Immediately after returning to the duke’s residence, Illina sent a few tight-lipped knights to Lorirolls.

She had to retrieve the letter she wrote no matter what. However, she felt like she was going crazy when the knight said that the letter had already fallen into someone else’s hands.

That letter must never see the light of day.

“Someone from the imperial palace took it!”

According to the knights, Lorirolls was heavily drunk, and Illina’s letter had already been taken by someone from the imperial palace.

The knight who recalled what Lorirolls had said spoke.

“He said it was a high-ranking person from the imperial palace.”

“Do you think there are only one or two high-ranking people in the imperial palace?”

The knight tried hard to recall what Lorirolls had said.

“I heard it was the prince.”

The knight relayed what Lorirolls had said while hiccuping. After the knights finished their report and left, Illina trembled. She didn’t want to think about it, but she recalled Lorencia’s words again.

“That monster is lying. It’s just slander.”

“No. Prince Ruans said he loves me.”

“We love each other though.”

“It’s definitely not unrequited love.”

“Lorencia is lying.”

“There’s no way some priestess will become the crown princess. No! It’s a lie!”

Illina spat out the words with a scornful voice. However, her anxiety had grown much larger than before she met Lorencia. Now that she confirmed the letter she sent to Lorirolls was in Ruans’ hands, it was like walking on thin ice.

Should she ask why he has the letter? The moment she asks, she might lose Ruans’ trust.

“What do I do?”

Illina plopped down on a chair, biting her thumbnail with her hand.

[This is the timeline separator]

Magus of the Spencer family was handling the affairs of the Spencer Marquis family in place of his son Teishar, who was temporarily away to escort Princess Charlotte.

Magus put down the documents he was looking at on the desk. He sighed involuntarily at the work he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“This isn’t the time for me to be sitting comfortably and doing work…”

He was still searching for Musilla, the last child of the goddess Ella who had gone missing 20 years ago.

Magus traveled through rough sea areas, high mountainous regions, lands where hot lava flowed, desert kingdoms where it didn’t rain, and dense forest jungles. Nowhere could he find a single strand of Musilla’s hair.

As if she had never existed in the first place.

“Lady Musilla. Are you alive? I just want to know that much.”

Sighing deeply, Magus pulled a black jewel box to the front of the desk and opened the lid. Inside the box, shattered amethyst fragments sparkled sharply. Magus looked down at the amethyst fragments sadly.

“Please just be alive and well.”

Lady Musilla.

Every single day, Magus clasped his hands together and prayed to the goddess Ella, shedding tears. For Musilla’s safe return. If not that, then for her to be doing well wherever she was. He prayed and prayed that the roots of the tree would not rot.

−Knock knock

With the sound of knocking, the door swung open and the head butler Hollio rushed in. At the suddenly opened door, Magus hastily wiped the tears that had seeped out with his sleeve and shouted.

“Hollio! You have to wait for my permission after knocking to enter.”

“I apologize. Sir Magus. It was such an urgent matter…”

“An urgent matter?”

“Yes.”

Hollio, the young head butler who had not been appointed to the Spencer family for long, ran to Magus with an anxious face.

“Young master Teishar sent a red letter to the residence.”

“What? That boy sent a red letter?”

“Yes. That’s right. Sir Magus. I’ve only heard about red letters. This is my first time seeing one.”

A red letter is only sent in very urgent situations, mainly used for major events like wars or rebellions on the scale of secret intelligence.

From Hollio’s perspective, it was natural to be surprised to receive a red letter not long after being appointed.

“Are you saying the butler of the Spencer Marquis family is going around making a fuss that a red paper came from all directions!”

“Ah… I apologize. Sir Magus.”

At Magus’ shout, Hollio scratched his head and bowed deeply at the waist.

“I miss the retired Evan.”

“Mentioning grandfather’s name here… I will do better. Sir Magus.”

“Tsk tsk.”

Hollio, the grandson of the legendary head butler Evan of the Spencer Marquis family, turned bright red with embarrassment. After retiring, Evan was devoting himself to disciplining the servants at the residence. If today’s events reached his grandfather’s ears, he might have to endure difficult training and punishment all night. He felt involuntarily discouraged about why he kept making mistakes when he needed to do well.

Putting aside his embarrassment, Hollio politely presented the red letter he had brought on a silver tray to Magus. Although pride could be felt in his actions, Magus indifferently looked down at the letter and threw the quill he was holding onto the desk in anger.

“Hollio. How should you present a letter when I’m looking at documents?”

“I was taught to cut open the mouth of the envelope with a knife on behalf of the busy master before handing it over. I apologize for not carrying that out. Sir Magus.”

“Evan.”

“Sir Magus. Again, grandfather’s name… No. I apologize. I will do better.”

Hollio carefully cut open the mouth of the envelope with a knife and immediately handed it to Magus. Then his red eyes began to widen as he started reading the letter.

After finishing the letter, Magus carefully put it down and began to cry. Seeing him shedding tears profusely after reading the letter, Hollio started to panic.

What should I do in this situation!

According to what he learned from grandfather Evan, Magus was a strict and sensitive person, so one should never do anything to upset him. He even said that after the previous Marchioness passed away, Magus’ emotions had completely dried up, to the point that not a single tear would come out even if wrung like a rag.

But now Magus was crying. Quite sorrowfully at that.

“Sir Magus?”

“Hollio. Gather the Red Moons immediately! Call Evan too. The Spencer Marquis family is in a state of emergency.”

Hollio’s face turned pale at the words “state of emergency.” The red letter was indeed an urgent message.

What was about to happen? War? Rebellion? If not that… had the Demon King descended upon this world?

“Hurry!”

“Huh? Yes, yes!”

Hollio was extremely curious about the contents of the letter, but he couldn’t look without the master’s permission. What kind of urgent news could it be? Leaving his curiosity behind, Hollio started running frantically.

After confirming that Hollio had run out, Magus couldn’t believe the contents of the letter and checked it again. No matter how many times he read it, he couldn’t believe it, so he slowly read each letter one by one again.

[Father. I have discovered a young tree. The young tree was on the verge of death. Fortunately, I rescued it. According to the young tree’s story, the big tree died 7 years ago. To protect the discovered young tree, please gather the Red Moons and servants to care for the young tree and send them to the Isuter Empire. By the way, the place where I discovered the young tree is the Pol Heredian County in the Isuter Empire.]

“He discovered a tree at the Pol Heredian County in the Isuter Empire? That’s absurd.”

Teishar discovering a tree meant that he saw a child of the goddess Ella with his own red eyes. Then the young tree here would naturally be the child born to Musilla, and the big tree referred to Musilla. That meant Musilla died 7 years ago.

Magus slammed his fists down on the desk. The ‘tree’ that could only be seen with the red eyes of the ‘snakes’ of the Spencer family. That was the symbol possessed by the children of the goddess Ella.

The color of the flowers and fruits borne by the tree of the children of the goddess Ella was determined by their eye color. Musilla’s tree was a pagoda tree.

Musilla’s tree that bloomed with white flowers was very beautiful. But only the ‘snakes’ of the Spencer family with red eyes could see that sight.

When flowers bloomed on Musilla’s tree, they were as pretty as white snow, and the color of the fruits that formed after the flowers fell was navy blue, the same color as Musilla’s eyes. Even now, when Magus closed his eyes, he would recall Musilla’s tree.

Although Musilla’s tree was beautiful when in bloom, it was beyond words after the flowers fell.

He could never forget the sight of the beautiful sapphire-like fruits shining brilliantly on the beautiful mahogany branches.

“How dare…”

When Magus thought of Musilla, anger rose to the top of his head. And no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand at all why Musilla was in the Isuter Empire.

It made even less sense that the daughter she gave birth to was at the Pol Heredian County.

“That can’t be. Lady Musilla must have fallen into some trap.”

Although he didn’t tell Teishar in detail, Musilla had a man she loved separately.

Cain de Glostun, who was Musilla’s lover and the captain of the 2nd Knights of the Imperial Palace of the Poloid Empire, was a man acknowledged even by Magus, and he was also the second son of the di Glostun family, one of the three ducal families of the Poloid Empire.

After completing his coming-of-age ceremony, Cain chased after Musilla and courted her. Although Musilla rejected him at first, the flowers that bloomed on the tree represented Musilla’s heart. The more Cain’s courtship continued, the more white flowers like snow bloomed on Musilla’s tree.

However, Cain’s parents, Duke Welson and Duchess Abrelina di Glostun, could not accept Musilla, a child of the eternal goddess Ella, as their daughter-in-law.

Musilla and Cain knew that the di Glostun ducal couple were opposed. Faced with opposition, Cain seemed somewhat struggling. But at some point, he started smiling from ear to ear.

Musilla told me the reason why Cain was going around smiling.

The father of the child would naturally be Cain.

It was natural for a child to be conceived between two people in love.