In the end, achieving only one of these means nothing. All three must grow together for true power to emerge.

That was also why she was attending this dinner. It was an opportunity to coldly analyze the principality’s current situation, which was not recorded in history, and to gauge the extent of Helena’s power.

‘To think you created this opportunity with your own hands. I can only be grateful.’

It seemed trivial, but all of these steps were the preparation needed to eventually set a mountain ablaze.

Setting a great mountain on fire always begins from the smallest spark.

Alicia’s thoughts drifted naturally to the first spark she had already set. A considerable amount of time had passed since the smoke rose, yet things were still quiet.

It should be about time for the snake startled by the smoke to show itself……

Alicia’s eyes narrowed.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Deep in a forest swallowed by darkness, a man ran down a pathless mountainside, rough breaths tearing from his lips.

The man was Padrick, a black market trader who operated near the capital. He had recently completed a large deal and was now fleeing with the goods.

“D*mn it, if I’d known it would come to this, I never would have touched the count’s merchandise……”

He pressed a hand to the bulge beneath his coat and bit his lip.

‘But how could I resist……’

Blinded for a moment by precious jewels that could change his miserable life entirely, he had done what he had done. If he could only get away, he could live without worry.

“Hah, hah……”

His breath came up to his throat, but he ran with his life on the line. The fallen leaves beneath his feet crackled with every step.

But soon he heard urgent footsteps following close behind. Padrick, wandering in a panic, quickly lost his sense of direction in the dark forest.

“D*mn it.”

Only the sound of his gasping breath echoed through the darkness. Then a terrible pain pierced through his thigh.

“Aaagh!”

A dagger buried deep in the back of his thigh.

Blood gushed out and unbearable pain spread through his entire body.

“Aaaaargh!”

A scream he could not hold back shook the forest. A dark figure appeared before the writhing black market trader.

“Who, who are you?”

“You should know better than anyone who we are.”

Figures in black looked down at him with cold eyes. Even in the dark forest, their gleaming eyes held a deep killing intent.

“Please…… just let me go. I’ll give you all of this.”

The terrified Padrick held out the silver coins from his bag. But the pursuers showed not a flicker of hesitation.

And then,

“You really are clever. To think you’d try to make a deal in a situation like this.”

A familiar voice carried through the night air.

Recognizing the voice, Padrick fell into despair in an instant.

A figure emerged from between the dark trees.

It was none other than Count Jeffrey.

“But with that clever head of yours, why couldn’t you calculate this? What price those who coveted what was mine had to pay.”

A chilling warning that could only come from someone who had taken a life before.

“……”

Padrick looked up at the count in terror. The count approached him slowly and spoke.

“Did you truly believe you could run from me?”

Count Jeffrey asked, knowing everything already. Padrick fumbled over his words with frightened eyes.

“I, I was wrong. Please…… please forgive me just this once.”

Count Jeffrey clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Tsk, tsk. Why do people do this? That is not how a deal works. If you want forgiveness, you must give me something of equal value. Just like those silver coins you held out a moment ago.”

Padrick’s eyes wavered in confusion. But he quickly made his calculations and opened his mouth in a hurry.

“If you spare my life, I will do anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Of, of course. I will stake my life on whatever you ask. So please…… forgive me just this once.”

Count Jeffrey stroked his chin, then finally nodded.

“Hmm. Right, a life is what it takes to make a deal. Very well.”

Hope flashed in Padrick’s eyes for a moment.

“Th, thank you.”

But in that instant,

Whoosh.

One of the masked figures slashed Padrick’s throat.

“……”

The blade was so clean that all he felt was a chilling sensation.

Padrick stared at Count Jeffrey in shock.

“Why……”

Count Jeffrey spoke to him without a trace of feeling.

“I simply accepted because you said you would stake your life. A trader who has lost my trust is worth nothing to me but death.”

Thud.

A man had died, yet Count Jeffrey and the masked figures wore expressions of complete indifference.

“Search him. He should have goods he received as payment.”

The pursuers quickly searched the dead Padrick’s coat. They soon held out a small jewel wrapped in silk to the count.

“Here it is.”

Count Jeffrey unfolded the cloth, and his eyes narrowed. It was something he recognized.

“So it was this bracelet after all.”

Exactly as reported.

What he held in his hand was the very ruby bracelet that had been sent to the Darlington domain to poison Alicia.

“The one who brought this bracelet was a maid from the castle, you said?”

“Yes, and apparently a maid belonging to Grand Duchess Alicia.”

Count Jeffrey’s eyes narrowed further.

He had been distributing various plants, animals, and monster carcasses gathered from the Forest of Monsters through his black market traders.

Naturally, only a handful of people in the capital knew of this, and almost nothing was known about the properties of those items.

But how did the Grand Duchess know about this and bought it?

What bothered him even more was the bracelet used as payment. When he thought about it, she had essentially made a deal with Count Jeffrey using the very item that had been sent to k*ll her.

‘Could she have…… figured out our plan?’

The count slowly stroked his chin.

His eyes were turned toward the dark night sky, but his mind was already calculating dozens of possibilities.

A moment later, he murmured quietly.

“Well. It seems I’ll need to pay a visit to the lady after some time.”

The chilling gleam of a man who had finished his calculations began to shine through the night air.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Late afternoon.

The knight order, finished with their preparations for departure, assembled in the training ground.

The Black Demon Knight Order.

True to their reputation as the strongest in all the Empire, the knights clad head to toe in black armor radiated an overwhelming killing intent.

All preparations were complete.

But Grand Duke Evander’s expression was heavy.

His gaze still lingered on Alicia, who had come to see him off.

“Be careful. There is no telling what they are scheming.”

“I know. The lady would never invite me with pure intentions.”

But Grand Duke Evander’s eyes were still full of worry.

Alicia took a step closer and looked up at him.

“From here on, this is my share to bear. Did you not say so yourself? That we each do our best in our own roles.”

“……”

“You must trust me now.”

Evander needed someone to manage internal affairs, given that he frequently had to leave the castle to defend against the monsters of the North and the eastern front.

Evander nodded at her confident answer.

“Very well. But do not put yourself in unnecessary danger.”

It was a cold tone on the surface.

Yet a faint, unmistakable concern lay beneath it.

Those words sent a brief sting through Alicia’s chest. But she worked to keep her feelings from showing.

“Do not worry. I have this, do I not?”

She showed him the ring on her finger.

Evander paused and looked at Alicia and the ring with a deep, searching gaze.

“……”

“……”

He looked into her eyes one last time with a serious expression. His gaze seemed to carry the weight of everything he could not say.

“We’ll talk when I return.”

Alicia nodded.

“I will be waiting.”

Hoooom.

The great castle gate opened, and Grand Duke Evander and the Black Knight Order began to leave.

Evander turned and looked at Alicia one more time. Their eyes met briefly before he spurred his horse forward again.

“Hya!”

The knight order rode away, forming a black wave.

A solemn resolve hung over their figures as they advanced toward the battlefield with their lives on the line.

And Alicia felt the same.

“I must go soon as well.”

Two days from now.

Not as Seraphiel,

not as a mere northern young lady,

but as the rightful Grand Duchess of the principality, she would face them again.

The meeting with the Grand Ducal heir’s consort’s allies would be no simple meal. It would be a stage for a complex game of power.

‘But there is no problem. The authority I will show as Grand Duchess of the principality, all the preparation for that is already complete.’