Could it be the Manoko family?

It could be someone sent by Seruna, or perhaps someone sent by Luphilmo.

If neither of them, then there was also the possibility that Helsion had assigned someone to follow me.

And that wasn’t all.

Perhaps the real culprit behind Charles’s murder had noticed that I was tracking them……

While lost in various thoughts as I walked down the street, Ascan whispered to me again in a low voice.

“You see that alley up ahead? Pretend to turn the corner, then slip away into that direction.”

“Got it.”

Following Ascan’s instruction, I immediately darted into a dark alley as soon as I rounded the corner.

The moment we disappeared from view, several men soon appeared at the spot where we had just been standing, glancing around suspiciously.

It was obvious at a glance that they were the ones trailing us.

‘Who are they?’

I was just about to step forward, my hand resting on the concealed magical artifact I carried, when—

Swish. Ascan grabbed my shoulder. I instinctively turned my head and realized, anew, how closely we were pressed together.

“Leave them be. The Imperial Guard nearby will handle it.”

“Imperial Guard?”

I hadn’t expected there to be Imperial Guards stationed around us.

Reflexively, I glanced back at the men who had been tailing us—and sure enough, Carlton and several Imperial Guards had appeared and were already restraining them.

“Since when……”

Have the Imperial Guards been protecting me?

Slightly bewildered, I couldn’t finish my sentence. But Ascan seemed to understand exactly what I meant to say.

“Your personal protection began the moment you entered my estate. Several assassins sent by the Manoko family have already attempted to reach you during this time.”

“I had no idea.”

I was genuinely astonished. Ascan had been quietly eliminating threats before Zenn or I even noticed them.

A sudden thought occurred to me, and I turned to Ascan with another question.

“Did you start protecting me even before receiving the Emperor’s official command?”

Instead of a direct answer, Ascan offered me an enigmatic smile.

He stared intently into my face, then slightly bowed his head and whispered huskily into my ear.

“What does it matter now? What’s important is that from now on, no one will be able to lay even a finger on you.”

If voices could carry sensuality, his was undoubtedly it. The side of my ear where his breath touched grew hot.

Without realizing it, I covered my ear with my hand and looked up at Ascan.

His face, illuminated from behind, was cast in shadow—but even that silhouette felt perfectly beautiful.

Thump thump. Afraid he might hear my racing heartbeat, I couldn’t stay silent.

I cleared my throat awkwardly and spoke toward Ascan.

“Ahem. Anyway, I feel a bit bad leaving everything to the Imperial Guard. I should go out myself and find out who hired them……”

“Leave it. Carlton needs to suffer a little—he deserves the training.”

“Carlton?”

Confused by his words, I looked up at him again.

Ascan smiled mysteriously and spoke.

“He’s been slacking off lately, so I’m putting him through some retraining.”

Suddenly, I remembered the strange tension between Ascan and Carlton not long ago.

─Love me more.

─……What?

─A lot more. I wish you’d fall for the me standing right here, right now.

We had been having such a serious conversation—when Carlton had ruined the mood by bursting into laughter.

─Pfft!

Surely he wasn’t getting petty revenge for that, was he?

I stared at him suspiciously, but Ascan appeared completely unconcerned, leisurely glancing around with an easy expression.

“This is nice too.”

“What is?”

“The feeling that you and I are the only ones stepping away from this crowded street.”

I turned my head and saw the bustling avenue filled with passersby.

None of them noticed us, hidden in the shadowy alley.

Somehow, it felt like we’d been left alone in a detached space—and at the same time, I sensed a serene atmosphere I’d never noticed before.

“True. It’s not bad at all.”

Ascan smiled faintly when I agreed.

“I want to someday go to a place where only you and I can stay. I want your face to be the first thing I see when I open my eyes. I want to spend the whole day chatting idly beside you, then fall asleep again at your side.”

It wasn’t an impossible dream—yet somehow, it felt unreal. Maybe because it was too pleasant to imagine.

Truthfully, if possible, I too wished to someday share such ordinary days with Ascan.

“Let’s do it. Once we sort out these complicated matters, shall we go on a trip?”

“A trip?”

Ascan asked with evident delight—but suddenly, I remembered the trip I’d taken ten years ago, when I’d been surrounded by Lazent Empire soldiers.

Unconsciously, my expression hardened.

A trip? No matter how much time had passed, the thought of traveling somewhere with him still frightened me.

Ascan looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… I just suddenly remembered something unpleasant……”

I trailed off without explaining clearly, but Ascan seemed to realize it was connected to a past he couldn’t remember.

His expression darkened. I knew he disliked talking about the past—but now it seemed he avoided it even more than I’d thought.

“Ascan?”

He tried to act as if nothing was wrong when I called his name, but he couldn’t completely hide the change in his expression.

Carefully, I asked,

“Are you upset?”

“No. I’m just… jealous.”

“Jealous?”

When I echoed his word, Ascan answered with a bitter smile.

“If I could, I’d want to recover my lost memories. I want to understand why you react that way when you hear the word ‘trip.’”

To me, Ascan of the past and Ascan of the present were the same person. But listening to him now, he sounded almost… excluded.

Honestly, I didn’t understand. Perhaps because I’d never experienced amnesia myself, I couldn’t empathize with that feeling.

What was clear was that the Ascan standing before me now felt uneasy.

His moonlit eyes looked strangely lonely and sorrowful.

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘jealous’……”

I rose onto my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around Ascan’s neck, lifted my head, and pressed my lips gently against his.

Tap. Our lips met lightly, then parted.

Ascan’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden kiss, trembling faintly.

Soon, regaining his composure, he looked down at me through half-lidded eyes—like a predator staring at prey within reach.

“You have no fear. Do you even know how hard I’ve been restraining myself?”

“Is that so? Sorry, but I have no patience. I don’t know what’s making you anxious—but I’m right here in front of you. What’s there to worry about?”

Ascan frowned and laughed at my words.

The gloominess I’d sensed in him moments ago was completely gone. Now, his gaze burned intensely, as if trying to pierce right through me.

“Tanashia, normally you seem so shy—but sometimes you’re so bold I don’t know what tune to dance to.”

“Is kissing someone because you want to considered bold?”

At my puzzled question, Ascan wordlessly curved his lips upward and lowered his head. Several sweet, birdlike kisses followed.

With a face capable of enchanting anyone in the world, he looked at me and said,

“Let’s be clear. You started it.”

“Obviously. Do you think I’d be doing this with someone I didn’t want?”

In an instant, Ascan grabbed my waist and pulled me closer. Our already pressed-together bodies now fit together seamlessly.

With a teasing, seductive smile, he murmured,

“…You have no idea how maddening words like that make a person.”

The original reason we’d left the workshop—to have dinner—had completely vanished from my mind. We lost ourselves in each other for a long, intoxicating while.

Unlike our first kiss, the second one was easy. I simply surrendered to instinct.

At the Brellof Marquis estate in the Arwen Empire.

Noxia was in a state of confusion after receiving Tanashia’s unexpected letter.

‘I was the only one who didn’t know. Father and Sister were chasing the culprit all this time……’

She couldn’t help but reflect on her own complacency in the past.

Every year, she’d mourned on Charles’s death anniversary—but unlike Tanashia, she’d never actively pursued the murderer.

The confession from Andro mentioned in Tanashia’s letter, and the fact that Orland seemed to have caught the true poisoner, shocked her deeply.

Now that she knew the truth, even belatedly, she couldn’t remain idle.

‘First, I must locate Father.’

Since communication with Orland had been severed, confirming his current status was the most urgent priority.

Noxia immediately headed toward Orland’s study within the Brellof estate.

Normally, Orland kept his study locked whenever he was away—but this was no time to fuss over formalities.

“Miss Noxia!”

A maid cleaning near the study spotted Noxia and approached with a delighted expression.

Though Noxia was always popular among the staff, this time she couldn’t return the greeting with her usual bright smile.

The maid, sensing something was off, asked with a puzzled look,

“Is something wrong?”

Noxia shook her head firmly and waved her hand, signaling the maid to step back.

“There’s something I need to handle. It might be dangerous where you’re standing—could you move over here?”

“Ah, yes, Miss.”

The maid obediently moved away from Orland’s study.

Suddenly, a strange gleam appeared in Noxia’s blue eyes—and all nearby water began to float gently into the air.

As Noxia raised her hand, the floating water gradually gathered above her palm.

Then, as she thrust her hand forward, the water stretched like a whip and struck the locked door of Orland’s study.

Crash!

The study door shattered instantly into splinters.

The maid gaped at Noxia in shock.

“A—Miss?!”

“Go immediately to the steward and tell him to gather all private soldiers in the estate. Also, pack my travel bag—I may need to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“Y—yes!”

The dazed maid snapped to attention and dashed off urgently.

Noxia stepped into the ruined study. Inside remained the documents Orland had reviewed while at the estate.

Especially prominent were materials concerning poison—and among them, information about the Pelmyra family stood out.

‘According to Sister’s letter, the poison seems connected to the Pelmyra family.’

If the Pelmyra family truly were the culprits behind the poison, then Orland was likely staying in the region where the Pelmyras resided.

But since she had no idea what Orland was currently planning, she couldn’t rashly activate the Brellof family’s intelligence network to confirm his location.

Doing so might inadvertently interfere with whatever Orland was attempting.

‘If Father severed all communication with Sister, he must have good reason. Then the only option is to resolve this using personnel within the estate.’

Having organized her thoughts, Noxia began searching through the desk in the study.

Fortunately, she found a map of the territory where the Pelmyra family resided. Three locations on the map were marked with red circles.

For now, these were the most likely places where Orland might be.

Thud thud! Thud thud!

Andrew, commander of the estate’s private soldiers, rushed into the study.

He must have heard the steward’s urgent message to gather the troops and come running in alarm.

“Miss, what is this……?”

Instead of explaining, Noxia immediately handed him the map marked with red circles.

“Send all private soldiers currently in the estate to these locations immediately. Objective: locate where Father is.”

“The Marquis? Why suddenly? Procedurally, you need the Marquis’s permission to mobilize the soldiers……”

Bang!

Noxia slammed her palm onto the study desk.

Though Tanashia’s letter assured her not to worry about Orland’s safety, she couldn’t possibly remain calm in this situation.

She needed to know Orland’s condition as soon as possible.

“To follow procedure and get Father’s permission, we’d need to contact him first. Since we’ve lost contact, find him immediately. If anyone must bear responsibility for this later, I’ll take full accountability.”

Noxia was still a very young, unmarried noblewoman—but the charisma she radiated changed the very air around her.

Andrew hesitated for a moment, then broke into a deep smile. He could think of nothing else but: truly, she was Brellof blood.

“Understood, Miss. I’ll dispatch the soldiers to the locations marked on the map as instructed. The moment we learn of the Marquis’s whereabouts, I’ll inform you immediately.”

Only then did Noxia’s expression soften slightly as she nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all, Miss.”

With those words, Andrew immediately left the study—to mobilize troops toward the marked locations as quickly as possible.

But Noxia didn’t stop there. She had to prepare for the possibility that Andrew might fail to locate Orland.

As she busily moved about the study, she murmured to herself,

“……Once I finish what I can do here, I’ll write a letter to Sister right away.”

Had Tanashia seen her now, she would have been thoroughly satisfied—Noxia was performing even better than she’d hoped.