The music progressed from andante to moderato, heading towards the climax of the festival.

The lively sound of footsteps echoed on the floor, and hushed voices of those clinking glasses continued here and there.

Amidst this, the nobles chattered about various topics regarding the strained relationship between the Emperor and Empress, and Ivelina’s situation.

Ivelina stirred at the center, trying hard to win the favor of the nobles who moved like the wind.

In the midst of this, Diarob’s expression soured.

Casius’s face was expressionless as he watched the obvious scene.

In his indifferent gaze, only the equally apathetic expression of the Empress flickered.

The Empress, who had seemed slightly crumpled earlier, now maintained an expressionless face as if nothing had happened.

It was a perfectly calm demeanor, to an astonishing degree.

Huh, Casius let out a scoff, healed his heart while looking at Diarob’s furrowed brow, and then moved his steps outside.

As he reached the terrace where there were no people, the cool evening breeze fluttered over his face.

Flower petals fell with a plop onto his hair as he stood blankly.

It was just as if Rachel was telling him to come to his senses.

Casius removed the flower petal, placed it on his palm, and then tightly grasped it.

The soft texture tickled his palm.

‘Rachel.’

Why was she still out of reach when it felt like he could touch her at any moment?

But he would eventually find her.

Like the ending of the dream he had every day.

You must be alive. And I’m coming to meet you.

‘Just wait a little longer.’

Casius raised his head after a moment and set his face with determination.

The image of Diarob’s brazen face flashed through his mind.

That guy had the magic mirror but didn’t hand it over to him.

Was it because Rachel was alive, or because he couldn’t find Rachel’s belongings?

‘Was the commotion he caused earlier by sending a magician to the Rosemary mansion also to find Rachel’s belongings?’

If he failed at that, he probably didn’t find them.

Then does Diarob still not know whether Rachel is alive or dead?

However, there was one variable that made it difficult to be so certain.

“Were there any missing items on the day the Empress was at the Rosemary mansion?”

Tikan, who was standing behind Casius as usual, answered immediately.

“Pardon?”

“During the hunting festival.”

Hunting festival. Her Majesty the Empress. Missing items.

Though his lord’s words came in fragments, it took less than a few seconds to understand.

The image of Her Majesty the Empress calmly stealing flashed vividly in Tikan’s mind.

As well as the items that disappeared after she left.

He hadn’t reported it, not wanting to add fuel to the fire of their already broken relationship, but… had he found out something?

“How did Your Majesty know about that…?”

Casius’s head slowly turned towards Tikan’s surprised voice.

“What went missing?”

After briefly recalling his memory, Tikan opened his mouth.

“A necklace, a keepsake of your mother, disappeared.”

“My mother’s keepsake?”

Casius’s eyes curved noticeably at the unexpected answer.

‘Did she mistake that necklace for Rachel’s? If so, she would have concluded that Rachel was dead, so why isn’t Diarob handing over the magic mirror?’

As Casius was lost in thought, Tikan, after much deliberation, added.

“Actually, more than one item went missing.”

“More than one?”

“I didn’t want to mention it as it seemed like exposing my sister’s private matters, but…”

Casius urged the hesitating Tikan.

“What is it?”

“The love advice book that my sister often read and the pet rock she carried with her every day also disappeared.”

Casius’s face visibly crumpled.

A love advice book and a pet rock?

‘Even if the necklace was taken by mistake thinking it was Rachel’s keepsake… why the love advice book and the rock?’

Was she trying to imitate Rachel again?

Feeling a headache coming on, Casius pressed his temples.

Either way, the Empress was a woman he could neither understand nor wanted to understand.

It was utterly disgusting that while she babbled about love in front of him, she was participating in acts that endangered Rachel’s life behind his back.

Well, from Vivian’s perspective, who was desperate to possess him, she would have wanted to get rid of Rachel, who was a bothersome presence.

In that aspect, the Empress and Duke Diarob must have been in perfect sync.

Casius, his fist clenched so tightly that his veins stood out, murmured quietly.

“I must find a way to get the magic mirror into my possession, no matter what.”

The more he thought about it, the more certain it seemed that Rachel was alive.

Remembering the past days when he thought he was uselessly clinging to an unreachable hope, Casius felt like his heart would burst.

The thought that he needed to find Rachel quickly grew even more intense, completely dominating his mind.

‘I need to move the Empress.’

A light close to madness settled in Casius’s eyes.

*

The nights in Grand Pour were long and tedious.

When she was Rachel, Grand Pour had been something she looked forward to and was excited about.

Even though she was now sitting in an even more splendid place, wearing a beautiful dress, her heart was not happy at all.

Her father had been busy lately and hadn’t been seen much.

She was worried, but seeing Tikan walking around normally, it was clear there was no problem.

It was rather fortunate that he didn’t come to this place today.

It would be better for him to be comfortably elsewhere rather than staying here and getting caught up unnecessarily among the nobles.

As she swirled her glass, the empty Emperor’s seat was reflected on it.

Casius had left his seat and hadn’t returned for quite a while.

By now, everything was clear.

If she didn’t hand over the magic mirror, Casius would no longer even look at her.

She wondered if she was even a little bit in his heart.

It seemed that he might consider her as an ally according to his needs, but he wouldn’t see her as a woman.

Time punctuated by anxiety flowed indifferently towards the night.

Ivelina, who was extremely excited by Casius’s reaction today, and Diarob, who was pretending not to notice it.

It was all disgusting scenes just to look at.

Fortunately, Diarob was out of sight from some point on.

He must have found the atmosphere of the banquet very irritating.

As she was swallowing a sigh inwardly and downing several glasses of red wine.

Someone hurriedly came in from outside.

As he said something, the nobles around him all started to murmur at once.

The hall soon became chaotic.

Although she couldn’t understand what they were saying due to the mixed melodies being played, it was clear that a problem had occurred.

The stirring crowd soon disappeared outside one by one in a hurry.

‘Did some scandal happen?’

It was not uncommon for noble ladies and gentlemen to fall in love at parties or banquet halls like this.

As marriage issues were always considered a big deal in noble society, such incidents often became gossip and caused a noisy topic.

She thought there wouldn’t be anyone making such a big move at Grand Pour…

‘They say young people these days are quite open-minded, so it might be possible.’

Only those who were slow to get the news or had few acquaintances remained in the space.

Duke Diarob, who had entered the hall at some point, was also seen heading outside just then.

But his movement seemed quite slow and relaxed, even appearing to be enjoying himself.

‘What’s going on?’

Diarob was clearly very displeased because of her just a few hours ago.

‘There was nothing that could make him happy again…’

As unpleasant things often happened when Diarob had such an expression, an ominous feeling invaded her mind.

Along with these complicated thoughts, she quickly got up from her seat and moved her steps.

Following the people, she reached a secluded corner located at the edge of the garden, where nobles were lined up all at once.

Seeing that not a single ray of light entered this space, it was clear that someone had been caught in an act of love.

Well, even if they were caught in an act of love, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Unless the partner was married, or it was a one-sided case that occurred without mutual consent.

It would be a gossip topic for a while, but there wouldn’t be any major issues.

As she wasn’t particularly interested in this kind of thing, she was about to turn her steps back.

At that moment, Casius with a hardened face entered her field of vision.

On the opposite side, Diarob was standing with one corner of his mouth curled up crookedly.

As she stood still, caught by the sight of the two, a frightened voice brushed her ear.

“I was dragged here and assaulted by Lord Tikan without knowing why.”

What? Tikan?

No way… As she turned her head, Tikan was indeed there.

Next to him was a young lady who seemed to have just pleaded.

With tears welling up in her eyes, the young lady was covering her chest with both hands, with the straps of her dress precariously hanging on her shoulders.

The hem of the dress below was half-torn and in a messy state.

For a moment, the words that Diarob had said flashed through her mind.

“If only Tikan were gone, I could place your brother next to the Emperor.”

“If we had killed that Tikan back then, things would have been much easier, tsk.”