It was Chloe’s fifth day staying in the imperial palace. Once again, with the assistance of a palace maid, Chloe finished her grooming.

The maid assigned to her said she would return half an hour later to announce breakfast.

A brief but welcome moment of respite. Rising from her dressing table, Chloe entered a small room adjacent to her bedroom.

Jane lay there.

Chloe brought over a large bowl and moistened a dry towel in the lukewarm water.

“I will definitely find it.”

Whispered Chloe, as she carefully wiped Jane’s face with the damp towel.

Jane, who had looked dangerously ill, was thankfully holding on. Furthermore, her wounds were slowly healing.

Chloe tightly grasped Jane’s hand with her relatively free hand.

Jane’s hand was wrapped in bandages as all her nails had come off.

Though roughened from various hardships, the hand that always looked youthful now resembled that of a mummy.

With a look of pity, Chloe pressed her lips to Jane’s hand. She hoped that the same lips and sincerity that had touched countless patients on the battlefield would be conveyed to her dear Jane.

“I will find it and punish them.”

The location where Jane was found, and the time she was found, were both suspicious.

Even if she had returned home rashly, the timing didn’t make sense.

Assuming she had changed her mind upon reaching the north and went into the forest, it should have taken at least an extra day from the time she was found.

It would only make sense if she had decided to go to the forest from the time she left the Duke’s residence.

‘Come to think of it, Helena’s reaction was strange.’

As Chloe was sniffing around the case, Helena came to her mind.
Jane, whom she had been certain would not return, suddenly stiffened her face in surprise at Chloe’s subsequent point.

As if someone was on the brink of being exposed.

‘If the coachman, bribed by Helena, led Jane there…’

If Chloe’s claim was correct and there was something wrong with the carriage itself, then time wouldn’t be an issue.

And if Helena did bribe the coachman, it would also explain why both the coachman and the carriage had disappeared.

Suddenly, something clicked in Chloe’s mind.

Her urgent hand reached for the table. She grabbed an envelope that contained a detailed depiction of Jane’s condition at the time of the incident.

Details such as the injuries she had sustained when found, the clothes she wore, the amount of blood stains on those clothes, and the presence or absence of other accessories.

Chloe had deliberately avoided reading this document earlier, as she was fearful of confronting the scene of the incident.

But now, it was an important clue she had to face. With a quivering heart now stilled, Chloe unfolded the paper without hesitation.

‘…!’

The paper depicted Jane’s condition when she was found in the forest.

‘Jane is wearing the same outfit she wore when she left the Duke’s residence.’

This was evidence that Jane had headed not to her hometown, but to a sparsely populated forest after leaving the Duke’s residence.

There must be other hints as well.

Chloe stared intently at the picture, as if investigating the scene at the time of the incident.

‘The carriage.’

Then something new caught her eye.

What was on Jane’s clothes wasn’t just blood stains.

Something smeared. At first glance, it looked like dirt or wood fragments from rolling in the forest, but it had an artificial feel, as if crafted.
Like the surface of the wooden carriage typically used by servants.

‘…If I can identify the carriage by this fragment?’

If the carriage belonged to the Duke’s estate, it would be easier to identify the coachman. Further, one could even find out who bribed him.

Knock knock.

While lost in thought, time had passed quickly. A knock sounded from outside. It was a maid, assisting with the guidance to the dining room.

Chloe inserted the paper back into the envelope and sealed it.

As she left the room, the waiting maid outside bowed her head.

“I will guide you to Your Majesty’s dining room.”

The now-familiar dining setting.

The now-familiar Emperor and the mask concealing his face.

As Chloe unintentionally looked at Kun, their eyes met.

“How is the maidservant’s condition?”

It was a good timing; Chloe was about to bring it up anyway.

“She still shows no signs of waking up. However, it seems she’s past the critical stage.”

“I see. She should recover soon; that would lessen the princess’s worries.”

As Kun spoke, he sliced the ham sandwiched between bread.

“Your Majesty, I read the documents related to Jane’s condition when she was found today.”

Chloe, on the other hand, spread strawberry jam on her bread. The sweet and tangy aroma brushed past her nose.

Looking at the evenly spread jam on the bread, Chloe continued.

“I found something strange in there.”

“Something strange?”