Johan still wore the same smile on his face. There was no trace of hesitation on his face. Leandro narrowed his eyes.

‘Did he already know?’

That couldn’t be the case.

‘I happened to find out while investigating Viscount Felciss.’

No matter how much Duke Blancat extended his influence throughout the empire, it was impossible to uncover such a secret.

“Well, I’ll roughly understand what you’re saying.”

Johan nodded nonchalantly.

“So, what do you want to say?”

“The only person who can help Estelle right now is me.”

“Very confident, aren’t you?”

“I’m just stating the facts. As an outsider, there’s nothing you can do.”

Outsider.

Johan’s gaze became sharp.

“It wasn’t confidence; it was foolishness. There’s a limit to tolerating foolishness.”

With a sudden change in demeanor, Leandro tensed unknowingly. Johan approached him calmly, giving a warning.

“What do you know about the fate of my wife that you’ve figured out?”

“That… ”

Leandro swallowed hard.

[To the future head of the Felciss family.]

In the hidden chamber of the mansion, there was a peculiar record. It was a record written by Leandro’s father.

[Found a sacrifice. Fortunately, the sacrifice seems to have no memories. The curse seems to work exceptionally well.] [To facilitate the process, the Blancat family decided to adopt the sacrifice.] [The protection the sacrifice has is better than expected. It seems to avoid soul wounds through ordinary means.]

Instinctively, Leandro realized that the sacrifice mentioned here referred to Estelle.

[The situation has changed. For the honor of Viscount Felciss, we decided to quickly wrap up everything. Currently aiming to settle the connection with the Blancat family. Must provide reasons acceptable to everyone.]

Leandro wanted to learn more about the curse or the truth mentioned in the record. However, he couldn’t find any further details.

Of course, even with this level of record, there were things that could be confirmed.

‘From Viscount Felciss, joining hands with Duke Blancat, they made Estelle a sacrifice.’

Having lived his life as a knight, Leandro was ignorant about curses or sacrifices. However, he knew it was a horrific act.

‘I labeled her as a villain…’

It felt overwhelming to step into the difficult truth.

However, Leandro decided to save Estelle and atone. So, he couldn’t avoid it as he did in the past.

“That, I can’t tell you. It’s just a wound so deep that you can’t even imagine.”

“Interesting.”

Johan’s energy surged like a storm.

“Do you think I’ll overlook something like that? If Viscount Felciss joined hands with Duke Blancat and did something vile—”

At that moment, under the black suit, the bracelet he was wearing tingled with a sharp electric sensation.

[—Johan! Johan!] Estelle was urgently calling him.

Prince Carlos drew his sword and shouted, “Save the duchess from the attackers!”

Several knights rode in behind the prince. The attackers tensed at the unexpected arrival of reinforcements.

“Darn! Reinforcements already arrived!”

“It seems like this plan[Dash]”

One of the attackers shouted defiantly.

“Even if the opponent has increased, don’t be flustered! We don’t need to exert ourselves to win in battle. Our goal is simply to kidnap the target!”

However, Carlos had already reached near me.

Riding his horse at an accelerated pace, Carlos’s sword clashed fiercely with the attackers’ swords.

The prince’s skill, renowned in the empire, was not an exaggeration. The attackers couldn’t properly resist Carlos’s sword.

‘They don’t seem to be acquainted, the prince and the attackers.’

It was too serious a situation to call them familiar. The clash of swords seemed fierce, as if dealing with enemies.

‘Even casualties have occurred…’

As Carlos made the attackers disappear one by one, the attackers shouted nervously.

“Target only the duchess! Focus only on the duchess!”

However, the atmosphere had already shifted long ago.

“Don’t worry, madam. While it was difficult for our skills to break through, protecting you is not at all difficult.”

True to those words, the knight guards began to protect me in a much more stable manner. I asked the knight next to me cautiously.

“Do you have any suspicions about the identity of the attackers?”

Since the attackers all wore black masks and spoke in ordinary tones, there were no distinctive features.

“I’m sorry. Honestly, there’s nothing I can guess.”

“No, that’s understandable.”

Even though I called for Johan, it seemed like the situation could be resolved without his help. I glanced at the subtly shining magical tool and looked for Johan.

‘Is Johan not coming?’

“This operation is a failure. Everyone, retreat!”

The remaining attackers, with few options left, eventually chose to flee.

“All knights, chase after those reckless attackers!”

After giving orders to the knights, Carlos approached me with controlled breath. The knight greeted the prince first.

“Your Highness, thank you for your help.”

“So, Duchess Blancat.”