Andersen knocked on the door.

“Apologies for the late hour, Miss. Mr. Adel Ginger requests to see you.”

In truth, Yurisien already knew Adel had come.

She had noticed a figure hurriedly crossing the garden while she stood at the window lost in thought. It seemed Andersen had judged Adel to still be a friend of Yurisien’s, having seen them share tea time earlier.

Yurisien responded with a weary voice.

“Tell him to come back later. I’m tired.”

“Yes, understood.”

Andersen left.

Yurisien resumed the thoughts that Adel had interrupted.

Benjamin mentioned during dinner that Kendall’s underground dungeon showed signs of impure magical energy. Only after Mitchell collects and examines it will we know what it is.

Erugen cautiously suggested to Benjamin that the culprit might be the Empress Dowager. Surprisingly, Benjamin agreed.

Considering the Empress Dowager killed the Emperor and Empress, and infiltrated the Duke of Windsor’s mansion to defeat Calri, it wasn’t implausible for her to have someone that capable under her.

‘But this raises a contradiction.’

Why had she left Erugen and Yurisien untouched? Why had she only observed the Crown Prince’s return?

‘If she can defeat Calri, she should be capable enough to contend with my father and the Crown Prince.’

A line from Erugen floated through her mind, describing it like groping through dense fog to figure out the shape of a massive creature.

Just as she was deep in thought, another commotion broke out.

“You can’t, Mr. Adel! Her Highness is enjoying her private time!”

“Let go! How dare you touch me? Highness, help me! Highness!”

Adel was still making a ruckus. His shouts echoed all the way up from the first-floor lobby to Yurisien’s room on the third floor, a private area of the estate.

“Highness, please. Please help me!”

From the slurred words and occasional biting of his tongue, he seemed drunk.

“What is this commotion? The Crown Prince is here too.”

Finally, Erugen appeared.

“I’m fine. But what is causing this disturbance?”

Benjamin, also awake, questioned.

“Mr. Adel insists on seeing the lady. She asked for him to be turned away,”

Andersen said with a voice tinged with irritation. Erugen and Benjamin had come out, so Yurisien considered doing the same but decided against it. She felt slighted by Adel.

‘Even ignoring me is fine, but this commotion in the middle of the night?’

No matter how close the friendship, it was inexcusable.

“Tsk. He knows nothing of his place! Take him away.”

“Yes, apologies.”

Erugen clicked his tongue in annoyance. Andersen’s expression looked almost disappointed.

Adel would be dragged out and thrown to the ground. Yurisien felt some pity for her, but decided it was best to draw a line. She was being generous as it was by not imprisoning or whipping him.

With that distraction over, Yurisien planned to finally get some sleep.

‘…Wait.’

An odd sense of discomfort enveloped her.

“Highnesssss!”

Adel’s scream echoed as he was being dragged away. The discomfort lay in that scream.

‘Why is Adel calling me Highness?’
Adel was a commoner. It was only natural for her to call Yurisien a princess. But Adel was no ordinary commoner. She mingled with Edna, Yeriel, and Yurisien, fully satisfying her own desires and boasting about being with them.

After Edna granted permission as if doing her a favor, Adel was sly enough to speak informally and use nicknames for Yeriel and Yurisien without even asking.

“Why is Adel acting like this now?”

Yurisien had yet to draw a line with Adel verbally. Yet calling her a princess was somewhat strange. Realizing this, Yurisien quickly donned a shawl over her shoulders and stepped outside.

“Can’t you be quiet!”

As she emerged onto the central staircase with a full view below, she saw a knight scolding Adel.

Adel’s appearance was suspicious to say the least. Not only was she without an umbrella in the pouring rain, but she was also barefoot.

‘Why is her hair so disheveled?’

Clearly, something was amiss with Adel’s condition.

“Wait!”

At the sound of Yurisien’s voice, Adel’s head snapped up. The knight, too, looked up in surprise.

“Let Adel go.”

“My lady?”

“Now!”

The knight reluctantly released Adel’s arm. Still, just to be safe, those guarding the stairs remained in place.

Yurisien descended to the second floor to approach Adel, who was hanging onto the knight blocking the stairs and making a fuss. It was at this moment that Yurisien’s steps halted, sensing something odd and eerie about the situation.

“…!”

The instant her eyes met Adel’s, Yurisien unconsciously clenched her mouth shut. For Adel’s pupils were black.

Adel’s eyes were originally turquoise!

Something had happened. Yurisien quickly turned to seek assistance from Urgein’s room.

But then…

“…?”

Suddenly, the corners of Adel’s mouth rose.

Swish!

Adel hurled something at Yurisien.

“Eek!”

Yurisien swiftly dodged. What Adel threw barely missed her, flying past. Had she not been trained by Urgein, she would have been hit. Yurisien clutched her pounding heart and checked what Adel had thrown.

‘A dart?’

A slender, needle-like dart was stuck in the wall, coated with poison.

“Yurisien!”

Hearing her cry, Benjamin rushed out and leapt down to the second floor.

“Are you okay?”

The one who nearly got hit was Yurisien, but Benjamin looked even more worried.

The knights promptly restrained Adel, while Benjamin cast a sturdy protective barrier around Yurisien. It was a powerful magical barrier that would disintegrate upon contact with malice.

“I’m fine, I’m fine but…”

Yurisien answered with a shaky voice. She was bewildered. Not just because Adel had thrown a dart at her. The dart had stuck into the marble wall of the Windsor estate! It was impossible for Adel to have that kind of aim or strength.

‘And those black pupils, what’s going on?’

Hearing the commotion, Urgein also came out, leaping down in shock and directed his fury at the captured Adel.

“How dare you! Throw her into the dungeon immediately! Calli!”

“Yes! I’ll go! Ivan, come!”

“Huh? Uh, uh!”

Calli, who had also leapt down just like Urgein, called for Ivan who was assessing the situation from the third floor. Answering, Ivan jumped from the third floor to the first. By the time Calli stood beside Adel, Ivan had already struck Adel’s abdomen, knocking her unconscious.

But then, the unexpected happened.

“Ivan! We haven’t interrogated her yet! What if you kill her!”

Adel had stopped breathing.

The knights lifted the lifeless Adel, and Calli berated Ivan. With a wronged expression, Ivan bounced around in front of Calli.
“I thought I was a beginner? To make her faint and kill her? Hey, you! You saw what I did, right?”

Iban pointed at the knight holding Adel and asked. The momentarily flustered knight quickly nodded.

“Yes. Lord Bilzhek didn’t hit her with that much force. I could feel the recoil in her body because I was holding her. And she didn’t seem to have been struck in any vital points. She didn’t make any distressed sounds like ‘uhg’ or ‘agh’ either.”

“Is that so……”

Kali looked up at those still on the second floor. He was about to report the worsening situation.

“Huh? Wait a minute. Kali, look at this.”

Iban stopped Kali. What he pointed at was Adel’s flushed neck. Her red hair was soaking wet from the rain and wrapped around her neck, so it wasn’t visible before, but there were ligature marks on her neck, and they were horizontal thin lines.

“This is not diagonal.”

Iban spoke in a lowered voice, wiping off all traces of playfulness.

“That’s impossible.”

Kali shook his head horizontally. However, these marks were irrefutable evidence. Kali hesitated for a moment in shock and then looked up at Urugen and said,

“There are marks of strangulation on Miss Adel’s body… She came here already dead.”