After breakfast, the maids assigned by Ioan immediately withdrew from around Delphine.

To make it so obvious that they had been monitoring her all this time.

‘They didn’t even try to be discreet about it in the first place.’

Left alone in the study, Delphine carefully radioed a message.

“Operation. Going well.”

She hadn’t particularly expected a reply, but a voice soon came through the radio.

[“Delphine?”]

It was Lin’s voice.

He added in a puzzled tone.

[“What operation are you talking about?”]

Oh no. Belly had told her to keep secret the order to seduce Ioan.

He had a stronger sense of morality than he let on, and would surely object.

Unsure how to handle this, Delphine rolled her eyes before answering.

“Well, there’s a separate investigation Belly ordered. About Lord Pryde’s acquaintance…”

[“Ah, you mean about Duke Purcell?”]

“Duke Purcell…?”

[“The one who’s been unusually close to the Emperor lately. Seems to be connected to several suspicious incidents.”]

It was a name she had heard before, having recently paid attention to social news.

Apparently he had suddenly amassed great wealth not long ago.

But that was the extent of her knowledge, so it would be troublesome if Lin asked for more details.

Delphine quickly changed the subject before he could inquire further.

“By the way, how is La Rouge these days? I haven’t been able to visit headquarters for a while.”

Lin then proceeded to explain recent events in detail without any suspicion.

That they were carrying out various magical operations throughout the empire thanks to securing large amounts of posium.

That morale among members was at an all-time high because of it.

That they were currently focusing on revealing the truth about Sector 3 to those inside the central barrier.

Lin suddenly added one last thing, as if just remembering.

[“Ah, of course we haven’t forgotten about devising countermeasures against Viscount Pryde.”]

Flinch.

Delphine was glad they were only talking over the radio.

Otherwise, it would have been difficult to hide the guilt that flashed across her face at the mention of Ioan’s name.

Lin continued speaking through the black radio.

[“I heard he was from the red-light district in Sector 3.”]

Right. I definitely told them that.

That fact he was most ashamed of, she had revealed it all to them with her own mouth.

It felt like something was stabbing at her heart.

After divulging his secret first, and even deciding to seduce him.

But she shouldn’t feel this way about Ioan anymore.

“…That’s right.”

But just as she managed to steel her heart, his next words made it sink again.

[“Based on the information Delphine provided, we found his place of origin.”]

“By place of origin… you mean where he lived before coming to the Pembrook estate?”

[“Yes. Fortunately, we found someone who remembers him from that time.”]

At that moment, Delphine thought of Callie.

She wondered if perhaps she had been one of those people as well.

…Though she could no longer ask her now.

Delphine’s eyes sparkled as she urgently spoke into the radio.

“I want to go along on that investigation.”

[“But…”]

She expected him to say it was dangerous, but Lin unexpectedly swallowed the rest of his words.

After a brief silence, a low voice came through.

[“Alright. It would be good for you to see that man’s true nature with your own eyes.”] [This is the timeline separator]

“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave the mansion for a few days, my lady.”

His usual elegant and gentle tone.

But Ioan suddenly spoke with cold eyes that betrayed a hint of anger.

She already knew the inside story of why he was saying this from La Rouge.

But Delphine pretended not to know, asking with wide eyes.

“This is the first time you’re leaving the mansion since our marriage. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing for you to worry about. There’s been a ‘small’ disturbance near the barrier in Sector 3.”

He burst a cooked tomato with his knife in an elegant yet somehow barbaric manner.

The red insides of the vegetable burst out with a pop.

He murmured in a chillingly slow tone.

“It seems I need to go do some… cleaning up.”

Seeing the red, watery liquid spread across the white plate reminded her of the blood gushing from her father’s neck.

And the screams mixed with cries that erupted from everywhere on the day she witnessed the human hunt.

Noticing Delphine’s pale face, Ioan quickly whispered soothingly.

“Oh my. I’ve said some strange things in front of you. It really is just trivial business.”

Delphine nodded with an awkward smile.

Trying her best to act like an unworldly noblewoman shocked by news of a disturbance.

“I really didn’t want to go. …Especially at a time like this.”

He let out a faint sigh.

Delphine narrowed her eyes at this rare display of emotion from him, who usually maintained a constant demeanor as if wearing a mask.

“What do you mean, ‘a time like this’?”

Oh no. Did that come out too sharply?

Quickly composing her expression, Delphine added in a nonchalant tone.

“Has something happened at the imperial palace…?”

He chuckled and answered gently.

“Haven’t you been in a bad mood lately, my lady?”

His red lips curved softly, and the corners of his eyes with their brown irises fluttered upwards.

These days he was so kind and alluring that his previous sharp conversations seemed unbelievable.

…Though she wasn’t sure how those two things were possible at the same time.

Delphine deliberately averted her gaze from him, smiling like a demon said to appear in dreams to seduce maidens.

This excessively beautiful man sometimes scattered her reason.

Especially when he acted kindly like this on purpose.

Delphine bowed her head, muttering a small farewell to hide the complex emotions rising to her face.

“…Have a safe trip.”

As soon as he left, she would go to uncover his true identity.

Yet she spoke these insincere words to his face.

Ioan, oblivious to everything, smiled with an innocent face.

“Of course, my lady. I’ll return safely.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Taking advantage of Ioan’s absence, Delphine was able to easily slip out of the mansion.

Netherfield Street in Sector 3.

Delphine tightened her cloak once more, hiding her noticeable red hair.

Contrary to her worries that such attire would stand out more in broad daylight, there were many people on the street wearing cloaks.

“It’s true.”

“What is?”

Lin, walking beside her, asked in response to her murmur.

He too was wearing a cloak pulled low, but since he was much taller than her, she could meet his eyes when looking up.

“The cloaks. Why are other people hiding their faces too?”

“For the same reason as us.”

Lin answered in a gloomy tone, slightly twisting up the corner of his mouth.

“They’re hiding their identities and looking for something. Though probably not the same thing we’re looking for.”

A street lined with narrow alleys where red lights hung.

The place where Ioan was born and grew up until he was sold to the Pembrook estate.

“This is probably the lowest of the low, even among the outskirts of the empire in Sector 3.”

Lin muttered quietly as he led her deeper into the alley.

The further in they went, the narrower and darker the alley became.

Walking through a red-light district alley for the first time in her life, Delphine was mildly shocked despite having steeled herself.

Vomit and bottles of alcohol littered the street as if it were normal, and people could occasionally be seen sleeping on their own vomit with only cloaks covering them.

Even though it was broad daylight with the sun high in the sky, there were no sane, awake humans in this strange alley.

The only ones awake and wandering the streets were skinny children.

Most of them boys.

Ioan. So you came from a place like this to the Pembrook estate.

At that mansion you finally reached after escaping this hell-like place, my father…

Her heart throbbed and churned.

Lately, this happened whenever she thought of Ioan.

Delphine didn’t dare try to name this emotion.

Whenever such feelings arose, she could only hastily bury them beneath her chest, startled like a child who had done something wrong.

“We’ve learned some things from our recent aggressive offensive against Pryde.”

Lin, unaware of her feelings, quietly continued his report while keeping his cloak pulled low.

“Nikolai was right. That man Pryde doesn’t use black crystals.”

“How did you…?”

“Even in battle, he fights with only a sword and his body, holding nothing in his hands.”

He added with a displeased expression.

“…Of course, he’s overwhelmingly strong even just with that.”

Delphine asked with a confused expression.

“But then how did he erase his past and reappear as a viscount?”

That, at least, seemed impossible to explain without magical power.

“That’s what we’re here to investigate today.”

Lin answered simply.

“…We found someone who claims to have seen him in this area about a year ago.”

“You mean an acquaintance of Ioan, I mean Viscount Pryde?”

Did he really have friends… or even just acquaintances?

He who had been indifferent and cynical towards anyone but Delphine since childhood?

“No.”

Lin answered firmly with an impassive face to Delphine’s question.

“To be precise, a ‘survivor’.”