“I’ve seen enough of this room. I was just going to look around roughly today, so let’s go back to the palace now.”

Descending the narrow stone stairs again and standing in front of the magic circle, the palace guards greeted her with a bow.

“Shall we go back now?”

However, they didn’t react to Ermildin’s words at all.

The four soldiers stood still, bowing their heads without any movement.

“Your Majesty, behind me…”

Feeling a sense of foreboding, before Pellio could finish his sentence, one soldier holding a sword rushed towards Ermildin.

Seeing that the white sclera was completely black, it seemed that he had already fallen victim to the curse.

“No, noooo!”

The soldier’s sword was aimed directly at Ermildin, and Pellio reflexively threw himself in front of her.

Thud.

Even though the sword pierced his abdomen, Pellio calmly drew his sword.

As he muttered something, a blue flame rose from the sword.

“Go! Protect the Empress Dowager!”

At Pellio’s words, Belrest drew her sword and grabbed Ermildin’s wrist.

“Your Majesty! You must go!”

Although an outstanding magical swordsman, Pellio was outnumbered facing four, and two were already approaching Belrest and Ermildin.

Belrest, swinging her sword, shouted urgently.

“Your Majesty! You must go back to the palace!”

Ermildin, who had never witnessed such swordplay in her past life, was not interested at all. Since she had no interest, even if she were to host and mediate a fencing match with Olympic medals at stake, she had never seen it, let alone attended it.

The surprised Ermildin’s body froze in place, and now she didn’t even scream.

But as Pellio’s condition worried her, she turned her head with difficulty, and blood was seen flowing from his mouth.

“Oh, no…”

“Your Majesty!! Please go first!!”

The cursed soldiers seemed not to feel any pain, relentlessly attacking even if they were cut repeatedly.

Though when Pellio’s flames touched them, they seemed to feel pain, but Pellio, who had already suffered fatal wounds, looked overwhelming just by holding their gaze.

Fear.

Primitive fear flowing from the heart to the fingertips and toes.

Ermildin unconsciously moved her steps towards the magic circle.

Pause.

‘What am I doing? Am I just going to leave these two behind? Am I going to leave them behind and save myself? There’s no difference between me and the original Ermildin!’
The completely rigid body had now even stopped trembling.

However, Ermildin, biting her teeth, turned toward Pellio and Belrest.

“Even if I die here, I won’t leave you behind!”

Whether it was worth practicing magic hard or not, as she regained her composure, a spell that instantly rotted the flesh flowed from her mouth.

‘Please! Please work! Please!’

Ermildin, shedding tears, tried to memorize the spell, but the soldiers still swung their swords.

‘Please! Please! Please! Curse, damn it! Activate!!’

“Ugh!”

Pellio, who had not even groaned until now, seemed unable to endure any longer.

The blood flowing from his abdomen seemed to be close to a fatal amount at a glance.

Luckily, at the critical moment, Ermildin’s curse magic was activated.

The flesh of the four bodies attacking Pellio and Belrest instantly rotted and crumbled, flowing down.

Ermildin suddenly recalled Helen’s last moments.

Her eyes, which did not lose their blue color even as her body rotted due to the curse of Duke François, came to her mind.

The same thing happened this time.

The soldiers, seemingly regaining their senses just before complete death, stared at Ermildin with their original eye colors shining.

Ermildin met the green eyes of one soldier.

Although his vocal cords were already rotted and he couldn’t speak, the eyes were filled with fear and resentment.

“S-Sorry. I’m sorry.”

Stumbling backward, Ermildin hit the wall and sat down on the spot.

The hole in her throat felt as hot as a lump of burning charcoal.

She wanted to apologize, to apologize sincerely, but her voice didn’t come out.

Belrest, the most intact of the three, carried Pellio on one shoulder and grabbed Ermildin’s wrist, dragging her away.

“If we don’t go back immediately, Pellio is in danger!”

Thump!

At the mention of Pellio being in danger, Ermildin’s mind finally returned.

Faint smile was on Pellio’s lips as he leaned against the wall, covered in blood, avoiding the side that Ermildin was leaning on, probably not wanting to worry her.

Ermildin’s heart was torn to pieces by that smile.

She didn’t know what spirit made her stand up.

She felt like she was going to vomit right away, but she endured it and supported Pellio’s opposite shoulder.

The three of them managed to return to the palace just before Pellio lost consciousness.

“How are you going to handle this?”

Angry from head to toe, Henri threw a pile of documents at Count Hautain.

“I apologize. We were thoroughly guarding the palace, but how did this happen…”

“There must have been a secret passage! I’ve been investigating the castle for months, and you couldn’t find it?”

Ermildin was not the only one attacked.

Both the imperial faction and the noble faction, the son and daughter of the emperor, were attacked side by side in the palace managed by the emperor.

Moreover, Pellio almost died.

“Did you find the magician?”

“I ordered a search right away, but…”

As if there was nothing more to hear, Henri cut off the conversation with a sharp gesture.

“Find him. Find him. Or where is Ermond now? Didn’t he say he wasn’t in the country?”

“Yes. There’s no trace at all.”

“He cursed four living people at once. To imitate something similar, you’ll need the blood of the François family.”

“Most likely.”

“Moreover, the Empress visited Brienne almost spontaneously today.”

“Yes. She got approval this morning…”

“And Valier?”

Now that things had settled down, Henri was suspicious of Valier more than anyone.

Originally, he always had the opposite concerns.

“He continues to monitor as instructed, but there have been no suspicious movements.”

“They didn’t exchange letters?”

“No.”
“Yes. I am currently monitoring everything, including pieces of tissue coming out of Viscount Valien’s residence.”

“Well, Ermond wouldn’t be sending such notes and joining hands with Valier.”

“I agree with that.”

“Then who is it? Is it someone among the people who were in the palace yesterday and today, or someone related to the two viscounts who stole information?”

“It’s probably the case. However…”

Henri sharply eyed Viscount Hautain, who hesitated to speak.

“There’s more than one person who harbors resentment against Empress. We’ll investigate, but it’s difficult to narrow down the suspects.”

While it sounded calm, Viscount Hautain’s words were indeed true.

“I see. There’s no shortage of those with personal grudges. Perhaps it’s you?”

Though spoken in a not-so-serious tone, Henri’s eyes stared at Viscount Hautain with a cold gaze.

“Could it be me? I wouldn’t engage in such a discreet assassination attempt. I am currently gathering evidence to bring Empress to trial. I will make her receive the most dreadful and painful punishment legally.”

It’s more reassuring to have someone who is testing you than someone who solemnly claims. It’s easier to observe someone with a clear motive.

“I see. You may leave now. Let the investigation continue.”