As soon as I returned to the bedroom and closed the door, a rough breath escaped me as if I had been exhaling forcefully.

What should I do about this? I needed to find a way to inform Raphael.

I quickly looked around. There was nothing suitable to use as a rope. It was quite a high jump from the second floor. But… I was a healer. Getting injured wasn’t an issue for me.

Once I made up my mind, the fear disappeared. I opened the tall window wide and steadied my breathing.

I just needed to stay conscious. Just stay conscious.

I was about to grab the curtains hanging on either side and move when the door opened, and several knights quickly overpowered me.

“What are you doing right now? Let me go!”

No matter how much I struggled and twisted my body, it was useless.

“I said let me go!”

“That won’t do, healer.”

I stopped trying to shake them off and looked up at the elegant voice I heard every day.

“You heard everything, right?”

The Marchioness, not expecting an answer from me, continued with a smile.

“Do you know? The flowers in the tea room all have a purpose.”

I was too stunned to speak. Leading me to the tea room hadn’t been about getting a check-up.

“You said the scent was very good, didn’t you? Yes, it is. It’s so good that it’s also very potent… it seeps into people well.”

I had hoped the scent that lingered on me, making me feel like I was lying in a flower garden, wouldn’t fade.

“The scent was strong in front of the library. As if someone had stayed there for a while.”

I hadn’t realized the scent had mixed with my own and lingered, strong enough for them to easily track where I’d been.

“It’s a very natural and elegant way to track someone. If you can sacrifice a little time.”

“So it was all planned…!”

My voice trembled involuntarily. Why hadn’t I noticed the true intentions hidden behind their excessive kindness? I knew that Marquis Aaron was someone who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means to achieve his goals, that he was opposed to Raphael, and that I, who had brought back the missing heir, was a thorn in his side. I had been too naive to trust them.

She approached me, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

“Winning the favor of others isn’t difficult, especially with someone as kind-hearted as you, healer.”

“What exactly are you plotting? Stop it right now!”

“You’re quite meddlesome for a stranger.”

“Raphael is innocent!”

“Isn’t surviving and showing up his crime?”

“Power taken in such a way will be recognized by no one.”

The Marchioness, who had been responding leisurely to my words, suddenly wiped the smile off her face.

“He is… the most perfectly prepared person. We’ve put in a lot of effort over a long time. Some may be confused at first, but… eventually, everyone will accept him. The new king.”

“Even if Raphael didn’t have any ambition, you could have persuaded him. There are plenty of ways to achieve this without resorting to bloodshed…!”

I was growing more anxious by the moment. I blurted out whatever came to mind, but she merely scoffed at me.

“Perhaps you’ve spent so much time caring for the sick that you haven’t learned how the world works. Or are you just pretending not to know?”

She mocked me with a gentle voice before her tone turned cold.

“Blood ties are a very powerful pretext, a cause, and a justification. That’s why, during all those long years when it was unclear whether the prince was alive or dead, the king never once considered my husband as an heir.”

My arm started to ache. The knights’ grip was so strong that I struggled to control my magic. But I couldn’t surrender like this.

“If they named a successor, it would mean admitting Raphael was dead. It’s only natural for the king to feel that way; he is a parent, after all!”

“No. A king must prioritize the people and the country over his children. Isn’t a king who can’t do that unworthy of the throne?”

The Marchioness lightly raised her voice at the end of her sentence and smiled. I grew increasingly angry and unintentionally raised my voice.

“If Marquis Aaron had such a great sense of justice, he would never do something like this. It would plunge the country into chaos. And as his wife, you should be stopping him even more! You love your husband, don’t you? Then you should stop him from going down such a wrong path—”

“I love him in my own way. Helping my husband achieve his dreams, as his lifelong supporter and companion… that’s where I find my sole and perfect satisfaction. Who dares to blame me for that?”

She approached me and poured out her words as if scolding me. I was momentarily speechless. Not because I was surprised or scared, but because of the fleeting sadness I felt. She wasn’t someone who shared a common goal with her husband; Aaron Rumatera himself was her goal.

As silence filled the space, the Marchioness signaled to the knights. Some of them went to lock the windows.

“What do you plan to do with me?” I asked.

“We have no intention of harming our benefactor. So stay put here until everything is over. Don’t think about leaving. Not that you could anyway.”

The Marchioness turned and headed for the door. The knights followed her one by one. I watched them in a daze, having no weapon for self-defense since all my belongings were at the palace.

“Oh, by the way.”

She suddenly stopped as if she had remembered something.

“Duke Leopold Lawrence will be helping us.”

I had no idea why that name suddenly came up here. My head spun, and I felt like I might faint. I barely managed to hold onto my senses and asked again what I had heard.

“Who… did you say? Leo… pold?”

But the Marchioness just smiled silently and left the room.

I couldn’t sleep until dawn, spending the time wide awake. Regardless of why Leopold was involved in this matter, if he truly decided to help Marquis Aaron, Raphael would surely die. My husband was not someone who made decisions lightly, and once he decided, he wouldn’t spare any means or methods. It was impossible to persuade him with words.

The one I saved, he would kill… I never thought I’d feel this insurmountable distance between us once again in such a way.

My head throbbed. The pain from psychological pressure was difficult to heal even after returning. Memories of death dragged me into a helpless fear.

I couldn’t lose this life I regained without doing anything. There must be a way…

‘Strong magic sometimes affects inanimate objects. Although I’ve never seen it myself, Hazel, you might be able to do it.’

Following the advice, I had tried several things at the time. However, contrary to my teacher’s expectations, it had ended in failure. The reason was said to be that the caster’s will wasn’t strong enough. But now…

I got out of bed and sat at the desk where papers were neatly placed, picking up a pen. I wanted to write down everything I had heard, but I had to be cautious of any potential danger.

“Derrick, a great sea breeze is coming. In a week, the ship will be completely wrecked. You must escape immediately. Don’t worry about the purple flowers gracefully placed in the vase; they will never wither.”

I carefully chose each word so that the content wasn’t too difficult yet didn’t directly reveal the message on the surface. After checking the content several times, I folded the paper neatly into the shape of a bird. Then, placing it on my palm, I began to infuse it with magic. It was the first time using magic felt so awkward. I doubted whether I could succeed, but there was no choice but to keep trying until it worked.

***

The messenger sent by the king led Leopold to a very shabby grocery store on the outskirts. The owner was a blind old man who carefully felt the wooden stick handed to him by the messenger, then naturally turned off the only lantern illuminating the counter. The already dark store became pitch black.

“Follow me.”

As the old man began to move with a voice that seemed like he might disappear at any moment, Jayden murmured softly.

“How does someone who can’t see run a store?”

“Young man full of prejudice. People like us have sensitive fingertips and can distinguish sounds carefully. For instance, I can easily tell that you’re a knight.”

“I-I apologize…”

While he awkwardly offered his apology, Leopold inspected the interior thoroughly. There were traps and concealed weapons hidden everywhere, difficult to detect even for a seasoned knight. Judging by the unused ones, it seemed to have been used as a secret meeting place by the principality for generations.

The old man stopped at a warehouse at the very back of the store, where groceries were piled up haphazardly. Standing in a passage barely wide enough for one person, the old man carefully felt around the wall. Soon, a shelf that reached up to the ceiling protruded and slid to the side. Behind it appeared a roughly hewn opening in the wall.

“Only one person can enter. I’ll open it again when the noble person arrives.”

“It’s too dangerous to go alone. My lord!”

Jayden spoke urgently, but Leopold stepped through the wall without hesitation. At the same time, the shelf returned to its place, blocking the entrance, and a faint light descended from the ceiling like mist.

Leopold calmly surveyed the secret chamber.

In the middle of the narrow room, two small stools were placed on either side of a crude table. He tapped the table with his knuckles a couple of times. The sound didn’t echo but lingered, then faded as if it was absorbed by the walls. It wasn’t a bad place for a secret meeting.

Sitting on one of the stools, Leopold reviewed the evidence he intended to present to his counterpart.

The weapons recently purchased by the Marquis’s household, the number of mercenaries temporarily hired, and the enormous quantity of oil pouches made for arson. They had been cleverly dispersed around the outskirts of the capital, but all the managers were vassals of the Marquis’s household.

And most importantly, the second letter sent by Marquis Aaron would serve as powerful evidence.