Since the island incident, Owen began to trust Atia.

After witnessing that scene, there was no choice but to believe.

‘At first, I was surprised, thinking she was with those strange guys who painted in red…’

Atia, adapting to the island as if she had always lived there, was an image Owen couldn’t forget.

Her posture with arms raised high, wearing a bone necklace on the altar.

She was far from the frail appearance of a rumored delicate duchess.

On the contrary, it was the opposite.

The power emanating from her petite frame was the strongest Owen had ever seen.

Most women in that situation would have clung to the knights, trembling, trying to stay close.

But not Atia. She remained unfazed in unfamiliar surroundings. Even when others fell into traps, she commanded loudly, which was astonishing to Owen.

‘What happened to her? No, who is this woman exactly?’

Was it because of dark magic that a person changed, or did she eat something wrong in the north?

If she wasn’t a special person, would the tribe have accepted her so readily?

Owen even considered that the tribe, oppressed by her energy, treated her like a deity.

Regardless, her prophetic abilities, whenever they originated, were indispensable to Owen.

‘She must know more… There’s still a lot she hasn’t told.’

Sitting in his study, Owen was already curious about what she was up to.

In fact, he had been curious since they entered the palace.

Atia and Owen arrived on different ships.

Back then, Owen thought she would be with the Wellington Duke by now.

‘I wanted to talk to her more.’

Rescuing Owen directly from a deep pit and retrieving the fourth ship, allowing him to return home safely—all owed much to her.

There was no doubt about her substantial contribution.

Thinking of the courageous and wise Atia, Owen felt an unexpected sense of admiration or something akin to respect.

“The duchess from the north, with silver hair and fair skin. The name… was Atia, right?”

Owen mumbled to himself, sipping whiskey from the glass on the desk.

Beside the whiskey glass were documents about Atia.

The information he had gathered differed significantly from the reality, but one thing was certain—it was that she was a woman necessary to him.

Several days after returning from the island.

With Cascus’s care, Atia regained stability. He never left Atia’s side for a moment.

If Atia was a flickering flame, Cascus played the role of keeping that flame alive.

There was a brief moment when they were apart, during which Cascus discussed matters with the palace officials.

From minor issues to significant affairs, the capital was always bustling with work.
In the north, Duke Heidegger managed the ducal command, allowing Cascus to secure some temporal flexibility.

While staying at the palace, Cascus secretly gathered information.

Due to the strict surveillance by the palace regarding him, Cascus delegated most tasks to Jen.

With his unique and cheerful personality, Jen easily mingled among other knights.

Initially, there were suspicions, but he absorbed a lot of information while socializing with the knights.

Moreover, he was kind to the palace residents.

The northern knights who followed the Wellington Duke and Duchess were no different.

The palace knights and residents, who were initially cautious, gradually warmed up to the northerners.

Especially after Atia helped transform the bodies of the northern knights, they, in turn, passed on Atia’s secrets and took care of others in the palace.

Guiding them on what to touch and how, they quickly became friends.

Of course, there were those who viewed them with skepticism, but some relaxed palace members shared information from trivial gossip to what they heard from others, and all these tidbits were conveyed to Cascus.

All of this was part of Cascus’s strategy.

From the palace, he could discern who held real power, what had happened in the past, and get a rough sense of the palace’s internal situation.

Atia, sitting on the bed, stretched her arms and yawned.

“I made a deal with the crown prince. In exchange for helping find the ship, we promised to somehow find decisive evidence about dark magic within a month.”

Atia showed Cascus the document Owen had written, with the official seal of the crown prince.

“Now that we’ve found the ship, all that’s left is to wait. Well, it’s not a bad deal, considering he promised to help us find crucial evidence or discover the mastermind.”

Cascus scanned the contents of the document.

“What if he doesn’t fulfill the terms written here with some lame excuse?”

“From the crown prince’s perspective, I’ll be somehow necessary. If he makes excuses, I’ll do the same—refuse to fulfill what he wants unless he delivers what I need.”

Knock, knock, knock.

At that moment, a knocking sound was heard, and a palace servant entered, bowing his head.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for the duchess.”

“Perfect timing.”

Atia whispered to Cascus.

“I’ll come with you.”

“What?”

“Why not? Is there a problem?”