“Arthur Cervantes, I didn’t expect you to act so recklessly.”

Those were Ileon’s first words upon finding Arthur.

Arthur was smiling brightly at the flowers blooming in the pot on the long shelf, seemingly uninterested in Ileon.

Water bubbled up in Arthur’s hands, thoroughly soaking the pansy flowers in the pot.

“Hmm? Why? Didn’t you want to sit on the imperial throne?”

Arthur spoke without even looking at Ileon.

“Isn’t that why you sent a letter calling me here? I neatly took care of both of them without any complications, so I don’t know what you’re dissatisfied about~”

Arthur hummed a tune while gazing lovingly at the silver pansy flowers.

“I’m not interested in things like the imperial throne. You can have it if you want. I love beautiful things the most in this world. Celiya, Celiya… Ah! Celiya!”

Arthur suddenly trembled, as if excited just by the thought of Celiya.

“Celiyaaaa!”

Arthur cried out Celiya’s name, covering his face with both hands.

Ileon looked at Arthur as if he were a madman.

He knew Arthur was obsessed with beautiful things, but he didn’t expect him to be this crazy about Celiya.

“By the way, did you know? I heard that Celiya you like so much is in a relationship with Dietrich.”

At those words, Arthur’s body stiffened. His face, which had been looking at the flowers, made a creaking sound as it turned towards Ileon.

“What did you say?”

“Didn’t you hear? The one you’re coveting already has an owner. Dietrich.”

“…Who is Dietrich?”

Ileon was about to say something but closed his mouth.

Arthur had rarely shown his face in the imperial palace.

Even when Dietrich was granted the title of duke, Arthur had locked himself in a secret room and delegated everything to his butler, so he knew nothing about it.

How much had he isolated himself from the world?

“How can you not know Dietrich?”

“I have no interest in anything that isn’t beautiful.”

“Is it because he’s a man that you’re not interested?”

Arthur swept his platinum hair upwards, putting on a smug expression.

“There can’t possibly exist a man more beautiful than me in this world, so naturally, I can’t be interested in other men, can I?”

His golden eyes on his pale skin shone brightly.

‘His self-love is overflowing and leaking.’

Ileon swallowed his curses inwardly.

Judging by his words, he clearly didn’t even know that Celiya had entered the emperor’s bedchamber.

If he had known, he would have abandoned his secluded life and rushed to the imperial palace long ago.

“So, Celiya is mine. No one else’s.”

Arthur’s eyes began to cloud over with possessiveness.

The sight of his snake-like yellow eyes becoming wet with obsession and madness was not a pleasant sight to behold.

“In my private room, preserved forever…”

Arthur muttered ominously.

“Unlike Jeremy and Erphia, Dietrich will be hard to kill. That guy is a Sword Master.”

“…Sword Master?”

“Yes. If you’re someone who has reached the extreme in magic, he’s someone who has reached the extreme in swordsmanship. Even you won’t be able to kill Dietrich.”

Ileon shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the door.

“I have to discuss with the ministers about what you’ve done, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Thud.

The door closed.

Left alone in the room, Arthur looked down at the silver pansy flowers.

Silver pansy flowers sparkling like Celiya’s hair.

“Celiya…”

Arthur closed his eyes and imagined Celiya, whom he had only seen briefly.

Large, clear green eyes reminiscent of a fresh forest, lips slightly parted in surprise, delicate wrists that seemed like they might break if touched, white and soft skin.

And, and.

−Arthur Cervantes?

The soft, red lips that had called his name.

“Celiya, Celiya, Celiya, Celiya…!”

Arthur kept calling out Celiya’s name like a madman.

He had never seen such a beautiful being in his life.

If he could, he wanted to preserve Celiya forever in his private room.

The most beautiful woman in the world, alive, in her fresh state.

“When we came to deliver breakfast, he was already dead in this state.”

At the knight’s report, Dietrich closely examined Jeremy’s corpse.

Jeremy’s body, slumped at the top of the tower, had no wounds.

“Poison?”

“There was no poison reaction. I think he might have taken his own life out of despair, but…”

Dietrich opened Jeremy’s tightly closed mouth to examine his tongue.

The tongue was clean, with no bite marks.

“It’s not suicide, but murder. The dead empress was also killed by the same person, with little time in between.”

“…Murder, you say? Who would dare to do such a thing with Duke Calypso present?”

Dietrich seemed to know who the culprit was.

Someone who could kill people so meticulously must be beyond human limits.

“Someone who can kill without using a weapon. Someone who fears nothing.”

“This is terrible. All the imperial family members in the palace have been killed. There are no imperial family members left now.”

If Abelon was a country that would disappear just because there were no imperial family members, it would have perished by his own hands long ago.

Dietrich nodded slightly, hiding his true thoughts.

“…What should we do now?”

“Since they were imperial family members, the funeral should be grand, but the mourning period should be just one day.”

“O-One day?”

The knight showed signs of bewilderment, perhaps thinking the mourning period was too short.

“It’s been over a month since the imperial throne became vacant. In this situation, a long mourning period won’t do any good.”

“I, I see. Then, what about the imperial throne…”

“Since the imperial bloodline has been completely cut off, someone else will have to take the throne. No one will oppose.”

Celiya was sitting on a black bench near the tower.

Although she had accompanied Dietrich, he couldn’t show her the corpse, so he left Anderson with her and entered the tower with the knight.

Seeing that Celiya looked bored, Anderson, who had been silently guarding her side, quietly took out a macaron from his pocket.

“I made these this morning, and I heard you like sweet things… Would you like to try one?”

“Thank you.”

Celiya sat on the bench and ate a pink macaron.

The sweet macaron spread throughout her mouth, melting softly.

“…How does it taste?”

“It’s delicious.”

Celiya munched on the macaron. With her cheeks puffed out as she ate the macaron, she looked just like a squirrel.

Anderson had an excellent eye for people. He could understand how Celiya had captured the heart of Dietrich, who had been so cold towards women.

Celiya had something that made people feel good.

Beyond her beauty, something that put people’s hearts at ease.

Of course, people who only focused on Celiya’s beauty would never know this.

After finishing the macaron, Celiya wiped the crumbs from her mouth with the back of her hand and said,

“It’s really delicious. Thank you for the tasty food.”

“Thank you!”

Anderson smiled happily.

There was someone secretly watching the two of them from behind a pillar.

A man wearing a black robe suddenly jumped out in front of the two.

“Celiya!”

The figure who leaped out shouting Celiya’s name was none other than Arthur.

There had clearly been no sign of his presence, yet he suddenly appeared.

Anderson looked at the intruder with a wary gaze.

“…Who are you?”

Arthur ignored Anderson’s words as if he had no interest in him at all.

Arthur’s gaze remained fixed on Celiya the entire time.

“Celiya! Call my name like you did then, okay?”

Celiya had no idea why Arthur was acting so familiar with her.

Judging by how he didn’t even blink after killing two people, he seemed to be an extremely dangerous individual.

When Celiya didn’t respond, Arthur, seemingly anxious, rubbed his hands together and said,

“Celiya, if you like sweet things, I can make as many as you want.”

Arthur muttered something incomprehensible.

Soon, colorful macarons appeared in his hand with a ‘poof’ sound.

“Here!”

Poof, poof, poof.

Celiya looked with a puzzled expression at the macarons repeatedly being created in Arthur’s previously empty hand.

“…Magic?”

Arthur nodded his head several times, seemingly pleased at Celiya’s words.

“Yes! I can make anything you want with magic.”

“…Who on earth are you?”

The smile disappeared completely from Arthur’s expression, as if he was displeased at having his enjoyable time with Celiya interrupted.

Although his eyes weren’t visible due to the hood, the half-visible part of his face indicated that he wasn’t in a very good mood.

Celiya hastily grabbed Arthur’s arm.

If she didn’t stop Arthur here and now, it seemed like he might harm Anderson.

“…Ah, ah! Huaaah!”

When Celiya grabbed his arm, Arthur began to tremble, letting out moans.

Many macarons that had appeared in his hand began to pile up on the floor.

Celiya removed her hand from Arthur’s wrist and said to Anderson,

“Anderson, go to Dietrich quickly.”

“…What?”

“Hurry! I’ll take care of things here.”

“No, how can you ask me to go up and leave you alone with this strange person! I absolutely cannot do that!”

Celiya felt a bit resentful towards Anderson, who was as upright as Dietrich.

For now, this Arthur person is clearly not in his right mind.

Seeing how he was fidgeting with his hands with a hardened expression just because she had a brief conversation with Anderson.

If Arthur did something while they were alone, she could block it using her ability, but with Anderson present, she couldn’t use her ability, which put Celiya in quite a predicament.

Meanwhile, Arthur was repeatedly inhaling and exhaling deeply, as if smelling the wrist that Celiya had grabbed.

“Who is that person?”

It was at that moment that Dietrich, who had just left the tower with the knight, spoke.

“Dietrich.”

At Celiya’s words, Arthur rushed towards Dietrich.

It was too fast a movement to even try to stop.