The man who has been protecting her thoroughly since she came as Countess Carletta, muttering, buried his forehead on her narrow shoulders.

Rustica Genus being inferior to the emperor, being a flaw to the emperor? The man who made the way for her to walk proudly step by step already, as she made her debut in the social circles, embraced her tightly with a determined face.

The Perseita Empire may have exploded with events, but there was a place where it was flying away unrelated to them.

“Jegiral, it wasn’t meant for you to come to a place full of commoners!”

Aldwin Rochester, who got seriously angry, stopped himself from hitting the desk.

Negotiations to retrieve those who were kidnapped in Carletta and brought to Perseita were only faltering.

Perseita’s foreign ministry was not interested in whether those who wanted to go back to Carletta really existed, and Emperor Carlos of Carletta seemed to be watching what achievements Aldwin would make.

More than anything, the problem was that there were not many people who still wanted to go back to Carletta.

Newspaper advertisements have been buried for days with news that damn Elsh Viscount is dead, and those who came to go back all had been living a failed life in Perseita.

“This country is basic and vulgar!”

Perseita claimed that they were the origin of the Carletta Empire, but Aldwin didn’t believe that.

Eliza was more watching why they were making such a claim. And honestly, she was beginning to understand why people from Carletta who came to Perseita had no intention of going back.

“… Has His Majesty said anything about this?”

To Ilajza’s question, Aldwin shook his head.

“Who can understand His Majesty’s intentions? Even if we go and find out, we probably won’t know. Anyway, if you come here, you’ll definitely become scum. Ilajza, you should be careful too. We have to keep our minds straight.”

But Ilajza wanted to ask. She wanted to ask if he didn’t see it. Wasn’t Aldwin, who was born and raised in Katarth, a nobleman who learned much more than her?
Life in Perseita seemed much freer than in Carletta, where one could not escape their innate status unless they were a magician or a knight. Whether it was because there was no magic, people lived diverse lives with various professions, free from the constraints of innate magical abilities.

“How are things outside?”

Ilajza, watching the anxious Aldwin, stood up.

“I’ll take another look around.”

“Sure.”

She was determined to find the Perseita informer who somehow trapped her.

Cabinet Blue, the police agency, was still investigating the murder of Viscount Elsh, but no strong suspects had emerged. Many suspected Cedric Lambert, who used to play recklessly, but considering how neat and tidy the well-known Elsh Viscount was in his private life, Cedric Lambert might not be the culprit.

Jane Telot, who strongly suspected him, had a headache.

“Oh, really weird, Aunt.”

Jane, a promising talent at Cabinet Blue and ambitious to become the future police chief, muttered with a clear black eye under her messy hair.

“It seems weird. Just looking at it, it feels like he knew about his brother’s scandalous life first and killed himself, saying he would be the heir.”

She sprinkled syrup generously on the pancake.

“During the crime time, he was in a crowded club with too many clear witnesses. Yet, he left his seat a few times, leaving it empty sporadically, and that’s…”

Hmm, Jane murmured.

“First, it’s better to have a proper meal, Jane. Did you sleep at my place yesterday?”

Jane Telot’s aunt was a well-settled, ordinary housewife who had lived in Shalea for quite some time. She had no interest in the current most uproarious case Jane was talking about but was only concerned if Jane was taking her meals properly and washing her clothes on time.

“I sleep in the dormitory these days. I don’t have time to go home, well, Aunt.”

“Oh my, you should go to bed early and wake up early. Here, have more blueberries, and I’ll pour you another cup of tea.”

“Tea? I prefer coffee, Aunt. Anyway, it’s been three times that we haven’t seen Cedric for a few minutes, and, oh, it’s only a few minutes. Maybe he hired an assassin.”

Aunt clapped her hands, saying, “Oh, you’re talking about a very scary story, Jane! An assassin in this day and age!”

“It’s easy to find in the alleyways, well. Anyway, Cedric Lambert doesn’t seem to be the murderer himself. Why would he do it when he has money?”

“Last time, you said it was such a horrifying murder and that it seemed emotionally involved.”

Aunt poured tea into Jane’s cup and said, “Oh. That’s a bit like that. The reactions of people around the dead person who was interrogated have changed a lot these days. Well, I can’t tell you in detail.”

“You’re talking about things that are already in the newspapers.”

“I’m telling you only that much, Aunt. Anyway, those Eastern nobles, well, did you hear about Alanca Duke who seems to look down on a low-class dancer because he died? Until a few days ago, people who laughed at him were dying, funny.”