Marsha leisurely sipped strong black tea on the top floor of the hotel. Gabriel puffed on a cigar beside her, leaning against the window and observing the roof where crows had gathered.

“What a splendid revenge. Though the view has become a bit unsightly. I wonder if the guests on the lower floors can see it? They must have been surprised. I should offer them a complimentary drink.”

“It can’t be seen from there.”

“How do you know? Have you tried it? When, and with whom?”

“…The red is pretty. I think it’s better than mediocre paint.”

“Don’t change the subject! Tell me quickly, who did you try it with? If you had told me, I would have given you an extra service!”

Whether Marsha was fidgeting or not, Gabriel finished smoking his cigar and neatly cleaned up afterwards. Gabriel dusted off his hands and smiled while staring at Marsha.

“How is it in ‘that place’, still no contact?”

“…We have to be careful. Is it easy to be active as a member of a secret organization? What if it reaches the Emperor’s ears? The entire capital would be turned upside down immediately.”

Marsha answered diligently while pouting her lips.

And not just the capital. Marsha’s entire family might be ruined. Even if they poured in all their wealth, well, if they got entangled in treason charges, the chances of escape were slim.

“Be careful. The Imperial family will be eyeing the ‘Wenri’ fortune in many ways.”

“Is there any doubt about that, darling?”

Just as Marsha was about to empty her teacup, there was a knock and the secretary entered.

“Ma’am. Reporters are requesting cooperation for coverage. It seems we should open the top floor, what should we do?”

“What else? Tell them to come in.”

If possible, I hope this good news flies far and wide on wings. Marsha whispered, clinging tightly to Gabriel.

She was still such an incorrigible friend, even as she aged. Gabriel smiled faintly as he slipped out of Marsha’s embrace.

“I’ll be going. I’ve left the clothing store empty for too long, the employees will think I’m just a figurehead.”

“You are a pants boss since you sell pants! Stay and play longer!”

Despite Marsha’s desperate cry, Gabriel left the hotel without paying any mind.

Walking briskly in manly attire, Gabriel caught the attention of people passing by on the street. Some even pressed against carriage windows to get a better look.

It wasn’t common to see a woman striding down the street with hands stuffed in trouser pockets and taking large steps. Some even approached thinking it was a man at first glance, with her hair cut short.

‘The Gray Hawk.’

Gabriel knew. Though everyone pretended not to know, well, wouldn’t it be faster to find someone who wasn’t a member of the ‘Gray Hawk’ on this street?

Everyone has wings. Be they nobles or commoners. Even beggars on the street. A brief smile from Gabriel was hidden under the black fedora.

“The top floor isn’t much to speak of. How’s the view, can you see well?”

“Yes, it’s fine enough…”

The young hotel owner was quite friendly. Though she looked like a candy made of sugar on the outside, she was no ordinary person. The reporter glanced at Marsha while sketching.

It was a matter of someone dying, after all. Moreover, anyone could see that the writing on the roof was done with blood from the corpse.

What kind of woman could be so unfazed? Wouldn’t normal women faint or cry at the sight of such a gruesome scene?

Contrary to the reporters’ thoughts, Marsha truly didn’t mind at all.

When she came to work in the morning and saw that dreadful scene, she only muttered that things had really blown up, and asked her secretary to brew some tea through a messenger. Then she reviewed her schedule and skimmed through the reports that had come in.

If you think she would be surprised, you’re gravely mistaken. Marsha observed the scene the reporters were sketching with her arms crossed.

When you see red every month without fail, you become numb to most shades of red. Asking people most indifferent to blood, “Oh my, you must have been shocked to see such a gruesome sight?” would be truly ridiculous.

“I never imagined the hotel would be promoted like this. I’m counting on you, reporters.”

For a moment, some reporters were seized by the absurd thought that this woman might be the culprit. But they soon shook their heads. No matter how dead a reporter’s instincts were, how could they frame the young female owner as the culprit?

Who could the culprit be? Who could have tortured and killed Tamiel, the Emperor’s closest confidant and Imperial technical advisor, in such a brutal manner?

Amid all sorts of speculation, the reporters’ pens moved busily.

**

Slowly, but all at once, her eyes opened. Ilarid applied force to her slightly stiff eyelids, awakening her body’s senses.

Thanks to the medicine perhaps, she had slept deeply without any dreams.

Seeing the curtains still drawn, it might be evidence that Lebel was still beside her.

Ilarid turned her body that had been lying on its side. But the scene she had secretly hoped for did not unfold. This time, neither Lebel nor his sword was there.

She gently placed her hand on the pillow next to her. Only a soft touch was felt from the pillow that had already lost the warmth of its occupant.

Is this longing? Disappointment at the cold temperature, regret at the absence, and a series of emotions as she closed her eyes and imagined with eyes shut.

‘Do I like him.’

She remembered how last night, he had held the medicine in his mouth and immediately burrowed into her lips. His attitude had been so nonchalant that she almost thought even that was a dream.

Ilarid gently bit her lip where traces of yesterday remained. Like the ‘shadow’ that had disappeared after the night passed, no taste could be felt on her lips.

‘I too have fallen for you.’

Why did those words from the hospital come to mind at a time like this? She sat up abruptly at the oncoming embarrassment. Then she went to the window and flung open the curtains. Dazzling sunlight poured into the bedroom.

Turning around to check the clock on the nightstand, she saw that she had overslept well past her usual waking time. Normally, it would have been time to attend to work or practice transcription.

As if it had been waiting, a knock sounded from outside the bedroom. An undisguisable urgency could be felt from the knocking fingertips. Had something happened during the night?

“Come in.”

“Did you sleep well, Your Majesty the Empress?”

“I slept very well. My body feels refreshed too. Though I do feel bad about oversleeping…”

Lynette’s expression was subtle. Even while looking concerned, she was examining Ilarid’s body. As if searching for some trace.

“Was there any trouble last night? Captain Lebel said that Your Majesty took medicine.”

“Ah, yes…”

The problem was that while she did take medicine, the method was rather awkward to explain in words. Ilarid trailed off sheepishly. After scrutinizing Ilarid for a while, Lynette sighed in relief and said:

“Quite a faithful ‘shadow’. Unlike someone else.”

He even quietly slipped away in the morning. Anyone would think he wasn’t a ‘shadow’ at all, but someone who had never been there in the first place.

It suddenly struck her anew that Lebel was truly a person who moved very quietly. Did he really just leap off the balcony? It was just as Lynette was looking at the balcony beyond the drawn curtains.

A maid rushed frantically into the bedroom.

“What’s the matter?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I thought you were coughing just now… but this seems like something you must see.”

The maid handed Ilarid a sheet of newspaper. She said one of the maids had brought it in while entering the palace, saying it was an extra edition being circulated.

Ilarid and Lynette’s expressions hardened simultaneously at the brief, bold news contained in the single sheet.

Tamiel was dead.

**

“Captain, what about Luth? It’s morning training but he’s still not up?”

“He looked tired so I told him to sleep. Just leave him be today.”

“Hee-hee, Eddie is tired too.”

“Where do you get off trying to act cute? Eddie, five more laps.”

“Aargh! I shouldn’t have done it! That was my trump card, putting my pride on the line! Just what did Luth look like to be excused?”

Ignoring Eddie who was screaming in indignation, Lebel silently prepared for morning training. Lailo quietly observed the captain’s complexion before approaching and lowering his voice.

“Captain. Were you there all night?”

“…What?”

“Never mind. I can guess well enough, so I won’t say more.”

The conversation with the subject missing was only cryptic.

Where was “there” that he had been all night? The Empress’s palace, or the place where secret revenge was carried out? Both men closed their mouths at the same time. Their mismatched speculations brought a moment of peace.

But the peace of the quiet morning was shattered mercilessly by the afternoon.

“Where is Captain Lebel?”

The Imperial Guard officer who entered the barracks asked without preamble. Though they knew it wasn’t the time for polite greetings between them, the attitude of asking for the captain’s whereabouts out of the blue was quite unpleasant.

“If you state your business first, I’d be glad to inform you personally.”

“Never mind that, just call your captain.”

One of the Imperial Guard officers waved his hand as if it was bothersome to speak. At the gesture that was like shooing away a fly, Lailo burst out angrily:

“You should at least say whose orders these are!”

“Everyone step back, and call the captain of the Rikas mercenaries. We’ve come on His Majesty the Emperor’s orders.”

Kailem stepped forward from behind. For an officer of his rank to come just to take away one captain. The expressions of the unit members gradually filled with unease.

“What is the matter?”

At last, Lebel approached the Imperial Guard. His expression was calm, as if he knew nothing.

Kailem’s eyebrows twitched with suspicion. Though he had a suspicious feeling, the mercenary captain looked no different than usual. A serene face showing not a trace of anxiety or fear.

But the more so, it was evidence that he was hiding much. Kailem spoke in a hardened voice:

“By order of His Majesty the Emperor. Lebel. You are under emergency arrest as a suspect in the murder of Tamiel, the Imperial technical advisor.”

Cledius was at a loss for words for a while after hearing the news of Tamiel’s death.

Who could have imagined that one of the Emperor’s closest confidants and a technical advisor who faithfully cooperated with Cledius’s politics would be found dead overnight? The ministers around the Emperor kept their mouths shut.

The crime scene was one thing, but Tamiel’s condition was horrific. Half of the torture methods Tamiel had carried out over the years, along with traces of a series of acts aimed at causing maximum pain and slowly killing him, were left all over.

In the end, his scalp was peeled off, his tongue cut out, and his two arms broken before he was thrown onto the street.

And the meaningful phrase: ‘You’re next.’

The officials gathered around Cledius immediately thought of one person.

Limless Rowen Melpiram.

There was a high probability that it was an act of revenge carried out by someone who supported him. But no one dared to speak that name. If they mentioned Limless’s name now, they were poised to turn their backs on the world under Cledius’s blade.

Cledius, who had been skimming through the autopsy records, threw the file folder onto the desk. To think he would suffer a fate similar to Limless, whom he had killed. Amidst deep sighs and tumultuous feelings, someone suddenly came to mind.

‘Lebel.’

It was just a rough thought and suspicion close to instinct. There was no common denominator or connection between Limless and Lebel.

But when small suspicions mixed with emotions, they tended to snowball. Cledius unhesitatingly framed Lebel as the culprit.

“The only one who could rampage like this in the capital with such skill is that bastard Lebel.”

“But Your Majesty. We cannot suspect an innocent person without any evidence.”

“Why is that bastard innocent?”

At the chillingly cold voice, the officials gathered around Cledius froze. They had guessed that the Emperor was confused by Tamiel’s death.

It was Tamiel, of all people. A man who could ruthlessly deal with those who harmed the Emperor’s power under his protection. The fact that such a Tamiel was brutally murdered and dumped on the street must have come as a great shock to the Emperor as well.

But the Emperor, with his reason half gone, unconditionally framed the mercenary captain as the culprit. Faced with this unexpected situation, the ministers could only eye each other warily.

That Lebel fellow had acted like a thorn in the Emperor’s side. Vaguely carried out orders and subtly irritating attitude. Thanks to that, troublesome situations for Cledius had disappeared, but it must have been insufficient for the Emperor who enjoyed blood and battle.

‘Rumors say the Empress has taken a liking to him.’

The nobles exchanged the same opinion with glances. But rumors were just rumors. If they amplified something uncertain, it was obvious they would incur the Emperor’s wrath. Wasn’t he the one who cared more than anyone about maintaining the solid image of the Imperial family?

Cledius rose from his chair. Soon, the Emperor’s voice, having swallowed his anger, rang out ominously.

“Transport the Rikas mercenary captain to the prison tower. I will interrogate him personally.”