In the basement of Nebel Castle, Gilord smiled with satisfaction as he looked down at the man prostrated before him. The man’s black hair gleamed under the lamplight.

The subordinate who had personally captured the notorious pirate and dragged him to where he was bowed his head.

“I have captured him alive as you instructed.”

“Well done.”

Gilord, who had lightly praised his subordinate, approached the man sprawled on the floor with his limbs bound. Tolerating some uncleanliness, Gilord personally removed the gag from the man’s mouth.

“Starlet.”

At that, the man who owned that name raised his head. Sparkling deep green eyes looked at him. Gilord showed the man the necklace he had been wearing. That necklace, studded with sapphire blue jewels, brought to mind a certain woman.

After his dark pupils trembled for a moment, he spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and said.

“…Well, the esteemed ones are even worse. Brazenly taking someone else’s precious property.”

“You who speak like that also took someone else’s property to buy this.”

“Are a lowly uneducated fellow like me and a noble lord the same?”

And Starlet sneered. Don’t you think so, Chesa’s puppet.

It was a bit unpleasant to be seen as that puppet rather than Chesa’s head of household, but Gilord decided to endure the pirate’s impudence. He was going to die soon anyway, and he had a role to assign to this pirate.

Gilord said to him.

“Don’t act too impudent. You’ll need your tongue attached until you go to Her Majesty the Queen, won’t you?”

“…So it was the Queen who ordered this after all.”

Gilord silently looked down at the pirate. In such situations, silence was the greatest affirmation.

The foolish pirate seemed to have misunderstood the situation as he intended. The man laughed dejectedly and said.

“I’ve met many noble lords, but this is the first time I’ve been backstabbed like this.”

“That’s what you get for trusting people.”

This lesson was one the King had taught him.

Gilord clearly remembered the day he was backstabbed by the daughter he had trusted and raised. From how the King had dealt with him that day, to how much he had prepared to repay it.

Realizing he had done something foolish, the pirate lowered his gaze for a moment before speaking.

“Tell the Queen. Ask if she can grant the courtesy of letting me see her face one last time before cutting off my head.”

Gilord, unlike himself who would not have the chance for revenge, readily replied to the pirate.

“That much shouldn’t be difficult.”

Gilord Nebel visited the royal palace again the next day. Ophelia looked down at the man who bowed his head respectfully before her, though he surely had no good intentions.

“Your Majesty, I have requested this private audience because I have something urgent to report.”

“What is it?”

Though nothing Gilord said would benefit her, she needed to listen carefully all the more for that reason.

As he had not yet been given permission to raise his head, the man spoke with his waist still bowed.

“The truth is, yesterday I caught a villain who was threatening the good people in Your Majesty’s land.”

“…A villain, you say?”

The only place Gilord could call her land was Galicia, but as far as she knew, there were no problems in Galicia.

Suddenly, she recalled the report that had come from Galicia yesterday. There had been a small fire, they said.

But the cause of that fire was said to be an explosion due to mismanagement of food supplies that had unfortunately spread.

Was there someone who had intercepted the message? As Ophelia pondered why there was something about the incident in Galicia that she didn’t know, Gilord said.

“I’m not sure if Your Majesty is aware, but it’s a notorious pirate.”

And Gilord slowly raised his head without permission. For an instant, he caught sight of the Queen’s face turning pale. Seeing that face which clearly showed her bewilderment, he smiled with satisfaction.

“Have you perhaps heard the name Starlet?”

When the man’s glistening eyes looked at her, Ophelia realized that Gilord had arranged all of this to see her reaction.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be looking at her with such a delighted expression.

With a complexion that seemed oilier than ever, Gilord said.

“That pirate dared to commit arson and property damage in Your Majesty’s land.”

“…As far as I know, there was only one incident in Galicia yesterday. And its cause was a simple mistake in goods management.”

“Oh my, that’s different from what I know. It seems someone mistakenly submitted incomplete information to Your Majesty.”

What those words meant was that he had planted spies near her, but why was he flaunting it like this? Was there some other inducement or implication besides trying to provoke her? Her mind became more complicated the more Gilord spoke.

In any case, she couldn’t show her confusion in front of this man. Ophelia said to the man who was looking straight at her.

“You might be mistaken. Why would a pirate cause trouble on land?”

“Naturally, Your Majesty, being such a noble person, cannot understand the mindset of villains.”

Of course, I don’t understand either.

His additional words were brazen. However, since there was no way Starlet, who had joined hands with her, would cause problems in Galicia, all of this was clearly a plot devised by Gilord. He must have deliberately caused problems to kill him. And the report that went up was covered up as a minor accident so that she couldn’t take preemptive action.

Considering that Gilord and Starlet had never been involved in her past life, there was only one reason why he targeted Starlet to such an extent.

To deal a blow to her.

So this man knew about her collusion with Starlet.

Where could the information have leaked? Amidst the confusion, Ophelia thought about how she could save Starlet.

It would be difficult for him to survive since he had been caught by Gilord’s hands, but Ophelia couldn’t let Starlet die like this. Not only because she needed him for future plans, but also because she had said something to him the last time they talked.

If she had shown him a new path, shouldn’t she at least give him a chance to walk that path?

As if reading her thoughts, Gilord said.

“I know this is Your Majesty’s first time dealing with such a matter, but pirates should be executed as soon as they are caught. Especially in cases like this where they are caught at the scene, there can be no mercy.”

“I know that much. But I cannot overlook a criminal caught in my land by someone other than my own troops without properly investigating. Moreover, as you know, the report to me was incomplete.”

That was quite intentional, and likely instigated by Gilord, but now she had to mention anything to prevent Starlet’s disposal.

The corners of his mouth trembled slightly, as if caught off guard by an unexpected point. Ophelia said to him.

“I’d like to postpone the punishment of that pirate until we find out exactly where the information was omitted.”

“…She’s a weaker woman than I thought.”

Pacing in his study, Gilord recalled the conversation he had with the Queen. For someone so young and confined to the palace all her life, she was not so naive.

“You said you caught that pirate in my land. So hand him over to me.”

She clearly intended to first secure the pirate’s safety, then somehow smuggle him out afterwards. Though he wasn’t sure how deep the collusion between the royal family and the pirate went, she surely didn’t want the stigma of not being able to properly protect her own associate.

Since there was no reason to refuse her words, Gilord obediently handed the pirate over to the Queen. The pirate might tell the Queen that he had impersonated Chesa, but it didn’t matter. What was important wasn’t who had captured the pirate anyway.

It was whether or not that pirate would be executed.

“Of course. I will send him to you as soon as I return home.”

“…And I hope this is the last time you raise your head without permission.”

There was clearly a thorn in her added words.

Though he wasn’t sure how much the Queen would endure for that pirate, Gilord had no intention of letting her have her way. He planned to take action before the Queen could rescue the pirate from the execution block.

Gilord rang a bell and ordered the aide who soon entered.

“Spread the rumors I told you to prepare. As many people as possible should know by dawn tomorrow.”

Starlet opened his eyes. After clearing his blurry vision a few times, he saw a completely different ceiling from the last one he had seen.

It seemed he had been moved to a different location while briefly losing consciousness after torture.

As he slowly raised his body after looking around at his surroundings, which looked more like an ordinary bedroom than a prison, someone approached him.

“Don’t move yet. They said your bones are fractured.”

It was quite a refined voice that he had heard a few times before. Ignoring the instruction, Starlet sat up leaning against the bed and lifted his stiff neck. He saw the same beautiful face as when he had last seen her.

With his severely hoarse voice, he called out to the beauty looking at him.