The capricious weather that had been raining all night seemed to tire of their bickering and stopped the rain.

The sun that had been hiding between the clouds appeared, and the two eventually came out to the city and arrived at the hospital.

The disguise tools that Adeline brought when fleeing from the Credion Marquis’s house were useful.

Just wearing glasses and changing her makeup made her look different.

The duke also wore brown lenses and a wig, but feeling this wasn’t enough for him, Adeline even put glasses on him to cover his eyes.

“Your fever has risen quite high. Take this medicine three times a day.”

After taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, Adeline felt her body become much lighter.

As her condition seemed to be improving, her mood also got better.

“Shall we sit in front of the fountain for a moment?”

“Now? We’re being chased.”

“Who would recognize us like this? Let’s rest for a bit.”

The duke looked at the clear sky and then pointed at the fountain in front, asking.

Adeline quickly glanced around.

The knights of the Credion Marquis family who had been moving in groups last night seemed to have left.

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

At the duke’s seemingly urging words, Adeline’s wariness eased just a little.

‘Alright, it should be okay for a bit.’

It was when the two were pleasantly resting at the fountain.

A kindly-looking elderly person approached the fountain, leading some neighborhood children.

He was holding dolls strung together in one arm.

Upon reaching the fountain, the elder sat on its edge, and the children naturally gathered around him.

This didn’t seem to be the first time this had happened.

The two couldn’t take their eyes off the heartwarming sight of the children huddled together.

ㅡ

This land was originally a barren place filled only with winter.

A righteous warrior heard rumors that a monster living at the mountain peak was making this land barren, so he climbed the mountain.

Finally, upon reaching the summit, an amazing sight greeted the warrior’s eyes.

A beautiful woman was trapped inside an ice crystal. Even with her eyes closed, the woman with raven-black hair was so beautiful that the warrior couldn’t take his eyes off her.

The moment he touched the ice crystal while in a daze, the earth shook and a huge monster appeared.

It expressed anger at the warrior who coveted the woman in the crystal.

After a long battle, the warrior was able to defeat the monster.

The moment the ice crystal was covered with the monster’s blood, the ice storm that had been raging on the cold mountaintop stopped, and a warm breeze began to blow gently.

The ice cracked, and finally, the woman inside opened her eyes.

The woman’s eyes sparkled red like clear, transparent rubies.

The warrior couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who had opened her eyes.

The woman approached the warrior and said:

“As you have awakened me, the goddess Helena, and saved this land, I bestow upon you the right to rule this land for generations to come.”

The warrior, struck by these words, naturally knelt down in worship.

The goddess took one step closer and bestowed a kiss on the warrior’s forehead.

Then the warrior’s eyes began to turn red.

“Rule the world with these eyes. These eyes will be proof of the qualification I have bestowed.”

The warrior named this land Soltarius after himself, who had brought warmth to the world, and began to rule.

The first emperor of Soltarius first built a temple for the goddess Helena in the closest and best location to the imperial palace.

Even now, more than 600 years after the founding of the empire, under the blessing of the goddess Helena, only one person per generation in the imperial family was born with red eyes.

Although all imperial descendants were of Soltarius’s bloodline, those who did not have red eyes were not recognized by the goddess Helena and could not ascend to the throne.

For generations, the imperial descendant with red eyes had to receive the approval of the goddess Helena before ascending to the throne, proving that they had inherited the goddess’s blessing.

Those who passed this proof all ruled this empire benevolently and kindly.

ㅡ

The content of the puppet show was the founding legend of the Soltarius Empire.

Although Adeline had heard this story since childhood, she was newly captivated by the elder’s telling.

“Del, is that story true?”

Adeline was puzzled by the duke’s sudden question.

“Yes. Since the founding of the empire, all emperors have had red eyes, and many are said to have been born with black hair. And it was said that only one person per generation is born with red eyes.

And now it’s a bit different as two people were born with red eyes. Namely, Duke Torpeo and the Crown Prince.”

Even as Adeline continued speaking, she sensed something strange.

“Then why do I know of three people?”

Adeline couldn’t answer the duke’s words.

The duke and he are one person. Even setting that aside, there were two with red eyes in this generation – the Crown Prince and the duke.

“This country’s Crown Prince and duke. And don’t I have red eyes too?”

Adeline quickly covered the duke’s mouth, afraid someone might hear.

Even to her, it seemed strange.

‘Why do both the Crown Prince and the duke have red eyes?’

The moment a question she had never considered strange before arose, Adeline became afraid.

As if she had encountered a massive secret she shouldn’t know.

Could it be that the person trying to harm the duke is the mad Crown Prince?

There should be only one sun under one sky.

But in the empire, there are two born with red eyes, which are no different from the emperor’s proof.

The assumption that the Crown Prince tried to kill the duke who threatened his position seems quite plausible.

Adeline recalled that the ‘Torpeo’ ducal family to which the duke belonged was a prestigious family that had produced empresses for generations.

Wasn’t the previous empress also from the Torpeo ducal family? Although the fate of the deposed empress was not good.

‘Certainly, if it’s the Torpeo family, they would have imperial blood mixed in, so it’s not strange for red eyes to appear, but…’

Adeline narrowed her eyes as she looked at the duke before her.

No matter how close the duke’s family is to the imperial family, it’s not easy for the emperor’s proof to appear unless they are direct bloodline descendants.

Is it just a groundless fear?

Adeline finally dismissed it as a useless delusion and organized her thoughts.

No matter how high his social status, the emperor’s proof? That’s nonsense.

“Let’s go back now.”

Adeline stood up and held out her hand to the duke.

At that time, Severus leaned back on the sofa seat in front of the table as if lying down.

Although he stayed at Horn’s finest inn, it wasn’t to his liking.

He had received word that traces of Adeline had been found in Horn.

“Your Grace, we’ve found traces of Lady Adeline moving south. It seems she exchanged the jewels she took at a pawnshop for gold coins.”

“The route?”

“As she moved straight south, we expect it’s the Horn region.”

The Horn region, far from the capital where the Credion Marquis family’s downtown house is located.

Known as the end-of-the-land village, Horn was the region with the smallest population in the Soltarius Empire. In short, an underdeveloped area.

To think she fled to a town without even a proper local nobility.

With the news of the Crown Prince’s marriage proposal arriving, Adeline disappeared at dawn.

Adeline had been a child uninterested in marriage since she was young.

Or to be more precise, she wasn’t interested in things that noble girls would typically be interested in.

‘Marriage, luxury goods, social circles.’

Adeline, who showed no interest in any of these, was only interested in money.

A child interested in business that one would typically do in a merchant group.

Therefore, while he thought she wouldn’t welcome the engagement to the Crown Prince, he didn’t expect her to run away like this.

For a moment, the Marquis’s eyes flashed fiercely.

At first, he thought it was a simple runaway and that she would return after a few days.

As the inherited property wasn’t much, the assets Adeline took weren’t much either.

Having lived her whole life as the only daughter of the Marquis family, he thought she would return crying and reluctantly agree to the engagement with the Crown Prince.

But as one day became a week, and a month passed, Adeline showed no signs of returning.

“Your Grace, His Highness the Crown Prince is very displeased. It’s been a month since the marriage proposal was sent, yet there’s been such a delayed response.”

“Surely Lady Credion hasn’t truly gone missing? Right before her engagement to the one and only Crown Prince of this Soltarius Empire.”

The words of the Crown Prince’s secretary had a sharp edge. It was an unspoken pressure to find Adeline and respond to the engagement.

In the end, Severus had no choice but to set out to find Adeline.

With the report that Adeline had moved to Horn, Severus organized a group of knights and headed south.

He thought she would be easy to find as she looked exactly like him and would stand out anywhere.

But she couldn’t be found easily.

The Marquis took a deep drag from his lit tobacco pipe and exhaled.

The turbid smoke dispersing in the air seemed to represent Severus’s feelings, making him feel choked up.

At that moment, there was a knock, and a subordinate appeared.

“Your Grace.”

“How did it go?”

The man approached in front of where Severus was sitting and knelt down.

“I’m sorry. We deployed the knights, but couldn’t find any trace of the young lady. It seems she’s skilled at disguise, making it difficult to find…”

Severus picked up the glass on the table and threw it towards the knight commander.

With a loud crash, the teacup shattered right next to the man.

A flying shard grazed the man’s cheek diagonally.

The knight commander’s face turned pale as red blood dripped to the floor.

“Are you saying this Marquis Credion should return empty-handed after coming all the way here?”

As the chilling voice rang out, the commander bowed his head to the floor.

More than a few knights had been dismissed for displeasing the Marquis.

“I’m sorry! We’ll turn the entire empire upside down if we have to…”

Before the knight commander could finish speaking.

The Marquis’s secretary, who had been standing in the shadows behind Severus, came out and bowed his head. The man was the Marquis’s closest aide.

“Your Grace, it’s time to return now. Please leave finding Lady Adeline to them and return.”

Severus furrowed his brow at the secretary’s words.

“You have a dinner appointment with His Highness the Crown Prince in three days.”

The ‘them’ the secretary referred to meant those who handle the Credion Marquis family’s covert affairs.

Severus muttered ‘useless’ towards the knight commander and stood up.

To think he was being pushed around by a young Crown Prince because he couldn’t find his own daughter.

“Let’s return. I’ll decide your punishment when we get back.”

Severus’s gaze sweeping over the knight commander was as cold as frost.