“The assassin is in the dungeon.”

“The interrogation?”

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

“How was he captured? There were no traces discovered, right?”

“Well…”

As Latil was asking the questions and quickly walking to the underground dungeon, she paused when the ticking response suddenly ceased. The guard was rolling his eyes with a troubled look.

So they didn’t catch him by the book. Latil squinted her eyes.

“Why? How was he captured?”

“He confessed.”

“He confessed?”

Latil asked back, dumbfounded. Even the court chief, who was listening next to her, widened his eyes.

It was understandable. Assassinating royalty was a grave crime, one that could potentially result in the execution or enslavement of the entire family of the perpetrator.

Among them, the heaviest crime was the assassination of the emperor, especially not a tyrant but a wellrespected one.

Confessing to killing such an emperor? It was madness. Even if they actually did it, they would have to deny it, yet this criminal confessed to killing the emperor. It was unbelievable.

“It’s suspicious. Let’s go see for now.”

Each step Latil took into the dungeon made of stone echoed, creating a clear sound of shoe heel hitting the rock. This sound, not at all fitting with the gloomy dungeon, made all the prisoners go quiet at once.

“Which floor?”

“It’s on the second underground floor.”

Latil descended to where the man who had confessed to assassinating the emperor was. The criminal was tied to a torture chair in the middle of the second floor.

‘This is the one who killed Abamama.’

Even from a distance, just seeing the silhouette made her angry. If this person really was the one who killed her father…

As she approached, she could clearly see the criminal’s face. Perhaps it was because of his confession. Unlike other violent criminals, it seemed like he hadn’t been injured during the arrest. His body and face were unscathed. It was annoying.

Latil stood right in front of the criminal. But seeing him up close, she was more puzzled than annoyed.

The criminal was trembling with fear. She wondered what kind of idiot would come to confess like this. The criminal, who appeared to already know what would happen to the emperor’s assassinator, was shivering enough to make a clattering sound.

“Is it you? You confessed to assassinating Emperor Sunje?”

Maintaining as neutral an expression as possible, Latil asked, and only then did the criminal raise his eyes to look at her.

Latil thought it was strange again. While there was no specific look to an assassin, this man didn’t seem like one at all.

As their eyes met, the man looked a bit surprised, then quickly nodded.

“Yes, it’s me. It’s me. I did it!”

When Latil gestured, a prison guard quickly brought a chair and placed it behind her. Latil sat down and continued to stare at the criminal, as if asking, really?

“Me, truly. I did it.”

The criminal, under her gaze, murmured in an unsure voice and looked down. His personality didn’t seem to match that of an assassin either.

Did he manage to penetrate numerous palace guards and assassinate the emperor with such an unsure personality? Does his personality transform when he holds a knife?

Latil looked over the criminal’s arms, legs, and shoulders. He did have muscles, but… they weren’t the lean muscles of an assassin.

‘More and more suspicious. Is he impersonating an assassin?’

Latil squinted her eyes. While it’s unlikely anyone would impersonate an emperor’s assassin in their right mind, there were many strange people in the world. There was even someone who confessed to being a serial killer and was executed.

‘Maybe he’s confessing on behalf of the real culprit due to some threat.’

While confessing to being the emperor’s assassin meant losing not only his own life but the lives of his entire family, she didn’t know what kind of threat could make someone confess to such a crime…

Feeling the weight of Latil’s gaze, the criminal looked down. Yet, Latil kept staring at him intently and asked.

“How did you do it?”

“What?”

The criminal raised his frightened eyes again. Latil asked again.

“How did you kill my father?”

The chill in her calm voice and emotionless expression sent shivers down the criminal’s spine. Latrasil Valertain Tarium stared at the criminal without even blinking.

As the criminal hesitated to speak, the prison guard beside him harshly grabbed the criminal’s hair and lifted it up.

“Uh, st, stab…”

“……”

“I stabbed with a short sword.”

But Latrasil asked again.

“Where?”

“Heart……”

“Instant death?”

With even his fingers trembling, the criminal hurriedly answered ‘yes yes’. All the while thinking, ‘it’s insane to talk so calmly about her own father’s death.’

However, Latrasil was swiftly organizing her thoughts beneath her blunt expression.

Firstly, the method of assassination. Ordinary citizens didn’t know how the emperor was assassinated. It wasn’t announced. And for some reason, most citizens believed the emperor was poisoned.