“Marriage……”

The Emperor, recalling his beloved daughter’s face, asked Duke Anderson with a heavy sigh.

“Prime Minister, who do you think the Kingdom of Tirione will send?”

“The kingdom’s crown prince married a few years ago and recently had a son. He wouldn’t dare think of taking the Eregron’s princess as a concubine, so it’s likely to be the second prince.”

“The second prince……”

“He’s the second child born to the queen, a full brother of the crown prince.”

“And his personality?”

“I’ve heard he has an amiable disposition without any rough edges… but the accuracy is low as he doesn’t spend much time in the kingdom.”

“He doesn’t stay in the kingdom?”

“It’s said he dislikes being tied to one place and enjoys traveling abroad.”

The Emperor frowned at the Duke’s words.

Just hearing that alone made him unsuitable as a spouse for his beloved daughter.

“Someone who doesn’t tie himself to a place is unlikely to tie himself to a person.”

This settles it.

Even if Alicia were to nod her head, the Emperor would step in to prevent it.

Having organized his thoughts thus, Duke Anderson nodded.

‘If that fellow couldn’t obtain permission, how could the second prince of Tirione….’

Although he disliked Killian, when considering the competition between the Duke of Eregron and the second prince of Tirione, Duke Anderson couldn’t help but lean towards Killian.

Moreover, setting aside personal likes and dislikes, Killian was a man who lacked nothing as a match for Princess Alicia.

‘That’s only when considering the conditions thoroughly.’

Duke Anderson glanced at Killian’s expressionless face from the corner of his eye, clicking his tongue briefly before placing the news he had brought on the table.

“It seems Count Findley wants to reclaim his family’s territory.”

“On what grounds?”

The question came from Duke MacLeod.

Having witnessed the entire succession war of the Diaz ducal family, he frowned, recalling the face of the former Duke Findley, who had been devoured after trying to increase his own power by interfering in other families’ affairs.

A greedy toad who wasn’t satisfied with the power he held and tried to extend his influence to other families.

In the end, he was devoured by Killian and met a miserable end, but Duke MacLeod thought he should have received an even greater punishment when recalling what he had done.

“He claims it’s territory his family has guarded for generations.”

“Nonsense.”

Duke MacLeod, who had answered firmly, spoke to the Emperor.

“Because the ownership of the western lands is unclear, he’s harboring unnecessary greed.”

“I suppose so.”

“Before he commits foolish acts like his father, it would be best to choose a family to guard the west, Your Majesty.”

“Do you think the punishment Duke Diaz received was sufficient?”

“If you don’t think it was sufficient, you can impose another punishment. The empire has always had four dukes. We can’t protect all the borders with just three.”

“Are you lecturing me?”

“How could I dare to harbor such thoughts?”

In response to the Emperor’s question, Duke MacLeod rose from his seat, knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and continued speaking.

“Please consider the balance for Eregron’s sake.”

“Balance……”

“That’s the reason the empire needs four dukes.”

As soon as Duke MacLeod finished speaking, Killian and Duke Fraser rose from their seats and, like him, knelt on one knee and bowed their heads.

It was a sign that they also agreed with Duke MacLeod’s opinion that four dukes were needed.

The Emperor, taking in the sight of the three dukes kneeling and waiting for his answer, tapped his fingers on the armrest before raising his hand.

“Rise.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Since that is your opinion, I will seriously consider it.”

“Thank you.”

After this spring’s banquet ends and some time passes, the empire will once again have four dukes.

If the Emperor has no other thoughts, this year will also be the last of Killian’s punishment.

Duke MacLeod, after briefly taking in the sight of Killian, who would soon be preparing to hand over his territory, placed the news he had brought on the table as if it were his turn.

“The Tower of Sages wishes to receive a visitor.”

“From the Tower of Sages?”

“Yes, an official letter will arrive on this matter as well, but they say they’d like to welcome one of the royal family as a visitor.”

“Is this related to the recent demonic beast incident?”

“They haven’t revealed the exact purpose to me.”

Unless there were special circumstances, the Emperor and his successor could not leave the imperial palace.

It was a law for safety, so currently, Alicia was the only member of the royal family who could leave the capital and head to the Tower of Sages.

The Tower of Sages must know this, so this should be seen as an invitation directed at Alicia.

The Tower of Sages wanting to see Alicia, of all places… It was impossible not to connect this with the appearance of the demonic beast that was said to call his daughter’s name.

“We’ll discuss that matter with Adrian after receiving the official letter.”

This was the last of the news brought by the Duke and the two Dukes.

Now, the eyes of everyone at the table turned to one person.

“News has arrived from Gryphon Fortress.”

Killian, unmoved by the several pairs of eyes fixed on him, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small folded paper.

It was a letter written in a cipher used only in Gryphon Fortress.

“My wolves that sneaked into the Forest of Demonic Beasts witnessed a strange and disgusting sight.”

Though his tone was even and his words were delivered calmly, his voice was excellent at drawing people’s attention.

“It says that demonic beasts that came into contact with black crystals underwent mutations.”

“What did you say?”

“The change didn’t happen in an instant. It’s written that this occurs when a demonic beast is drawn to a black crystal, swallows it, and then devours a certain number of its own kind.”

Killian, placing the letter he had been holding onto the table, furrowed one eyebrow.

If it were his usual self, he wouldn’t have shared the last line written here, but…

Killian found traces of someone’s face in the Emperor’s worried expression, let out a small sigh, and opened his mouth.

“However, they say they can’t be certain that all mutated beings change in this way.”

“What does that mean?”

“Because mutated beings have been discovered in places other than the land of demonic beasts.”

No one in this place failed to understand the meaning of those words.

Although it’s foolish to seek ‘perfection’ in human affairs, it was the established theory within the empire that no demonic beast could pass through Gryphon Fortress guarded by Killian and leave the northern lands.

Let alone enough demonic beasts to devour?

It was impossible.

Thinking differently, one might question whether mutated beings could cross the fortress, but the problem was that the locations where mutated beings appeared were all different.

Could mutated beings that left the northern lands perfectly avoid people’s eyes and head east, west, and south?

That too was impossible.

“We’ll need to look into these black crystals more closely.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to keep the black crystals in the capital?”

The Duke’s words were reasonable.

However, the Emperor shook his head.

“We don’t have time to set up research facilities outside the capital. We must uncover the true nature of these black crystals as quickly as possible.”

“I receive your command.”

After confirming that the Duke had bowed his head, the Emperor turned his gaze to the three Dukes.

“Duke Diaz, examine the black crystals and demonic beasts in the Forest of Demonic Beasts more closely.”

“I receive your command.”

“Duke MacLeod and Duke Fraser, search the entire empire to confirm how far these black crystals have spread.”

“I receive your command.”

“I receive your command.”

This was all that could be done right now.

But something felt lacking.

The Emperor, pondering what he had missed, hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth towards Killian.

“And I have one more request for Duke Diaz.”

“Did you enjoy my story?”

Reilly, who had stayed by Alicia’s side under the pretext of drawing people’s attention and shared amusing stories, asked her, whose face had brightened considerably compared to when he first asked her to dance.

Alicia, who had been so caught up in the unexpectedly eloquent Reilly’s tales that she had forgotten how she ended up conversing with him, nodded.

“I didn’t know the Viscount knew so many interesting stories.”

“I have a friend with sharp ears. If I stay by that friend’s side for just a moment, I hear many stories.”

“It must be a close friend.”

“If that friend heard you say that, they’d get angry and say that’s not something you should say.”

Alicia covered her mouth and burst into laughter as she watched Reilly, who seemed to be imitating this friend with exaggerated gestures.

Reilly, who had been staring at her in a daze, cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

Ever since he had taken in the sight of Alicia standing under the moonlight, he found it strange that he would occasionally lose himself like this while looking at her.

“By the way, it seems our conversation has lost its power to draw attention.”

“Yes, as Your Highness says.”

At first, the nobles had been watching Alicia and Reilly with curious expressions.

However, perhaps because nothing special happened beyond their quiet conversation, they began to turn their eyes away from the two, one by one, and noticed the absence of the Emperor, the three Dukes, and the Duke.

‘The moment anyone mentions where the three Dukes have gone, all our efforts so far will have been in vain.’

Judging by the chance eye contact with Adrian, it seemed they needed more time before returning to the Grand Hall.

“What would you like to do?”

“I think I’ll try talking with the other young ladies.”

“The ladies are being taken care of by the Crown Princess, but… will you be alright?”

You mean Cheryl?

From the moment Killian had cast her aside and started dancing with her, Cheryl hadn’t taken her eyes off her for even a moment.

If Alicia showed signs of approaching the group of young ladies, Cheryl would be the first to come over and greet her.

‘I had something I needed to say to her anyway.’

Yes, there was something that needed to be said.

Recalling this, Alicia rose from her seat and began walking towards Cheryl.