Charlotte doubted her ears.

Of all places, Rose Palace?

Could Vlady have deliberately sent Elga there for my daughter?

“A known disciple of his, Sione, is currently in Rose Palace. Perhaps that’s why they visited?”

“…No. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“I will send someone to find out their purpose. We may also learn something from the spy we’ve placed in the palace, so don’t worry too much.”

“Fine. I’ll go check it out.”

After finishing her report, the subordinate left the room. Alone, Charlotte touched her forehead.

‘This complicates things.’

Not long ago, Gallio, who had visited her office, had made an unexpected request.

He had asked her to eliminate Benian, who was in Rose Palace.

“There’s a young Benian near Princess Bella now. Please get rid of him.”

“…Are you talking about the boy that the Lord gave to the princess during the last banquet?”

“Yes. If he remains alive, there will certainly be repercussions.”

Initially, Charlotte found Gallio’s request perplexing.

He had even used her own sister to attempt to assassinate Princess Bella.

She had assumed he would threaten another assassination attempt on the princess. Instead, he simply wanted a child eliminated?

“Don’t forget, this is all for Wilhelm. Ultimately, he will be the next Lord.”

“I still can’t understand your scheme. Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate the princess first?”

“The princess is still a useful piece to me. I only recently realized she might be more useful than I thought.”

“I don’t understand what you keep saying.”

“Regardless, the princess can be dealt with later. What’s most important is to keep her confined in Rose Palace. It wouldn’t be good for you if she starts moving around outside the palace.”

In the end, Charlotte had to accept Gallio’s proposal.

Although she felt he was withholding information, he was not willing to reveal more. She had no choice but to follow his plan, even if she was suspicious.

‘Shouldn’t I just eliminate Gallio?’

She hadn’t entirely dismissed the thought.

She still had a conscience, and even if Vlady was her husband only on paper, she couldn’t be comfortable sacrificing his daughter.

Of course, she was determined to make her own son the next Lord, but did that have to involve such a gruesome method as assassinating Princess Bella?

According to her own aristocratic pride and ideology, it would be right to find another way to restrain the princess by killing Gallio.

‘But that would shake the kingdom tremendously.’

On the surface, the kingdom appeared peaceful, but competition and scheming among nobles ran deep.

Vampires were not inherently good beings and they loved power struggles, resulting in constant conflicts between families.

Vlady, the absolute ruler, was the only thing holding everything together. Without even a Lord, the vampires would have been scattered, living a life no better than minor monsters.

‘Besides, eliminating Gallio is too much for me right now.’

The council was currently divided between Gallio’s Pureblood faction and Charlotte’s Moderate faction.

The Purebloods adhered to old vampire laws and included many who were like Gallio, part of the now-defunct royal magic circle, and thus possessed powerful magicians.

However, the Moderates were more accepting of mixing with other demons and humans and consequently had fewer magicians.
Physical prowess was often lacking among them, making it somewhat difficult to oppose them through force.

Therefore, there was a higher chance that any attempt to assassinate Galileo would be discovered. If found out, it could lead to a conflict between the pure-blood faction and the moderate faction, requiring her to be especially cautious.

“……Yes. For now, there is no other way.”

Charlotte had an appropriate amount of wisdom as a family head and saw through Galileo’s underlying schemes to use her.

For a while, she planned to pretend to cooperate with him while smuggling out evidence related to her sibling.

After all, there was no intention to touch Princess Bella for the time being, so from her standpoint, there wasn’t much to hesitate about.

“Are you there? Come out.”

As Charlotte spoke to the empty air, a young woman concealed in black cloth appeared.

Her name was Talia, an assassin responsible for the dark deeds of the Ripel family.

“Did you call, matriarch?”

“I need you to visit the Rose Palace.”

“The target for elimination?”

“The Benian boy next to Princess Bella. He’s in his early teens, with black hair. Keep that in mind.”

As Charlotte, who had completed her preparations to leave, put on her gloves, Talia nodded her head.

“The Benians have distinct eye colors, so it will be easy to identify.”

“There are two powerful mages there right now, so don’t let your guard down.”

“I will prepare thoroughly.”

Talia was a descendant of an infamous group of assassins and excelled in disguises.

Sione was one thing, but Elga’s presence was discomforting; however, Talia was best suited for this mission since she had a secret method to evade magical detection.