As Caroline nodded, Melish’s lips curved into a small smile.

It was the news she had been hoping for. She desperately hoped that the search party would not find Lady Blanté, or if they did, that they would find her dead.

If the woman returned alive at the very moment Kylance regretted everything, then it would truly be over.

Their relationship, and the secret she had tried to erase.

All their plans would be ruined.

But if even finding the body wasn’t easy…

Melish’s anxious heart began to calm.

It would be ideal if they couldn’t even find the body.

That way, no one could remember or mourn her. Then Kylance would also be able to forget Lady Blanté.

No matter how deep a person’s feelings were, out of sight meant out of mind. She could wait for the right moment and ask the Emperor to stop the search. Then it would be done.

“……In the end, everything will return to where it belongs.”

Melish murmured softly, as if reciting a spell. Then she tossed Caroline a handkerchief she had used to wipe her hands

“Make sure there are no dirty marks on the floor.”

“Yes.”

“This is the last time I’m going to overlook it. You must never do anything so foolish again.”

Melish watched as Caroline cleaned the blood from the floor before leaving the lobby. Caroline checked the floor to make sure the blood was gone and then got up.

As she was about to return to her room, a white bird flew into the lobby.

“……Burshe?”

The bird was a Burshe, a hunting bird from the cold northern lands. Why was a northern bird suddenly in the Duke’s lobby?

And the Burshe stopped right in front of her.

As Caroline waved her hand to swat away the bird in front of her, the scene before her changed.

The bird disappeared, and all that remained was a blinding white wall.

“What is this…?”

Caroline’s face turned from confusion to fear as a deep, soothing voice echoed from behind her.

“Important conversations should be held in quiet places. How do you like the special pocket dimension I’ve prepared for you?”

Caroline jumped at the sound.

It was a voice she recognised. In fact, it was from earlier that day.

Slowly, Caroline turned to face the owner of the voice.

“Master of the Tower.”

The one who had suddenly abducted Caroline into this pocket dimension was none other than the Master of the Tower.

The bird that should have been in the northern lands – it was the Master of the Tower in disguise.

To come after me, even by turning into an animal… is he trying to kill me?

There was no other reason for the Master of the Tower to visit her.

Caroline sank to her knees.

“I was wrong. As someone so low, I dared to lay my hands on the Tower’s robes. Master of the Tower, please, I beg you, show me mercy just this once…”

Before Caroline could finish her words, the Master of the Tower waved his hand.

“Oh, did I give you the wrong impression? Listen, I’m not one to speak with two tongues. And if I wanted you dead, I could have killed you right then and there. Why would I bother to transform and find you? Don’t you think?”

Caroline hesitated. Aster’s words were absolutely true.

The difference in status between Aster and Caroline was like the difference between heaven and earth. He had no reason to go to such lengths.

“Then why…?”

Caroline’s true feelings slipped out of her mouth without her noticing, and Aster stepped closer to her.

“I told you. I created this special room because there’s an important conversation I need to have with you.

“An important conversation? What do you mean…?”

Caroline looked up at Aster with a blank expression. Aster, looking down at her, furrowed his brow.

“Before that, I should treat your face. You were so diligent in cleaning the blood from the floor, yet your own face is still covered in it.”

Still, people should be more important than marble floors.

Aster muttered a low healing incantation, and immediately the bloodstains and wounds on Caroline’s face disappeared, as did the pain.

Caroline touched her now smooth, swelling free cheek with a surprised expression.

“…!”

Aster reached out and grabbed her chin, lifting her face up. As their eyes met, Caroline hastily tried to look away, but it was impossible.

Aster tightened his grip on her chin, forcing her to look at him.

Aster spoke softly to Caroline, who was shaking instinctively.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die here. I just need you to tell me some facts.”

“What facts?”

“Blante’s daughter.”

“!”

“Judging by your reaction, there was something between the Duchess and Lady Blante.”

“I… don’t know anything.”

Caroline denied it vehemently, but it was too late. Aster had seen the uncertainty in her eyes.

Aster tightened his grip on Caroline’s chin as she tried to pull away and gently curled the corner of his lips into a smile.

“That’s right. You won’t remember anything you said.”

Aster’s blue eyes deepened, sending a shiver down Caroline’s spine. The Master of the Tower was about to do something to her.

“What are you…”

But Caroline couldn’t finish her sentence before her body went limp.

Her brown eyes, once alert, became dazed.

She had fallen under Aster’s hypnotic spell. It was one of the most dangerous types of hypnosis magic – one that controlled the mind of the target.

Although this magic was usually reserved for criminals… it was the quickest method at the moment.

And since I cured you,

“Consider it payment for the treatment.”

Aster’s gaze became even more intense as he commanded.

“Caroline, tell me everything you know about Lady Blante.”

Caroline’s lips parted slowly.

“…The first time I saw Lady Blante was…”

From the moment Caroline first saw Lady Blante to the last time she saw her, she began to tell a long story.

* * *

“The Duchess intended to send Lady Blante out of the Empire, to make sure she could never approach His Grace Duke Seyerd again. It was a relationship that could never be realised.”

“But Lady Blante was stubborn, and the Duchess presented evidence she had prepared in advance. It was proof that Duke Seyerd had framed Lady Blante’s father as a traitor.”

“Lord Blante was innocent. But Duke Seyerd forged Lord Blante’s letters and presented them as evidence to the Emperor, branding him a traitor and trying to destroy the Blante family. Lord Blante was the one who killed the late Duke and Duchess Seyerd”.

“The Duchess told Lady Blante that she had been deceived by Kylance, that Kylance had never loved her, not even for a moment. But that was a lie.”

“When it was revealed that Lord Blante was the true culprit, it was after His Highness had become engaged to Lady Blante. At that point, His Highness hesitated endlessly about taking revenge. But in the end he followed the Duchess’s advice and changed his mind. At the time, I thought he wouldn’t regret it…”

“Eventually the Duke realised something was wrong and confronted the Duchess, learning the whole truth. But by then Lady Blante had gone.”

“And that night I heard that Lady Blante had thrown herself into the sea.”

Caroline’s story ended there.

Even after hearing everything, Aster had one more question.

What did Caroline mean when she said that the Duke had noticed her?

But Caroline’s mind began to falter, and that was as far as the conversation could go.

In this way, Aster fully understood why Lady Blante had ended up on the edge of the cliff – or rather, why she had no choice but to go there.

The man she had loved so much, believing it to be destiny, had not only turned her father into a traitor, but had also revealed that her father was the one who had killed that man’s parents – her family’s enemies.

And after hearing the Duchess say that the love she had believed to be real was nothing but a lie, Lady Blante must have been utterly broken.

To realise that all her suffering had been caused by the betrayal of the man she loved – how could she bear it?

“She must have wanted to forget it all.”

Aster sighed deeply after remembering everything.

He lifted his eyes to the darkening blue sky before looking up at the towering spire of the Tower.

He thought of his younger sibling lying there.

“…I hoped she wouldn’t end up like Faelin… but in the end she fell apart just like Faelin.”

Betrayed by love.

Both Faelin and Lady Blante had loved a man with all their hearts, but the price they paid was far too high.

In truth, Lady Blante’s betrayal had been even more brutal than Faelin’s.

She had lost her father because of it.

It was hard enough for Aster to ignore the fact that her situation reminded him of Faelin’s, but the wounds Lady Blante had suffered were even deeper than Faelin’s.

How could he turn his back on her now?

After returning from the Duke of Viasteus’ estate, Aster stood motionless like a statue for hours in the Tower garden.

He remembered what Caroline had said, then thought of Lady Blante’s current situation. He had repeated the same thoughts dozens of times, but the answer remained the same.

He couldn’t turn away from her.