Only after facing Dietrich could I understand.

The reason I couldn’t recognize him.

In the original work, Dietrich was always described as empty.

Empty eyes. An attitude as if life was boring.

In the story, he never showed emotion except for the moment he died at the hands of his younger sister, Ludovica.

However, the Dietrich before my eyes was different from the one in the novel.

The man with a cold, inorganic impression clearly had expressions, unlike the description in the original work.

The problem is that the strange smile on his lips was more intimidating than when he had no expression.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect it to be a lady.”

A voice full of coolness and pressure.

Crushed by that eeriness, I couldn’t open my mouth and trembled violently.

The pitch-black eyes began to observe me persistently, to the point of being creepy.

He approached with long strides and leveled his eyes with mine as I sat frozen.

My frightened figure was reflected in his pitch-black eyes.

I awkwardly rolled my eyes, trying to avoid his gaze.

However, Dietrich grabbed my chin and forced me to meet his eyes.

I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking.

Trembling, I opened my mouth with difficulty.

“I… I’m sorry.”

Dietrich’s eyebrows twitched upwards as if puzzled. He seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.

“Hmm, for what?”

“…Um.”

“For kidnapping me? Or for imprisoning me? Which one are you referring to?”

“Well, all of it. I’m sorry…”

Oh, past me, why did you do that?

Inwardly holding back tears and resenting myself from an hour ago, I asked very politely.

“If you’re going to kill me… Could you possibly do it painlessly in one go?”

The corners of Dietrich’s mouth, which had been holding a subtle smile, dropped in an instant.

The atmosphere suddenly turned savage, making it feel like walking on thin ice.

“It seems you know who I am.”

Had I unconsciously made a slip of the tongue? Dietrich seemed extremely sensitive about revealing his identity.

At his chillingly cold tone, I rambled on with excuses.

“I just realized it now. Wouldn’t anyone ask like this after seeing such a sight…?”

Belatedly realizing that this might further offend him, I timidly trailed off.

But Dietrich reacted more generously than expected.

Rather, his expression softened, and the sharp atmosphere eased.

He nodded languidly.

“That’s true as well.”

“R-right? Haha.”

I laughed awkwardly, agreeing with his words.

However, despite the smiling face, I was inwardly dying of frustration.

‘No, so are you going to kill me painlessly or painfully?’

No answer to my question, let alone any progress in the situation.

Then, as if reading my inner thoughts, Dietrich spoke.

“I’ll answer later.”

“…Pardon?”

He raised the corner of his mouth crookedly. That expression was so villainous that cold sweat ran down my spine.

“I’ll let you know how I’m going to kill you later.”

“Hahaha, I see…”

Unable to think of a proper response, I answered noncommittally.

It seems Dietrich intends to torment me thoroughly before killing me.

Callys von Agrian.

The sixth child and youngest prince of the emperor, who was believed to have died immediately after birth 20 years ago.

Many shed tears for him, who breathed his last as soon as he saw the light of the world.

However, those who knew the inner workings of the imperial palace rather considered his death a blessing.

A mother with no power. A father with not even a speck of affection for his child.

The emperor originally had many concubines, but Callys’s mother was from the most humble family among them.

Even if he had been born healthy, it was obvious how his life would have unfolded.

The hollow title of prince.

Simply for holding something meaningless, he would have had to endure the checks and pressures of his siblings throughout his life.

And that process was bound to be crueler than most people thought.

It was obvious that a life of pain worse than death awaited him, so even though Callys never got to see the world with his own eyes, some considered his death a blessing.

However, the reality was different from what people knew.

Callys von Agrian did not die that day 20 years ago.

Even the emperor believed he had breathed his last, but in fact, he was alive.

His death had been fabricated. By none other than the empress.

…Almost no one knew about this top-secret affair.

At best, only the empress’s closest confidants who had imprisoned Callys.

Other than that, perhaps only the master of the Gerald Information Guild, who was said to grasp all information in the empire.

The headquarters of the Gerald Information Guild.

The guild master, commonly called ‘Master’, approached the reception room door while scanning the documents in his hand.

The name of the client scheduled for today was Vivian Schmidt.

A client who had asked him to investigate Callys about a year ago.

The Gerald Information Guild was famous for its quick work. They finished any request within a month.

However, there was one exception.

A mission that had not been completed, or rather, not done even after a year had passed.

It was the task entrusted by Vivian Schmidt.

The information she had requested was Callys’s appearance and his current location.

It seemed simple, but it was not an easy mission as it required infiltrating the empress’s palace.

However, there was nothing the Master couldn’t accomplish.

He had found out all the information Vivian needed in a short time.

All that remained for the mission to be complete was just reporting.

However, the Master deliberately did not report this to Vivian, and instead hid all the facts.

He had been deceiving her for a long time with poor excuses that the investigation was difficult, along with fake documents.

Even now, what he held in his hand was a meticulously crafted fake report.

Flipping through the twenty-page report, the Master finished his final review.

Satisfied with the content that could fool anyone, he nodded and adjusted the mask on his face.

The black mask covering his entire face was only worn when meeting clients.

Finally, the Master opened the door and entered the reception room where Vivian would be waiting.

However, contrary to his expectations, the person in the room was not Vivian but her subordinate, Ren.

At the unexpected figure, the Master glanced around slightly. Then he sat down opposite, trudging as if deflated.

“Ah, if I had known this, I wouldn’t have prepared the documents! If you’re coming instead of the young lady, please let me know in advance, master.”

He eventually grumbled and took off his mask. His bare face was revealed without filter.

It was an unusual action for him, who always wore a mask in front of clients.

However, Ren showed no particular reaction, as if used to this.

‘No response again. It’s completely different from when you’re with Miss Vivian.’

Neither Vivian nor the guild members knew, but in fact, the real owner of the Gerald Information Guild was not the guild master, the Master.

‘Until a year ago, even I didn’t know it would turn out like this. To think that I would serve someone else.’

The Master briefly recalled the day he first met Ren.

What he saw that day was a sight that was hard to believe was done single-handedly.

Half of the guild building smashed to pieces and guild members sprawled unconscious on the floor.

Next to that, Ren’s ferocious aura naturally standing there, strangling his neck. It was undoubtedly a sight befitting a ruler.

The Master shuddered momentarily at the memory that was chilling yet thrilling whenever recalled, but the reverie was quickly broken.

Ren had handed over a single photograph. It seemed to be a photo of a new kidnapping victim.

“You kidnapped another one already? Wow, that young lady is really something. As expected of the master’s master.”

The Master lightly clapped his hands and naturally took the photo.

It was a routine task to inform about the identity of the handsome men Vivian had kidnapped.

Unlike Vivian, who completely ignored the handsome men after releasing them from captivity, Ren identified the victims’ personal information and watched over them for a few weeks.

It was to ensure that the released handsome men wouldn’t harm her.

Of course, all actions were carried out without Vivian’s knowledge.

“Hmm, this handsome man is a real big fish. The young lady’s eye for men is really, wow. I’m just in awe. Our master should be a bit nervous? To think she even kidnapped the Belvedere viscount.”

He was exclaiming in admiration when, seeing Ren’s reaction of not understanding what he meant, he explained even more exaggeratedly.

“You don’t know Dietrich Belvedere? Our master, at this rate I’d believe it if someone said you were a spy from a foreign country. He’s a magic swordsman, you know, a magic swordsman. They say he’s worth a hundred men.”

The Master, who had been staring at the photo, was about to shift his gaze to Ren when he paused.

His master, who had clearly been there until just moments ago, had disappeared without making a sound.

“…Our master is really zealous.”

Is he that worried about that young lady?

The Master shrugged his shoulders at the emotion he couldn’t quite understand.