A moment later, Veronia appeared in comfortable pants suitable for activity, and the two of them mounted their horses together.

“Heeyah!”

They spurred their horses and galloped away. Veronia thought that riding a horse while cutting through the night air was quite thrilling indeed. Her excitement must have been evident on her face.

“You seem to enjoy horseback riding.”

“That’s right. I especially like riding horses at night like this.”

“At night?”

“Yes. It reminds me of that night when I escaped from the imperial palace. I was scared about my new life in the outside world, but I still liked it. I was overjoyed at the thought that I could finally live properly, truly properly.”

“…I see.”

For a moment, Killian felt a heavy weight in his chest. That night 5 years ago was the night of the greatest crisis in Killian’s life.

It was a time when he lay awake at night, thinking he had lost her, feeling foolish for only realizing how precious she was after losing her.

‘But for Her Highness Veronia, it must have been the day she finally gained her freedom.’

Killian felt a bit lonely at the gap between the two people who remembered the same day so differently.

Perhaps noticing his dampened mood, Veronia carefully studied his expression before cautiously opening her mouth.

“I’m sorry. It must have been a difficult memory for you.”

“…No. I know that was the best choice at the time. However…”

Killian slowly opened his mouth with an incredibly serious expression. With a heart hoping that his sincerity would reach her, even if just a little.

“From now on, it’s not allowed. Even if there’s a moment when running away seems like the best choice, it’s absolutely not allowed.”

“…”

“If you want to run away, please tell me first. I will go with you.”

At his heartfelt confession, a bright smile spread across Veronia’s lips. Killian’s seriousness in launching these confession attacks at any time tickled her heart. He was impossibly lovable.

“I promised I would never run away for Jediel’s sake, remember? That feeling won’t change in the future.”

“…Yes.”

Killian thought that was enough. It was only natural that Veronia’s top priority was Jediel, not himself.

But he couldn’t help feeling a little bitter. Killian tried hard to hide his regretful expression and spoke again.

“I hope we can come out for nighttime horseback riding dates like this from time to time.”

“I thought you’d try to stop me, saying it’s dangerous.”

Veronia looked at Killian with a puzzled expression at his suggestion.

“I have no intention of stopping you from doing what you like. Nor do I intend to break your will to do what you want. I just plan to stay by your side and protect you.”

Veronia thought Killian’s sweet words sounded good.

“I’ll look forward to our nighttime horseback riding dates.”

Though the night air hitting her face was cold, she could feel a warm heat rising in her flushed cheeks.

“Huh? Nia?”

“Onyx, it’s been a while!”

Onyx, who had been waiting for Killian without any expectations, grinned broadly when Veronia appeared.

Killian frowned at Onyx’s expression, which was not at all different from what he had expected. But Onyx was not one to care about Killian’s expressions.

Instead of shaking the hand Veronia held out for a handshake, Onyx hugged her tightly.

“When we meet after a long time, we should greet like this at least. Don’t you think?”

“…I suppose so.”

Onyx, who was very glad to see Veronia after almost a month, laughed heartily. As this was the first time Veronia had been greeted like this by Onyx, she was momentarily taken aback, but she was also grateful for Onyx’s warm welcome.

As their embrace lingered, irritation began to rise from deep within Killian. He suppressed the urge to forcibly separate the two and spoke curtly while lightly patting Onyx’s shoulder.

“That’s enough greeting, let’s quickly get to the main point. We’re all busy people after all.”

Since it was true that they were busy, Onyx followed Killian’s words without any objection.

“Let’s start the report right away, with gratitude for the Prime Minister valuing our guild’s intelligence more than the imperial administration’s!”

Onyx started with a bit of sarcasm and played the prepared vision orb. The vision showed images of epidemic patients.

“You probably already know that although it’s been only 2 weeks since the epidemic was first reported, hundreds have already been infected and dozens have died. But it’s spreading too fast. There are predictions that by next week, the death toll could approach hundreds.”

Veronia and Killian frowned, at a loss for words at the horrific scenes in the vision.

“The symptoms of this epidemic are that it starts rotting from the fingertips and toes, gradually progressing until the internal organs rot, leading to death.”

“What’s the route of infection?”

“That’s not certain. At first, animals and plants were infected first. Then people who ate the infected animals and plants started getting sick. Now it’s reportedly spreading between people as well.”

“It’s different from typical epidemics. It’s as if the pathogen is evolving. And very rapidly in a short period of time.”

Onyx nodded vigorously at Veronia’s words, which she had been quietly listening to, and continued his report.

“That’s right. That’s why there’s a cautious opinion among medical research experts that this epidemic seems to be an artificial phenomenon rather than a natural occurrence.”

“An artificial phenomenon… You mean someone is deliberately spreading the epidemic?”

“It’s still speculation, but somehow I think this speculation is quite credible.”

As Onyx spoke in a rather serious tone, Veronia and Killian’s expressions darkened simultaneously. If it was true that someone was deliberately spreading a terrible disease, the problem was very serious.

“The prevailing opinion is that this epidemic seems to have started from the corpses of magical beasts. Everyone probably knows that normally, the corpses of magical beasts decay very quickly. Within a week of death, they lose their original form and turn into mud. But the corpses of magical beasts recently discovered in the southern region were a bit different.”

“They remained the same even after a week?”

“That’s right. Far from turning into mud, they were found with only slight decay while maintaining their shape.”

This time, Onyx took out and played another vision orb. It contained images of the corpse of a magical beast found in a forest and its surroundings. Veronia and Killian’s faces contorted mercilessly at the strange scene.

“My goodness…! The corpse of the magical beast decayed and contaminated its surroundings!”

“Yeah, that’s right. Unlike when magical beast corpses used to rapidly decay and disappear within a week, the decay rate has drastically slowed down, negatively affecting the surroundings.”

The sight of the soil, grass, and trees rotting black around the decaying corpse of the magical beast seemed to prophesy the end of humanity.

“That means the animals and plants in the contaminated forest got sick first, and then the disease spread to humans.”

“It’s still under investigation so we can’t say for certain, but that’s likely the case.”

“If that’s true… Perhaps the Holy Maiden could purify the forest. If that happens, we might be able to slow down the spread of the epidemic.”

“But the problem is that the forest is so vast. Of course, the Holy Maiden’s divine power is so great that she can heal an entire village at once. But the forest is several times larger than a village.”

The three couldn’t take their eyes off the vision orb that continued to show horrific scenes. Veronia began to recall the contents of the original work.

‘Was there any mention of an epidemic in the south in the original work?’

There was mention of a civil uprising in the south. It was treated as quite a major event. As that uprising spread nationwide, the imperial family to which Veronia belonged was eventually overthrown, and Killian became the new emperor.

‘But there was no mention of an epidemic anywhere. Not in the south or any other region.’

Veronia was certain. Although her memories from 5 years ago had become quite hazy, she still clearly remembered the major events.

‘That means… the cause of this epidemic is because the original work has gone off track…’

For a moment, goosebumps ran all over her body. The reason the original work had gone off track was because of her escape from the imperial palace. The thought that an epidemic that didn’t exist in the original work had spread because of her made her suddenly afraid.

‘No. That’s too big of a leap. Get a grip, Veronia! You decided not to compare the original work and the present like that anymore!’

She pushed away the useless thoughts, clenching her molars tightly.

‘The biggest change after the original work went off track is… Jonathan became emperor instead of Killian. The tragedy in the south that occurred because Jonathan became emperor…’

Perhaps this too was an excessive leap. But there was a need to keep all possibilities in mind and broaden one’s thinking. Moreover…

‘Somehow… Jonathan seemed to have a dark inner self that he couldn’t easily show to others.’

Veronia still vividly remembered Jonathan’s gaze that she had seen at the magic tool commercialization event a few days ago. He spoke with an infinitely benevolent voice and laughed heartily, but his eyes were not smiling at all.

Like a poisonous apple whose poison cannot be known until you bite into it directly, he seemed to be hiding a malicious inner self deep inside.