At the table where Biare sat, the sounds of the dealer running the game, the chips, and the cards being played blended together.

Eventually, as the dealer placed the river card on the table, the final betting round came to an end.

When they opened their cards, the dealer confirmed the winner and pushed the chips towards her, the victor of this game.

“This can’t be. You all cheated, didn’t you?”

The man who slammed the table, unable to accept the result, glared at Biare with a desperate expression.

“This game is void! I know you’re all in cahoots!”

Biare let out a shallow sigh as she watched the man, drunk yet still ranting about the use of tricks.

“Hmm, you should no longer lay your hands on this game.”

The man seemed to have already sold off the donated items he received from the Ruschef family’s charity event a few days ago and was now lingering in the gambling den.

‘I’m sure this wasn’t the intent of the donation.’

Clicking her tongue, Biare looked back and instructed to drag out the man who could barely keep his balance due to intoxication.

Tonio and Joian, who joined later, dumped the man in a secluded alley, and Biare approached him with a slight smile.

“Indeed, this place seems to suit you better.”

“Shut up. Do you know who I am…!”

“Yes, tell me.”

“What…?”

“Who do you belong to?”

At her direct question, the man suddenly closed his mouth as if he had swallowed honey.

It seemed that the man, who hadn’t properly grasped the situation until now, finally realized that something was going wrong.

“Hmm, are you going to keep your mouth shut till the end?”

At Biare’s slight nod, Tonio pulled out a small bottle from inside the man’s clothes.

“You were in possession of a drug banned in the Marta Empire.”

“……”

“If the military police were to find out about this, what do you think would happen to you?”

Even the most capable member of an assassination organization couldn’t escape the military police and the law.

‘They couldn’t have been caught so carelessly.’

Now that she looked closer, the man seemed to be a low-ranking member.

“Aaagh―”

“I’m not interested in who you are. I just need to know your affiliation.”

“…What do you mean by affiliation?”

“Are you going to pretend not to know till the end?”

Biare tilted her head and snapped her fingers again, and at that moment, Tonio approached as if to touch the man.

“Aaah― I don’t know the details either!”

The man screamed, crouching and covering his face with his hands.

“You know well that’s not what I wanted to hear.”

As Biare gave the order to continue, the man shouted once more.

“I’ll talk. I’ll talk, okay!”

At those words, she approached the man slowly with her arms crossed.

“Now speak. I’m being quite generous.”

The man, held by both arms by Tonio and Joian, seemed to have sobered up and began to spill the information he knew.

According to him, he was a low-ranking member of the assassination organization and had never met his master.

He said that there were others who actually moved, and he was usually in charge of menial tasks like transporting or cleaning up corpses, and erasing traces.

“You must know who the leader of the organization is.”

“I really don’t know!”

The man pleaded his innocence, then fell into thought as if recalling something before speaking.

“But I’ve heard talk about the high-ranking members.”

“High-ranking members?”

“The ones who actually move in the organization.”

“Who are they?”

“They said they were some kind of shadow figures.”

“Shadow…?”

Looking back on her past life, there was only one organization called the shadow.

‘Is it really related to the imperial family?’

Biare tried to hide her trembling voice and asked the man again.

“Can you swear to that?”

As Tonio beside Biare raised his sword, the man nodded repeatedly and said.

“What would someone like me have to hide!”

In any case, the man was involved with the assassination organization.

Although she hadn’t secured exact physical evidence, her suspicions were certain.

The man, watching Biare’s expression, angrily asked if he could be released now, to which Biare gave a stern warning before letting him go.

“The day you reveal what happened here, your life will disappear forever.”

At those words, the man nodded vigorously and, at Biare’s nod, ran away without looking back.

It felt uneasy to let him go like this, but it was better than having this fact revealed to others.

“My Lady, are you alright?”

“Yes, you both did well.”

“We only follow the young lady’s will.”

Biare was grateful to them for following her without asking anything.

“Split my chips between the two of you.”

Tonio and Joian adamantly refused, saying they couldn’t accept, to which Biare said it was a small token of appreciation for their help so far.

But with the promise that they would never enter a casino again.

So they returned to the mansion, and Biare immediately entered her bedroom and was lost in thought alone.

Blood flowed from her lips as she bit them, unable to contain her anger.

“It really was the imperial family…”

She opened her clenched fist and looked at the cufflink inside.

The owner of that cufflink she had been searching for was a member of the organization that acted as the shadow of the imperial family.

The shadow organization was known to be a direct agency of the imperial family, following only the emperor’s orders.

Biare was trying hard to organize the current situation.

The person who led the previous Duke and Duchess Verdeum to their deaths was the current emperor, and according to the past, he was supposed to pass away before this winter.

Then, Ivan, who ascended to the throne, would be the culprit who killed Dension.

Biare felt like she had been hit hard on the head and wanted to go straight to Ivan and confront him.

In the end, those who benefited from the annihilation of the Verdeum ducal family were the current emperor of the Marta Empire and his son.

She laughed bitterly at the fact that the truth she had been searching for was not different from what she had thought.

‘Was it really because of me?’

Clearly, Ivan in the past had been rejected by Biare several times and failed to arrange a marriage.

Biare, too, had long lost contact with him by conveying her intentions through her father, so she didn’t think to suspect Ivan.

But now she could understand why the Duke had tried so hard to hide the cufflinks and the secrets associated with them.

After all, her father had essentially helped them.

Biare felt a strong sense of betrayal from the Duke and didn’t know what to do.

It felt like the puzzles that didn’t fit were now coming together to form a single picture.

In the end, she had not only failed to protect her beloved, but had essentially driven him to his death.

Biare’s bedroom was filled with silent sobs and screams.

‘It’s because I foolishly desired you…’

Regret for the past days when she had coveted him, who had been a pillar in her life, was spreading like a flood.

The misfortune he shouldn’t have experienced was ultimately because of her.

Struggling in the swamp of despair, Biare had no confidence to escape from that pit.

Barely composing her crumbling mind, she looked at her trembling hands.

‘This time, I must protect Sion.’

If her predictions were correct, Ivan would still be considering her position.

Of course, it would be better if that was her exaggeration.

If Dension volunteered to head into the enemy’s lair, Biare intended to act before him.

“I won’t just watch you die.”

On the day she was to pass information to Dension, Biare headed to the information guild’s office early.

Fabian, who had deliberately chosen a day when Gaizen’s schedule was packed for Biare to meet Dension, seemed to have kept the secret as promised.

“You don’t look well, Lady.”

“I’m fine.”

Although he usually liked to tease Biare, he seemed to be worried about her pale complexion.

Fabian, who had been examining her condition, handed over the prepared information documents and added.

“I’ve organized it to the extent I could cut.”

It meant that her sensitive personal information wasn’t included in these documents.

“Yes, thank you.”

“…Are you really alright?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry. Then, I’ll be going.”

At Biare’s words, he snapped his fingers twice, and she soon transformed into the appearance of the same man as before.

“Please let me know if you need any help.”

“Alright, I’ll be back.”

Biare, who had reached the reception room door after passing through a long corridor, quickly reorganized the documents she had been skimming through.

As expected, there was no information related to the incident involving the previous Duke and Duchess Verdeum.

That was information that could only be known if one possessed the key to the absence of God.

Fabian had previously asked her to wait a little longer, saying he was still figuring out the origin of the key she had requested.

‘It would be good if definitive evidence comes out soon.’

Biare, who had let out a deep sigh, entered the reception room through the door opened by the clerk.

“…You’ve waited long.”

“Yes, did you bring the information?”

Biare was grateful that she was wearing a mask. Otherwise, she would have revealed her miserable expression.

She silently handed over the documents containing information about the previous Duke and Duchess, and Dension, who quickly flipped through them, soon said with a sneer.

“Do you really believe the information written here is true?”

“……”

“I’ve just wasted time.”

“The information about Lady Ruschef is also here.”

As Biare hurriedly tried to hand over the remaining documents, he looked at them with a cold face and said.

“That… is no longer necessary. You may leave now.”

Biare, who couldn’t pass on accurate information to protect him, bowed her head in apology.

Yet she couldn’t fathom why he, who had demanded information about her, now said he no longer needed it.

After spending several sleepless nights, she had come to one conclusion.

‘Engagement to the Crown Prince.’

Biare steeled herself, knowing that greater power was needed to protect Dension.

Because that was the only way she could protect him.