Forgetting why they had silenced his mouth, the two stared blankly at each other.

For a moment, as Roselia’s lips brushed against his palm, Klaus’s muscles tensed as if electrocuted.

And soon after, embarrassed by his own reaction, Klaus hastily removed his hand from her lips and took a step back.

Klaus cleared his throat and continued speaking, trying to sound gruff.

“I’ll look into the Grand Duke’s family separately.”

Roselia, who had been frozen like Klaus, suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly bowed her head.

“Th-then I’ll take my leave now.”

Watching Roselia flee, Klaus sighed and rubbed his forehead with a confused expression.

What was that strange atmosphere just now?

Why is my heart pounding like this again?

Unable to understand the situation himself, Klaus irritably brushed up his bangs.

Like when he was trapped in the building debris with Antonio last time… Could it be… that he had such inclinations?

But the feelings he had for Roselia, his sister, were clearly romantic attraction.

Could it be that his own orientation, which he hadn’t realized, was bisexual?

Thus, doubting his own identity, Klaus remained frozen for a while, unable to move.

In the center of a room unnecessarily large to be called a bedroom, three or four women lay on a massive bed.

The man lying with them, entangled in the women’s arms, got up from the bed and put on a robe, showing no sign of surprise at the black shadow entering the room.

The silver-haired, golden-eyed man maintained a firm and youthful appearance that could pass for early 30s, belying his age of 40.

As the man sat on the bed and put a pipe in his mouth, two of the languid women behind him caressed his waist and chest.

As high-class courtesans bought with a fortune, they were all slender and seductive women.

Indifferent to the touch of these women, the man looked at the shadow figure and spoke in a low voice.

“I hear the herbal pills to be sent to Raphelios were discovered.”

At the man’s weighty voice, the black shadow prostrated on the floor and replied in a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry.”

Looking at the shadow trembling with its head bowed, the man leisurely crossed his legs and lit his pipe.

“That’s unfortunate.”

His tone was as calm as if he were just disappointed about not buying something he had seen yesterday.

“I was hoping it would be discovered by the Imperial family.”

As he said this, the man’s gaze turned to the shadow.

Unlike his calm tone, his eyes were ice-cold, causing the shadow to bow its head even lower.

“…I’m sorry.”

Seeing the shadow bury its head to the floor as if it had committed a mortal sin, the man returned to a calm expression and continued leisurely.

“Well, there are many ways to sow discord between Balthasar and the Crown Prince.”

Saying this, the man took a long drag from his lit pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“Who exactly discovered the herbal pills?”

“I heard it was a servant of the Duke’s household.”

“A servant?”

The shadow frowned, recalling the annoying man who had been following him.

“Antonio… I heard he’s the elder brother of Roselia, whom the Duke has been looking for.”

“That woman’s brother?”

The man sat up straighter, showing interest at the mention of Roselia’s brother. As the man stared intently, as if telling him to say more, the shadow recited everything he had seen and experienced.

“Yes. Strangely, they looked alike despite not being blood-related. I was about to deal with the guy when the Duke suddenly appeared and ruined the job.”

“The Duke saved a servant?”

As the man leaned in closely to ask, the shadow, wondering if he had said something wrong, answered hesitantly.

“Yes…”

At the shadow’s answer, the man, who seemed lost in thought, opened his mouth.

“You said Roselia was hard to find.”

“Yes, we couldn’t even find out where she lived.”

“There must be a reason why Count Clement took notice of that servant. That woman has an incredibly good sense.”

She was once a high-class courtesan who had entertained him.

It was he who had given her information about the former Count Clement. He had put the mask of Lugbella on her and had quite a bit of fun for a while, but to think that cunning woman would be caught so easily…

He recalled her looking at him desperately as she was dragged away by the Imperial Guard at the Blymand Count’s banquet.

Well, you shouldn’t have meddled beyond your means.

The man, who had twisted his lips into a smile by now, took a long drag from his pipe and continued nonchalantly.

“Investigate this servant Antonio a bit more.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The shadow disappeared instantly out the window, as if it had never been there.

The silver-haired man roughly removed the courtesan’s hand caressing his chest and, as if losing interest, got up and headed for the bathroom.

Klaus, sitting in the carriage looking over documents, glanced at Alejandro sitting across from him and continued speaking.

“Did you look into the subordinate organizations of the Rubellio Grand Duke’s family?”

At Klaus’s question, Alejandro pulled out the prepared materials as if he had been waiting.

“Yes, as you said, a secret organization operating in the shadows under the Rubelleo Grand Duke’s family was using that emblem.”

“I see…”

Klaus’s expression hardened.

How on earth did Antonio know about the involvement of the Rubellio Grand Duke’s family?

Just because it was a subordinate organization of the Grand Duke’s family didn’t mean its existence was information that could be found out by simply looking into it.

It was information that could only be uncovered by thoroughly investigating with the connections and capital of at least a Duke’s family.

Although Alejandro reported it casually, he probably spent quite a lot of funds and time to uncover this information.

Antonio knew this information, if not in detail, at least roughly.

Could it be that he had already been in contact with the Grand Duke’s family without Klaus knowing?

If so, it was a dangerous situation.

“Put a shadow on Antonio again.”

At Klaus’s stern words, Alejandro asked with a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t you tell me to withdraw it last time?”

“Don’t argue, just do it.”

Seeing Klaus’s somewhat urgent expression, Alejandro set aside his doubts and answered without protest.

“Yes, I understand.”

The uneasy feeling didn’t go away.

The Rubellio Grand Duke’s family…

He had gotten entangled with a heavyweight figure even he couldn’t handle.

The younger brother of the former Emperor and uncle of the current Crown Prince.

Although lower in the line of succession than the Crown Prince, he was a figure with high recognition and a firm footing among the nobles.

Born into the imperial family, he was skilled at handling people and the type to hide a knife behind a smiling face.

If one wasn’t extremely careful, there was no telling what might happen.

Above all, he was more anxious because it seemed Antonio knew something about them.

Damn it, why did he keep thinking about Antonio-related things?

It must be because that guy couldn’t stay still and kept bringing trouble.

As he thought this, the carriage was already entering the imperial palace.

As the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Crown Prince’s palace, Klaus had already returned to his usual cold expression, as if nothing had happened.

Alejandro, who looked at him as if he were amazing, greeted Klaus as he stepped out of the carriage.

“Then I’ll have the carriage wait nearby.”

Klaus nodded without answering and walked towards the Crown Prince’s palace.

As usual, Klaus had come to report to the Crown Prince about the school construction materials.

Of course, the Crown Prince, who had actually said he would hear the report, looked quite displeased.

“Well, I clearly said I would hear the report from Antonio, so why does the Duke keep coming to report?”

At the Crown Prince’s bored voice, Klaus continued speaking calmly without batting an eye.

“This way you’ll be able to hear a more detailed story.”

At Klaus’s sharp answer, the Crown Prince rested his chin on his hand and muttered as if telling him to listen.

“You’re so boring.”

“…”

Klaus was now used to this level of provocation from the Crown Prince.

In fact, the Crown Prince could be seen as quite consistent. He hated and disliked all nobles, not just Klaus.

The Crown Prince, who had been promising when young, became twisted like this largely due to the death of the Empress.

But Klaus had no desire to sympathize with him at all.

He too had lost his parents early and lived fiercely to protect his family and Closet from relatives coveting the Duke’s assets.

Unlike him, the Crown Prince’s endlessly twisted appearance only looked like a pathetic dropout.

Sometimes he wondered if a country built by someone like that could really be a proper country.

As Klaus was reporting on the construction with his mouth while thinking other thoughts in his head, the Crown Prince, as if seeing through his thoughts, cut him off.

“I heard herbal pills were found at the school site?”

Unlike the Crown Prince’s light voice until just now, his voice had become quite serious.

Looking at the Crown Prince like that, Klaus hardened his expression and then bowed his head and continued speaking.

“I apologize.”

Seeing Klaus immediately bow his head, the Crown Prince twisted his lips into a smile.

“Well, it’s fortunate that the Duke found it in time. If not, I might have had to arrest the Duke.”

It was an ambiguous tone, unclear whether he meant it was fortunate or regrettable.

As Klaus silently looked at him, the Crown Prince smiled and changed the subject.

“I heard Antonio played a part in finding the herbal pills?”

“…”

As the topic suddenly changed to Antonio, Klaus’s eyebrows furrowed without him realizing.

The Crown Prince, who was looking at him with interest, crossed his legs leisurely and opened his mouth.

“Duke, have you heard about the bloodline of Raphelios?”

At the Crown Prince’s question, whose intentions were unclear, Klaus furrowed his brow for a moment before calmly continuing.

“I know that Marquis Yukilliod, who is currently visiting for the Imperial agreement, is one of the Raphelios bloodline.”

“Yes, even though the bloodline has thinned considerably now, they say there are still descendants maintaining their abilities among them.”

Information about the abilities of the Raphelios bloodline was not recorded anywhere except in imperial books that only the imperial family could see.

Klaus only vaguely knew that the Raphelios bloodline had been involved in history using their abilities since ancient times.

The Raphelios Conquest War 200 years ago and the Charlemagne Capital Civil War were all wars caused by their abilities.

Klaus frowned quizzically at the Crown Prince’s sudden talk about the Raphelios bloodline.

The Crown Prince, who was looking at Klaus leisurely, dropped a comment.

“Did you know they have a unique scent?”