Some time later.

Rodi had been staying still in the room since morning, following instructions to wait there.

Lexiard had left, saying he would go check on the situation instead.

It would have been really scary if even Lexiard wasn’t there, but once again, she had received Lexiard’s help.

Rodi’s mind was filled only with thoughts of catching the culprit once she got out of there.

Knock knock.

“Yes!”

Rodi lifted her head quickly.

Ekision knocked on the door and entered, then knocked again on the door from inside while looking at Rodi.

‘What’s he doing?’

Rodi’s eyes widened.

Somehow, Ekision’s eyes were brimming with mischief.

“Hey, 0101 kiddo, Miss Brodi. Your release is granted.”

Then he smiled and extended his hand to Rodi.

“It’s all over, let’s go to the second floor, rookie.”

Rodi opened her eyes wide.

“Did you catch the culprit?”

“Hmm, something like that. Where’s Lord Lexiard?”

“…He went to check things out for me.”

“Hmm, then we should wait a bit. Rookie, are you feeling better? Have you eaten? How are you feeling?”

“Yeah.”

Ekision bent down to pat Rodi’s head while chuckling.

“Why so down? I told you it’s not your fault.”

“Because I couldn’t find them.”

“Are you sad?”

“I’m angry.”

Rodi clenched her fists.

Ekision let out a dry laugh, “Huh.”

“So you feel wronged?”

Nod nod.

Ekision playfully messed up Rodi’s hair even more.

“That’s a good attitude. I was worried you might cry. As long as you learned something.”

While fixing her messed-up hair, Rodi felt her stomach churning with emotions she couldn’t quite understand that kept bubbling up.

“Ekision.”

“Hm? What is it, are you feeling sick?”

“Why do you believe in me?”

Why does everyone believe in her?

She actually wanted to ask Lexiard first, but couldn’t.

Lexiard had kept saying not to worry, that both Gemvil and Rodi would be fine.

Jin also came by very briefly earlier to ask if she was okay.

Horas and Ekision said it would be over soon, so not to keep worrying about it.

When she briefly saw Hailo, he secretly smiled and waved at her as if nothing was wrong.

Why, when Gemvil was seriously injured.

Actually, when she first heard she was the prime suspect after Gemvil collapsed, she thought it was unfair but not unfamiliar.

Even when they didn’t steal money, orphanage children were always treated like thieving cats, and they were treated like it was a big deal even if they just got close to bread without stealing it.

She was just a bit surprised because she hadn’t received such treatment here at all, which she had liked.

“Is that what you’re curious about?”

Rodi was afraid but curious about what the answer would be.

“…Yes.”

“Because we’re colleagues.”

“……?”

“You have to trust your colleagues, who else would you trust?”

“……”

“Does that answer your question?”

“What are you doing?”

“Welcome back! Come on, let’s go, let’s go. Let’s head back now!”

As soon as Lexiard arrived, Ekision hurriedly put his arms around both their shoulders and moved quickly, saying they should return.

***

The incident was temporarily concluded.

This was because Eclise had given orders to wrap it up at Gemvil’s request.

Rodi heard about Gemvil’s resignation that evening.

Only after Gemvil had completely cleared out and left, and after the executives had heard all the news.

No one had shown any sign to Rodi when she returned, so she hadn’t known at all.

And by Eclise’s order, Rodi was temporarily confined to the second floor of the main building.

This was because, among the staff, Rodi had already been firmly branded as the culprit.

But Rodi couldn’t just stay still.

After what happened to Gemvil, she couldn’t think of anything else but finding the culprit.

So she went down to the first floor when all the executives were away.

She moved after deciding it would be fine even if she got caught and kicked out.

Thinking that at least before getting kicked out, she would catch the culprit who did that to Gemvil.

Just as she came down to the first floor, Rodi almost bumped into someone.

It happened because they suddenly appeared from around the corner while she was thinking about where to go.

“Oops, be careful there.”

“……”

I was just standing here though.

Just as she thought that the person quickly walking away seemed familiar, she immediately remembered their face.

‘That person?’

It was one of the companions who had been with the person she bumped into at the banquet hall.

That person was one of the people Rodi suspected the most.

Because they were the ones who helped get the lemon juice.

When they first said Gemvil was poisoned, when it was found to be from the lemon juice, she had suspicions.

But she hadn’t said anything because they were the only ones among those at the banquet who weren’t carrying any weapons.

While everyone else carried at least one sword for self-defense, this person had nothing, which made it harder to suspect them.

Even now, they weren’t carrying any weapons.

Just slightly limping on their left leg.

“Rodi.”

While glaring at the man’s back, Rodi turned her head toward the voice coming from the opposite direction.

Her dark eyes immediately brightened.

“Lexiard!”

“Why are you looking over there?”

After glancing briefly in the direction where the man had disappeared, Rodi turned completely toward Lexiard.

“…Just because.”

Rodi reluctantly changed the subject.

Finding this suspicious, Lexiard grabbed Rodi and persistently questioned her.

Finally, having no choice, she carefully whispered in Lexiard’s ear about that day’s events and her suspicions.

At that, Lexiard’s gaze fixed on the direction Rodi had pointed.

The man had long since disappeared around the corner.

“They helped you?”

“Yes, but we can’t suspect someone without evidence.”

Above all, she knew better than anyone how it felt to be wrongly suspected and hurt.

That’s why she could have said something on the first day but couldn’t speak carelessly.

And actually, there was no suspicious circumstance revealed about the man.

“I see.”

Lexiard straightened up with a look of understanding.

Rodi’s head naturally tilted upward.

“Rodi.”

“Yes?”

“Is it hard to find?”

Rodi nodded slightly. It seemed impossible to find the culprit with her sight ability.

Lexiard grabbed Rodi’s shoulders.

“Your sight, how far can it go?”

Rodi thought carefully before speaking.

Behind closed doors, inside thick boxes, things hidden deep inside clothes, sometimes even things trapped in darkness, she could see but.

“…I can’t see inside bodies.”

“Then can you see what’s engraved on the outside?”

“Yes.”

Rodi answered with confidence.

At those words, Lexiard fell into thought for a moment.

It was clear this was done by someone who was in the banquet hall.

But a culprit which could possess poison without being detected and avoid detection even with truth serum.

There couldn’t be many such capable people in the empire.

Especially someone who could evade Cheiles’s eyes would be even rarer.

However.

‘If it’s Hikkerman, that’s a different story.’

It would be possible if it was someone acting under orders from a person he knew well.

And Lexiard knew very well the characteristics of those organization members.

For instance, how to identify them.

However, knowing how hard Rodi was trying now, he briefly wondered if he should move instead.

Soon Lexiard finished his thoughts.

“Then instead of looking for suspicious items.”

“Yes.”

Lexiard bent down slightly and whispered.

“Let’s look for strange markings.”

Rodi squinted her eyes and shivered as her ear tickled.

“Markings?”

Lexiard nodded.

They are skilled at hiding themselves and always conceal their identity when going into operations, but precisely because of that, they always leave marks on their bodies to prove they’re allies.

Of course, in ways ordinary people wouldn’t know about.

“Tattoos. If they’re the ones who didn’t show up on the truth serum, it’s obvious who sent them. But we don’t know who that is.”

Truth serum was used as the easiest method to identify the culprit.

Rodi was still too young to use truth serum, but even with this method, the culprit hadn’t been found yet.

Lexiard informed Rodi that those who received high-level training could resist ordinary poisons and truth serums.

When he said that if Gemvil had been an ordinary person, he might have already been done for, Rodi felt her heart shrink.

The other day Ekision had warned Rodi about how serious it could have been – now she understood what he meant.

“How does Lexiard know all this?”

At Rodi’s question, Lexiard hesitated for a moment as if choosing his words.

“That’s……”