The Duke of Windsor, Benjamin’s bedroom.

Benjamin suspected that even behind the undead, the Empress could be involved.

“But the likelihood of the Empress herself being a Gypsy is extremely low.”

Mitchel, who had been preparing to leave for the imperial city at dawn, countered. Kali, who stood by the door of Benjamin’s bedroom with a troubled face, agreed.

“Everyone in the empire knows that the Empress is a devout follower of the Gwision faith. If she had any traces related to the Heaven faith on her body, it would have been exposed the moment she entered the temple.”

“Exactly. The Empress has never been penalized by the temple in the past several decades. Even the Crown Prince, who humbled himself at the temple, is well aware of this, isn’t he?”

Receiving the gazes of Mitchel and Kali, Benjamin nodded.

“So it must be a third party, one I’ve never had any real contact with.”

If they had met even once, the impure aura would have rubbed off. Benjamin said he would return to the imperial city to confirm this.

‘The Empress’s range of movement is ultimately the imperial city. Even if she sneaks around, she can’t avoid my eyes.’

Yet so far, Benjamin had not heard any reports that the Empress was acting suspiciously. If she had the skill to evade his gaze, that would be another matter.

‘If I catch the regulars coming in and out of the imperial city like rats, some method will emerge.’

It would be a very cumbersome and time-consuming task, but something would become clear.

Rubbing his chin, Benjamin spoke.

“Gypsy magic is very sticky. No matter how ritually you bathe, it can’t be washed off. So the Empress must have given orders through intermediaries, perhaps two or three layers of them.”

The Empress’s repeatedly laundered contacts were the focus. But this was not a definite hypothesis either.

“Is the likelihood the same as with this undead? None?”

Aiban, unusually calm, opened his mouth.

“The undead that attacked the Princess did not give off a Gypsy aura. Therefore, Windsor’s knights and the devout servant Andersen didn’t notice either. Neither did I.”

Aiban grimaced as if humiliated.

“When I got close… I felt nothing.”

“I share Aiban’s thoughts. If I were deceived, Aiban’s nose would have caught it. As you know, Aiban is a cat hybrid.”

Cats react sensitively to demonic auras. It wasn’t for nothing that the wizards of Solzerellion employed black cats as their familiars.

And Aiban was a homunculus created by combining the genes of such a magical cat. Even Aiban had not suspected that Adel was undead until just before he died.

“Moreover, I struck the abdomen. I didn’t blow up the head or cut the neck. Yet Adel was declared dead… To be honest, I’m wondering if this really was an undead. It’s too different from the usual undead.”

Aiban, due to his background, could trace the scent of the undead back to its source.

‘If even Aiban is confused.’

Benjamin muttered as he brushed his ever-lustrous golden hair.

“What on earth is happening in this world?”

It became even more mysterious.

Moreover, the mysterious force didn’t attack Benjamin but Yurishien.

‘Why now after leaving Windsor alone for so long?’

And why, using Adel, who had been a friend of Yurishien, make such a provocative, easily traceable move? It strongly felt as if the thick fog he had thought was actually smoke rising from an abyss of death.

“To be honest, I find it inadvisable for you to return to the imperial city.”

Mitchel, who once asked if he really intended to go to Windsor, frowned as he spoke.

“I strongly feel that it’s a trap.”

The thought that things could go awry again crossed his mind. Swallowing any further thoughts, Mitchel stared at Benjamin with worried eyes.
The feeling was that they lured him in. The crown prince predicted that if the princess was attacked, he wouldn’t stand idly by. That’s why he thought they’d done something like this.

Benjamin had not completely dismissed this thought either. But he also knew resisting them just because of that wouldn’t be right.

The force that defeated Cali in the underground dungeon and snuck out Kendal, the initiative that harmed the people around Yurisien without hesitation for personal gain.

“Windsor is not safe.”

So even if he fell into a trap, even if he acted as bait, it was better to divert attention towards himself.

“So let Cali and Ivan stay here. Only Michel will go with me to the Imperial City.”

“What?!”

Ivan audaciously refuted Benjamin’s command. His artificially created black eyes were flickering. He was, of course, prepared to follow Michel and was awakened in the middle of the night for that.

“Me, you’re leaving me here?”

“Why. Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just…”

Ivan closed his lips nervously. The face of Michel, who was looking at him, appeared in his eyes. Though he had observed him for a long time, there were moments when he couldn’t understand him. This was one of those times.

The words she had once refused him flashed across Ivan’s mind.