I could only open and close my mouth at her unexpected question.

‘Attacking the Emperor is treason and a serious crime.’

If Foil is proven guilty of treason and imprisoned, his family wouldn’t be safe either.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

But Soniel didn’t look scared or frightened; instead, she continued in a calm tone.

“It’s such a terrible crime that could completely erase not just me but the entire Viper family…”

Soniel bit her lip hard once.

“Then would I also be with Father…”

“No, Soniel.”

I won’t let that happen.

I grabbed Soniel’s hand firmly and spoke in a serious voice.

“If all this is true, the Duke won’t be safe. But even if the Duke faces legal judgment…”

“……”

“I’ll prove that you had nothing to do with it, that you were actually a victim.”

“My lady.”

“Without you, we could never have uncovered this.”

If this child hadn’t risked danger to investigate Foil’s office, perhaps we would only have learned everything after Foil had succeeded with his plan.

The thought alone was horrifying.

“…Thank you for saying that, my lady.”

“I promise. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you from harm.”

Soniel smiled faintly and then said to me.

“So please give me something to do as well.”

“……”

“Don’t I need to do something to escape this situation?”

I underestimated her as a newborn pup, but her persuasion skills are quite impressive.

“Soniel.”

“As you said, my lady, Father is a frightening person. But I don’t want to just sit here and die as a daughter of the Viper family.”

“Let’s think about this a bit more. There might be another way.”

Soniel fell into thought for a moment before speaking again.

“My lady, how about this?”

It won’t be easy to dissuade her with mere words.

“What if we anonymously report that Father is raising an excessive number of private soldiers?”

Anonymous reporting.

Though better than Soniel moving directly, I still shook my head.

“Then they would conduct a major investigation, but the Duke would find a way to escape. The imperial court can’t do anything except order him to disband and keep only the minimum personnel.”

“Ah.”

“It’s not like he’s committed treason, nor is there evidence that he was planning to.”

“Then what should we do? It’s frightening to say, but I don’t think Father will stop here.”

My thoughts were similar.

Foil has already crossed a river of no return.

He might target the Emperor’s life again at any time.

‘Perhaps it’s already begun.’

If Ainberg were his usual self as Emperor, I wouldn’t be this worried.

But the current Ainberg isn’t normal, is he?

With that thought, I suddenly felt urgent.

“Sabine, I need to run an errand.”

I quickly called for Sabine.

❀❀❀

“You were looking for me?”

Brother Allentain was walking toward me with a friendly face when he suddenly froze.

“Leonora, your face looks quite worn.”

“No, I’ve been eating and sleeping so well lately.”

“……”

“Really.”

“To me, it looks like you’ve lost even more weight.”

Brother scrutinized me with suspicious eyes.

I stepped back and covered my face with my hands.

“It’s just that my makeup style has changed, so it looks that way.”

I thought it was quite an excellent excuse.

“You’re worried, Leonora.”

Brother sighed and continued speaking.

“Let’s tell Father now and return home.”

No, I called you because I have something to say, so why are you taking the initiative?

“Brother.”

“His Majesty’s illness is unfortunate, but your well-being is more important to us.”

“……”

“Of course, you’re incomparably healthier than before.”

“That’s right, I’m very healthy. There’s no problem.”

“Taking care of and nursing someone isn’t easy. Besides, you…”

“…What about me?”

“I didn’t realize when you were younger.”

What is he trying to say with such a buildup?

Could it be… has he noticed that I’m not the real Leonora?

“You didn’t realize what?”

“When you fixate on something, you disregard everything else, just like…”

He shrugged once and added.

“A true member of the Chadmon family.”

“……”

“I’m afraid you might neglect your own body while thinking about His Majesty.”

It’s true that I get fixated on things.

But I’m not doing this because of Ainberg. Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Brother, I asked to see you because I have a favor to ask.”

“Tell me anything. If you want to go home, I’ll help—”

“Not at all.”

I put on a serious face, removing all traces of a smile.

“Please look into His Majesty’s personal physician now.”

“The Emperor’s personal physician?”

When Ainberg was mentioned, Brother’s expression hardened, seemingly realizing this was no trivial matter.

Then, with a darker expression than before, he asked me.

“Is there a problem with the physician?”

“No, I’m not sure yet. But.”

I thought about what I would do if I were Foil, if I were aiming for the Emperor’s position.

What would I do first to remove him?

I would first target those around the Emperor. Especially if the Emperor was weakened like now.

‘If a doctor becomes an enemy in such a situation, it’s truly frightening.’

So I planned to be wary and examine the people around Ainberg first.

“…Since His Majesty was recently attacked, I think it’s best to be careful and vigilant about everything.”

Brother seemed somewhat surprised by my words.

“Currently, two personal physicians are taking turns looking after His Majesty.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Could you find out how long they’ve been serving, if there’s anything unusual about their families, if they have debts or major financial problems, how their grades were at university, what their personal relationships are like.”

“……”

“Also, what their reputation is like, how their married children are living.”

“……”

“Finally, who they’re currently close with. Oh, and I should also know how often their wives hold social gatherings.”

By the time I finished speaking, Brother’s eyes had exactly doubled in size.

“Leonora, you…”

“Haha, I’m just saying we should be careful. It’s nothing special.”

“You ask me to find out so many things and say it’s nothing special?”

“Yes, I just spoke at length, but it’s nothing major. You understand, right? You’re the only one I can ask for this favor.”

“Alright, I understand. I’ll look into it.”

“And I have one more favor to ask.”

When I mentioned having another request, Brother looked at me with a disgusted expression, but I continued regardless.

“The aides and secretaries too.”

“What? The aides and secretaries as well?”

“Even though they’ve served His Majesty for a long time, you never know with people.”

Brother raised his hand and nodded.

“Fine, I understand. It’s not difficult to investigate.”

“And speaking of which.”

While that also needs to be looked into, there’s something more urgent and important right now.

“Soon, the chief aide will be sending someone to Sutton.”

“……?”

“I’d like you to have them followed.”

After saying that, I laughed and smoothed my hair once.

Brother, who had been staring at me silently, exhaled deeply and opened his mouth.

“Leonora, you… clearly have something going on.”

“I’ve become more worried since I’ve been serving His Majesty closely. It wasn’t a fall or an accident, but an actual attack. And you’re the only one I can talk to about this.”

But Brother Allentain stared at me with very sharp eyes.

“You asked me about private armies not long ago.”

“I didn’t realize I can’t resist when I get curious about something.”

“……”

“I am a Chadmon, after all.”

I stood up with a silly grin.

If I said a few more words, I felt Brother would detain me for questioning.

It would be a big problem if Father came too.

“I should go now. His Majesty might be looking for me.”

I created a smokescreen by invoking Ainberg’s name and stood up.

“Alright, I understand for now. I’ll look into it thoroughly.”

“I’m counting on you, Brother.”

“And.”

Brother Allentain continued with calm, settled eyes.

“…When doing such things, just having someone followed isn’t enough. I’ll send people to Sutton in advance as well.”

“That’s why you’re my brother. You know I completely love you, right?”

I got up from my seat with a bright smile.