134. The Missing Thief

Larael let out a low groan at his words. She was confused about what he meant. She couldn’t easily answer, unsure of what he knew or in what sense he had spoken.

“Sir Berser… what do you mean by this…?”

“I mean, Your Highness should use me in your opposition against the Empress Dowager.”

At those words, Larael shot to her feet.

“Sir Berser, that is… that is…”

“My father told me everything. About the secret of my birth… I’ve thought about it a great deal. Perhaps Your Highness knew and that’s why you appointed me as your knight, to help me?”

The tips of Larael’s fingers trembled faintly. She let out a long breath and sat back down.

“Sir Berser, I have no intention of lying. What you guessed is correct. If that disappoints you, you may return to the order.”

Berser firmly shook his head.

“…I have no such thought. Your Highness will always be my benefactor, and my oath of loyalty to you has never changed.”

“I discovered the secret of your birth by chance. And I intended, one day, to use it as a card against the Empress Dowager. You may blame me for that. Not long ago, I even told Her Majesty the Empress Dowager who you truly are. I believe you also know why.”

Berser lowered his head. Perhaps those words were yet another wound to him. Even after his identity had been revealed to the Empress Dowager, she had shown no particular reaction toward him.

“And I no longer plan to use that fact to pressure her. The Empress Dowager knows it well too. That is why she can be so brazen. I do not want to lose you, Sir Berser. I want to protect and safeguard my people. That, too, is the truth.”

Moisture welled in the corners of Berser’s eyes. Sniffling, he opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, that is exactly why I say you should use me. I haven’t served you for long, but I have felt your sincerity in the way you treat and speak to us. Isn’t it enough if I give my consent? I have even asked my father’s permission, and he gladly gave it. We are fine with it, so…”

“Berser!! Stop this at once. My mind is already made up. If you say more, I will order you to return to the order.”

“…”

“…Without my command, you are never to bring this up again. Do you understand?”

If Herwen were ever to hear these words, Berser and his father’s lives could be in danger.

“…”

“Sir Berser!!”

“…Yes. I understand.”

After sending Berser out, Larael collapsed onto the sofa as if she were falling. She felt drained. Why in the world had Berser’s father told him such a secret? What feelings toward the Empress Dowager had driven him to reveal such things to Berser? After awaiting death so helplessly, had something within him changed once he survived?

Larael barely managed to rise and move to the bed, laying down her heavy body. Turning her head, she stared blankly at the neglected doll of Edward for a long time.

“Edward, where are you right now?”

***

Larael awoke suddenly, feeling as though she had slept deeply.

‘I need to get to Edward quickly…’

She was certain she had been sleeping in her room, yet she was not lying down but standing in the middle of a dark space. It was dark, but it was clearly not her bedchamber. Only the moonlight pouring through a window lit the room. Larael turned her head, trying to recognize where she was. The place looked familiar. Soon, she realized where she stood.

With a trembling heart, she cautiously walked toward the bed. She hoped it wasn’t so, but lying there was the Empress Dowager, breathing softly in her sleep. Larael quickly covered her mouth with her hand. Her heart plummeted and she could hardly breathe. She stood frozen in place, unable to move a step, holding her breath as she watched the Empress Dowager stir in her sleep.

She couldn’t begin to think how this had happened. The only thought that filled her mind was that she had to escape. If she were discovered here, there was no telling what kind of crime she would be accused of.

Carefully, Larael lifted her trembling foot. One cautious step, then another, making sure not to wake the Empress Dowager. Cold sweat trickled down her back. Was this sleepwalking? How had she come all the way here without being stopped? Countless thoughts flooded her mind.

Just then, a long shadow stretched into the bedchamber under the moonlight from the window. The window creaked faintly open, and like the wind, someone slipped inside.

“Ack!!”

Unthinkingly, Larael screamed and stumbled backward, falling hard onto her backside. Though trembling in fear, the intruder paid no attention to her scream, not even glancing her way, and instead looked around the chamber. He had never been searching for the one who had screamed.

A strange sense of déjà vu swept through Larael’s mind.

This was undoubtedly a dream. She had once dreamt of events that had occurred before her regression.

‘Ian…’

She recalled the day of Herwen’s engagement banquet, the day she had lost Ian on the way back to the palace. She had dreamt of that day inside a carriage. The feeling was exactly the same now.

‘Is this something from before my regression? Or is it merely a dream?’

Certain that the intruder could not see her, Larael clutched her pounding chest and walked toward him. Indeed, she was not a presence that existed in that place. The intruder searched the chamber, then walked straight past her and headed for the Empress Dowager’s dressing room.

‘A thief??’

In the noble ladies’ dressing rooms, there were always drawers filled with jewels alongside their dresses. Seeing the Empress Dowager head straight for that place without even glancing elsewhere, it seemed more likely that this was just a thief rather than an assassin.

And suddenly, the thief who had once caused a great stir in the capital came to Larael’s mind.

“It must be that thief.”

The Empress Dowager herself had never spoken of being robbed. Since many nobles who had been robbed preferred to keep it quiet, it was entirely possible that she had done the same. A hollow laugh escaped Larael.

Larael followed the audacious thief—who had even dared to infiltrate the imperial palace—into the dressing room. Wearing a mask, the thief was shining a small glowing object, likely a magical tool, over the jewels as if carefully picking what to steal. Larael stood by his side, watching him choose.

The sight of a thief picking and choosing which jewels to take was simply absurd. Then he shifted his gaze to the tightly locked safe resting atop the drawer and pulled out a small dagger. In an instant, a dark aura cloaked the blade. With ease, he sliced through the safe and pulled out the necklace stored inside.

A thief using aura? Larael froze on the spot, staring at the necklace he had just taken out.

“Oh!!”

An exclamation burst out of the previously silent thief.

“……Joy??”

At the sound of that familiar voice, Larael gaped at him in a daze. And now she remembered—the dark aura that had surrounded the sword when it cut through assassins.

Joy lifted the necklace and stared at it intently. Then, quite suddenly, he put it back down.

“If I steal this, it’ll put my life in danger. The entire empire would hunt me down……”

Joy clearly knew what that necklace was. Dangerous things were never worth it. Muttering to himself, he placed the necklace back into the cracked safe. Without the slightest thought that he might be caught, he casually stuffed jewels into his pouch, humming a little tune as he strolled out of the Empress Dowager’s bedchamber.

Larael remained in a daze, blankly watching him slip out the window. Only after he completely disappeared did her vision darken, her consciousness fading.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in her own bedroom, lying on her bed.

Larael shot upright.

‘The thief who stirred up the capital before my regression… was Joy?’

A hollow laugh escaped Larael again. The reason that thief never appeared this time was because, unlike before, Joy had been by Larael’s side.

‘So the time when the thief suddenly disappeared coincides exactly with when the Krauf disease broke out… Was it really because Joy caught the Krauf disease and died?’

Larael rose from her bed and sat down on the sofa.

“Joy!!!”