Why did a royal knight secretly call him and change locations?

Riley, who was about to follow him, stopped.

‘No, I shouldn’t leave here recklessly.’

It was too dangerous to follow him alone without knowing whom he was meeting or where he was going. If she got involved in unnecessary danger like last time, Gimnen would suffer. Sal explicitly told her not to leave the party venue under any circumstances.

However, should she just leave her suspicious uncle alone?

Riley looked around for Sal and Gimnen. Gimnen was busy greeting guests from afar, and Sal was assisting him. Due to the bustling crowd, it seemed challenging to discreetly strike up a conversation.

In that case…

Riley took out a piece of parchment she had brought just in case. It was a magical paper frequently used for communication between Sal and her during emergencies. The problem was that she didn’t have a quill.

“Hila, do you happen to have a quill?”

“No, why do you suddenly need a quill?”

“Just… Rivne, do you have one?”

“Impossible. Who would carry a pen so inconveniently to a place like this?”
At times like this, it would be great to use telepathy magic. Of course, even if one could use magic, using telepathy right now would probably be impossible. Telepathy wasn’t a standalone magic but required a mutual interaction contract, allowing communication only between designated individuals in a simple contract.

Given that Riley didn’t even know how to use telepathy magic and hadn’t entered into a mutual contract with Gimnen or Sal, it was impossible to convey this information to them telepathically.

“What’s going on, exactly?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

If she were to say that her uncle’s behavior was suspicious and that she needed to follow him, both Hila and Rivne would probably find it strange. There was no gain in telling them personal family matters.

During a moment when she considered borrowing a pen from someone else.

‘…Weren’t the imperial knights only answerable to the emperor’s direct relatives?’

Riley instinctively started looking for the princes.

The emperor wasn’t in good health and, with his absence, the empress and the empress dowagers also naturally did not attend. The few princesses and princess consorts were also absent.

Ryan had no connection with the imperial family. As a mere viscount family, and considering the lack of formal relations with the local nobility, there was no reason for him to have any formal relationship with the imperial family.

‘All the princes are trying to win Gimnen to their side during the imperial succession struggle… If that’s the case, did one of the princes contact my uncle?’

If one of the princes secretly wanted to see Ryan, knowing in advance that he would become Gimnen’s father-in-law, the probability was high. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be an unusual situation, but…

‘If the imperial family is already attempting to contact my uncle… Is the name of Riensdter really that significant?’

Her head throbbed.

Regardless, her uncle’s current actions didn’t seem to be particularly helpful to Gimnen.

Recent dealings with Count Ehrmains and secretly leaving the party venue following an imperial knight… What kind of plot was he weaving?

As time passed, her anxiety grew. Since she didn’t know what her uncle was doing, who he was interacting with, and what schemes he might be involved in by selling Gimnen’s name.

Should she have followed him after all? It was probably too late to chase him now. She didn’t even know where he went.

“I’ll go to the restroom for a moment.”

Perhaps becoming overly sensitive, her head throbbed.

Riley went to the restroom alone to organize her thoughts and cool her head. Since the restroom was inside the party venue, there shouldn’t be a significant danger in going alone. Rivne and Hila quickly urged Riley to go.

Arriving at the restroom, Riley tried to cool her head by washing her face with cold water.

‘If I find an opportunity, it might be right to inform Gimnen about this…’
There are too many people around him. It was awkward because I couldn’t pull out Sal, who was guarding Gimnen. Should I wait until the party is over? But that would be too late.

‘I should have followed him after all? No, even if I had followed him, it wouldn’t have been meaningful. If he called me secretly in the first place, he wouldn’t engage in a conversation where others could see.’

Chasing after his uncle’s movements in the current situation seemed meaningless.

For now, it would be better to focus on the party and think about this later. At the moment, it seemed wise to appreciate the fact that Riley had noticed her uncle’s suspicious behavior.

After finishing her thoughts, Riley exited the restroom. It was at that moment when she was about to return to where Rivne and Hila were.

Someone grabbed Riley’s shoulder, bringing her to a stop.

“Lady Eadalin.”

“…Prince 7?”