Biare, who visited the underworld to obtain information about the imperial family, found Burnaud sitting in the office at No. 34.

She had moved secretly without telling Gaizen, thinking he might worry and suspect something if she asked him.

Glancing at Fabian, who was now pouring tea into cups as if familiar with it, she brought the cup placed in front of her to her lips.

“Lady, oh. Should I address you differently now?”

As Fabian chuckled, Biare, displeased, glared at him and said:

“Just call me as you usually do.”

“Then I’ll call you Lady.”

As befitting the empire’s top information guild, the vice guild master already knew about her engagement to the crown prince.

According to Fabian, after her engagement ceremony, Gaizen visited Burnaud at No. 34 with swollen eyes.

“You’ve already seen the pile of documents about His Highness the Crown Prince, why check them all night again?”

Somehow, her brother had left early after the engagement ceremony, saying he had somewhere to go.

‘I didn’t know he came here…’

Gaizen had been complaining until the day before the engagement that he couldn’t give his sister to such a lowly man.

He must have intended to find any information that could be a weakness to persuade his sister.

Biare couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh, as her reason for coming here was no different from his.

Looking at her curiously, Fabian asked in an unusually serious and cautious manner:

“By the way… did you find the key?”

Although he was the one who had passed on the information, Fabian somehow seemed to hope that she hadn’t found the key.

To this, Biare, sipping her tea, shook her head and said with a complicated expression:

“No, I just can’t think of any place Gaizen might go.”

At those words, Fabian seemed to swallow a sigh of relief, and soon showed his usual glib attitude.

“Don’t be too disheartened, Lady.”

At that moment, a reddish communication orb flickered noticeably, and Fabian, looking slightly flustered, quickly attempted to connect.

Puzzled by the red light different from the usual blue, Biare watched him.

−Vice Guild Master, we have a big problem!

“Did something happen?”

−The Duke has come here!

“What? Even when the Guild Master isn’t here?”

−It seems he has separate business with you, Vice Guild Master.

“Huh… When did he arrive that you’re only contacting me now?”

−I’m sorry. I was overwhelmed by the sudden situation.

“Damn, I understand. Let’s end the call for now.”

Fabian, who hurriedly ended the communication orb contact, seemed flustered by the unexpected situation.

His characteristic composure had long since disappeared, leaving only a floundering appearance as if troubled.

Soon, looking at Biare, he pretended to regain his composure, but his voice still trembled at the end.

“As you’ve heard, the Duke will be here soon.”

Wearing a white mask and rubbing his face dry, he seemed to be trying to quickly come up with a countermeasure.

The Duke’s sudden appearance was just as startling for Biare.

The sound of footsteps slowly approaching from the end of the long underground passage echoed clearly.

“Is there no other way out besides this underground passage?”

To her words, Fabian firmly shook his head.

Adding that even if she used transformation magic, the Duke would notice immediately.

In the end, all hope of escaping this place was shattered, and they were trapped in a cage.

‘I absolutely must not be caught by Father.’

Fabian, who first got up and watched the situation outside through the door crack, closed the office door again and said:

“This won’t do. Lady, please hide here quickly.”

In the underground passage’s office with no separate hiding space, Biare was crouched under Gaizen’s desk.

The approaching footsteps that had been getting closer suddenly stopped in front of the office, and then the door flung open.

Hiding his flustered appearance, Fabian greeted the Duke standing before him with proper courtesy.

“I greet the Former Divine Absence.”

“It’s been a while, Fabian.”

Lightly patting his shoulder, the Duke sat in a spacious single sofa and said, looking at Fabian:

“Why don’t you sit down too?”

“Yes, Duke.”

Following his order, Fabian sat up straight on the long sofa.

Biare, hiding under the desk, was tense about being discovered by the Duke, but she didn’t miss a word of their conversation.

“It’s been three years since you started working with Gaizen, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. Thanks to the Guild Master taking such good care of the work, things have been going smoothly.”

Seeing Fabian’s attitude so different from how he usually treated Gaizen, Biare inwardly swallowed a bitter laugh.

The one who never bowed even to his master was now flattering the Duke.

Meanwhile, Fabian carefully observed the Duke’s expression and asked:

“But why has such an esteemed person come all the way here…”

The Duke gave him a hearty laugh and then answered in a serious voice:

“I need you to find a little rat for me.”

“A… rat, you say?”

Fabian asked again, seemingly puzzled by the Former Divine Absence’s words.

“Yes. It entered the merchant guild’s office about a month ago, but we still haven’t caught it.”

Their conversation sent chills down Biare’s spine.

The ‘rat’ her father was talking about must mean her.

At this, Fabian, unable to close his mouth in surprise, glanced briefly towards the desk and then looked at him and answered:

“Why are you ordering me instead of telling the Guild Master?”

“If you say that, I’ll feel hurt. This isn’t an order, but a request.”

“Haha, right. Not an order, but a request. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Smiling at Fabian’s accommodating attitude, the Duke soon spoke in a somewhat calm voice:

“I think we need to test if we can fully trust that child.”

‘Father is testing Gaizen…?’

Biare couldn’t understand what her father was saying now.

After using that young child all this time, to still have tests remaining… her feelings were beyond complicated.

Soon their conversation ended, and the Duke left, saying he had to return to deal with piled-up work.

Fabian, who returned after seeing the Duke off, let out a sigh of relief seeing her come out from under the desk.

“Lady, are you alright?”

“Yes. What do you plan to do?”

“What do you mean…”

“About that rat your father personally asked you to find.”

“That doesn’t seem to be something for you to worry about, Lady…”

Then, as if asking if his thought was correct, he stared intently at Biare.

To this, Biare simply met his gaze calmly without showing any particular reaction.

“Really, you all go too far.”

He took a deep breath and exhaled, grumbling that the Ruschef family seemed to have become experts at tormenting him.

“I simply want to know your intentions.”

“…I will remain someone who knows nothing about this matter.”

“Can you keep that promise?”

“Despite appearances, I am the person holding the position of vice guild master of the information guild.”

Holding such an important position, he was asserting his trustworthiness as someone who could keep secrets.

Biare agreed with this, so she nodded and said:

“Then I’ll trust you.”

Pulling her robe down deeply, Biare carefully looked around and left Burnaud No. 34.

The underworld still reeked of a pungent moldy smell, and the streets exuded a dirty and gloomy atmosphere.

Biare was hurrying towards the place where a private carriage would be waiting.

On her way, she noticed someone giving silver coins to dying people on the streets.

Thinking it couldn’t be, she stared at him quietly, but his face was also covered with a robe, so she couldn’t see it properly.

However, when she saw the pocket watch he took out, Biare’s heart sank.

‘Why are you still here?’

She wanted to approach Dension and ask worriedly if something was wrong, but she couldn’t dare to.

Biare had to distance herself from him to protect him, who was her weakness.

‘Otherwise, Sion, you’ll be in danger.’

As she tried to ignore him and move on, a gust of wind blew her robe off, and soon Biare’s long hair fluttered lightly.

Dension discovered her and asked as if he couldn’t believe it:

“Lady Ruschef…?”

Realizing she had already been spotted by him, Biare tidied her hair, pulled her robe down deeply, and answered:

“I greet Marquis Verdeum.”

“Why is the lady in the underworld? Do you know how dangerous this place is?”

Dension’s urgent question was mixed with concern and reproach, and Biare bit her lip finely.

She now had to remove that excessive consideration towards her with her own hands.

“I don’t think I have any reason to tell you why I came here, Marquis.”

As she answered with an indifferent expression and a strangely sharp voice, his blue eyes wavered as if disturbed.

“…Did something happen?”

“I don’t think I have any reason to tell you that either, Marquis.”

She was enunciating each word clearly, but it felt like those daggers were stabbing her instead.

Unable to bear looking at Dension’s hurt face, Biare turned her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Is it because I’m Marquis Verdeum… Is that why?”

“…”

Whether he was saying this knowing something, or if it was about his family that had fallen out of favor with the imperial family.

Biare couldn’t judge what Dension meant by saying such words.

She chose to simply remain silent and move away from him.

Because that was the best choice she could make.