I quickly moved my hand to attack the opponent’s vital point.

But then.

“Your Majesty, the Empress.”

A familiar male voice.

Who was it?

It was definitely a voice I had heard before, but I was too flustered to think calmly.

If there had been any sign of trying to harm me, I would have attacked immediately, but the man only put a black cloth over my face without making any threats.

The cloth covering my face was slowly removed.

It turned out to be the robe the man was wearing.

“Who…?”

“Shh, just a moment.”

As I raised my head to get a closer look at the man’s face, he grabbed my shoulder and made me sit down.

He spread his robe and draped it over my head again.

Bewildered, I sat down with the man, lowering my posture.

Fortunately, the white kitten was nestled quietly in my arms.

Because we were crouching together, I could see the face of the man wearing the robe up close.

Surprisingly, it was…

“Prince Norton?”

He nodded silently.

I stared at him, wondering what on earth was going on.

Prince Norton mouthed ‘Just a moment’.

When I nodded, he pointed somewhere with his finger.

I followed his gaze to where he was pointing.

In the distance on the field, I could see a man and a woman dressed as a maid.

What are they doing over there?

Why do I have to be like this?

And this kitten that jumped into my arms.

Prince Norton appearing suddenly…

Many questions arose at once, but I decided to watch the two people Prince Norton had pointed out for now.

They seemed to be having a conversation, but from the atmosphere, they didn’t appear to be close acquaintances.

Just as the maid was about to pass by the man after finishing their conversation,

“Ugh!”

A short scream escaped from the maid’s mouth, muffled by the man’s hand.

“Keurk…!”

The maid with her hair in two braids dropped her forehead onto the man’s shoulder.

A moment later, the man took a step back.

The maid raised one hand towards the man, then collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

“Gasp.”

I was startled by the situation that unfolded in an instant and fell backwards.

Prince Norton grabbed my arm to support me.

The man who had just killed the maid seemed to have heard the sound of our movement and began slowly walking towards us.

Prince Norton quickly placed his hand on the scabbard at his waist.

I also mentally prepared myself.

Whoever he was, if that man attacked us, we couldn’t just sit there and take it.

Prince Norton and I held our breath and listened to the footsteps of the man walking towards us.

The man’s footsteps were very cautious.

But when there was no further sound from our direction, the man stopped approaching and turned towards the Empress’s Palace garden, running away.

Prince Norton and I remained crouched with the robe draped over our heads for several minutes.

Thinking it was probably safe to get up now, I looked at Prince Norton, and he turned to me at the same time.

“Shall we stand up?”

“Let’s do that.”

We stood up simultaneously.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty the Empress?”

“No, not at all. What on earth is going on here?”

I asked, gesturing with my eyes towards the maid who had fallen in the middle of the field and appeared to have already lost her life.

“I happened to witness that maid fleeing from the West Palace, past the main palace to this place.”

“If it’s the West Palace, there’s a high chance she was a maid from one of the concubines’ quarters. But you say she was fleeing? From that man earlier?”

It was a situation I couldn’t understand at all.

Prince Norton paused for a moment before carefully saying.

“Hmm, actually… I should say I was following Prince Tessler’s guard who was chasing that maid.”

“Ah, that man earlier… was the prince’s guard?!”

I asked, recalling Ken, Prince Tessler’s guard.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But why would the prince’s guard chase a maid from the concubines’ quarters?”

And why was Prince Norton at the West Palace where the concubines’ quarters are located in the middle of the night?

The prince looked like he knew something, but was hesitating whether he should tell me.

“Perhaps, did that maid witness something? That’s why…”

I had my own suspicions and hinted at Prince Norton.

He nodded in agreement.

Could it be that the maid witnessed Prince Tessler meeting with a spy he had planted in the Raphion Imperial Palace?

Is that why Ken chased after the maid and ended up committing murder?

These crazy bastards…

“Then did you also see whereabouts in the West Palace that maid was?”

“In the middle of the concubines’ quarters… Ah, there was a large willow tree behind the palace.”

“I see.”

I’m not sure where exactly the place with the willow tree behind the palace is, but if it’s in the middle of the four concubines’ quarters…

Pecilini?

Was she the spy?

“It seems to be the palace of Pecilini from the Asto ducal family.”

“I see.”

Prince Norton didn’t seem very surprised.

Well, it’s not his concubine, so it probably wouldn’t be that shocking.

“Prince Tessler’s knight chased and even killed that concubine’s maid. Isn’t that strange?”

He continued speaking.

“They wouldn’t have killed her just for being together. There must be another reason.”

I simply nodded.

I couldn’t reveal to Prince Norton the fact that Pecilini was likely a spy planted by Prince Tessler to monitor me, the ‘proxy empress’.

Although he had just saved me from danger, it would be foolish to reveal my situation to him.

“If Prince Tessler and that concubine were enjoying a secret affair, and the maid witnessed it, they would have had no choice but to order her death.”

Prince Norton concluded.

As he said, the possibility that Pecilini was both a spy and having an affair with the prince couldn’t be ruled out.

“But, Your Highness. Why did the maid flee specifically to the Empress’s Palace garden?”

I glanced at where the maid had fallen and asked.

“Hmm…”

Prince Norton rubbed his chin with a contemplative expression.

“Meow!”

The kitten that had been quietly nestled in my arms suddenly cried out and hid its small head between my armpits.

“Quiet. You were fine until just now, what’s wrong?”

I stroked the kitten and looked back at Prince Norton.

He stared at where the maid had fallen for a moment before speaking.

“She probably ended up here after fleeing from the West Palace. More importantly, how did Prince Tessler and a concubine of the Raphion Empire know each other?”

“That’s right…”

I was about to question that part as well.

“I, I think I know about that!”

Just then, an unexpected figure appeared from around the corner of the Empress’s Palace building.

“…Rosie?”

“I greet Your Majesty the Empress!”

She bowed to me and Prince Norton before scurrying over to me.

“Who is this?”

Prince Norton asked me while looking at Rosie.

“I am the Second Con, Concubine Rosie Adelrid.”

She introduced herself.

“How much did you hear?”

Prince Norton asked, still eyeing Rosie up and down with a wary look.

“Everything… But don’t worry. I won’t go around talking about this anywhere. I’m a concubine who likes Her Majesty the Empress very much!”

“!”

“!”

Rosie answered Prince Norton firmly, despite her trembling voice, as he looked at her suspiciously.

“Rosie, what brings you here at this hour?”

I spoke gently, trying not to frighten her.

“It, it’s because of that cat…”

Rosie quickly pointed at the white kitten in my arms.

“It’s a cat I’ve been raising, but it disappeared while I was away for a moment, so I was out looking for it.”

“You were alone, Concubine?”

Prince Norton questioned her forcefully.

“Actually, I shouldn’t have, but I was secretly raising the cat in my bedroom. I thought it might cause problems if other palace people noticed while I was with my maids… As I searched for the cat, I ended up coming all the way here.”

Rosie glared at the kitten as she replied to the prince.

To raise an animal in the palace, separate permission from the imperial family is needed, but from what Rosie said, it seemed she had been raising it in secret.

Amusingly, the kitten pawed at Rosie with its front paws raised, just as it had done earlier to Prince Norton.

“Is that really…”

Rosie spoke through gritted teeth while glancing at me and the kitten.

“The cat must have felt cooped up staying only in the bedroom? Ah, perhaps that egg I saw in the bedroom then. It didn’t come from that, did it?”

“Ye, yeek?!”

“Meow?!”

My joke must have been too absurd, as Rosie’s expression turned to shock and she blinked rapidly while raising her voice at the end.

The cat too, which had been actively showing affection in my arms, suddenly went limp.

Regretting my joke that had even frozen the cat, I quickly covered it with laughter.

“But Rosie, what was that you were saying earlier? About how Prince Tessler and Pecilini know each other?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Astor ducal family runs a large trading company. I know they had exchanges not only with countries in the Northern Continent, but also with Southern Continent countries before the war.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, I think that came up briefly during the luncheon with the concubines at the Empress’s Palace… right?”

“That’s right. Moreover, Pecilini definitely said she had visited the Chateonil royal family several times since childhood.”

“If that’s true, then Prince Tessler and Concubine Pecilini must have been building a friendship for a long time.”

Prince Norton muttered seriously.

“You two wait here for a moment. I’ll go check on that maid.”

Prince Norton ran nimbly to where the maid had fallen, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

A little while later.

“Oh my, what is the prince doing?”

Rosie asked in a frightened voice as she hid behind my back.

Prince Norton tore off a part of the hem of his robe.

He pulled out the dagger that Ken had stabbed into the maid’s abdomen with the torn piece of robe, then walked back here.

“I was right. Prince Tessler’s guard intentionally used a dagger carried by Raphion Imperial knights to avoid suspicion.”

“Even though it wasn’t a planned murder, that’s quite thorough.”

I said, looking down at the bloodstained blade.

Prince Norton wrapped the dagger in the torn robe cloth and put it inside his clothes.

“Your Majesty the Empress, I’ll keep this for now.”

“Please do.”

I quietly replied while looking around the Empress’s Palace garden.

“If we hadn’t witnessed what happened today, Your Majesty the Empress might have been wrongly suspected! Was that their intention?”

Rosie cautiously spoke up.

“That’s unlikely.”

Prince Norton replied to her instead of me.

“As I told Her Majesty the Empress earlier, that maid seemed to be urgently fleeing from the knight. It’s not easy to predict the escape route in advance.”

As Prince Norton spoke and Rosie and I were nodding, the kitten in my arms snickered.

As if mocking his words.

Do cats make laughing sounds too?

Curious, I grabbed the kitten by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up to look at its face.

When our eyes met, the cat covered its mouth with its front paws and blinked its red eyes.

“H-here, let me take it, Your Majesty. I’m worried it might scratch Your Majesty due to its bad manners.”

Rosie quickly extended both hands as she spoke.

“I guess you have to go back to your owner now.”

I handed the cute kitten over to Rosie’s hands.

The kitten then made a pitiful crying sound and struggled in Rosie’s arms, flailing its front and back legs.

“Shh, be good, okay? I’ll come visit you at Rosie’s quarters. So go home quietly today.”

I stroked the kitten’s head to soothe it, and as if understanding my words again, it stopped its intense struggling and calmed down.

“Your Majesty the Empress, you should return to your bedroom now.”

At Prince Norton’s words, I looked up at the terrace.

“Ah, yes, I should.”

“The body will be discovered tomorrow at the earliest, or within a few days at the latest, so unless we dispose of it now, it would be better for us to leave quickly. And if His Majesty wakes up, you could be unnecessarily misunderstood.”

“But is it really okay to just leave like this…”

I turned my head towards where the murdered maid had fallen, feeling uneasy about her.

The other two also gazed at the same spot with regretful expressions.

“At present, there’s nothing we can do for that maid. It would be better to wait and see how the situation unfolds when she’s discovered by the guards tomorrow or the day after.”

“Yes, you’re right. Then, let’s talk about today’s events again later.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“And Your Highness, I’m sorry, but could I ask you to escort Rosie?”

I noticed Rosie’s shoulders trembling slightly as she kept glancing towards the fallen maid.

“Of course, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Prince Norton replied as if it were only natural.

“Thank you.”

I said to Prince Norton while touching and checking the nearest protruding stone piece on the Empress’s Palace wall.

Even as I spoke, I was calculating in my head how many stone pieces I would need to step on to climb up to the terrace.

“I, I’ll be fine!”

Rosie jumped up and refused Prince Norton’s offer.

“No, Lady Rosie. I’ll accompany you to your quarters in case of any danger. But, Your Majesty the Empress?”

Prince Norton, who had been talking with Rosie, called out to me.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“What… are you doing right now?”

“I’m about to go up as well.”

It seems I’ll only need to step on about three statues to reach the terrace.

“Surely you’re not planning to climb the wall?”

“Of course, naturally by the wall… Ah.”

I stopped mid-sentence after answering smoothly without thinking and turned to look at them.

Rosie’s surprised gaze and Prince Norton’s dumbfounded look were both directed at me simultaneously.

“I truly admire Your Majesty the Empress! You were magnificent when you struck Concubine Catherine, but to think you’d even climb walls!”

Rosie exclaimed, seemingly impressed, as she perched the kitten on her shoulder and clapped her hands quickly in small motions.

“…It’s nothing special.”

Since it was too late for excuses, I mumbled with an embarrassed expression.

“I know Her Majesty is no ordinary person, but that doesn’t seem like a good choice.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, what if His Majesty is awake?”

Ah, it’s dreadful just imagining it.

“Then…”

“Let’s go in safely through the door. Even if you’re caught, wouldn’t it be better to say you just went out for a moment?”

Prince Norton pointed to the door connected to the laundry room.

“That would be better. Since it connects to the dressing room anyway, if I’m caught, I can say I went there.”

“A wise decision.”

He said, giving a thumbs up.

“I’ll go in first. Please take care of Rosie.”

I opened the laundry room door and reminded Prince Norton once more.

“Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Meow.”

As Rosie thanked me, the kitten also meowed as if saying goodbye to me.

I stared at the kitten’s red eyes for a moment before closing the laundry room door.

Entering the laundry room, I quickly ran up the spiral staircase leading directly to the dressing room.

The heat that had risen to my face had already disappeared.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arriving at the dressing room, I neatly combed my hair again while looking in the mirror, then headed for the bedroom door.

I pulled the bedroom door handle to open it just enough for my body to slip through, trying to make as little noise as possible, then carefully closed it again.

I crept towards the bed like a stray cat.

Fortunately, Rinel was sleeping in exactly the same position as before I left.

“Phew.”

Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.

I lay down on the bed, trying my best not to cause any rebound on the mattress.

“Where did you go?”

“!”

My body froze for a moment at his voice.

“I was cold…”

Rinel pulled me into his arms, whispering pitifully.