“Looks like more people have returned than I expected.”

Upon arriving back at the tournament grounds, Zenfri muttered in surprise at the number of people present. There was still over an hour left before the event was scheduled to end.

It wasn’t as if anyone could have already used up all ten marks.

As he wondered why so many had gathered so soon—

“They don’t look like tournament participants, but Imperial soldiers!”

Alter raised a hand and pointed toward the soldiers moving busily about.

“Imperial soldiers?”

Narrowing his eyes for a closer look, Zenfri saw that Alter was right. They wore the Empire’s black helms and black armor, with plumes at the tips of their helmets bearing the Imperial crest.

“They didn’t seem this numerous at the start of the event.”

“Could there have been a rebellion nearby?”

Alter suggested with a cheerful smile.

Zenfri grimaced as if he’d just seen something distasteful.

“Watch your mouth. If there really were a rebellion, we’d be the first suspects, you fool.”

“Oh… right.”

Zenfri clicked his tongue at Alter—brilliant in skill, but empty-headed in all other respects.

While the two exchanged their useless chatter, Calix’s gaze was fixed on the incongruous scene before him: Imperial soldiers moving about in urgent haste, and noblewomen who looked somehow unsettled.

Most of all, his attention was drawn to the man standing beside them—Commander Waldemar.

The man had been an irritant throughout the war, and Calix remembered him all the more vividly for having taken Selina for the first dance at the ball. Calix was certain he hadn’t participated in the hunting competition.

‘So why is he here?’

Calix carefully listened in on the conversation between the commander and a noblewoman.

“You’re saying she disappeared after taking a walk?”

“Yes. I saw her right behind me. But then, all of a sudden, she was gone! Later, I noticed footprints leading toward the forest. I think she might have taken the wrong path by mistake…”

“Selina is missing?”

Calix, who had been listening quietly, cut into the conversation.

The noblewomen let out startled cries at the sudden appearance of an unexpected man, but once they realized it was the Grand Duke, they quickly took out their fans to hide their flushed faces.

Commander Waldemar, who had been questioning them about Selina’s whereabouts, looked at Calix with clear displeasure.

“Nothing is certain yet. This matter will be handled by the Empire. You would do well to wait.”

“She’s my wife, and you expect me to sit on my hands and wait?”

Calix tilted one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile and asked,

“How am I supposed to trust soldiers who can’t even properly protect the ladies left in their care?”

“We still don’t know whether the lady met with danger or simply lost her way while walking. And furthermore, any incidents occurring during the hunting competition fall under the responsibility of the Empire that hosts it. As the Grand Duke from Thalia, all you need to do is wait for the matter to be resolved.”

Waldemar didn’t back down; instead, he made his intent clear to keep Calix from getting involved.

“Fine. Let’s do that.”

Calix raised both hands and stepped back.

Waldemar’s brows drew together. There was no way this man would retreat so easily. His expression was one of suspicion—wondering what Calix was plotting.

And, of course—

“In that case, I’d like to spend some time with the ladies.”

Knowing full well that his face was a weapon, Calix turned that devastating smile on the noblewomen, his eyes glinting with charm.

“Where exactly is this forest path where Selina disappeared?”

“Ah—well, it’s…”

“Do not answer him.”

Waldemar’s warning came sharply. But the noblewomen, looking as if they’d been bewitched by a fox, pointed toward the path without hesitation.

“Right over there, Your Grace.”

“That path is far too dangerous. According to the map, it connects to an area swarming with monsters…”

“It’s been over two hours since she went missing. I’m so terribly worried for her!”

Before long, the ladies were offering him answers to questions he hadn’t even asked.

“Thank you very much for your helpful answers. Is it over two hours?”

Calix gave the ladies a polite bow before turning to leave.

“I believe I made myself clear.”

But Waldemar caught him by the arm.

“Finding the lady is our task. Your Grace should simply—”

“Should I stay put?”

In that instant, Calix turned and seized Waldemar by the shoulder. The grip was so unreasonably strong that it was hard to believe this was the same man who had been smiling so amiably moments before. Waldemar instinctively tensed, his whole body bracing under the pressure.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Calix’s crimson eyes had darkened to a deep, blood-like red, their depths swirling as if steeped in actual blood. His gaze burned with a madness that seemed ready to cut down anything in his path.

“That I don’t trust you.”

It was a look Waldemar had seen before—on the battlefield. A gaze so inhumanly threatening it seemed to constrict the air around him. Without meaning to, Waldemar took a large step back.

“I’ll find her myself.”

Calix mounted his horse and was about to head for the forest path the ladies had pointed out when—

“W-wait!”

Marquis Bryson hurried forward to block his way.

“What is it.”

“I’ve just heard—you deliberately pushed Iden into a trap!”

The Marquis was fuming and had Iden in tow. The man was a mess; his arm was wrapped in what looked like hasty and clumsy bandages, probably sustained in the fall.

“Even if Iden was following you, how could you do something so dangerous?”

“I’ll answer for it later.”

Calix didn’t even consider the marquis’s words worth responding to. It was obvious what the man would say—that Calix was to blame for Iden’s injury and should take responsibility.

But if one were to question why Iden had been ordered to shadow Calix in the first place, the marquis would find himself with no defense. And right now, Calix had no time to waste on such pointless arguments.

‘The rain will come soon. The tracks might be washed away.’

The only way to find Selina was by following the footprints she had left behind. If the trail vanished, so would their one lead—he had to follow it before it disappeared.

However—

“This whole situation strikes me as far too suspicious! As if my daughter’s disappearance weren’t enough, now my son is injured? I daresay the Grand Duke is behind some plot!”

The marquis strung together two unrelated incidents and began to make a scene.

“Our dear marquis—your paranoia’s getting the better of you.”

Zenfri murmured under his breath. Unfortunately, the marquis heard him and jumped in outrage.

“Commander Waldemar will take responsibility for finding Selina! You, on the other hand, will stay here and prove your innocence!”

Trapped by the marquis’s interference, Calix slowly dismounted his horse.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Waldemar, donning the black helm that marked him as Imperial, brushed past Calix as he spoke.

“Just wait quietly.”

Watching the commander’s retreating back, Calix ground his teeth.

“You’ll stay here until the investigators arrive. If they confirm you’re free of suspicion, then—and only then—you may go look for Selina.”

The marquis, as if he had been waiting for this very moment, delivered his smug order before disappearing with Iden in tow.

“What filthy timing.”

Zenfri muttered as he watched them go.

Yes—it was filthy timing indeed. Almost unnaturally so.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Selina held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

The sound of something pushing through the undergrowth was drawing closer.

‘A monster.’

It had to be—there was no other likely possibility. In a place this deserted, there was no reason for a person to be here.

‘What do I do?’

With her ankle injured, running was impossible. Cold sweat trickled down her back.

Her clothes, already damp from the rain, clung to her like sticky spiderwebs, making the thought of even attempting to flee feel hopeless.

‘I… I have to get rid of the scent.’

Suddenly, she remembered: the Marquis had mentioned applying a scent to her back that attracted monsters. It might have been washed away by the rain, but if whatever was approaching had detected even a trace of it…

Lying flat on the ground, Selina began furiously rubbing her back against the earth. The rain had turned the soil into thick mud, which clung to her clothes. She paid no mind to the filth smearing her body; she moved only to scrub away the scent.

But the sound of something moving through the undergrowth drew closer and closer.

‘I have to hide.’

Dragging her injured ankle, Selina crawled toward a denser patch of foliage. Pressing her palms into the sodden, clinging mud, she used all her strength to pull herself along until she finally reached it—

“There you are.”

A human voice.

Could it be that a monster was imitating human speech?

Startled, Selina turned to look behind her.

“I’ve come to escort you.”

Before her stood a man clad in armor and a helm as black as night.