“What you did is a terribly atrocious act. People will remember this for a long time.”

Elise was shocked by Lucas’s words, who until recently had been gossiping amusingly about what happened to the Franche family. She swallowed the bitter laugh that was about to burst out.

‘It wasn’t just me who did it!’

She wanted to grab his collar and scream.

‘You did it together!’

But she held back.

Fortunately, Floyd thought Lucas had done everything. The people present would also think Lucas was the main culprit.

So there were many ways to overcome this situation. If given time, she could even appease Lucas’s heart.

“So, Elise, you should reflect on your actions. I can’t help you with that part.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Of course I should. If I could, I would take responsibility for everything and reflect. For Your Highness, there’s nothing I can’t do.”

She felt nauseous. It was disgusting and sickening.

But she couldn’t tell whether the disgust was directed at you or at herself.

You, who suddenly changed and tried to blame everything on me? Or me, who is still trying to flatter you even in this situation?

Elise swallowed the nausea that had risen to her throat and smiled pitifully.

+++

When Floyd came to visit, Casar greeted him with a smile, but inside he was burning with anxiety.

He thought Floyd might visit once, but he couldn’t guess what kind of proposal he would make. No, not him, but Roxiana Franche, that woman.

It was clear that Floyd was moving according to Roxiana’s intentions. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put on such a performance to clear the disgrace that the Franche royal family had been burdened with.

‘There was nothing in that pond.’

The pond near the banquet hall. If there had been anything there, it would have been discovered long ago. It’s a place where employees often go to do laundry.

‘They probably found it somewhere else and moved it to that pond. To perform that act during the party.’

Casar stared blankly at the fiery man sitting in front of him before opening his mouth.

“Are you going to cut off my head?”

Floyd laughed loudly. His demeanor was completely different when he was expressionless and when he laughed. When expressionless, he looked chillingly cold, but when laughing, he looked so friendly that anyone could approach him comfortably.

Floyd laughed like that for a while, like a flickering sun, and then said.

“That’s a scary thing to say.”

“I find the Grand Duke scarier.”

“Oh? Does the Count have sins too?”

“Where in the world is there a person without sin?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

Floyd leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His ash-gray eyes gleamed sharply.

“Do you have any sins, Count?”

“If I say no, will you believe me?”

“Perhaps.”

“Ah, I should choose my words carefully.”

Floyd shrugged and waited for Casar to explain.

“My supporters are growing in the Robua Palace. My father also views me quite favorably. Lucas Pelur is checking me. Is this explanation enough? Or should I bring evidence?”

“I believe you. Lucas is the type to reject anyone with even slightly better qualities than himself.”

Floyd knew Lucas very well. He knew a lot about him, as much as he despised him terribly.

“What will you do now? Should I give you the seal of Kanta that I brought when I came here, even though there’s no crown or certificate?”

“That won’t be necessary. Just pretend you don’t know when the Kanta citizens start leaving soon.”

“Yes, I’ll talk to them about it.”

Floyd stood up from the sofa as if he had finished talking.

“Grand Duke.”

Before Floyd could take a step, Casar called out to him.

“Are you going to strike Lucas?”

If that was the case, he thought it might not be bad to side with Floyd. If things went wrong, he could always back out.

As if knowing what Casar was thinking, Floyd grinned.

“Count. Keep that thought to yourself. It’s not Lucas that I want to tear apart and kill with my own hands.”

Casar felt like he had been hit on the back of the head.

Because of Lucas, who openly expressed anger every time he heard about Floyd’s actions, Casar thought Floyd’s sword was solely aimed at Lucas. But it wasn’t.

‘It was his mother.’

It was Christine Pelur who tortured Floyd’s mother to death and abused Floyd.

Floyd stared silently at the speechless Casar for a moment before turning away. Casar couldn’t stop him from leaving and sat there blankly, thinking of his own mother.

A kind and affectionate mother.

She might have been different for Floyd, but for Lucas and Casar, she was a good mother.

‘The Grand Duke isn’t really planning to attack Gania, is he?’

By swallowing the Kingdom of Kanta, the Kingdom of Gania had become the second most powerful country on this continent after the Empire. They might be criticized for what happened this time, but as long as they held the crown of Kanta, there was no need to worry about major instability.

Floyd was strong and the Grand Duchy of Torkan was also powerful, but not enough to easily deal with Gania. If a war broke out, both sides would suffer great damage.

‘But if he attacks Gania, will he aim for the palace?’

He might enter the capital directly and aim for his mother’s neck in the palace. Or maybe he’s already planted people all over the capital.

Casar, not realizing that Floyd’s words had made him completely forget about Roxiana, pondered how to deal with the situation going forward.

+++

“Huff… Gasp…”

As Roxiana breathed roughly, she heard the voices of the spirits.

−We’re sorry, Roxy. We couldn’t find him.

−We can’t go any further. The boundary of Cheden City is our limit.

Cheden City was the closest city to Tepus City, the capital of Kanta.

−We searched every corner of Cheden City, but Ranian wasn’t there.

−You need to stop now. You’re going to collapse.

After rescuing her family from the well, Roxiana had been using all her strength every day to ask the spirits to find Ranian. The spirits, empowered by Roxiana’s strength, moved to find Ranian but hadn’t brought back any information so far.

Using her power without rest had caused severe headaches. Roxiana held her head and groaned. Sobs mixed with her groans.

‘Ranian…’

If she had seen the corpse, it wouldn’t have been this painful. She could have tried to bury it in her heart somehow, even if it was sad and painful.

But unlike death, disappearance brought even greater pain with faint hope. Even though she thought there was no way Ranian could be alive, even though she vowed not to hold such hope, she couldn’t completely crush the small hope that kept rising.

‘How far did Ranian go?’

−At least it’s certain he’s not in this area, Roxy.

−Tell Floyd’s people they don’t need to search the area from the capital to Cheden City.

−Undead have a tendency to return to their hometown, but occasionally if there’s someone calling them, they might go in that direction.

−If there’s someone calling, it’s hard for us to see. We can’t see them well.

‘Someone calling? What’s that?’

The spirits fell silent.

‘What is someone who calls?’

−People who worship evil gods and use evil energy.

The one who answered was Shuriel, the wind spirit. Shuriel’s translucent hair was swaying gently as if swept by the wind.

Shuriel said with a troubled expression.

−Humans call them black magicians.

“Black magicians…”

Roxiana recalled when she had suspected that Lucas’s side might have a black magician.

‘What can a black magician do with an undead?’

−Well. In a case like this, they might preserve the body from decaying and then use it to shake you up.

‘But Lucas didn’t even know I was alive.’

−Ah, that’s true. But there’s nothing an undead can do. At most, they can bite living humans and turn them into undead too.

‘…Is there a possibility they went somewhere else without someone calling?’

−That’s possible too. Undead don’t all behave in the same stereotypical way.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“May I come in?”

At Floyd’s voice, Roxiana quickly answered.

“Yes, come in.”

Floyd, who entered the room, didn’t see Shuriel and approached Roxiana. Roxiana stood up abruptly and said.

“Kiss me.”

Floyd raised the end of his eyebrow as if troubled, but without refusing, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His lips overlapped with hers. As his warm lips parted, his power flowed into her and mixed.

She could feel vitality filling her body, which had been exhausted from overusing her power. A hot sensation caressed her gently from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.

Roxiana stretched out her arms and clung to his neck, familiarly accepting his power.

This had been happening repeatedly for the past few days.

Even Floyd, who disliked Roxiana using excessive power, couldn’t stop her from overexerting herself to find Ranian. All he could do was share his power with Roxiana when she seemed about to collapse from exhaustion.

Finally, Floyd pulled his lips away and looked down at her moist eyes before gently wiping them with his thumb. Roxiana naturally closed her eyes and accepted his touch.

“Were you crying?”

“No.”

“Your eyes are wet.”

“Pretend you didn’t notice.”

“Ah, excuse me. I’m a man with no manners.”

A faint smile formed on Roxiana’s lips.

Roxiana opened her eyes, looked up at him, and asked.

“Did you talk well with Casar Pelur?”

“Yes. That fellow won’t stop the Kanta citizens from leaving.”

“That’s a relief.”

Floyd didn’t fully trust Casar, so he deliberately showed his hatred for Christine. Casar would probably put aside thoughts about Roxiana for a while, not knowing when Floyd’s sword might turn towards his mother.

But he didn’t tell Roxiana about such things.