The marquess’s face faintly reflected on the surface of the magic stone that changed like a screen. After the marquess clenched something tightly with his hand, a small scream echoed.

“Ah!”

Marquess Majin tightened his fist even more, and soon that sound turned into a small sob.

“Young man, I don’t know what your identity is, but-”

Suddenly cutting off his words, Marquess Majin’s face twisted in astonishment.

“You were that girl.”

I flipped the hood and covered my face, but it was too late. The skin touched by his fingertips was smooth without a trace of wrinkles.

“No matter how you survived, it’s better to live as if you were dead.”

Someone was dragged out by the marquess’s hand. As the face of the person forcibly lifted by grabbing their hair gradually came into focus, like a camera slowly adjusting its focus, the face became clearer.

“If you value your subordinate’s life.”

The moment Pablo’s face was confirmed, the magic stone shattered into pieces.

“Speak clearly so I can understand.”

In response to the words that sounded like the growling of a predator, Hys trembled. It was an animalistic and instinctive fear.

But now, there was no way to avoid it.

“Exactly. Reyna wanted to leave the aristocratic family since she was young.”

The blood-red pupils scrutinized Hys’s face. But as they couldn’t find any traces of falsehood in his expression, they gradually sank into deep darkness. Hys forced a smile.

“She was even engaged to me as part of her plan.”

“What?”

It was a question that was no more than a whisper. Various emotions mixed on his pale face. Distrust, certainty, loss, anger.

It wasn’t difficult to notice. Kirian fell for his words.

As the trembling of the corners of his mouth subsided a bit, Hys could put on a more natural smile.

“I helped her raise funds for independence in exchange for assisting me in becoming the crown prince.”

And when mixed with the truth, the lie flowed even more convincingly.

“She proposed to me first. She said she wanted to be independent no matter what.”

In Kirian’s darkened eyes, no light was emitted as if it were put out like a fire.

“Why…?”

Hys thought of himself as fundamentally good, but feeling the corners of his mouth forming a natural smile, Hys suddenly realized. He was just a disgusting human being.

“It seems I’ve been unhappy enough to want to escape.”

Kirian’s face, rigid as a rock, showed no emotions, but it felt like watching a giant tower collapsing slowly and miserably.

Feeling an unknown exhilaration, Hys silently turned around and watched Kirian’s retreating figure.

It was a fleeting joy worse than the refreshing feeling after drinking cheap alcohol, but at the moment of swallowing it down, it was enjoyable.

Arriving at the slum, the child immediately pointed to a collapsing shanty.
“That’s our house over there.”

At the child’s gesture to get down, I knelt down.

“Wait, can I ask you something?”

The child hesitantly came down and stood in front of me. Showing signs of drowsiness, the child forced open their eyes and nodded.

“What do you want to ask?”

Even with the child’s urging, I couldn’t readily open my mouth. I wanted to know what happened at Marquess Manor, but I was cautious not to recall memories I might not want to remember.

“When you were captured… How was it?”

“I was sad because I couldn’t see my sister, but I was happy to have food.”

Happy to have food. I stumbled for a moment, unable to understand the child’s meaning.

“The sleeping place was cold. Still, it was a bit warmer than home when sleeping with other people.”

The child diligently pointed out the good and bad points with small fingers.

“Was there anyone who hit you? Like a noble lady coming and casting strange magic.”

The child shook their head.

“I only climbed up to the hole in the ceiling every day and touched the rocks. That’s all.”

As I failed to understand and tilted my head, the child pointed at me.

“It’s the hole where the aunt appeared.”

Only then did I recall the secret room in Marquess’s office and the magic stones that filled it.

If it was a rock, it would surely be a magic stone. Touching the magic stone meant undoubtedly storing magic.

Although magic would be almost meaningless for commoners, if the child consistently collected even that small amount? I thought of the number of missing persons and the number of people who filled the underground cellar at Marquess Manor.

It was a plausible story.

Lost in thought, I snapped out of it at the small yawn of the child.

“But it’s good to be home. I can see my sister.”

I smiled with relief. Fortunately, the child was unharmed during their time at Marquess Manor, but that was because it was useful to the marquess. If things went wrong, the child’s life would be no more valuable than the lives of the missing persons to the marquess.

“Yeah. Let’s go home.”

After sending the child home, I and Number 5 returned to Bongeoji on the rattling salary carriage with heavy hearts. Throughout the carriage ride, Number 5 sighed deeply.