‘A mistress?’

The image of Casius’s back as he headed towards the imperial palace dominated my mind.

‘Could it be that the emperor has made a move?’

It was said that at every meeting in the grand temple recently, there had been much talk about the succession issue.

Since the crown prince hardly ever visited the crown princess’s chambers, it couldn’t be helped.

The emperor, seizing this opportunity, decided to bring in a mistress for the crown prince to balance the power, supporting the imperial faction nobles.

Emotions surged like waves, uncontrollable.

‘If a new woman enters Casius’s side, I might lose any chance at all.’

It wasn’t that I thought he would give his heart to another woman.

However, it was clear that my share of the numerous official duties, not to mention the formal consummation that remained, would decrease.

That meant fewer opportunities to seduce Casius.

‘Even now, I rarely have chances to meet Casius, but if it becomes like that…’

In reality, it would be fine if only Casius supported me, but he had no love for me at all.

Rather, there was a high possibility that he would devote much of his energy to that mistress, taking this opportunity.

At the very least, that new woman he would bring in wouldn’t be a hateful object to him like I was.

Fear enveloped my entire body.

However, there was nothing good about letting the duke see that, so I put on a composed face.

“Did His Majesty say he would do so?”

“He agreed, so the emperor must have made a move.”

After that, Diarob spewed words about how such things happen because we couldn’t even consummate properly. But it all went in one ear and out the other.

Casius decided to bring in a mistress.

My heart sank, but I could quickly guess the reason.

It must be his intention to spite me and Snowfell.

‘Even so, I thought things had changed a little by now…’

I had even informed him about the Benedic trade route, but to think that I wasn’t in Casius’s heart at all, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Bang–

The table Diarob struck made a loud noise.

He looked excited enough that it wouldn’t be strange if he did anything.

Furrowing his brow, he muttered through gritted teeth.

“I will handle this matter, so you must bear an imperial descendant as soon as possible.”

‘He’ll handle this matter?’

There was a twisted smile on Diarob’s lips.

Since usually when he smiled like that, nothing good happened, anxiety welled up inside me.

‘What on earth is he thinking?’

But it was obvious that even if I asked, the duke wouldn’t tell me.

“Of course. Don’t worry.”

This was the best I could do for now.

I smiled as if painted and gave him the answer he wanted, but somehow Diarob’s expression was strange.

He looked around with an ominous expression before turning his gaze to me.

“Soon, the hunting festival of Wolfdor will be held.”

It was something I was well aware of.

When I was Rachel, I had personally overseen this event several times.

‘But why is he suddenly bringing this up?’

Before I could wonder, Diarob curled one corner of his lip sinisterly.

“This time, the hunting grounds will be in Rosemary territory.”

Rosemary territory?

My body flinched at the ominous premonition, but outwardly I maintained a calm demeanor.

“Wasn’t it supposed to be in Snowfell territory this time?”

“The plans have changed.”

“Is there any particular reason to choose Rosemary? It will cause unnecessary talk among people.”

Just the fact that the hunting grounds were in Rosemary territory would surely make people think of Rachel from that place.

‘Why did Diarob choose Rosemary as the hunting grounds, even at the risk of that?’

I remembered that he had sent a magician to Rosemary territory recently.

Could it be related to that?

Anxiety began to creep in, gripping my chest tightly.

“There’s something you need to do that day.”

“On the day of the hunting festival… you mean?”

“Yes. There’s no better opportunity to enter Rosemary territory than that day.”

What on earth is he planning now?

‘Could it be that he really knows about the existence of the reinforced stone and wants me to bring it?’

For someone who even knows the emperor’s every move, it couldn’t be certain that he doesn’t know about its existence.

But.

His next words completely missed my expectations.

“That day, you will enter the Rosemary mansion and bring back Rachel’s, that thing’s, personal effects.”

‘Not the reinforced stone, but personal effects?’

Before I could question it, he went on to explain in detail the plan to enter the Rosemary mansion.

The fact that he had such a meticulous plan meant it had been in the works for a long time.

Suppressing my trembling insides, I put on a haughty smile as usual.

“What do you intend to use the personal effects of the dead for?”

“With that, we will confirm whether Rachel, that thing, is alive or dead.”

Confirm whether alive or dead? Is such a thing possible with personal effects?

No, above all, why dig up something from 7 years ago? And even taking such a risk…

“Why go through the trouble for something already dead?”

“Recently, there was a report of seeing that wench. They said the appearance was identical, but they couldn’t catch her.”

Identical appearance. I disappeared when I became Vivian, so that’s impossible.

They must have seen someone who looked similar.

The problem was that this had become a catalyst for Diarob’s anxiety.

“It’s probably not true, but since her corpse hasn’t been found yet, we can’t be certain until we see with our own eyes.”

Diarob is thorough and relentless, not ending things until he sees the end.

If I tried to say anything more to suggest it’s not possible, I would only arouse suspicion.

“If you have the personal effects… can you determine whether Rachel is alive or dead?”

I feigned an excited voice, and Diarob replied with a satisfied smile.

“That’s right. Knowing Siron’s personality, he wouldn’t have gotten rid of her things yet. You just need to go and bring them back.”

My hand trembled slightly as I lifted the teacup.

“If she’s alive, then what do you intend to do?”

“Well, of course…”

Our gazes met in mid-air.

“We’ll have to eliminate her.”

*

After Diarob left, my head was in a daze for a while.

As time passed, thoughts naturally arranged themselves like puzzle pieces.

‘So the previous attempt to infiltrate the mansion wasn’t for the reinforced stone, but for the personal effects. A magical tool that can reveal whether a person is alive or dead.’

To think such a thing actually existed.

Even for me, who had spent years in the assistant’s office, I had never heard of or seen such a thing.

It didn’t even exist in magic books.

If even I, a grand magician, didn’t know about it, it meant it was something impossible with magic. Unless it was an ancient artifact.

‘Wait a minute, an ancient artifact?’

If that’s the case, there’s a possibility. I jumped up and immediately set off.

The place I hurriedly arrived at was the imperial grand archive, the Wolfdor Central Library.

The reason for coming here was simple.

The only place likely to have records about artifacts was in the ancient books of Benedic.

And those ancient books were recently transferred to the Wolfdor Central Library after being attributed to the imperial family.

It seems Snowfell didn’t bother to divert those books, probably not even guessing their potential value.

It’s known that there’s no one in this empire who can interpret the ancient language.

And the only person capable of that was me.

During my time as an assistant, I had secretly learned those characters called the ancient language.

It was after discovering an interpretation book of the ancient language by capturing a covert merchant group from a far eastern country.

Of course, only Casius knew about all of this.

My steps, quickened by anticipation, gradually slowed as I spotted the familiar traces of the grand archive.

The giant sculpture with Wolfdor’s distinctive wolf pattern, the central door split in two… The massive fountain and garden surrounding it came into view.

This was the place my father oversaw.

The building, unchanged in any way, was familiar and thus both welcome and painful.

However, unlike before, I couldn’t feel my father’s touch.

‘In the past, even in winter like this, flowers would have been in full bloom.’

It seems he hasn’t been able to pay attention to such delicate matters since I disappeared.

Looking at the desolate garden, I could vividly imagine how my father must have lived after losing his daughter, making my heart ache.

Tears were about to burst forth, my eyes quickly becoming moist.

But having come this far, I couldn’t show such an unsightly appearance to my father.

As naturally as possible, doing only what I came to do and leaving quickly would be the best way to consider my father, even if just a little.

‘If he sees me, father will again be reminded of Rachel, who should have been in this position.’

After taking several deep breaths to calm myself, I entered the archive, and familiar faces greeted me with respect.

As I turned my gaze, the interior, unchanged from before, came into view.

The inside, always neatly organized like my father, now looked faded.

My father, who always sat at the center, seemed to be absent today.

‘I was worried about making a mistake like shedding tears if I saw father… I should quickly find that book and leave.’

I dismissed those who offered to help and quickly began searching for the Benedic ancient book.

Since the structure was familiar, finding it wasn’t too difficult.

I stepped up to reach for a book higher than my height.

Perhaps due to nervousness, my fingertips slipped, and the book corner got caught.

At that moment, with a thud sound, nearby books came tumbling down.

Simultaneously, I unknowingly activated a magic circle.

‘Huh? How did this…’

I thought all my magical power had been depleted… but this much remained?

Of course, this level of magical power is actually quite weak.

However, the fact that magical power still remained in my body made my heart race.

While I was dazed by this unexpected fact, the books floating in the air stopped, lost without a destination.

How fortunate that I didn’t cause a commotion inside the archive.

As I turned my head like that, a familiar figure appeared through the gap left by the missing books.

The owner of the gradually approaching shadow was my father, Siron Rosemary.

‘…!’