidence, you see.”

She understood Count Odor’s feelings too. How awkward it must be, having personally given Ankedo an award for merit.

Olentia said to the troubled-looking Count Odor:

“The investigators will investigate well. Uncle, take a rest if you’re tired.”

“Alright.”

“Oh! My friend has come to stay at the count’s mansion for a while. Is that okay?”

She intended to gloss over the story about Moring.

Count Odor nodded vaguely. Clearly, only Ankedo and Administrative Officer Thomas were floating around in his head right now.

‘Thank goodness. I was worried he might ask probing questions…’

Olentia let out a sigh of relief as she carefully left his office.