It was a peaceful day covered in weather milder than the season warranted.

Marianne reported as usual while braiding my hair.

“I told Evelina as you instructed.”

“How did she react?”

“She seemed intrigued.”

It was nothing surprising as I had already anticipated it.

After nodding slightly, I turned my head and saw my neat appearance reflected in the mirror.

“What about Father?”

Diarob sent a reply shortly after I sent a letter yesterday.

Saying he would visit the Empress’s Palace today.

“He said he’d come in the morning, so he should arrive soon.”

Although it was nauseating to think of facing Diarob again after only two days, it couldn’t be helped.

To handle things as quickly as possible, I had no choice but to move him.

The reason for this haste was that Casius didn’t seem likely to just sit back and watch this situation.

Recalling Casius’s cold face saying he didn’t even want to exchange words, it wouldn’t be strange if he did something right now.

*

Not long after, Diarob visited the Empress’s Palace as scheduled.

He keenly observed the changed Vivian.

Gone was her previous timid appearance, and there was confidence in her demeanor as she greeted him.

‘She even sent a letter first…’

Diarob scrutinized Vivian with an uneasy expression.

“You said you had something urgent to discuss.”

Vivian looked at Diarob with a composed face.

When did her aura change like this? As the question flickered, Vivian opened her mouth.

“I heard the Magic Mirror is in Snowfell.”

Diarob snorted, recalling the face of the Emperor who had summoned him before.

That voice demanding he hand over the Magic Mirror was ruthlessly cold.

It was an unpleasant memory even to recall.

‘Did he go and tell Vivian about that too?’

That Emperor bastard doesn’t care about Vivian at all. Vivian is just being used.

Not knowing this, the foolish Vivian must have written a useless letter to him begging for attention.

Vivian was a woman who never strayed from his expectations.

Diarob’s face instantly contorted as he predicted the situation.

“Did that Emperor bastard threaten you to bring it?”

“Such threats are nothing new, what does it matter?”

What does it matter? Didn’t she call him here to beg for the Emperor’s attention?

Vivian’s corner of the mouth curled up in a sneer, making even Diarob tense.

“However… he said if I bring it, he’ll let me bear the imperial heir.”

“So what did you say?”

“I said I’d bring it.”

Diarob’s face twisted violently.

“You foolish thing. Do you believe his words? If he knows Rachel is alive, you’ll have trouble keeping your Empress position, let alone bearing an heir.”

Diarob set down his cup with a bang, as if there was nothing more to hear.

Vivian raised her head towards him with a grim face.

Then, a low and deep voice escaped her lips.

“If things stay as they are, who knows what the Emperor will do.”

Diarob flinched momentarily at Vivian’s force, but soon sneered at her words.

The Magic Mirror belonged to Snowfell, and even the Emperor couldn’t do as he pleased with it.

No matter how obsessed with ghosts the Emperor was, he couldn’t touch private property.

At that moment, an unsettling report flashed through Diarob’s mind.

“Come to think of it, that Emperor bastard seems to be more frantic about finding ghosts these days.”

“Frantic… you say?”

It was no secret that Casius was looking for Rachel, so it wasn’t particularly special.

“Tikan, that fellow, apparently headed towards Cactus this time.”

‘Cactus…!’

My mind raced quickly.

To others, it might look like an ordinary mountainside, but in reality, it was a secret base where special forces were gathered.

When I was Rachel, I created special forces by selecting those with outstanding abilities from the central army.

It was to create a powerful force that would strengthen the weak imperial authority.

They grew on the mountainside of Cactus as intended, serving Casius loyally and carrying out his secret orders.

This became the intelligence power of the imperial family and the foundation of strong imperial authority.

‘He sent Tikan there?’

There was no reason to send Tikan unless he intended to move the army.

A chilling intuition flashed through my mind.

‘Is Casius really planning to use force to seize the Magic Mirror?’

If such a thing were to happen… the mere thought made me dizzy.

Movements without justification are bound to create discord, and an incident of this magnitude is enough to provoke significant backlash from the nobility.

If that happens, the imperial authority that has been carefully built up will plummet.

Casius couldn’t possibly be unaware of all this.

Nevertheless, he is now blinded.

To the point where rational thinking is paralyzed.

It’s me he’s risking everything to find.

We once promised each other.

That even if we die, we’d become stars visible to each other.

But to make those beautiful moments not in vain, I must now become a falling star.

And erase myself from your memory, over and over again.

Over the many thoughts that flashed by, Diarob’s voice, unable to contain his anger, kept overlapping.

However, nothing was properly heard.

Only one fact remained clear and imprinted.

The Magic Mirror must get into Casius’s hands before the army moves.

The Magic Mirror, more than anything, will accurately inform Casius of my death.

“You could just check first, couldn’t you?”

“Check what?”

“Rachel, whether she’s alive or dead.”

Diarob frowned as if to say don’t talk nonsense.

“Who doesn’t know that? If only you had properly brought her relics…”

In that moment, I placed the love guidebook on the table.

“What is this?”

“Actually, that day, I brought one more of Rachel’s relics.”

That day? Is she saying she brought more items from the hunting festival?

Diarob asked with anger in his voice.

“Why are you only mentioning this now?”

“I thought it belonged to Lord Tikan.”

“Tikan? If you thought it was his, why did you take it?”

“Well…”

I quickly racked my brain. A reason why Vivian would steal and bring Tikan’s love guidebook…

“Lord Tikan isn’t very popular, is he? I thought I might learn something…”

“But it turned out to be Rachel’s?”

“Yes. I found out recently while talking with a lady at a party.”

Diarob stared intently at the object.

A ridiculous title was embossed on the ornate leather.

Diarob said nothing more as he looked at the book.

Clutching the love guidebook in one hand, Diarob stood up.

*

“Your Majesty, the 1st and 2nd armies have been assembled in the west, and the 3rd and 4th in the east.”

The special forces were assembled as planned.

Tikan’s face was infinitely heavy as he reported.

It was because he knew exactly with what mind and what choice his lord had ordered the assembly.

And if the army moves… the consequences will be uncontrollable.

Tikan had tried to dissuade his lord several times, but couldn’t break his will.

“We will head to Snowfell now.”

Tikan quickly followed behind Casius, who moved forward without a word.

Tikan no longer had the ability to stop him.

In reality, with just that Magic Mirror, he could find his sister.

Of course, that’s assuming she’s alive – but his lord was certain of it.

For nearly 7 years, he seemed to have never doubted that fact even once.

If it had just been that, he would have rationally set traps to strangle the opponent as usual…

But now the situation was as urgent as it could be.

As long as it’s in Snowfell’s hands, even if his sister is alive, she will always be under threat of death.

It wasn’t strange at all that his lord was acting like this.

As Casius entered the underground base, numerous soldiers prostrated before him.

These were all people who owed great debts to Rachel or Casius and were sustaining their lives.

“We will risk our lives, my lord.”

Watching this, Tikan pleaded with his lord once again.

“Didn’t Her Majesty the Empress say she would urge Duke Diarob to bring the Magic Mirror?”

“Do you believe that woman’s words?”

“…Pardon?”

“She’s a woman who has deceived me countless times already, more times than I can count.”

Casius recalled the Empress saying she couldn’t bring the Magic Mirror.

A crooked smile soon appeared on his lips.

Tikan looked at him worriedly.

“But hasn’t Her Majesty the Empress done much for Your Majesty?”

“Yes. She has. Just to get my attention.”

“…”

“You said it too. That it doesn’t make sense for the Empress to hand over the Magic Mirror knowing it could be used to find Rachel.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Unless they’re insane, Snowfell won’t hand over the Magic Mirror voluntarily.”

A keen glint settled in Casius’s eyes as he stared into space.

“Because Rachel is alive.”

At Casius’s confident tone, Tikan firmly pressed his lips together.

Casius’s voice, deeply husked, once again colored the void.

“Even at this moment… they must be searching for Rachel’s whereabouts to kill her.”

His tightly clenched jawline held strong anger, and a fierce aura flickered in his clear blue eyes.

Yet strangely, the atmosphere of my lord created by all of this seemed as if he was crying.

Tikan knew better than anyone how he had lived the past 7 years, with what feelings he had endured.

Having watched him closely every day, he had never been in his right mind for even a day.

“I will follow your orders.”