“I’m referring to that note someone sent to Lord Tikan from Grand Pur.”

“…..”

“Does Your Majesty have it?”

“Why are you asking about that?”

Casius’s tone was flat. As a result, a chilling atmosphere instantly overwhelmed the space.

Nevertheless, the Empress met Casius’s eyes directly without showing the slightest tremor.

“Could you show me that note just once?”

Casius furrowed his brow.

“I didn’t know the Empress was so interested in Tikan’s affairs.”

“There’s something I want to confirm.”

Until the Empress entered this place, he had simply thought it was a ploy to attract his attention.

However, the Empress’s gaze now was as serious as could be.

As if she was very interested in Tikan’s affairs.

The more so, the more suspicions only grew.

“What do you want to confirm?”

“It doesn’t seem likely that Lord Tikan would have lied… It’s strange that the writing suddenly disappeared.”

“It would be strange. It’s Duke Diarob’s work after all.”

Casius placed the personnel transfer list in front of the Empress as if throwing it down.

Diarob had recently abused his authority to give the young lord of Liantin the position of Chief of Protocol.

Of course, everything including the test was carried out thoroughly according to the formalities, so there was nothing to find fault with.

As always, he’s a disgustingly meticulous fellow.

The Empress’s eyes trembled slightly as she looked at the ledger.

They were eyes of an indiscernible color, impossible to know what she was thinking.

That’s why they were even more irritating eyes.

Not long after, the face that lifted again was only dry.

“So it really was the Duke’s doing.”

The tone, so nonchalant it was absurd, was astoundingly calm and composed.

“You speak as if you already knew.”

The Empress, hiding her trembling hands under her frills, evaded his test with a calm face.

“That’s not possible.”

The Empress, as if regulating her breathing, paused for a moment before meeting his gaze again and continuing.

“As I said, you know that the Duke and I aren’t that kind of ordinary father and daughter.”

Of course, it was something he had known for a long time that they weren’t an ordinary father-daughter relationship.

Nevertheless, was it truly a sickness to test and doubt the Empress like this at every moment?

However, Casius had no intention of stopping yet.

“Well. Now I can’t even believe those words of yours, Empress.”

Of course, all the threatening words to the Empress were lies.

Casius knew for certain that the Empress was not involved in that incident.

That was the conclusion he had reached through reflection over the past time.

If she had committed such an atrocity with her own hands, unless she was insane, she wouldn’t appear so boldly before him and spout nonsense like asking to see the note.

However, the words coming out of Casius’s mouth were colder than ever.

“You say you’re not a close father and daughter, yet you can’t even bring one magic mirror before me.”

Whether the Empress was innocent or not, his intention to hold her leash and use her remained unchanged.

Casius added with a sneer.

“Ah, or perhaps I was mistaken, and your love for me was a lie from the beginning.”

“Your Majesty, that’s not…”

The Empress’s voice trembled, perhaps feeling wronged.

It was strange that a woman who didn’t tremble at all in situations where she should, was now trembling.

“If that’s not it, then the Empress should mind her own business. Even without the Empress, my head feels like it’s about to explode right now.”

Even as he pressed his temples, the Empress stood in that spot without moving an inch.

By this point, one would think she’d leave out of anger.

But the Empress just clenched her fists, trembling, and didn’t move.

She was like a roly-poly toy, getting up every time she was knocked down.

Casius, who had been ignoring this, finally raised his head irritably after a long while.

It was because he felt the Empress’s obvious gaze pouring down on him.

The Empress, still in the same place like a ghost, murmured in a low voice.

“I know you don’t trust me. But couldn’t you show me that note, just for a moment?”

Casius’s view captured the Empress’s purple eyes.

The eyes filled with resolute will looked as if they wouldn’t back down a single step.

The Empress is in a hurry somewhere. That was something he could instinctively sense.

Well, in reality, nothing would change even if he showed her the note.

It’s not like the note would wear out if the Empress saw it.

Anyway, by this point, he was curious.

‘Why is the Empress so obsessed with that note?’

Casius finally opened the box, took out the note, and put it down on the table.

Despite the squabble, the act of putting down the note was without hesitation.

After that, the Empress quietly looked at it.

As if keeping a promise, she, with her upright eyes, stood up quietly without even touching the paper.

Her gaze looking down at the paper was meticulous and precise.

‘Is there a need to look at a blank paper like that?’

The Empress, who had been staring at the paper full of blank space as if in meditation, rose from her seat.

So was all this talk about seeing the paper just an excuse, and now she’s getting to the main point?

The image of the Empress gulping down coffee full of foam like alcohol flashed through Casius’s mind.

Even the foam that had covered her lips.

‘What is she trying to do now….’

The mere thought gave him a headache.

Just as he was about to tell her to leave, the Empress gave a polite bow and disappeared outside.

‘What?’

Casius, feeling dazed, stared blankly at the door where the Empress had disappeared for a moment.

*

As soon as she returned to the Empress’s palace, she grabbed the paper and immediately began drawing a magic circle quickly with a pen.

With each labored breath, countless circles and lines overlapped, and the magic circle was drawn without hesitation.

As expected, there was magic cast on the note Tikan had received.

The more one looked at it, the more bizarre the magic circle seemed.

The structure and techniques used in the magic circle were also incredibly complex.

Not only that. The magical power contained within was so strong.

As I looked at the shape drawn on the paper while holding the reinforcement stone, the magical power I felt in the Emperor’s palace seemed to float up.

Even I, who haven’t fully regained my magical power yet, can feel the strong magical energy that chokes my breath.

‘This is why Lord Rodgo couldn’t solve it.’

It was an easy point to understand.

‘To think there’s someone with such vast magical power in Snowfell.’

I knew it since analyzing the marks of those Rosemary guys before, but it seemed to be growing more vast with each passing day.

Suddenly, the energy that had been emanating from Biodell’s body flashed through my mind.

‘They’re capable of creating human weapons, so their power must be extraordinary.’

Duke Diarob is clearly secretly bringing in magicians to build up his forces.

That magician must be an extraordinary talent.

‘In the end, what Diarob is aiming for must be Casius.’

Perhaps even if I can’t conceive an imperial heir, he might still carry out that plan.

To change the imperial throne in the name of Snowfell, not through assassination but through revolution.

He must have tried to eliminate Tikan before that.

Although the fame of my non-existent bloodline is less than before, he is a talent among talents who has protected Casius from numerous assassins.

He must have been a troublesome opponent for Diarob more than anyone else.

As my thoughts reached this point, an ominous feeling swept through my entire body, and the inherent magical power inside me shook as if colliding.

However, there was no time to hesitate here.

*

D − 1

The trial is tomorrow.

In the worst case, if a death sentence is handed down, it means there’s not much time even if Casius delays the execution.

If the note isn’t restored by then, the verdict can’t be overturned, and Tikan will end up taking the fall for everything.

Drawing the decryption magic circle wasn’t that difficult.

It appears to be a complex formula likely created by about a dozen magicians, but I’m the one called a genius.

The problem was magical power.

It’s been several days since I sat down holding the reinforcement stone.

In the mirror was reflected my haggard appearance, drenched in sweat.

Discovering my appearance, Marianne even said with tears in her eyes that Casius was going too far.

“No, I’m not like that.”

“How can you say you’re not? Oh my, what should we do?”

After wiping away the sweat and finally sending Marianne out, I stared at the endlessly flowing calendar.

On the calendar, Tikan’s trial date was written in red letters.

Next to it, even more vivid blood-red letters were emblazoned in large print.

Yes. Today is that day.

Grasping the reinforcement stone, I quietly gazed at the moon in the pitch-black night sky.

Under the night sky where the full moon was rising brightly, I raised one corner of my lips crookedly.

‘It’s time to start the ritual.’

Opening the box, a properly placed bottle was visible inside.

Looking greedily at the swirling liquid, I curled up the corners of my mouth crookedly.

‘Birloff’s heart.’

As the bitter taste slid down my throat, a strong force vibrated from my lower abdomen.

I can feel my whole body trembling and strength gradually returning.

The tingling sensation felt at my fingertips quickly spread throughout my body.

At the same time, incomprehensible things rushed in.

What came like a tide, impossible to resist, were numerous memories.

And they are… not mine.