Andro lost consciousness again, unable to endure the brutal torture.

Ascan clicked his tongue unconsciously. It was pathetic—this man, a former mercenary with a distinguished record, couldn’t even withstand this level of interrogation.

Mercenaries were different from knights.

Knights possessed pride, but mercenaries moved purely for money, lacking any loyalty toward their employers.

He had anticipated extracting information from Andro wouldn’t be difficult, but this was far easier than he’d imagined.

Knock, knock—the heavy iron door opened with the sound of knocking.

Entering the torture chamber was Carlton, built like a bear.

“Captain, leave this to me and take a short rest.”

Ascan glanced at the unconscious Andro and nodded.

“Fine. Don’t let him sleep until I return.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thus, Ascan stood up and left the torture chamber, entrusting the task to Carlton.

Though the iron door shut again with a heavy clang, Ascan’s keen hearing faintly caught the sound of Carlton splashing water to rouse Andro.

Ascan walked expressionlessly toward the staircase leading out of the underground torture chamber.

Outwardly, he appeared unaffected, but inwardly, his mind was deeply troubled.

At first, when he realized he had lost his memories, he had been curious about the time he’d forgotten.

But after escaping the laboratory with Helsion and witnessing the children who had undergone experiments alongside him die, that curiosity faded.

From then on, he had been too busy surviving.

There was no time to look elsewhere. He had countless matters demanding his attention for revenge.

Yet ever since meeting Tanashia, the time he couldn’t remember kept gnawing at him.

‘What kind of memories could possibly make Tanashia remember me for ten whole years?’

He knew Tanashia occasionally reminisced about the past.

He didn’t want to be bound to a past he couldn’t recall, yet he admittedly felt intrigued by the thought that her steadfast affection was directed toward him.

But the more Tanashia grew in his heart…

The stronger his jealousy became toward the version of himself he couldn’t remember.

─Do you like herbal tea?

─……I do. I used to drink it often.

─I also like it and drink it frequently. Seeing you bring tea like this, I suppose the butler asked you to.

─Yes, while returning after dinner, I met Bishop…… and sighed.

He didn’t understand why Tanashia cried while drinking herbal tea.

It wasn’t just that.

─No, I mean, we kissed before, so wouldn’t your first kiss not actually be your first?

─You’re saying I kissed you during a time I don’t remember?

─Exactly.

The first kiss Tanashia remembered, Ascan did not.

Listing them one by one would be endless—countless times Tanashia had expressed emotions Ascan simply could not relate to.

Tanashia was the eldest daughter of the Brellof family and the continent’s premier arms dealer.

A woman lacking nothing, yet she had kept the memory of Ascan—a mere slave—in her heart for so long.

Why?

How was that even possible?

Whenever he sensed her feelings stemmed from the past, anxiety surged through him as if his heart were being tightly squeezed.

‘What if… there’s nothing left of my past self in who I am now?’

Everyone changes over time. Especially after ten years.

Ascan was no longer that boy. But if Tanashia longed for the boy from back then, he didn’t know what to do.

He had no idea how he’d managed to steal her heart in the past.

He hated, to the point of madness, the thought that her initial affection for him had been rooted in that past.

‘Perhaps even now, Tanashia’s feelings…’

Unconsciously, Ascan clenched his fist tightly.

It felt absurd to be jealous of himself, yet he couldn’t accept the version of himself he didn’t remember as truly “him.”

Instead, that forgotten self felt like a rival more impossible to surpass than any other.

─If you know anything about me, tell me everything.

─I, I only know the basic information they told me in the lab…… Flowers! You seemed to like flowers. You treasured dried petals.

There was only one reason he pressed Andro so thoroughly about events from ten years ago.

He wanted to glimpse the memories shared between the forgotten version of himself and Tanashia.

Clearly, Tanashia showed him affection—so why did he feel so agonizingly like he was the only one hopelessly in love?

At that moment, his reflection faintly appeared in a transparent glass window.

Instantly, the face of the boy he once was superimposed over his current face. It was as if the Ascan inside the glass whispered with a sly smile.

『Tanashia is mine.』

Crash!

Ascan smashed his fist into the glass reflecting his face. The large pane shattered violently into countless fragments.

Staring at his distorted reflection in the broken shards, Ascan muttered,

“……Merely a phantom of the past.”

A few days later, I headed to the underground torture chamber of the Imperial Guard alongside Ascan.

Despite being indoors, an inexplicable chill permeated the air. When I shivered slightly, Ascan, somehow sensing it, asked in a low voice,

“Are you cold?”

“No, it’s not that…….”

I tried to brush it off, but Ascan unhesitatingly removed his outer coat and draped it over me.

Warmth radiated from the garment. Unable to refuse further, I looked up at him—and his eyes narrowed slightly, glinting with amusement.

“They say even in midsummer, this place feels cold. I’ve made sure he’ll answer your questions obediently, so let’s hear what he has to say and leave quickly.”

Though Andro hadn’t seemed the obedient type when I first met him, I trusted Ascan’s word and nodded.

Following Ascan, I walked down the narrow corridor and entered the torture chamber.

“You’ve arrived?”

Carlton bowed respectfully upon seeing me and Ascan.

In the stark, barren chamber containing only a desk and chair, Andro sat bound to the wall, looking unrecognizably haggard.

He was so filthy and disheveled it was impossible to pinpoint exactly where he was injured, but bloodstains splattered everywhere suggested no part of him remained unharmed.

Ascan spoke first.

“Andro Pasita.”

“Hah!”

Andro gasped sharply and lifted his head. Whatever had happened over the past few days, fear now filled his eyes.

“I’ll ask questions now. Answer each truthfully.”

“Yes, yes.”

Unlike when we first met, Andro now spoke in formal, deferential language.

Though it felt odd, my priority was accomplishing the purpose that brought me here, so I asked the questions I’d prepared.

“What was your relationship with Kains?”

“We performed missions together during my time as a mercenary. Since then, we occasionally drank together. Recently, our relationship soured because he refused to repay money he owed me.”

“Do you know anything about a mission Kains undertook roughly twenty years ago? Concerning the Arwen Empire?”

“The Arwen Empire?”

Andro’s eyes clouded as if recalling something. Then, as if remembering, he nodded vigorously.

“One thing comes to mind—he used to talk about it whenever he got drunk.”

“What was it?”

“He said he crossed into the Arwen Empire and stole documents from a certain villa. He mentioned only prominent people were involved, and the reward was very generous……”

“Documents? Do you know what kind?”

“No, I don’t really……”

“What about which villa?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Don’t you even know which family’s estate they infiltrated?”

“No……”

As Andro answered, he kept stealing nervous glances at Ascan. Whether because he lacked useful information or not, his face had turned noticeably pale.

My goal was investigating Charles’s death, yet unexpectedly, Kains had apparently attempted to steal documents—perhaps I’d been chasing the wrong lead.

At that moment—

Even though I hadn’t asked further, Andro urgently continued.

“N, no, what I heard was—when they broke into the villa to steal the documents, there was a noblewoman dying inside the room.”

“……!”

Hearing that, I stopped breathing.

Instinctively, I felt the noblewoman Andro mentioned might be Charles.

“What did he say about this noblewoman? Describe her precisely.”

“He said she was a young woman with black hair, and exceptionally beautiful.”

“Anything else? Didn’t he say anything else?”

“He said the original goal was stealing documents, but since the noblewoman was dead, the employer became furious. They paid him even more than originally promised to ensure his silence.”

“Oh……”

“Kains quit mercenary work after that incident, but whenever he got drunk, he’d say he wished he could take on another job paying as handsomely……”

I was confused.

If Kains was indeed among those who broke into the villa, the highest probability was that one of them had killed Charles.

The intruders had been meticulous enough to leave no evidence—but was their goal truly stealing documents, not murdering Charles?

‘Then who on earth killed Mother?’

If Andro’s words were true, the culprit wasn’t among those who broke into the villa that day.

Currently, Orland was investigating the poison discovered at the villa.

We needed to determine how the poison had entered the premises, but we mustn’t forget—Charles’s cause of death wasn’t poisoning.

‘Whatever it is, it’s tangled too complexly. First, I must find out what documents the intruders stole.’

I composed myself as calmly as possible and addressed Andro.

“Do you know anyone who accompanied Kains on his mission to the Arwen Empire?”

“I, I don’t know everyone, but a few names……”

“Tell me whoever you know!”

In the novel I’d read, Kains was the final piece. But now, Andro knowing additional names felt like wonderful news.

If we could capture those who broke into the villa that day, we might uncover who ordered this.

Beside me, Ascan spoke in a low voice.

“Leave catching anyone connected to this to me. Since they reside within the Karlua Empire, it’ll be faster for the Imperial Guard to act than for you to move personally.”

Ascan was right.

As an Arwen Empire noble, my movements were limited. With the Imperial Guard’s involvement, apprehending suspects would be much swifter.

“Thank you, Ascan.”

At my words, Ascan gave a faint smile.

Unexpectedly, a voice came from elsewhere. Andro, who had been silently listening to our conversation, suddenly shouted in disbelief.

“I, Imperial Guard? The Emperor’s Imperial Guard?!”

Andro stared at Ascan with a panicked expression.

He’d sensed this place was unusual, but clearly hadn’t guessed it was the Imperial Guard’s torture chamber.

Turning ashen, Andro cried out,

“Oh no, I’m doomed. Master Number 13, I was wrong. I’ll do whatever you command—please, just spare my life!”

Ascan, face impassive, spoke to Carlton standing behind him.

“You heard everything he said? Arrest everyone he names.”

“Yes, Captain.”

At those words, Andro’s face turned not just pale—but deathly gray.

Hearing Carlton address Ascan as “Captain,” he’d finally grasped Ascan’s true identity.

Carlton approached Andro, still bound to the wall, and asked bluntly,

“Who are the accomplices? Speak.”

“Well, former mercenaries Taneth, Deni……”

Andro’s demeanor was now far more respectful than before.

Just recently, when we’d discovered Kains’s death, I’d despaired thinking we’d gained no useful help—but now, it felt like I’d found new hope.

It seemed I’d taken one step closer to the true culprit behind Charles’s veiled murder.

“Ascan. Once you’ve captured those involved, I’ll meet them personally—but afterward, could you arrange their transfer to where my father is?”

Ascan readily nodded.

“If that’s what you wish.”

Now that I knew the truth, there was no reason to hide it from Orland any longer.

My top priority was informing Orland as quickly as possible about what I’d uncovered and determining what documents had gone missing that day.

Furthermore, I needed to identify who ordered the theft—and uncover the hidden truth of that day.

I looked up at Ascan and smiled brightly.

“Thank you for everything. I don’t even know how to repay this kindness.”

Thanks to Ascan’s help, matters were progressing smoothly. Without him, I never could have operated so freely within the Karlua Empire.

“You must repay me, of course. I’d like interest included.”

“Is there something you want from me?”

At my question, Ascan’s gaze deepened as he looked at me. An indescribable, thick emotion swirled within his eyes.

“Like me more.”

“……What?”

“Like me a lot. I want you to be completely infatuated with the me standing before you now.”

The phrase “the me standing before you now” oddly stuck in my mind.

At that moment—

“Pfft!”

Behind us, Carlton, who had been talking with Andro, suddenly burst out laughing. Apparently, he’d overheard Ascan’s remark.

Flustered, I looked back and forth between Carlton and Ascan.

Carlton immediately clamped his pot-lid-sized hand over his mouth, turning ghostly white, while a dangerous glint flashed across Ascan’s eyes as he stared at him.