Allen tilted his head in confusion at Kate’s words.

“Are these really the ones?”

“Yes. Especially this man. I thought he looked tacky, dressing to match his hair color too much.”

“Ah.”

This was an unexpected situation.

It meant there were others besides these two who had targeted Alicia.

Although Allen intended to properly interrogate these men, since they weren’t caught in the act, he carefully asked Kate to secure a witness.

“By the way, would you be willing to testify about this case?”

“……If necessary.”

Kate answered reluctantly, and Allen grinned.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Then, while you’re helping, may I ask for one more favor?”

Kate’s eyes flickered with unease as Allen, who had been grinning just moments ago, asked seriously.

She started to worry, wondering if the situation wasn’t fully resolved yet.

“Yes? What is it?”

“There are more guys collapsed inside there. I’m short-handed, so could you call over some passing security guards?”

“……Pardon?”

“I’d appreciate it. Thank you very much for your active and voluntary cooperation.”

Kate looked at Allen in bewilderment and nodded reflexively.

“Then I’ll excuse myself first to attend to my duties.”

Allen left with words of gratitude and was about to run back into the green wall maze in the garden when he paused and returned to Kate.

“Oh, I forgot for a moment in all the commotion.”

“?”

“Your name?”

“……It’s Kate O’Brien.”

“Ah, Ms. O’Brien. I’ll contact you later.”

“Alright.”

Watching Allen’s retreating figure, Kate eventually let out a hollow laugh.

Like superior, like subordinate – she didn’t expect them to be the same even in not remembering names.

She lamented how she ended up being treated this way.

“Ugh.”

“Oh no.”

When one of the men Allen had left behind groaned, Kate startled and hurried away to call the security guards.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Count? What’s the matter?”

“Ah, Ross. Sorry, but could you get me a room?”

Luckily, Eric met Ross, William’s attendant, in the corridor as soon as he entered the palace.

“This way, please. We have rooms prepared for emergencies.”

Ross led the way.

He opened the door to a room at the far end of the corridor, and Eric entered carrying Alicia.

Ross didn’t follow them in but asked carefully from outside the door.

“Lady Lancaster seems unwell. Is she alright? Should I call for a court physician?”

“No, it’s fine. She’s not injured, just sleeping now.”

“Ah, then I’ll call for a court physician tomorrow morning just in case.”

“Yes. Please do.”

“Then I’ll take my leave now.”

Ross glanced at Alicia in Eric’s arms before closing the door.

Hearing the sound of the door closing, Eric laid Alicia down on the bed, making sure she was comfortable.

He carefully covered her with the blanket.

“Haa.”

Eric sat in the chair beside the bed and looked at Alicia’s sleeping face.

She was still sleeping soundly with a peaceful expression, breathing softly.

Her sleeping face looked so innocent, almost annoyingly so, completely different from earlier.

‘Really, she has no idea what others are going through.’

Eric chuckled and lightly touched Alicia’s nose with his finger.

Even in her sleep, she seemed to feel his touch, her brow furrowing slightly before quickly relaxing.

Eric leaned back in the chair, gazing at Alicia’s sleeping face.

‘What was that strange energy?’

It was different from what he felt when he first followed Alicia into the green wall maze.

It was a dangerous feeling that grated on his nerves, like crossing a swaying bridge.

‘Am I being oversensitive because of the Zero Knights lately?’

But even so, feeling such a sensation from Alicia was absurd.

As Eric closed his eyes with a sigh, a blue butterfly fluttered in the moonlight outside the window behind him.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Did you have a good time?”

The man who had put on his black robe again, unlike his neat appearance when the banquet started, asked the man wearing the red ring.

“Ah, you’re back? What’s this, you’re in that robe again?”

“It’s good for hiding.”

“Your taste is something else.”

The subordinate in the black robe asked in a dry voice to the man who clicked his tongue.

“How was it?”

“It was fantastic.”

The man with the red ring smiled, looking very satisfied.

“Blood really can’t be ignored.”

“Blood?”

The subordinate asked curiously, but he just laughed without answering.

At the same time, the red ring he was wearing shone even more clearly than before.

“Oh, but didn’t you say you were going to have a talk?”

“A talk? Ah, yes, I did.”

“So who did you talk to and about what?”

The man with the red ring stared at his subordinate and then smirked.

“You still don’t know? Haven’t you figured it out?”

“?”

“Hmm. Seems you don’t remember. Well, it has been a very long time.”

The man with the red ring turned around, smiling, and placed his hand on the balcony.

“The moon is so bright.”

“Why suddenly mention the moon?”

“Well, can’t we indulge in some appreciation once in a while? We have no connection with up there anyway.”

At his words, the subordinate in the black robe also looked up at the sky.

The moonlight was pouring down clearly, and the starlight was shining brilliantly.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning, Alicia opened her eyes to the sunlight shining through the window.

“Ah, my head.”

As she opened her eyes, Alicia first touched her head as she sat up.

The sunlight hurt her eyes, but the throbbing headache made it impossible to sleep any longer.

“Ah! You startled me.”

She was shocked to see Eric sitting in a chair next to the bed, arms crossed, staring intently at her.

“What are you doing here?”

“……”

Alicia’s eyes met Eric’s, who looked haggard as if he had stayed up all night.

“Why do you look like that?”

“I wonder whose fault that is.”

“Whose fault is it?”

Eric silently looked at Alicia.

His expression suggested he had a lot to say but couldn’t.

“Don’t you remember anything from yesterday?”

“Yesterday?”

“Yesterday, you tried to seduce me, and just−.”

“What are you saying, this man, so early in the morning!”

Alicia shouted, flustered by his nonsensical words, but Eric carefully examined her and asked again.

“……You really don’t remember?”

“There’s no way I would have done that.”

“Right. I thought so too.”

Eric rubbed his face dry.

Worried that something might happen again, he couldn’t leave his seat while Alicia was asleep.

He tried to sleep in the chair, but he kept dozing off and waking up until dawn finally broke.

“Anyway, you seem fine now, so that’s good.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Alicia looked at Eric with a suspicious expression.

“I’ll tell you later. For now, just rest.”

As Eric stood up, a flustered Alicia watched him about to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“I have some work to do.”

“What? Could it be?”

“No, it’s not about monsters. There are some guys we arrested yesterday.”

“Arrested? Why is the Knighthood doing that? Isn’t that the security force’s job?”

“It is, but we need to get involved a bit.”

Seeing Alicia’s worried face, Eric smiled evasively.

“It’s fine, so just rest. Ross will bring a court physician, so get an examination too.”

“Examination? But I feel fine.”

“You collapsed yesterday.”

At Eric’s words, Alicia closed her mouth, seemingly confused, and tried to recall yesterday.

She had a glass of champagne with William and Chase, then saw them off as they went to discuss business.

Then, though not pleased, she met a woman she knew and left the banquet hall to find a quiet place to talk.

She received an apology from that woman about something that happened in the past, then briefly left her seat, and after that−.

‘Ah, I can’t remember anything after that.’

As Alicia’s face hardened, Eric smiled as if to reassure her.

“It’s okay. Thanks to Ms. O’Brien, nothing serious happened.”

“Kate O’Brien?”

“Yes. You should thank her later. And make sure to get the examination, just in case.”

“Together−.”

“Hm?”

She wanted to ask if he could stay with her, but knowing he had stayed up all night uncomfortably seated because of her, and now had to go to work, Alicia felt it would be inconsiderate to hold him back, so she couldn’t finish her sentence and just smiled.

“I’ll get the examination. Go on.”

“Alright.”

Though aware that Alicia was watching him, Eric left the room.

Left alone, Alicia sat on the bed with a troubled expression, once again trying to recall yesterday’s events.

“Why does my memory cut off there? I only had one glass of champagne. I was fine with that much before.”

Alicia tried hard to remember, but no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t recall anything after leaving the banquet hall.

[This is the timeline separator]

As soon as Eric left the room, Allen, who had been waiting outside, fell in step beside him.

“Senior.”

“How did it go?”

“It’s more serious than we thought.”

“Serious?”

“The guys I caught were targeting your wife, sir.”

“They must have seriously underestimated me. It’s insulting.”

Allen’s throat instinctively tightened at Eric’s expression, which instantly turned grim.

“Then what about the one I caught?”

“He was a spirit artist. But he’s just trembling with fear and won’t speak.”

“What?”

“Moreover, we found another spirit artist’s corpse nearby. The security force seems to have identified him, but the Grand Temple intervened and took away both the suspect and the corpse.”

Eric frowned.

Since the Grand Temple had intervened, the Zero Knights would be involved anyway, so Eric instructed Allen, planning to confirm the details properly later.

“If the Grand Temple got involved, leave that part alone.”

“Pardon?”

Allen was puzzled. He thought Eric would surely storm into the Grand Temple to protest, given Alicia’s involvement.

Surprised by Eric’s easy acquiescence, Allen continued his briefing at Eric’s gesture to continue.

“It seems someone instigated those perverts.”

“Who?”

“The security force should be interrogating them about that.”

“Then let’s go.”

“What? But once we handed them over, it’s no longer our jurisdiction.”

“Is there a problem with just going to watch?”

“With the Commander going in person, what problem could there be?”

Allen grinned and hurried after Eric, who was striding ahead.

Judging by his silent walk, Eric seemed to be in quite a low mood.

Recalling Alicia motionlessly cradled in Eric’s arms yesterday, Allen asked worriedly.

“By the way, how is your wife, sir? Is she alright?”

“So far. The court physician is supposed to examine her.”

“Oh, then don’t you need to stay with her, senior? Your wife must have been really shocked.”

“I haven’t told her yet. I want to properly explain after we figure things out.”

Eric ran his hand through his hair, looking tired.

Allen, watching Eric’s stern expression beside him, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry too much, senior. Surely nothing bad happened, right? Your wife is safe, and we caught everyone.”

“……Right. Anyway, good work, Allen.”

“It was much more interesting than the banquet. It was nothing. But senior.”