With a rustling sound, Jeffrey’s eyes gently curved as he folded the report.

The tail he had been chasing for so long finally revealed itself.

His lips curved into a smile, feeling refreshed as if a long-aching tooth had fallen out, and he stood up.

“Ha-, haah-!”

The shout breaking the quiet winter morning came through the window that had just opened.

Jeffrey approached it, calmly observing the soldiers in training before turning around.

The man who brought the report, Baron Ferington, lowered his eyes calmly under his gaze.

“Have you reported to the Marquis?”

“I have not delivered it yet.”

The answer given without change in expression pleased him very much. As always, he was a man well-suited to be a spy.

He was capable and knew exactly what he needed to do.

Accomplishing more than instructed, this time too he had surely brought what he wanted.

‘Ludmila Perez’s location.’

To be precise, it was confirmed that she was not currently in the hands of the Marquis, Kedilen.

It was so tightly wrapped up that it took a whole month to confirm that the Marchioness was not currently staying at the Marquis’ residence, even amidst all sorts of rumors and sensational articles.

Though incompetent by his standards, it wasn’t mere chance that Kedilen had reached his current position.

The product of his caution was so solid that even Jeffrey had to believe it. But as time passed, that wall crumbled and easily revealed gaps.

Compared to the effort put in so far, it was found out so simply that it felt almost deflating for a moment.

“What a foolish man.”

How could he show such a weakness so soon after making a deal with him? It was hard to believe this was the same man who had shown no gaps for years.

Well, that’s not a bad thing. In any case, it meant he had gained another card to use.

In the end, the key was Ludmila.

His half-sister, merely called the Marchioness by others, was the problem.

Even Ferington, who handled the task, did not know why he was so fixated on Ludmila. Of course.

How much influence could a noble Marchioness, just known in social circles, really have? But after that Marchioness disappeared, Kedilen staggered.

He’s explaining that his beloved wife is recuperating at a provincial estate due to illness, but how many actually believe that?

Every day, several articles come out claiming Kedilen assaulted Ludmila.

The empire’s renowned loving couple was no more.

Only a broken shell remained before those curious about the truth hidden behind lies, pretense, and a distorted mask.

Well, in fact, that was irrelevant to him. It didn’t matter to him how that couple met their ruin.

But still, the key was Ludmila.

His half-sister, placed at the end point of this circuitous route.

The fact that she had disappeared with the information he had leaked.

‘Ludmila-.’

It was investment information.

Information containing the perfect opportunity to crush the two forces, old nobility and new nobility, who were neglecting the imperial family and expanding their own bulk.

The era when money was supreme was coming. It was an era where the authority of nobles and past prestige turned into pitiful scraps of paper before a few gold coins.

Of course, the old nobility still dominated the parliament and denied that times were changing, but the time would come eventually.

And such phenomena would become even more prominent on the day he became Emperor.

As time passes, the authority derived from status lowers and power becomes base.

Before those who wielded vast sums of money ate away at the parliament and empire, there was a need to suppress them and stand above.

The information prepared for this. That is, fake investment information.

If both noble factions were tempted by that information and made huge investments, it was a base act unthinkable for the imperial family to divert those investment funds.

But it was also that certain. It was a perfect plan to suppress their power and inflate his own authority and pockets.

Ludmila was meant to be used as a messenger to scatter this information.

For him, the Crown Prince, Ludmila could perfectly infiltrate both noble factions to reveal this.

He would leak the information to her, and as that information was scattered through Ludmila’s mouth in social circles, it would soon reach the ears of their husbands.

And he was certain that would lead to investment.

But that plan was scrapped half a year ago.

There were various reasons, but the biggest was that the great noble house of Cellano, which claimed neutrality, made him a very sweet proposal.

The Duke of Cellano, with vast territories and extensive pastures, as well as mines and crude oil, the core of the recently highlighted oil industry, offered his only noble daughter as the Crown Princess.

The conditions were simple. Don’t destroy the two groups. And one more thing: the Send Plateau.

Cellano, which was no different from an isolated island, had money and power in its grasp by attaching to both sides.

The Duke did not want to miss the golden age of his family’s prosperity in this structure.

Moreover, he wanted the numerous resources sleeping in the mountains classified as Habertz’s territory bordering the Send Plateau.

For this, the Duke of Cellano wanted to remove the current Duke of Habertz, Aden, and place his own confidant in that position.

And it wasn’t too strange for such a ducal family and the imperial family to join hands, and it wasn’t a bad proposal for Jeffrey either.

If he gained a third power to check the two noble factions, he wouldn’t need to engage in such dangerous gambles in the future.

Then back to Ludmila.

After going round and round, his half-sister whom he had tried to use was the problem.

If that child, unaware that what she knew was false, unknowingly released the information into social circles and his actions were revealed, even his position as Crown Prince could be in danger.

That couldn’t happen.

So he tried to kill her, his own mistake.

He tried to feed her drugs little by little, slowly tightening the noose to finally cut her lifeline. The cause of death: discord with her husband. Murder by her husband, Kedilen.

If it was a story related to discord between the two spouses, who were known as the empire’s exemplars and had a good relationship, it would flare up like fire on oil.

In fact, no one would care who killed Ludmila, and only fierce criticism of Kedilen would arise, and eventually no one would know it was his own doing.

While Jeffrey, who had devised this perfect plan, was excited about achieving his goal that was now right in front of him, Ludmila disappeared.

Perfectly at that.

Wondering if Kedilen had killed her first, he looked into it, but he too was busy hiding Ludmila’s disappearance.

“Find Ludmila’s location.”

Now the remaining task was hide-and-seek. He had to find Ludmila, who had disappeared without a trace, first.

He had to silence her mouth before the information he had carefully prepared flowed from it.

The value of the information Ludmila knew was incalculable in monetary terms.

If she noticed the worth of that information and started negotiating with him, it would give him a headache.

I can’t let that vulgar woman born from that base mother’s womb interfere with my ascension to the throne.

“Find her and bring her in alive no matter what.”

He needed to find out if she had released that information somewhere, and if so, to whom she had blabbed.

Jeffrey pitied Ludmila. How could one look without compassion at that fate of being used all her life only to end up dead?

But what could he do?

“Killing comes after that.”

That was Ludmila’s fate.

The dinner table was unusually quiet compared to usual.

Due to Beressa being absent for work, Aden had no choice but to dine alone with Ludmila.

Beressa’s betrayal of saying she could eat together was more resented than ever.

He wanted to avoid facing Ludmila alone as much as possible.

Not because he disliked Ludmila, but because it was embarrassing. And that emotion was one he had rarely felt in his entire life.

Having grown up as the heir to Habertz and being its master from a young age, such emotions were unfamiliar to Aden.

He might have experienced it a few times when he was very young, but that was so long ago it wasn’t even in his memory.

As a result, this dinner with Ludmila now felt very suffocating.

Aden glanced at Ludmila, who was also keeping silent, wondering what she was thinking, and swallowed a small sigh.

Even he found his own behavior ridiculous and absurd. In the end, Aden had to break the prolonged silence by wetting his lips with water.

“Beressa said she’ll be busy with work tomorrow morning.”

And he recalled the remaining time between Ludmila and himself.

“She asked me to go horseback riding in her place, as she does every morning.”

“……”

“Ludmila?”

Two short sentences. And two silences. Aden frowned slightly and called her name softly.

Ludmila, who had been quietly cutting her meat, seemed to come to her senses at Aden’s third call, blinking her eyes and raising her head.

Light filled her eyes, which had been lifeless until then.

“Yes? Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking of something else. But, what did you say?”

“Nothing-.”

What could she have been thinking about?

Aden tilted the glass in his hand, seemingly displeased that Ludmila was thinking of something else in front of him, and let out a small laugh.

Why was he displeased by that?

Hiding his true feelings, Aden swallowed his crooked smile.

“I asked if I should go horseback riding with you tomorrow morning.”

Finally continuing his words, Aden leaned back in his chair.

Ludmila, tilting the knife in her hand diagonally, rolled her eyes at the mention of horseback riding and shook her head.

As Aden made a puzzled expression, Ludmila carefully opened her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ll be going out tomorrow.”

“Oh? I thought you went every day.”

“I think I need to do some other things. Ah, more than that… if it’s not too presumptuous, may I ask for a favor?”

Aden nodded readily, and Ludmila hesitated, biting her lip while looking into his eyes.

As Aden’s brow furrowed slightly, Ludmila sighed and blurted out, mixing her voice in between.

“When the permafrost starts to thaw next month, could I leave this place?”