“Cain, take care of the aftermath here. Raven and I will return to the palace and request support. To track down Gallio, we may need to investigate the vicinity of the capital.”

“Understood. It seems we’ll need quite a few soldiers to apprehend all the assassins here. This is all thanks to Lady Bella’s efforts.”

“No, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything alone. It’s all thanks to the two who helped.”

After giving detailed instructions to the impressed Cain, I rode back to the palace with Raven. We encountered Walter heading towards the Royal Knights’ building. Upon hearing the whole situation, he jumped in surprise in his place.

Not only had the three of us taken down the assassin guild, but we had also revealed that Gallio was the mastermind behind this incident. The look on his face reflected astonishment.

“Truly impressive, Your Highness. You’ve personally resolved Lord’s worries in just one day. Father will surely be pleased when he hears about this.”

“My dad? It’s hard to imagine. Somehow, I feel like he’ll just brush it off.”

“Lord is someone who is very decisive with rewards and punishments. Since the kingdom’s biggest headache has been resolved all at once, it’s undoubtedly a reward.”

I looked at him with a skeptical expression, and Walter sighed quietly.

While there was a slight expectation that my father might praise me, it wasn’t important right now.

It was urgent to somehow capture Gallio, who knew about my past life.

“If possible, I hope you can capture Gallio alive. We need to bring him to court, and I have some personal questions for him.”

“Naturally. He suffered significant injuries, so he couldn’t have gone far.”

“I hope so. If you have any news, let me know immediately. I’ll be waiting.”

“I understand.”

Returning to Rose Palace, I collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.

Although I had depleted my magic power consecutively using powerful magic, the real issue was elsewhere.

Gallio’s words kept coming back to me, making my heart feel complicated.

“Lady Bella, you don’t look well. How about taking a brief bath? It might help relieve some fatigue.”

“Yeah, thanks, Sione. I’ll take you up on that.”

After a while, I submerged my body in the hot bathwater, which was releasing steam. I closed my eyes, feeling the tension in my muscles gradually easing as I soaked in the fragrant lavender-scented bath.

As time passed, and the water became lukewarm, my tangled thoughts seemed to be slowly sorting themselves out.

“Gallio knowing about my past life is a bit bothersome… but I probably don’t need to worry about it too much.”

Of course, if he had been gossiping about it all over the place, it would undoubtedly become a problem.
If the fact that I am a half-blooded fairy is widely known, and it is revealed that I also possess the soul of a human, it might bring constraints even to becoming a lord.

However, judging from the fact that Gallio quietly asked me just before hiding his appearance, it seemed that he had no intention of making a fuss about that fact.

Considering how cautiously he was acting, even to the extent of injuries that were beyond recovery, there might be some other circumstances.

But all of these were just my speculations, and the only way to confirm was to capture Gallio.

After finishing my bath, I changed into clean clothes and laid my tired body on the soft bed, hoping for good news when I opened my eyes.

Huh, huh.

A man, breathing heavily, moves through the dark forest where the sunlight doesn’t penetrate.

The man, whose body is charred to ashes in some parts, is Gallio.

After the spirit, an integral part of the soul, was attacked by the magic beings, he was gradually feeling the approach of death.

Like the fate of many vampires, his body was turning to dust to disappear.

“… I can’t let it end like this.”

Gallio moved briskly, as if making a pledge to himself.

His current location was a black forest near the border, far from the capital.

Before coming to the kingdom, this was where Raven used to hide, and it was a suitable place with dense magical power for healing the body.

“After recovering here for a few months, I’ll return to the capital. By then, the situation should have calmed down.”

Although the Assassin Guild that he had carefully nurtured and the Turner family, which played the role of masking his wicked side, were expected to disappear into history, Gallio didn’t find that fact particularly important.

As long as he lived, opportunities would come.

Even if he failed to completely regenerate his body, if he could transfer his consciousness into Wilhelm’s body as planned, it was no different from being born again.

Transcending the limitations of his innate status, becoming royalty by himself, and rising as the successor to the lord—this was the ultimate goal he had set throughout his long and tedious life.

Walking for dozens of minutes with a limp on his ruined leg, Gallio finally reached the vicinity of his hideout, letting out a sigh of relief.