“Edith Köhler, I’ve heard you have excellent conversational skills.”

The man spoke familiarly, as if he already knew enough about Edith.

‘He knows me. Was he waiting to arrest me? The timing is too perfect to be coincidence.’

Edith couldn’t easily open her mouth. One wrong word could be enough to land her in prison or cause her downfall.

‘Leonard Sachsen… He’s intelligent but an idealist who grew up as a noble and never experienced hardship.’

Edith recalled the prince’s assessment of the young duke.

Edith lowered herself as much as possible before the man in front of her. He must not be accustomed to someone lowly like her climbing up.

“Even so, I’m just a powerless being who can’t even escape this narrow corridor on my own.”

Edith couldn’t leave this corridor without the man’s permission. The very fact that Edith had come for a visit using a false name was already grounds for guilt.

Leonard was a judge of the High Court. With his judicial authority, he could have Edith detained immediately if he raised an issue.

**

“Edith Köhler, you’re not yet an adult.”

Edith filled out a personal information form as Leonard requested.

Leonard, who was scanning the document Edith had written, stared at the woman with sharp eyes and spoke.

“Yes.”

Edith bowed her head with an uncertain voice. Being known as the prince’s mistress while not yet an adult wasn’t something to be proud of.

“This is different from what I’ve heard.”

“What?”

Edith raised her head to look up at Leonard. The corners of her mouth trembled slightly as she was thoroughly frightened.

“Do you know that using someone else’s identity to visit an imprisoned criminal is a crime?”

Despite his cold words, Leonard’s eyes held a certain compassion.

But Edith, who kept her head bowed low and couldn’t look at the man, failed to notice the unfamiliar sympathy in his gaze.

“His Highness Ludwig sent you, didn’t he?”

Though it seemed like a question, it wasn’t. He didn’t particularly want to hear the answer from Edith’s lips.

Edith couldn’t say anything.

‘Will His Highness Ludwig really come to save me?’

If she could be certain he would come rescue her, she could endure whatever Leonard might say to her.

“Normally, I should t*rture you now to extract everything you’ve done here.”

T*rture… Edith began to tremble visibly.

“B-but I am His Highness the Prince’s mistress.”

Edith carefully brought up the prince to the young duke. Perhaps the highborn young duke wouldn’t want to get involved in troublesome affairs.

“Do you believe His Highness would rush here to save you?”

Edith couldn’t answer. In truth, she wasn’t certain herself.

“He will come. Since you’re his errand girl, he’ll come at least to keep your mouth shut. But until His Highness arrives, there’s no one to stop me from torturing you. I have plenty of time, since His Highness would need to follow proper procedures to retrieve you, who were caught in the act.”

At Leonard’s cold words, Edith squeezed her eyes shut.

‘T*rture…’

Edith gritted her teeth. She needed to find a way out somehow. She feared not only the t*rture itself but what might come after.

The situation where she might involuntarily reveal information and be abandoned by the prince. If that happened, she could be sold back to Neil.

“I…”

After taking a deep breath to compose herself, Edith looked up at Leonard. The man’s deep eyes were still fixed on her.

“I am merely His Highness the Prince’s empty-headed mistress. I only came here to find out if the imprisoned man is truly the culprit who attempted to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor, for His Highness who hasn’t been sleeping well lately. How can it be a crime for a son to visit someone to determine if they truly harmed his father? With my lack of education, I simply thought this and came here. Since His Highness favors me greatly, please let me go if you don’t intend to fight with him right now. The only information you could get from me, the prince’s mistress, would be about His Highness’s body. Are you perhaps interested in men?”

When the word “men” emerged from Edith’s lips in the midst of such a serious atmosphere, Leonard burst into laughter despite himself.

“Haha! They said you had a way with words, and you certainly have a talent for making people laugh.”

Having regained his composure, Leonard straightened his posture and opened his smooth lips.

“I have no interest in men, and as I’m soon to become a duke, I’m not intimidated by a royal who will soon become a marquis. So I’d like to talk with you a bit more, Edith Köhler. As long as I don’t leave any marks on your body, your lover won’t know what we discussed.”

‘Since I haven’t left, those waiting for me outside must have assessed the situation and run to the prince. So I just need to hold out until His Highness arrives.’

Leonard, who had been smiling pleasantly, took the woman into Alex’s cell, which Edith had visited earlier.

“What did you talk about with this woman, Edith Köhler, just now?”

At Leonard’s question, Alex could only stare with wide eyes, unable to continue speaking.

“This woman is not Rena Köhler. She’s Edith Köhler, sent by His Highness Ludwig. Rena Köhler has green eyes.”

Upon hearing Leonard’s words, Alex, who had been glaring at Edith, finally confessed several facts.

After a lengthy cross-examination, Leonard escorted the terrified Edith into a dark prison cell.

‘Is he going to t*rture me now?’

As Edith silently followed the man, all sorts of terrible fantasies invaded her mind.

‘Please, just don’t let me become disabled.’

She was used to being beaten, and injuries that could be treated didn’t matter. But if she were to become disabled and deemed useless, then at that point…

Edith bit her lip hard. She clenched her fists tightly and followed the man into the prison.

On a shelf in one corner of the interrogation room, small knives, skewers, and ropes that truly appeared to be for t*rture were neatly arranged. Glancing at them, Edith’s breathing became labored, but she thought she needed to stay as calm as possible.

‘I must endure. If I confess even one thing and get abandoned by His Highness, that would truly be the end.’

After guiding the tense Edith inside, Leonard examined her expression and slowly raised one corner of his mouth.

‘Does he find this amusing?’

“Sit down.”

Leonard gestured toward a blood-stained chair where tortured people seemed to have sat, then looked at Edith.

The iron chair, bolted to the floor, was covered in blood stains.

“I…”

“Even if you’re His Highness Ludwig’s lover, you’re not a princess. Sit down.”

Edith, whose expression was gradually crumbling, finally sat in the chair the man had indicated. The iron chair was unbearably cold, and the familiar smell of blood emanated from the backrest.

Once Edith sat in the chair, the knights who had escorted her began to bind her body tightly to it.

‘Please, just don’t let me become disabled.’

While Edith was inwardly making this wish as her hands and legs were firmly tied to the chair, Leonard gave orders to the knights who had entered with him.

“I’ll conduct the t*rture myself, so you may leave now.”

“Won’t you call for a t*rture specialist?”

“She’s a weak woman. Simple t*rture will make her confess quickly, so don’t bring in a specialist.”

At Leonard’s dismissal, the knights bowed deeply and quickly vacated the premises. Completely bound to the chair, Edith looked up at Leonard, imagining the calamity that would befall her.

“If you decided to get involved in such dangerous business, you must have come prepared for this kind of situation, Edith Köhler?”

Edith couldn’t answer Leonard’s question.

‘Leonard Sachsen, who is in charge of Alex Fisher, will be absent today due to a shipbuilding business order he operates. So you won’t encounter him.’

Ludwig’s prediction had been wrong. Edith had naturally been deployed without any preparation. The operation had been urgent after confirming the man’s schedule.

“I… didn’t prepare.”

Edith confessed honestly. She didn’t want to delay her answer or tell small lies that might upset Leonard, not knowing what harsh t*rture he might inflict on her.

“You jumped into such a dangerous situation without any preparation?”

“Yes…”

The man rose from his seat, went to the shelf where the tools were stacked, picked up a dagger small enough to fit in his palm, and slowly approached Edith.

“Your crime today has such clear evidence that you’re definitively guilty without even needing the High Court’s judgment.”

Edith lowered her head. She feared the pain that would come to her.

“If any other judge had been in charge, you would have been r*ped in this very spot today. Are you aware of that?”

Edith feared Leonard who was intimidating her. She couldn’t bring herself to raise her lowered head.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Edith barely opened her mouth to apologize to Leonard. Since she couldn’t speak about Ludwig, she thought to appeal to his compassion.

“Edith Köhler. You’re just a lover who will be discarded once you’ve served your purpose, so why do you go to such lengths to stay by His Highness’s side?”

The man seemed genuinely curious as he asked the question and slowly waited for Edith’s answer.

It might have been an illusion, but there seemed to be some compassion in the man’s voice. Edith carefully answered the man, preparing herself for the harsh t*rture to come.

“I just… want to live. As a human, not an animal… I have no other path.”

**

“Your Highness?”

Edith turned to look at the prince. The corners of her eyes showed clear signs of fatigue after enduring anxiety for a long time.

Seeing Edith like this, the prince pulled her into his arms with a bitter expression.

“She is merely my mistress who knows nothing, Young Duke Leonard Sachsen.”

The prince, who had arrived long after receiving his subordinate’s message, growled lowly while regarding Leonard with suspicion.

“She doesn’t know nothing. She’s already confessed everything, Your Highness.”

Upon hearing Leonard’s words, Ludwig looked down at Edith with harsh eyes.

Edith shook her head as if to deny it while trembling like an aspen tree, but Ludwig soon turned his gaze back to Leonard.

Unlike his threats to her, Leonard hadn’t tortured Edith. He had merely questioned her continuously.

Despite the continued interrogation, Edith hadn’t said anything important. But Leonard lied to the prince, saying that Edith had confessed everything.

‘Is he trying to drive a wedge between His Highness and me with lies?’

Edith looked at the prince. The prince’s face clearly revealed his complicated feelings.

“To think you must employ even your young lover—your situation must be quite dire, Your Highness.”

His tone was clearly reproachful. But the prince didn’t particularly counter Leonard.

The prison they had entered was entirely Leonard’s domain. Even if he raised issues by invoking royal authority, the mediator would ultimately be the Crown Prince.

The prince merely frowned briefly before taking Edith outside and boarding a carriage.