All she could discern was a sinister hand that covered his entire body with a cloak and a wicked presence that suggested a knife.

“Come to think of it…”

Then, there was a scene that suddenly flashed through her mind. A tattoo on the wrist of the man drawing a knife.

Because tattooed individuals were not common in this world, it stuck vividly in her memory.

“The man had a tattoo on his wrist.”

“A tattoo?”

Akkia, in response to Leia’s unexpected answer, furrowed his brow.

“What kind of tattoo was it? Anything distinctive or memorable?”

“That’s… Could you give me a pen?”

The shape of the tattoo was so unique that it was memorable. Akkia handed her a paper, and Leia started sketching the pattern from her memory.

“It looked like this. It was a very distinctive shape.”

The drawing Leia presented to the Duke was an image of a circular frame resembling a wagon wheel entwined with a snake. She didn’t know exactly what the tattoo meant, but it was an eerie pattern.

“This is…”

As the Duke, looking at Leia’s drawing, froze with a rigid expression.

“Why? Do you know this pattern, Your Grace?”

‘Why is he reacting like that all of a sudden?’

Leia also started to tense up as she looked at the Duke’s face, which had suddenly turned cold.

‘Is there something wrong with the drawing?’

The Duke’s hand holding the paper showed slight tremors. Looking at Akkia with worried eyes, Leia cautiously asked,

“Do you happen to know something about this pattern, Your Grace?”

“…Yes, I know.”

Upon his acknowledgment, Leia’s heart froze coldly. In Akkia’s eyes, clouded with anger and traces of unseen flesh, Leia saw a reflection of the Empress who collapsed that day, intertwining with Leia.

He had thought about it at least once.

The assassin who killed his mother. If that assassin comes again to assassinate him, would he be able to face him again?

The corner of Akkia’s mouth, recalling the dying Empress from Leia, trembled. Strangely, it overlapped with Leia’s memory of the Queen.

Although she felt a vague discomfort with that appearance. Strangely, she didn’t know that the bad premonition had missed its mark.

“Your Grace?”

Looking at Akkia, who seemed to be lost in thought, Leia asked, “The assassin was sent by the Empress, after all.”
Leia’s mouth clamped shut at the mention of Empress. When an unexpected figure was brought up, Leia’s heart throbbed with an unstable rhythm.

“If, if it’s the Empress….”

Upon Akkia’s words, Leia reconsidered the rumors about the Empress that had circulated only as gossip.

Though she was a concubine, she was the most beloved woman to the wise Emperor.

‘She wanted to become Empress, but she said she couldn’t ascend to the position.’

Not only that, but her son and the eldest prince also failed to become the Emperor.

The unfulfilled dream was eventually achieved by making her grandson the Emperor, and she became the woman in the position of Empress.

“Your Grace, even if the grandson became the Emperor as the Empress desired, why do you keep trying to kill the Duke?”

The imperial family of the Croatea Empire valued traditions more than any other country. All emperors in history were born from the womb of an empress.

Despite receiving the Emperor’s favor, the offspring of a concubine could not be designated as the Crown Prince. In the Croatea Empire, individual abilities such as outstanding talents were not important.

However, Ille had overcome the flaw of birth as the offspring of a concubine. Eventually, Ille received the position of Emperor from Philip III.

Akkia was no longer the heir to the throne.

‘There is no reason to quarrel over the throne anymore, so why is this happening?’

To Leia’s question, Akkia, who had been silent for a while, met eyes with her. The puzzlement in Leia’s eyes was clearly felt by him.

Yes, she would be curious. Since there were behind-the-scenes stories that ordinary imperial citizens couldn’t know. Akkia slowly opened his mouth to Leia.

“That is…”

Akkia recalled his cousin, who would be leisurely sitting in the imperial palace and observing the situation at this point.

Blue eyes resembling the deep sea and hair resembling a golden ingot that had spent many years.

He remembered the words the Empress spoke to the nobles to make Ille the Emperor.

At a young age, he didn’t understand much about that mark. However, he came to know about it after Ille became the Crown Prince and was driven away to the Heidern Territory.

That something was wrong. In Akkia’s eyes, looking at Leia, there was a cold sharpness.

“The current Emperor. That is, Ille….”

An inexplicable tension seeped into Leia’s heart. Leia swallowed nervously, waiting for Akkia to continue.

“He didn’t inherit the blood of Croatea.”