The villa stood abruptly on a small treeless hill at the northernmost part of Area 1.

There was an ominous feeling emanating from its appearance, shrouded in darkness without a single candle light.

“It’s definitely suspicious.”

Delphine Pembrook, observing the villa from afar under Lin’s protective magic, muttered softly.

“What do you mean?”

“Not a single candle visible. Usually, nobles keep a couple of caretakers at their villas even when not in use.”

“Sounds like they’re hiding something in there.”

“…Alright, let’s do this.”

Bellie gave quick and clear instructions in a calm voice.

“The assault team led by Marian will enter first. Delphine, you’ll provide gun support with me from the rear.”

Delphine nodded silently.

“And Lin will stand at the very back, guarding the entire unit.”

It was a troop deployment to minimize personnel losses.

“Our priority will be to safely rescue Cookie. Of course, the next is to find the secrets Purcell has hidden in there.”

After catching her breath for a moment, Bellie gave the order in a very low voice.

“…Enter!”

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A radio message came from the forward unit that had searched the mansion ahead.

It was safe, they said.

Soon after, Delphine entered the mansion with the rear unit.

The villa, with its cool atmosphere, was empty.

They soon scattered and began searching various parts of the mansion.

Delphine scanned the dim hall with the most desperate eyes.

Cookie. She had to find Cookie.

Her heart felt like it was burning with guilt that Cookie had been kidnapped in her place.

The image of a piece of madeleine lying on the floor of a shabby shack wouldn’t leave her mind.

‘Where, where is she…?’

She knew the interior of noble mansions best. So hurry and find her, Delphine Pembrook…

As she was anxiously scanning every corner of the hall while muffling her footsteps.

Delphine suddenly stopped in front of the dragon statue next to the main hall stairs.

“Del. Learn this, you might need it… Someday, when you go to that center.”

Her mother had told her things that other noble young ladies had never heard or seen until just before she passed away.

Among them was how to find hidden places created by nobles to conceal something.

Surprisingly, it’s common to create a mark distinguishing a secret place from others in front of it.

This is because the owner or their descendants often forget the location.

‘All the other statues are of angels, but only this one is a dragon.’

Thinking this, Delphine stood staring intently at the statue.

“Dragon… Purcell… The family symbol was a snake and… a T-shaped cross.”

After fiddling with the dragon statue for a while, muttering softly to herself.

Soon Delphine whispered quietly.

“Found it.”

On the back of the statue, there was a scale with a T engraved so faintly that it would be unnoticeable unless focusing on one of the dragon’s scales.

As she fiddled with it a bit more, turning the scale so that the T was upside down.

Rumble.

With the sound of heavy bricks rubbing, the dragon statue moved sideways.

Behind it, an arch-shaped hole large enough for two people to pass through was revealed.

“I found it!”

“What? This quickly?”

“She found it! Delphine found the entrance!”

“Let’s go down! We have to save Cookie!”

The passage seemed to be connected to the underground.

Breathing in the increasingly humid air while passing through the narrow corridor and descending for quite a while.

Soon a dark, wide space appeared.

Delphine, who was running at the very front, froze in place.

“What in the world…”

A hellish scene was unfolding there.

Corpses piled like mountains and the young Marquis Purcell kneeling in one corner, trembling violently.

Next to him, Cookie’s body lying cold and stiff.

“Cookie…!”

Delphine cried out desperately and ran towards Cookie.

But of course, there was no answer from her, who had closed her eyes with a more peaceful expression than ever before.

“Purcell! What exactly happened here? Why did you… Why, why me…”

Delphine questioned the kneeling young marquis in an angry voice.

However, the man, already out of his mind, just mumbled crazily while staring into space.

“That, that man…”

What man?

…Come to think of it, where is the Marquis, leaving his son here?

“Ugh… That, that devil…!”

The young marquis screamed, pointing to an arched door on one side of the basement.

Is this space connected to somewhere else?

As she was examining the black hole he was pointing at with an ominous face, thump thump.

The sound of someone walking out from inside was heard.

For a moment, it felt like blood was freezing throughout her body.

Why?

Why does this regular and neat footstep sound so familiar?

Just as the growing fear was about to burst.

A large and beautiful man appeared under the arch, tearing through the darkness.

A man standing holding the Marquis Purcell’s neck in his hand.

“Kuh. Kuheuk…”

The man who was looking down indifferently at the marquis struggling in the air with a red face turned his gaze to Delphine.

“Del.”

Even at such a moment, the devilishly beautiful man smiled with curved eyes.

In that hellish scene, he stood like that.

As always, with a noble and intimidating appearance.

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As expected.

It was all a lie.

The words of love on those lips, the look in his eyes when he saw her.

All deception and acting to deceive her.

Pryde sneered coldly to hide the overwhelming feelings of misery.

She had been sensing it from the moment she found her hair in that human factory.

But the reason she silently participated in that play even knowing all the facts was probably because the sweetness of her acting was too fatal.

Wanting to see her smile at him and whisper sweet nothings, and finally say she loved him for a little longer.

Even knowing it was a play that would eventually end in tragedy, she wanted it to last a little longer.

Hoping that some emotion might stir in her heart while acting.

Hoping to imprint the fact that he was her husband.

…Hoping it might serve as some excuse when he made her his own so she couldn’t leave afterwards.

If only the Marquis Purcell hadn’t made such an unreasonable plan and put her in danger too.

He would have continued this play forever.

…Yes. He certainly thought so.

However, facing her surprised face at such a scene, unexpected feelings of betrayal and bitterness washed over him.

The fearful look that appeared on her face when she saw him also twisted his mood.

‘I didn’t want to show you this side of me.’

That’s why he had safely confined her in that mansion, in Area 1.

To see only beautiful things like daffodils, to think only good thoughts.

For that, he had always thoroughly hidden the sight of blood staining his white uniform.

‘It’s your fault for coming all the way here.’

The goal of his life had always been to protect her.

Of course, as happily as possible.

But if she keeps trying to leave that safe enclosure on her own, Delphine.

‘I have no choice but to break your legs to keep you by my side.’

So this was all to protect her.

Pryde sincerely thought so.

While desperately hiding the feelings of betrayal and anger rising within him, pretending not to know.

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“How… here…”

Delphine gasped out broken words.

Unlike Delphine, whose face had turned pale as if she’d seen a ghost, he showed no sign of surprise.

As if he knew she would be here from the beginning.

“Del…”

That low voice calling her as he approached was the same.

No anger or sense of betrayal could be felt.

“Why, how…”

As she muttered incoherently looking at him, something rushed out from beside her towards him.

“…Eek. Pryde!”

It was Marian, raising her longsword high.

She swung her sword quickly towards Ioan, but he deflected her with his own sword, his face indifferent.

Clang.

A thunderous sound that was hard to believe came from swords clashing echoed through the basement.

With the tremendous force packed into a single blow, Marian flew far away and crashed hard into the wall.

“Marian! …You bastard!”

Lin shouted loudly, clenching her fist holding the posium.

However, nothing happened.

Lin looked at the dimly glowing posium in her open hand with a bewildered face.

“What’s this? Why?”

Ioan’s cold eyes immediately turned to Lin.

“So it was you. The one using that pathetic trick.”

“You bastard. How…”

“I installed black crystals around this area. Your petty magic won’t work.”

Step by step.

Ioan approached them closer while quietly explaining.

“Back… Hup!”

Bellie and the others tried to retreat but stopped abruptly.

Imperial Guard knights had already flooded in through the passage they had come from.

The La Rouge members huddled together in a circle.

All escape routes were blocked.

It was truly a dilemma.

Ioan sneered coldly at them as they gritted their teeth.

“Right. The most efficient way to kill rat pups is to corner them all together. Don’t you think?”