[The culprit behind the Engler murder case: the cursed Duke? The son of a witch drinks the blood of young women to break his curse!]

“The son of a witch?”

The headline was sensational enough to make anyone frown. Her eyes moved a little faster as she read, and shortly after:

“Sigh.”

Hailey let out a brief sigh and dropped her shoulders. The article turned out to be nothing but gossip. None of it was based on verified facts; it was merely a product of the journalist’s imagination.

No, it couldn’t even be called an article. It was more like a novel—a cheap, sensational third-rate story. The premise claimed that Duke Gunner, the son of a witch, needed to drink the blood of young women to break his curse.

The piece concluded by asserting that the culprit of the Engler Street murders was Duke Gunner. It also claimed that the police knew this but was too intimidated by his immense power to arrest him.

“Ridiculous. Do people actually believe this?”

Hailey folded the newspaper back up and handed it to the boy. He glared at her with an aggrieved expression.

The boy, cheeks puffed with air, suddenly shouted, “You have to pay for that!”

“I gave the paper back, didn’t I?”

“But you already read the article!”

In response to his protest, Hailey adopted a confident expression.

“I once picked up an apple at a fruit stand and then put it back. Should I have paid for it, too? Go on, tell me.”

“Well, that’s…!”

The boy faltered, his words stuck. His lips moved soundlessly for a moment before he mumbled weakly, “That’s different….”

“Different, huh? How so—ah!”

Just then, Hailey’s eyes landed on a sign that read Café Violet. Without another word, she turned and headed straight for the café, leaving the boy behind.

Indistinct mutterings of curses followed her, but she didn’t care. She had saved one copper coin, and a bit of grumbling wasn’t going to hurt or kill her.

Besides, the most pressing reason was that she didn’t actually have any money on her.

As she opened the café door and stepped inside, Daniel, sitting by the window, raised his hand with a wide grin.

“Hailey!”

She handed her cloak and gloves to a server before walking toward Daniel’s table.

The café was about half full, mostly with male patrons. Including Hailey, there were only two or three women present.

After ordering coffee and marmalade scones, Daniel turned his gaze to her. His expression carried a hint of worry.

“Oh, Hailey. You came here all alone? Impressive. But what’s with your face? You’ve grown so pale in such a short time.”

That was impossible. Only three days had passed. How could her face have grown pale? Daniel must have been as prickly as Viscount Salmon.

Perhaps he still saw her as a six-year-old girl.

“Have you been well?”

“Oh, I’ve been fine. By the way, Hailey, did you see today’s special edition?”

Daniel, holding his teacup to his lips, hurriedly asked, his expression uneasy.

Leaning forward as if to share a critical secret, Daniel glanced around before lowering his voice.

“They’re saying that Duke Gunner is the culprit behind the murders on Engler Street. Oh, dear God! Hailey, you must return home immediately. What if you become the next—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. As if afraid his ominous words might come true, Daniel clenched his lips and swallowed his concerns.

Hailey, unfazed, took a sip of her coffee.

As expected, coffee was better than tea.

The rich aroma of the coffee, which she hadn’t tasted in a while, prompted her to close her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, her vision felt sharper.

“Surely, someone attending the Royal Academy wouldn’t believe an article that’s worse than a third-rate novel, would they?”

At her words, Daniel flinched. The same man who had completely believed the article sat up straighter, trying to save face.

“Of course not. I am a student of the Royal Academy, a temple of knowledge dedicated to science and logic. But still….”

“Don’t worry. I’ll likely be dismissed soon. It seems the Duke doesn’t like me much.”

“What?”

Daniel’s eyes widened in disbelief. The man who had just been urging her to return home now openly showed his discomfort.

“What’s wrong with you? Does the Duke lack any sense of judgment? Keeping someone as lovely and charming as you around for a lifetime wouldn’t be a mistake. Why on earth would he dislike you? It makes no sense.”

At that, Hailey couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Seeing her laugh, Daniel’s mood lightened slightly, and his expression softened.

“Oh, right.”

Hailey, as if remembering something, set her teacup down and fixed her gaze on him. There was something she wanted to ask—something that had brought her here in the first place.

As someone from a minor family with no interest in high society, Hailey lacked certain information.

“Do you know anything about the Duke’s origins?”

“His origins?”

“I overheard the servants whispering that the Duke is the son of a witch. The newspaper I just read said the same thing.”

“Ah, that.”

Daniel replied nonchalantly, casting his gaze toward the clock tower outside the window before turning back to Hailey.

“Hailey, are you unfamiliar with that story?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Well, I suppose so. You never paid much attention to gossip in society. You were always a pure-hearted child who preferred flowers and butterflies over idle rumors. And, being all the way out at Kent Hall, there wasn’t anyone to bring you news from the capital.”

It wasn’t until Daniel entered university that he began to take an interest in gossip. The more prominent the noble, the more their every move was scrutinized, often followed by shadowy rumors of unknown origins.

Recently, the star of such gossip had undoubtedly been the Duke of Gunner. Whenever parliament convened, he became the most talked-about man in the capital.

Hailey sipped her coffee as she listened intently to Daniel.

“To tell this story, we need to go back to Pedro Gunner, the current Duke’s father,” Daniel began.

“Pedro Gunner?”

“You know that the Gunner family is the most powerful noble house after the royal family, right?”

Hailey nodded, indicating that she knew as much. Daniel looked at her with pride, as if she were the most clever child in the world, causing her cheeks to flush slightly in embarrassment.

“They amassed their wealth through wheat farming and expanded it further by engaging in banking, effectively pooling the nation’s money,” Hailey added.

“That’s not all. Two hundred years ago, during the war with the Kingdom of Caucan, when the Kingdom of Aislin was in peril, the Gunner family’s army saved the king and turned the tide of the war. The Duke of Gunner was subsequently recognized as the greatest noble of Aislin and a hero who saved the nation. It was then that the title ‘Guardian of the Kingdom’ was bestowed upon them.”

“I see. But…”

Hailey suddenly looked at Daniel with a puzzled expression.

“When did the current Duke’s grandfather pass away?”

Though slightly perplexed by the abrupt question, Daniel answered, “Pedro Gunner inherited the title at the age of thirteen, so his father passed away fairly early.”

“Was it before the current Duke was born?”

“Yes.”

As she had suspected.

“So much for a grandfather’s last will,” Hailey muttered, pouting slightly. She motioned for Daniel to continue, and with a nod, he picked up where he had left off.

“The late Duke of Gunner married a woman of unknown origin. At the time, he was engaged to a lady from a prominent noble family, but he broke off the engagement unilaterally. The son born from that union is the current Duke, Tayton Gunner.”

“And? How does that relate to the son of a witch? Are you saying the Duchess was a witch?”

Hailey did not believe in curses, nor did she believe in witches. However, she understood all too well how people in this era recoiled at the very mention of the word.

Humans are instinctively afraid of those who are different. And fear often breeds hatred and rejection.

“Who knows,” Daniel replied, his gaze dropping to the table. He hesitated briefly, as though uncertain where to begin, before continuing slowly.

“The Duchess passed away shortly after giving birth to her son. It was said to be her first childbirth, and a difficult one at that. A tragic event. However, instead of presenting his son to the people of the estate and proclaiming the birth of the next Duke, Pedro Gunner did not show himself. Initially, it was thought to be due to his grief over losing the Duchess, but soon strange things began to happen.”

“Strange things?” Hailey asked.

Daniel nodded.

“The child was confined to an annex attached to the estate and not allowed to step outside, with only a select few permitted to enter the annex. It was almost as if he were imprisoned there.”

Suddenly, the face of Madam Mastis, the Duke’s nanny, came to Hailey’s mind. She might be far more closely connected to the Duke than Hailey had initially thought.

Indeed, it pays to stand in the right place.

“In the meantime, ominous rumors began to circulate in the estate,” Daniel continued.

Hailey’s face darkened, suspecting what those rumors might entail.

“No one had ever seen the next Duke’s face. So, naturally, rumors began to spread. At first, people questioned the Duchess’s fidelity, speculating that the child wasn’t Pedro Gunner’s. They theorized that this was why he refused to acknowledge the child as his heir and had him confined to the annex.”

Daniel took a sip from his teacup, moistening his throat before continuing.

“But when Pedro Gunner, the late Duke, passed away, he left everything to his son, Tayton Gunner. Not only the title but also the estate, wealth, and businesses. As a result, the rumors that the child wasn’t his gradually lost traction. If I recall correctly, that was when Tayton Gunner turned fourteen.”

Daniel met Hailey’s eyes. His green eyes, similar to hers yet darker and more vibrant, locked with her gaze.

While her eyes resembled the fresh greenery of spring, his were like the lush foliage of midsummer.

“Then, when the fourteen-year-old heir to the dukedom finally made his first public appearance, a great commotion erupted,” Daniel said.

“What kind of commotion?”