I threw the decorative sword into one corner and immediately took a boxing stance.

The assassin with a mask slowly revealed themselves from behind the pillar.

“Are you trying to die? Sneaking into the Emperor’s bedroom without fear?”

“…….”

The assassin leaned against the pillar again, put on brass knuckles, and arrogantly looked at me with a disdainful attitude.

I couldn’t tell which idiot raised the eye level of the mask to the middle of the eyes, but judging by their relaxed attitude, they seemed to think they were the owner of this room.

“An assassin taking it easy on the subject. Quite an attitude.”

I intentionally kept talking to the assassin.

Assassins are usually silent, but with no proper eyesight, there was no way to gauge this guy’s skill.

Just a feeling that he wasn’t a commoner.

Despite having a sword on his back, the assassin seemed completely uninterested in drawing it.

Why? What’s going on?

Since I didn’t have a sword, is he thinking of fighting me fairly, barehanded…? Is this guy having an unexpectedly fair thought for an assassin?

“Whose order is this? Who sent you?”

“…….”

As expected, the assassin remained silent, but before the boxing, I felt like I should at least stab him with words.

However, the assassin seemed to have no intention of fighting me.

What’s going on, dude? Are you waiting for me to attack first?

“Are you aiming for the Emperor’s life? Or mine? Doesn’t matter. Whoever’s life you came to target, you chose the wrong opponent!”

To prove my words, I leaped into the air in a single breath.

But maybe because it was a spinning kick after a long time…

The assassin effortlessly dodged my spinning kick like a water strider.

This guy, he’s not normal, is he?

With that level of speed, he could have caught my leg with his face and thrown me against the wall.

But the assassin just avoided it to the side and made no attempt to attack me.

Oh, maybe he couldn’t see well because the mask covered half of his eyes?

“You dodged so well. But with this, you’ve used up all your luck until tomorrow! Luck that wasn’t used when entering the bedroom, and luck that avoided my spinning kick now. You won’t leave here alive today!”

Moreover, he had observed my swordsmanship, making it impossible for me to let him live.

“Huh.”

The assassin chuckled briefly again.

“You’re laughing? Fine, laugh. Your positive attitude toward death is quite something.”

I swung my fist forcefully at the assassin again.

But once again, the assassin moved his body like a water strider.

He deflected my fist with his elbow and pushed me aside.

Incredible speed, a sense of restraint and strong power felt at the end of the movement.

This guy is not an ordinary person, is he?

Although the assassin didn’t push me hard, my body slid as if dancing while one leg unintentionally tore apart.

“Ouch…!”

Clearly, a movement that didn’t work well when I danced the sword earlier succeeded now.

I swung both arms to regain balance and managed to stand up, barely holding my center.
As I hesitated and stepped back, my other foot slipped.

This is insane!

Normally, I would quickly regain my disturbed sense of balance, but things were different now.

The scented oil I applied in the bathroom turned out to be a muscle relaxant.

Due to accidentally pouring too much oil on my hands, my feet had been slippery since earlier.

While this slipperiness was quite helpful during swordsmanship, it caused errors in movements and a lack of power in boxing.

On the already slippery marble floor, it was strange not to slip with scented oil on the soles of my feet.

My body fell backward.

From the assassin’s perspective, it was the perfect timing to attack me.

Did we just lock eyes?

Yeah, he wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity.

Am I going to take this…?

Prince Norton and Prince Tesler walked toward the star palace, keeping a distance from each other.

Prince Tesler was the one testing the waters, hesitating to strike up a conversation.

The prince knew that Prince Norton had made a promise to meet with Lyselia behind the Opera Palace.

Lyselia had suggested the meeting to Prince Norton at the banquet, and Prince Tesler, with his sharp wit, had called Zelda to the temple sponsorship.

The plan was to let the siblings accidentally meet each other, witnessed by Emperor Rinel.

Late at night, just the sight of the Empress and a prince from another country standing in a dim place would create a plausible scene.

And Prince Tesler’s expectation came true.

He could sense the anger seeping out from Emperor Rinel.

Even if they passed through smoothly, every suspicion started from such small and trivial openings.

If Emperor Rinel had even a moment of suspicion towards the Empress, it would be a worthwhile harvest.

However, unexpectedly, a strange concubine appeared and messed everything up.

Moreover, she seemed to have lost her mind, confessing her love to Prince Norton in the temple sponsorship.

Even if it went wrong, it was a situation that went far beyond a simple mistake.