Lutis interrupted the knight commander’s words and asked back. The knight commander looked around again to see if someone was listening, and then answered once more.

“We just received a report from the gravekeeper that traces of continuous digging by something were discovered at the madam’s tomb.”

“……”

“They are making repairs, but have not yet found the cause. Given the gravity of the matter, I thought it best to convey it to you immediately, but……”

Before the knight commander could finish his words, Lutis, who was moving his legs widely to dismount from the horse, stopped his action at the voice trying to dissuade him.

“Your Grace.”

“……”

“I will go with the knight commander to verify if it is true. Please enter the palace first.”

“Right now, grrr……”

He was told to enter the palace even after hearing those words. Lutis spat out his words as if chewing.

“……Have you gone mad, perhaps?”

“Conventionally, dawn refers to the time when the sun is about to rise, but in this case, it is late at night before sunrise. The Imperial Palace begins to stir with servants at 5 a.m., so you must return before then to avoid being noticed.”

“……”

“It is already past 3 o’clock, so if you do not go now, it will be too late.”

At the resolute words of the aide, the knight commander, who belatedly grasped the situation, bowed his head and added.

“I apologize. Being at the training grounds all day for knight training, I received the news of your palace entry late.”

Lutis stared blankly at the top of the head densely packed with dark turquoise hair.

It was not that he did not understand the attitude of the aide and the knight commander, as the Emperor’s orders could not be disobeyed. However……

The duchess who lost her life at a young age with her mana gone, and the desecrated tomb.

If this fact were to leak out, those who already love to gossip would surely prattle on about it again.

‘I have yet to see her name removed from the tabloids……’

Even if he wanted to impose sanctions, it was not easy due to the nature of the media, which maintained investor anonymity while prohibiting investments above a certain amount. Although pressure could be applied through back-end investigations, that too took a long time and had yet to yield significant results.

Lutis was not pleased with the situation where Aeli had to be placed on the chopping block even after death.

Why were they so eager to torment someone who had already passed away?

“Your Grace.”

“Duke.”

“……”

As he hesitated for a long time, urging voices followed.

Eventually, Lutis, who had been holding the reins loosely, tightened his grip and opened his mouth, speaking as if chewing.

“……I will hear the rest after I return. Until I come back, you two find the gravekeeper, assess the situation in detail, and keep watch to see if anyone visits the tomb.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Understood.”

“Move discreetly.”

Lutis gritted his teeth and pulled on the horse’s reins.

It was the deepest of the night.

“Your Majesty, Duke Ratcliffe has arrived.”

Lutis, who had secretly visited the Emperor’s Palace with his robe deeply pulled down, straightened his attire. Perhaps he had been trying to calm his trembling body with anger until he left the ducal residence and entered the palace.

Not long after, a reply came back.

“His Majesty says to come inside.”

Lutis, who immediately moved into the reception room, knelt down on one knee.

“I am in the presence of the Empire’s brightest sun.”

At the voice coming from above his head, Lutis straightened his gaze.

The young man with the signature white silver hair and blue eyes of the Imperial family was sitting on the sofa in the reception room, a faint smile on his lips as he opened his mouth.

“The duke has not yet finished his vacation, so there is no need to go that far since I called for you.”

“……”

“First, have a seat.”

You look quite upset, but is your body alright? At the voice that sounded almost caring, Lutis replied in a monotonous tone.

“……It’s fine. However, dawn will break soon, so I would like to wrap up the conversation as quickly as possible.”

It would attract more attention if there were many people when I leave. Lutis said.

It was an nonsensical assumption for a Sword Master to say such a thing, but neither the Emperor nor Lutis bothered to correct the discrepancy.

‘How awkward must it be to put on a smiling face.’

Lutis clicked his tongue inwardly and went to sit where the Emperor had gestured.

For him, just being in the same space as the Emperor was no different from hard labor, so he wanted to return as soon as possible.

The main reason was of course due to the report he heard right before entering the palace, but in the first place, he could not look favorably upon the Emperor.

……Who could smile and face someone who had shown interest in their own wife?

“Haha, well then. Shall we have a cup of tea first? It’s still chilly outside, and you’ve gone through much trouble at this early hour.”

Trouble caused by whom, he thought. However, contrary to his mind, Lutis briefly bowed his head and brought the teacup in front of him to his lips.

Of course, he did not drink it.

“You all leave for a moment. I have an urgent matter to discuss, so wait outside until I call for you again.”

“But Your Majesty, dismissing even the guard knights is a bit―”

“The Empire’s strongest knight is right in front of me, so what is there to worry about?”

Someone opened their mouth as the Emperor, who had one arm draped over the reception room couch, ordered to dismiss all the servants and guards, but was immediately cut off.

Unable to find grounds for rebuttal, the servants exited through the door first, and an announcement was heard.

“……We will be on standby outside.”

“Yes, I will call when the conversation is over.”

After exchanging glances among themselves for a moment, the guard knights saluted and turned their backs.

Soon, when only the Emperor and Lutis were left alone in the spacious reception room.

Wing―

The Emperor, tapping the ring-shaped artifact he was wearing on his finger to cast a soundproofing spell, opened his mouth.

“Let me apologize. I anticipated that you would still be struggling, but the situation was not favorable.”

“……”

With those words, the Emperor took out a charred piece of paper from his bosom and placed it on the reception room table.

At the motion of tilting his head as if to tell him to check it, Lutis reached out his arm and picked up the paper.

“This is……”

Lutis’s eyes widened upon seeing the letters written on the unfolded paper.

“It’s the common language used among different races. Humans do not know it.”

It took quite some time to decipher the contents because there was no one who could decode it. The Emperor said as he leaned back on the couch, looking fatigued.

As he said, the language of different races was not widely known, so even Lutis only had a rough idea of what the characters looked like.

If most people happened to see it, it would be rare for them to even realize that these were letters in the first place.

It was natural. Well……

“The different races hardly ever reveal themselves, do they?”

They inherently did not like to be entangled with humans.

Let alone conversing and understanding their way of life, in the rare event of an encounter, the majority would flee or drive them away before a single word could be exchanged.

Given the situation, it was by no means strange that few people properly knew the language they used.

Lutis raised his head to look at the Emperor. Then the Emperor handed over an additional clean sheet of paper and opened his mouth.

“This is the content we have interpreted. It’s not certain, but there is a high probability that the overall context is accurate.”

“……”

Ice. Warrior. Conquest. Life. Proposal. Heavy snow. Long darkness. Sunlight.

Various words were listed in the first line, followed by a sentence written below.

The Emperor said.

“By the way, the place where that paper was discovered was the southern border region.”

“Then…… it would be Lotenia.”

“I think so too.”

With those words, silence fell inside the reception room for a while.

After looking alternately at the papers in both hands for a long time, Lutis sighed and rubbed his forehead. Assuming the interpretation was correct, there were many clues to speculate on the interests between the different races and Lotenia.

Notably, the poor relationship between the Kingdom of Lotenia and the Magnar Empire had been passed down for generations.

After experiencing minor invasions and wars for over 500 years, the history of the treaty they signed had not even reached 100 years.

‘Even now, the people of both countries are so deeply resentful of each other that they can’t wait to tear each other apart.’

The Emperor must have said that based on such a situation.

The Emperor picked up the teacup placed in front of him, emptied it in one gulp, and opened his mouth.

“It seems Lotenia is planning to strike the border region. They probably offered to hand over ownership of the eastern forest in exchange for reaching out to the different races.”

“……Making such a proposal to the different races is no different from signing a non-aggression pact, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“The border region is nothing but a wasteland except for a few places where territories are located, so why would they go so far as to―”

“That’s no longer the case now.”

The Emperor, who interrupted Lutis’s words, tapped the armrest of the couch with his index finger and closed his eyes.

After a few seconds passed like that.

“……Mithril fragments were discovered in the lower reaches of the river in the territory along the border region. Suspecting something, I ordered an investigation and found that there was a mine near the upper reaches of the river.”

At the words that came out of the Emperor’s mouth, Lutis frowned and rubbed his chin.

“……”

“As you know, Lotenia is a country with advanced magical engineering. Although the overall standard of living is high, military power is weak in comparison, making it vulnerable to invasion.”

“……”

“So I’m speculating that they offered these conditions because……”

“……Even if they hand over the eastern forest, they judged that it would be more profitable to seize the mithril mine, you mean?”

“That’s right.”

And as I said earlier, it already took quite a lot of time to decipher the contents. At those words uttered in passing, Lutis, feeling uneasy, gauged the date.

If it was the longest winter night, it was the end of the year.

Not even two full weeks remained from now.

“I couldn’t find out when Lotenia realized there was a mithril mine in the border region, but according to a spy I planted, Lotenia also sent an envoy to the Empire not long ago.”

Naturally, the likely destinations were the Imperial family and major families of the Empire.

“Ratcliffe also took on additional servants half a year ago, probably.”

“……Yes.”

Lutis, who did not particularly like having many people around, judged that more attendants would be needed as Aeli’s health deteriorated and put out a notice.

It was confirmed that a small number of additional personnel were hired by the Imperial family and several major families, including the Masons.

If sent by letter, there was a high possibility of the story leaking out, so it was best to meet in person to discuss.

The Emperor said so and sat up straight from leaning on the couch.

“If that content is true, it is right for us to strike from behind before they fully join hands. If the different races also determinedly invade, there is no guarantee of what will happen.”

“……”

“I apologize for saying this to you, but I’d like you to return to the knights order starting tomorrow.”
Saying that he called him to tell him this, the Emperor ordered him to assemble an elite force in secret within ten days.
“……We may have to wage war soon.”
It was a sentence like a death penalty.