The underground dungeon of the imperial palace, where not a single ray of light entered.

The flames of the torch hanging on the wall flickered across Ileon Gredrick’s face.

“By now, the fact that I’m imprisoned must have spread throughout Abelon.”

Locked inside the iron bars, Ileon Gredrick spoke in a languid voice with his eyes closed.

Sir Anderson, who had been standing outside the bars watching him the entire time, widened his eyes.

“Let’s say that’s true. Even so, your situation won’t change. The true emperor of Abelon is none other than Duke Dietrich Calypso.”

At Sir Anderson’s words, Ileon Gredrick tilted his head back and laughed.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier? That man is only thinking of destroying Abelon.”

Sir Anderson didn’t believe a single word of Ileon Gredrick’s claims.

How many years had he spent observing Dietrich Calypso?

From the days when he was a stable boy caring for old, sick warhorses, to now, as the commander of the imperial knights, wielding influence over the royal court.

Sir Anderson had watched Dietrich Calypso’s growth from the very beginning to the present.

Even though it was sometimes—nay, often—hard to discern what Dietrich was thinking, he had never once spoken of destroying Abelon, nor even hinted at such a thing.

“Do you know of the Inata Duchy, destroyed and erased by Abelon ten years ago? It was an ally of the Shan Kingdom.”

At Ileon Gredrick’s words, Sir Anderson narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

“You truly know nothing, do you?”

Ileon Gredrick clicked his tongue in disapproval.

With a twisted smirk, he continued.

“Are you aware that the lord you serve is a prince of the Inata Duchy?”

“It seems you’re trying to deceive me with your serpent’s tongue, but I won’t fall for your words.”

“Even when I tell you the truth, you fail to comprehend. What a pity.”

Ileon Gredrick slowly opened his closed eyes.

The blue eyes hidden beneath his eyelids came into view.

“The woman you call ‘my lady’ is a princess of the Shan Kingdom, and the lord you serve is a prince of the Inata Duchy. Are you truly serving as an aide without knowing any of this?”

To Sir Anderson, Ileon Gredrick’s words were utterly incomprehensible.

“All this time, you’ve been deceived by Dietrich. From the beginning, he only intended to use you. That’s why he never told you anything.”

Upon hearing the knight’s words, Dietrich Calypso hurriedly headed toward the mansion.

“The maid’s name was Elly, I heard. They say she originally served Duke Dietrich Calypso, but when she had nowhere else to go, His Majesty took her in…”

Walking hand in hand with Dietrich Calypso, Celia Brillion slowly closed and opened her eyes.

Elly was the maid Dietrich Calypso had assigned to her when she first arrived at his mansion.

“What is your relationship with my master? Could it be… are you his lover?”

Though she couldn’t see ahead, the maid who had prepared her bathwater had been extremely wary of her.

No matter how you looked at it, that maid seemed to have feelings for Dietrich Calypso.

And yet, now she was trying to harm Dietrich Calypso.

“What’s going on here?”

As if reading Celia Brillion’s thoughts, Dietrich Calypso spoke up.

“Elly was Ileon Gredrick’s subordinate from the beginning.”

At Dietrich Calypso’s words, Celia Brillion’s eyes widened.

“From the beginning?”

“Yes. She was on Ileon Gredrick’s side from the moment she entered my mansion. I thought she posed no threat, so I let her be. I also wanted to see how she was passing information about me to Ileon Gredrick.”

“…”

Celia Brillion stared at Dietrich Calypso.

Receiving her silent gaze that seemed to ask why he had assigned that maid to her knowing she was Ileon Gredrick’s subordinate, Dietrich Calypso lowered his eyes as if ashamed.

“…Back then, I didn’t know things would turn out like this between us.”

Celia Brillion empathized with Dietrich Calypso’s words.

When he had assigned Elly to her, Celia Brillion and Dietrich Calypso had been in a very ambiguous relationship.

Neither allies nor enemies, a relationship hard to define.

Even Celia Brillion hadn’t expected they would develop into lovers.

And she certainly hadn’t expected they would end up destroying Abelon together.

Suddenly, Arthur Servantes flashed into Celia Brillion’s mind.

“In the most… beautiful form, I’ll preserve you alive in my cage, along with your parrot.”

Arthur Servantes, who had tried to assault her, had mentioned his parrot in a sticky, swamp-like voice.

Celia Brillion couldn’t leave the only parrot her late father had given her, which Dietrich Calypso had found for her, in Arthur Servantes’s hands.

“Popo is probably in that… Arthur Servantes’s palace.”

At Celia Brillion’s words, Dietrich Calypso nodded.

“Let’s go get it.”

Celia Brillion headed toward Arthur Servantes’s secret chamber.

Her steps were heavy.

Walking alongside Dietrich Calypso, Celia Brillion paused for a moment and took a deep breath in front of the entrance.

“…”

“Are you okay?”

Dietrich Calypso asked, noticing Celia Brillion seemed to be preparing herself mentally.

“Phew, it’s nothing. I’m just worried about what might have happened to Popo.”

“Then I’ll go in first.”

Creak—.

Dietrich Calypso took the lead and opened the door to the secret chamber.

The stale air irritated the tip of her nose.

In the very center of the secret chamber.

There was Popo, inside a silver cage.

“Popo!”

Celia Brillion cried out.

Flutter!

Popo, who had been preening its feathers inside the cage, spread its wings and stirred the cage upon seeing Celia Brillion.

“Celia! Celia!”

Recognizing its master, Popo greeted Celia Brillion warmly.

Celia Brillion approached the cage and let out a long sigh of relief.

“Popo! You’re here! Thank goodness you’re safe…”

When she stepped into Arthur Servantes’s secret chamber, she had been terrified that something awful might have happened to Popo.

After all, Arthur Servantes was certainly the kind of person capable of doing something strange.

But fortunately, Popo was unharmed. In fact, it was so unharmed it almost felt unsettling.

“Celia!”

Popo called out to Celia Brillion, pecking at the cage with its beak.

Celia Brillion opened the cage door for the bird, which seemed frustrated by the confined space.

Creak—.

Flutter!

As soon as the cage door opened, Popo landed on Celia Brillion’s left shoulder as if it had been waiting.

“Celia!”

“Yes, it’s me, Popo.”

“Celiaaa!”

Overjoyed to see its master after so long, Popo kept calling her name.

“Have you been okay?”

Celia Brillion blinked.

“Oh, what am I thinking? Asking if you’ve been okay. There’s no way you could’ve been okay in a place like this.”

But unexpectedly, it seemed Arthur Servantes had taken good care of Popo, as its condition was quite good.

Celia Brillion stroked Popo, who was perched on her shoulder.

“Popo, you’ve been keeping your feathers so well. I’m so glad you’re alive… It must have been scary without me.”

Popo let out a cheerful gurgle-gurgle-gurgle, as if in a good mood.

Such a clever creature, kidnapped by that lunatic Arthur Servantes. How frightened it must have been. It was already such a timid creature.

As its master, Celia Brillion couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Popo.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Popo comforted Celia Brillion, saying it was okay. Celia Brillion raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“When did you learn to say that?”

“Secret, secret, secret.”

“You’ve learned… so many words in such a short time.”

Celia Brillion was taken aback but soon smiled brightly, rubbing Popo’s chin.

Popo let out another cheerful chirp, clearly pleased.

“You’re a genius, Popo.”

“Genius, genius.”

Popo, liking the word, mimicked Celia Brillion.

Celia Brillion smiled warmly and touched its beak.

“Good. It looks like nothing’s wrong, so shall we head back?”

Dietrich Calypso said, looking around the secret chamber.

On the walls of Arthur Servantes’s secret chamber hung framed butterflies collected from around the world.

Not only that, but tiny fairy-like figures, no bigger than a pinky finger, were displayed, meticulously pinned. Each fairy was posed differently—no two shared the same stance.

Some had both arms raised, others stood with legs apart, some turned to look back… Not a single pose was repeated.

“…”

Dietrich Calypso frowned, clearly disturbed.

On another wall were flowers that glowed faintly even when wilted, their stems removed, with the petals arranged to spell out “Arthur.”

“What a lunatic.”

As Dietrich Calypso cursed, Popo, who had been preening on Celia Brillion’s shoulder, trembled slightly around its eyes.

“Lunatic.”

“?”

“Lunatic. Lunatic.”

Popo repeated the specific word as if mimicking Dietrich Calypso.

“Lunatic. Lunatic.”

Startled, Celia Brillion lightly tapped Popo’s beak.

“You shouldn’t learn words like that, Popo.”

But Popo, as if rebelling against Celia Brillion, shouted even louder.

“Lunatic! Lunatic! Lunatic!”

Popo’s head was turned toward Dietrich Calypso.

“It feels like it’s talking to me.”

Dietrich Calypso narrowed his eyes, glaring at Popo.

At that, Popo became docile again, like a well-behaved bird preening its feathers.

“Hmm…”

Celia Brillion could sense how much stress Popo had endured in this unfamiliar environment.

It had never been rebellious before.

“Celia. Celia.”

“?”

“I love you. I love you.”

Popo tapped Celia Brillion’s cheek with its beak.

The cold, hard beak touched her cheek.

“I love you. I love you.”

Popo rubbed its beak against Celia Brillion, pressing its body close.

For a moment, Celia Brillion wondered if Popo was going into heat.

She had heard that red wine parrots experience a mating season similar to humans at certain times. Kidnapped to this place during such a sensitive period, Celia Brillion felt even more guilt.

“…Let’s get out of here.”

Celia Brillion thought it best to leave this unsettling secret chamber as soon as possible.

If she stayed here any longer, she felt like she might lose her mind too.