Edith pondered over Balthasar’s words until the carriage left the palace.

“Are you sure that Claude doesn’t have the bloodline of the late Emperor? There’s no way to confirm it.”

Balthasar, sitting cross-legged, recalled his conversation with Rosaline.

“Around that time, the late Emperor was said to be infertile, whether due to age or some other reason. So Patricia found a man resembling the Emperor and used him in her scheme.”

“If what you say is true, it could really help us, but how can we confirm it…”

There is no way to measure the reproductive ability of a deceased Emperor.

Edith gently redirected the conversation.

“To believe Rosaline’s words, we need evidence.”

Moreover, Patricia raised suspicions among the nobility even after being ennobled as the Empress.

Upon reviewing the records, Claude had undergone blood-related paternity tests several times from childhood to the present.

“How did he get away with it if he was really another man’s child all this time?”

“Rosaline, the woman, seemed not to know exactly how Patricia manipulated the paternity test results.”

Although her trembling and revealing of the revelations seemed genuinely truthful, Edith couldn’t completely trust her, as she pointed out.

“Until we secure concrete evidence, only we will know about this. We might find something out if we investigate after Patricia is gone.”

Balthasar said somewhat regretfully. However, Edith couldn’t dismiss her scholarly curiosity.

‘There’s no way a bloodline test against the imperial family could be flawed.’

In any case, if Rosaline’s revelations were true, it would be a formidable weapon for Balthasar, Lexion, and the imperial family.

Once it was revealed that Claude did not have imperial blood, Patricia and her entourage’s power would crumble, only a matter of time.

‘I should talk to Rosaline directly.’

It wasn’t just about Claude’s bloodline.

“But Balthasar, what does it mean that Patricia is related to Lady Lea’s death?”

At Edith’s question, Balthasar conveyed to her the words Rosaline had revealed.

“Patricia sometimes wakes up from nightmares, muttering that Lady Lexie might still be alive. Even after the official announcement of her death due to a carriage accident.”

“I never thought Patricia would be so concerned about my mother.”

“Rather than simple concern… it was more like obsession. Lady Lexie was the very embodiment of the life Patricia dreamed of.”

Edith understood as soon as she heard Rosaline’s words.

“People simultaneously desire something and hate it.”

Patricia was a person full of ambition, willing to go to great lengths to overcome her powerless lineage. Lady Lea, born with all the wealth, honor, and power Patricia desired, would have been both the object of envy and the trigger for jealousy.
Moreover, Lady Lea had the attention of the male members of the imperial family. If she decided, she could completely ruin Patricia’s plan to have a child with the aged Emperor and place that child on the throne.

Even after Lady Lea’s sudden death in a carriage accident was announced, her immense emotions and wariness would likely linger like mold in Patricia’s heart.

Balthasar continued speaking with an indifferent face.

“Whenever news of a rebellion reaches the capital, I get trapped in the obsession that Mother might come back and disrupt my plans.”

“Finding Lady Lea, who went into hiding, was also a failure for Prince Franz.”

According to Rosaline, after hiring sorcerers with money, Patricia meticulously monitored what kind of magic the sorcerers of Lexion were using.

For Patricia, who had no particular issues with Lexion, the surveillance itself was nothing special.

However, the following words were undoubtedly meaningful.

“He said, ‘Sorcerers commissioned by Prince Franz Lexion are looking for something.’ Shortly after that, she dispatched assassins to various regions.”

“Various regions?”

“Yes. I don’t know if she just wanted to investigate the places covered by Lexion’s search magic or if there was another intention. She also kept silent with me unexpectedly.”

“So, did they find anything?”

“I don’t know that part well. But a few years later, she ordered Elizabeth to go to Fortrion, so maybe she found out something.”

“Wait. Patricia sent someone to Fortrion, one of the regions she mentioned? When was it?”

It wasn’t another territory, but Fortrion—there was something suspicious about it. After hearing Rosaline’s answer, it became even more apparent.

“Patricia said she sent someone to Fortrion around the time you and Mother left Lowell Mansion.”

“…”

Edith slightly furrowed her brows. It fit too well to be a coincidence.

‘If Lady Lea suddenly decided to leave the mansion because of the people Patricia sent…’

Lady Lea, judged to have a limited time to live since birth, was destined to lose her life due to magic at some point.

But as far as Edith remembered, she was a responsible person.

Knowing that her held magic might go awry within a short time, Lady Lea wouldn’t have taken reckless actions with her son.