Whether it was good to just hear his younger sibling’s name, Daniel laughed out loud this time.

“Yes. Strictly speaking, Rose is a nickname, and her formal name is Rosette.”

“Rose…tte? Did your master give her that name?”

“No. Her original name is Rosette. I don’t know who gave it to her, but I think they named her that because her hair is pink like a rose.”

“Pink? Are her eyes blue by any chance?”

“How did you know? Yes, they are blue.”

“…”

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

“It’s nothing.”

Joshua managed his expression and asked his final question.

“Was it perhaps not Cellinne but that youngest princess who saved your master this time?”

“…”

Daniel was indeed poor at lying. He smiled while subtly avoiding Joshua’s gaze.

From that attitude, Joshua concluded that his thoughts were correct.

Joshua fell into thought as he watched Daniel leave Sapphire Palace. His mind was in turmoil from the flood of information.

‘The past has changed again. Why?’

In the past he remembered, it was clearly Daniel Adrienne, not Duke Adrienne, who suffered the mysterious carriage accident.

That accident had left Daniel, a promising swordsman, limping for life, so he certainly wasn’t misremembering.

That’s why Joshua had risked suspicion to warn Daniel.

Yet it was Duke Adrienne, whom he hadn’t been concerned about at all, who actually suffered the accident.

Moreover.

‘Even the timing has subtly changed.’

In the past, Daniel’s accident occurred after the social season had properly begun. But this accident happened before spring had even arrived.

He wondered if there were still forces targeting Daniel, but that didn’t seem to be the case. What were the odds of two identical carriage accidents occurring around the same time?

So Joshua concluded that for some reason, the target had changed to Duke Adrienne.

And there was another difference.

‘They said they caught the culprit this time. Viscount Shane, was it?’

In the past, even though Duke Adrienne had searched the empire thoroughly in anger, he couldn’t find the culprit, but this time they found the mastermind rather easily.

Is this possible? Joshua let out a small groan.

In fact, this wasn’t the first time an anomaly had occurred in the Adrienne ducal family. The past had already changed once.

‘Rosette Adrienne.’

A girl suddenly adopted into the Adrienne family.

Joshua sat at his desk, mulling over that name.

He already knew a girl named Rosette with pink hair and blue eyes. However, the full name of the girl he knew was ‘Rosette Dallas’.

The girl who was an adopted daughter of the Dallas family in the ‘past’ he remembered.

‘Come to think of it, it was around this time that Duke Dallas adopted that child.’

Rosette wasn’t a common name. Could there be two people with not only the same rare name, but also the same appearance? Moreover, the timing of their adoption was similar. They were also said to have talent in magic.

No matter how he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that the girl he knew and the youngest princess of the Adrienne family were the same person.

‘If the second princess of Adrienne is really the Rosette Dallas I know.’

Why on earth is that girl in the Adrienne ducal family instead of the Dallas viscounty?

It was confusing.

Why is the very person who led the Adrienne ducal family to ruin there of all places?

What was unexpected was not Rosette’s side, but that Duke Adrienne had decided to adopt. If Rosette had approached first, he would have suspected ulterior motives, but that didn’t seem to be the case based on the circumstances.

‘Should I consider that fortunate?’

Is this the arrangement of Goddess Ashela, or a curse of the evil god?

‘Either way, if she really is Rosette Dallas, she must be driven out of the Adrienne family.’

Joshua clenched his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his palm as he recalled the still-vivid past.

It was a peaceful night like any other. He was about to fall asleep after handling paperwork late at night when his aide rushed in urgently.

“Your Highness, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?”

“The Adrienne mansion has been attacked, they say.”

Until then, Joshua had been indifferent.

“Is that something to report so urgently at this late hour?”

It wasn’t the first time assassins had infiltrated the Adrienne mansion. Most of them were caught by the guards.

Even if they succeeded in penetrating deep into the mansion, they posed no threat to the Adriennes. All four Adriennes were among the best swordsmen in the empire.

So this time too, it would have passed without incident. Joshua was thinking that as he headed back to bed.

“Duke Adrienne and Young Master Daniel have been killed.”

“…What did you say?”

“The Duke and the first young master… Ugh!”

The aide felt as if his throat was being choked by the killing intent emanating from Joshua, who had suddenly drawn near. Joshua spoke to him who couldn’t continue speaking properly, enunciating each word clearly.

“I asked what you just said.”

“The two of them have passed away…”

“If you don’t speak properly, even you won’t be safe.”

“It’s… true.”

This can’t be. Master and Daniel being defeated? This could happen. But confirmation was needed.

Joshua headed to the mansion without even dressing properly, wearing just a shirt and trousers.

The Adrienne mansion, which he arrived at faster than ever before, was in an uproar. Knights from the Imperial Knights had already come out and surrounded the mansion.

“Who goes there… Prince Joshua?”

“Move aside.”

“We’re still investigating. Even if you’re the prince, you can’t enter…”

“Didn’t you hear me tell you to move?”

Joshua pushed aside the spear tip of the knight blocking his way with his finger. Though he had only pushed lightly, the knight fell backwards.

Joshua walked inside without even glancing at the knight who had fallen on his backside.

The inside of the mansion was even more chaotic. The bodies of sentries were strewn across the floor, and red blood was splattered here and there.

Joshua passed through the horrific scene and headed straight for Duke Adrienne’s office.

“Master!”

But what greeted him was Lucas’s heart-wrenching cry.

“Father! Please open your eyes, Father!”

In the arms of Lucas, who was kneeling on the floor, lay Duke Adrienne. He had his eyes closed as if sleeping soundly, but his left chest area was stained red.

It was an unbelievable sight even seeing it directly. Joshua stood blankly at the doorway before unconsciously taking a step back.

Sensing his presence, Lucas turned to look at him. His cheeks were already soaked with tears.

“Your Highness.”

“…”

“Father has… sob.”

Lucas cried out loud like a child. Joshua belatedly approached him. Kneeling on one knee, he placed his hand on the Duke’s chest, which had been cleanly pierced through.

He couldn’t feel a heartbeat. With a desperate hope, he used healing magic. The wound began to heal from the edges, soon disappearing without a trace.

However, the heart that had already stopped showed no sign of beating again. Joshua began performing CPR that he had learned sometime before. He repeatedly pressed hard on the sternum with both hands.

But there was no response. The Duke, who always smiled kindly whenever he saw him, no longer smiled.

“Please stop, Your Highness. Father is already…”

Only when Lucas, unable to bear it any longer, stopped him did he cease the CPR. As he blankly stared at his two hands stained red, tears belatedly began to fall.

“Master, why…”

Joshua first met Duke Adrienne when he was three years old.

At that time, the Duchess Adrienne, who was still alive then, was the first friend Ophelia, Joshua’s mother, made after coming to the empire.

Duke Adrienne was reluctant to teach Joshua, but began lessons at his wife’s request.

He was a strict yet caring teacher at times. Joshua followed Duke Adrienne more than the Emperor, who was cold and showed no affection. Sometimes he felt as if the Duke was like a father to him.

Duke Adrienne was the strongest person he knew, both externally and internally. Perhaps that’s why Joshua never thought he would die so suddenly.

After crying for a long while, Joshua finally composed himself and got up. This time, he headed for Daniel’s room.

Next to the fallen Daniel sat Isabella. Unlike Lucas, she wasn’t crying. She was just blankly staring down at Daniel. She didn’t turn to look even as Joshua approached.

Joshua silently looked down at Daniel. He had died without even fully closing his eyes.

Perhaps because he had already seen Duke Adrienne, tears didn’t come. Only a hollow laugh escaped.

Joshua carefully closed Daniel’s eyes and asked in a low voice.

“Who did this?”

Isabella answered with a still blank face.

“We don’t know yet.”

“The assassin? Did they escape?”

“No. They were caught.”

“Caught? How did you catch them?”

The opponent was someone who had killed Duke Adrienne and Daniel. Yet they were caught so easily? It was unbelievable.

“When the knights and I arrived here, the assassin was standing still in front of my brother’s body.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Isabella covered her face with both hands. She took a deep breath and continued.

“It’s a young girl.”

“What?”

“A child who doesn’t know why she’s involved in something like this. I’m not even sure if she really did it. Please make sure to uncover the truth.”

“You speak as if you’re worried about that child.”

Isabella stood up and muttered bitterly.

“Because Father would have certainly done so.”

He probably would have. Duke Adrienne had a soft spot for children.

Then Joshua suddenly noticed the difference between Duke Adrienne and Daniel.

‘Master showed no signs of struggle. Daniel has other wounds.’

The only wound left on the Duke was the hole in his left chest. This was nonsense even if the opponent was a highly skilled assassin.

That meant Duke Adrienne hadn’t resisted in the first place.

‘He’s not the type to let his guard down simply because the opponent was a child, so it seems he couldn’t bring himself to attack.’

That made it even more despicable. It meant they had taken advantage of Duke Adrienne’s nature.

Joshua clenched his fists tightly.

“I swear on the name of Joshua Ernhardt that I will uncover the mastermind behind this.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Joshua took one last look at Daniel before leaving the mansion.

He felt as if his insides were burning, but there was no time to grieve now.

Thirteen years ago, when his mother Ophelia Ernhardt died, he was only twelve years old. He wanted to uncover the truth behind her death, but he was too young to act directly.

But now it’s different. He was an adult now, and he could wield power.

He would find them without fail.

This time, without leaving any regrets.