“…….”

Owen contemplated methods, including imprisoning the Duke and Duchess and subjecting them to dreadful torture, to make them confess everything they knew. However, doing so would not be tolerated by Wellington Hyde, located in the north. No matter how much he pledged absolute loyalty to the ruler, he would spare no effort to destroy the capital.

Considering the actions of the capable Hyde after the death of his wife, if all of his sons were here, removing them would sever the connection.

So, if he chose the method of torturing the Duke and Duchess, both sides would end up covered in blood. Numerous victims would emerge, and the stability of the throne might be at risk.

That’s probably why the Duke and Duchess came to the capital.

In fact, Owen already felt pressured by the north. It was an issue that shouldn’t be recklessly touched.

“If you expose all your cards like that… how do you plan to deal with the aftermath?”

Even in a simple card game, revealing all your cards wasn’t a principle.

Atia effortlessly revealed things that even the Dark Guild wouldn’t find out, claiming she had precognitive abilities.

He didn’t blindly believe that she was under black magic. However, there was no reason for her to say such a thing to him.

During the 12th Festival, if she used black magic against the group targeting Duke Wellington, once they captured them, it would be over.

Anyway, since she had erased all traces.

‘Who cast black magic on the Duchess?’

Black magic was forbidden across the continent. It was something found in the deepest depths of the dark world, usually inaccessible to ordinary people.

Moreover, the more you used black magic, the more it damaged your body. If the only heir to the empire, the Crown Prince’s body was damaged, it would be unacceptable.

He experimented once before, during the 12th Festival, purely as a provocation for Cascus, and since then, he hadn’t touched it.

Of course, Emperor Deluman didn’t know about it.

Black magic was filthy, and the more you used it, the worse you felt.

‘After using it, I fell ill for the first time in my life. I decided not to use it again.’

Owen tried to deduce who cast black magic on Atia’s body.

‘Before marriage, she lived in the capital.’

Atia Harad.

It was said that she had been confined to the mansion.

The ‘Harad family’ was one of the families loyal to the imperial family.

They handed over their daughter to the north, overcoming obstacles, which temporarily mitigated the strong opposition from the Wellington family. This strengthened the ties between Harad and the imperial family. No one would have welcomed her when she crossed to the north.

To Owen, it didn’t seem bad if they got along well.

There was a possibility of acting, but…

‘It didn’t seem like acting.’

Although she was a illegitimate child, she was still a woman of the Harad family.
“An illegitimate child… Harad, the Count, black magic…”

Tap, tap, tap.

Owen, who had been murmuring while tapping his fingers on the desk, stopped moving.

It felt like the pieces of a puzzle were falling into place somehow.

In a dark, moonlit room, Atia and Cascus lay on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. After finishing the hunting competition, they were both exhausted, having been outdoors from early dawn until evening. Although Atia’s body was undoubtedly fatigued, her mind was surprisingly alert.

The inability to sleep also affected Cascus. He turned his head slightly to check if Atia was asleep.

Atia had wide-open eyes.

“Yeah, that’s how it was.”

Cascus spoke softly. Only today did he fully understand everything Atia had done until now.

“You had the ability to see the future…”

Today, Atia told Owen about the ‘prophetic ability’ she had in the cave. It didn’t mean she had the ability to prophesize, but since she knew the future, it wasn’t a complete lie.

Atia rolled her eyes towards Cascus and responded.

“Sorry, I’m telling you now. Are you angry?”

Atia apologized, anticipating the confusion Cascus might feel. After all, he might think she had deceived him.

“No, not at all. You must have had your reasons.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

At the time when Atia was struggling to adapt to this world, she told Cascus, somewhat forcibly, to believe her words, claiming she could read the energy of the land and find out things that even the Dark Guild couldn’t. Although it might sound like she deceived him, Cascus didn’t portray her as a madwoman. Even though she somewhat forced a rather forced statement that buying Barrell land would be regrettable instead of Nephyte, he didn’t sell her as a crazy woman.

Atia thought it would be quite complicated once the fact that she knew the future was revealed, so she didn’t spread the word.

‘I should have just said it from the beginning. That I know the future.’

If she had said it from the beginning, would something have changed? She didn’t say it because she wasn’t sure if it was safe to say it.