“What are you saying, you didn’t do it!”

“Yeah, that’s true, but……”

Serena answered Magnus’s words, who was angry on her behalf, while blankly tilting her head back to look at the empty space.

The light from the chandelier was dazzling. She slowly covered her eyes with her palm once, then smiled faintly.

“When have they ever listened when I said it wasn’t me?”

“Serena, let’s go back to the estate for now. I’ll look into the details of the incident……”

“Okay, but.”

Serena smiled faintly.

“I have a feeling that won’t be enough.”

Not only was there evidence too blatantly pointing to her as the culprit, but the black energy swirling around the Crown Prince since earlier was also unsettling.

It’s probably related to Nyx, who is likely to be Darkness incarnate.

‘…Why is he doing this?’

Why does Nyx want to eliminate the source of evil?

“Where should I go?”

Serena asked, looking at the commander of the imperial guard.

The commander of the imperial guard glanced at Duke Kelahinum before slightly turning his body to point outside the banquet hall.

“For now, given the nature of the situation, you’ll have to stay in prison until your innocence is proven or the investigation is completed.”

Serena smiled faintly at the commander’s words.

Death by overwork, death by explosion, next is starvation in prison, or perhaps execution.

“……”

Serena clenched her fist and forced a smile. Magnus’s heart sank.

“See, I told you from the beginning that I was uneasy because only good things were happening.”

“……Serena.”

“There’s no way only good things would happen to me.”

Was she born embracing a star of misfortune? Why does one misfortune follow every bit of luck?

Serena nodded to the commander of the imperial guard.

“Let’s go.”

She deliberately didn’t make an expression of fear or like she was about to cry.

She just didn’t want to.

“Serena…!”

At Marquis Lavernia’s call, Serena scratched her cheek.

“I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

She added in a whisper and followed the commander of the imperial guard to the entrance of the banquet hall without hesitation.

“…Serena, don’t give up and wait. I’ll come to get you soon. Don’t forget that as promised, I’m always on your side.”

Serena’s steps stopped abruptly at the voice.

She nodded very slowly, still facing forward without turning to look at Magnus.

When Serena had completely left the banquet hall, Magnus’s expression darkened completely.

“I’m disappointed that you couldn’t overcome such impulsive emotions and acted on them, Your Highness.”

Magnus said, looking at the Crown Prince.

At Magnus’s meaningful words, the expressions of the Crown Prince and Marquis Lavernia became subtly strange.

“Leave the investigation of the incident to me. Whether I find the real culprit or the cause of the problem, I will thoroughly clarify this matter.”

“……”

“And once this matter is settled, the Kelahinum Duchy will no longer be involved in the internal affairs of the Empire.”

Magnus said with a stern expression.

“What are you saying now……”

The Crown Prince let out a hollow laugh.

The words Magnus had just uttered were tantamount to saying that the duchy would never support him, whether he became Emperor or remained Crown Prince.

It meant he would curl up in his territory and just be a gatekeeper.

“I’m not of a good enough temperament to serve a lord who can’t control his emotions.”

The Crown Prince’s expression filled with anger at the blatantly confrontational tone.

It’s hard to know how much it grates on one’s nerves to say such outrageous things with such a nonchalant face.

“Do you realize what you’re saying to me, your old friend, all because of one woman!”

The Crown Prince raised his voice with an incredulous expression. Magnus’s lips twisted fiercely.

“And you, Your Highness, hated Serena because of one woman, and today you brought up an issue that was already supposed to be settled with an apology.”

“……That’s.”

The Crown Prince’s mouth closed at Magnus’s point.

The latter incident was clearly his fault, something he had blurted out impulsively.

“Your Highness, as precious as Her Highness the Crown Princess is to you, Serena is just as precious to me. Despite my warning, you touched her, so……”

Magnus brushed past the Crown Prince and paused for a moment.

“I’ll believe you were prepared for something like this to happen.”

“……”

“Unless you thought the weight of your person and my person were different.”

Magnus resumed his steps after finishing his words.

“Serena didn’t do this. It seems the World Tree is involved, as it was in the old literature.”

Magnus added one last remark before leaving the banquet hall, leaving behind a shocked Crown Prince.

Belatedly, Marquis Lavernia and Nocturne Lavernia followed after him.

* * *

“The attempted assassination of His Majesty the Emperor is the most serious crime among those defined by law. It would be better for you to cooperate as much as possible.”

“I am cooperating fully, aren’t I?”

Serena frowned at the words of the commander of the imperial guard.

She didn’t particularly like sitting in what looked like an interrogation room, facing each other and being questioned.

‘To think I’d end up in prison and an interrogation room in my life.’

She didn’t think she had lived her life so recklessly, but she wasn’t sure what the problem was.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

“Aren’t you just hoping I was the culprit rather than cooperating?”

“We plan to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident involving His Majesty the Emperor.”

The voice speaking matter-of-factly was dry, as if devoid of emotion.

But remembering how he had trembled when speaking in front of Magnus, Serena wasn’t that afraid of her opponent.

“And it’s also our job to interrogate the culprit.”

So, treating me as the culprit from the start is messed up, isn’t it?

Suppressing the words of rebuttal she wanted to say, I slowly turned my head.

“So I’d like you to cooperate.”

“How many times have I been telling you that I’ve been cooperating since earlier?”

“We’ve investigated the Duchess’s recent actions, and we’ve confirmed that your behavior is significantly different from before.”

Serena’s eyes twisted slightly at the knight commander’s words.

What do you want me to do about it, she questioned with her gaze, but her opponent was wearing armor and even a helmet, so his face wasn’t visible at all.

‘How am I supposed to know if this guy is the commander of the imperial guard or the captain or something else?’

Serena, who had been silent for a moment with her arms crossed, opened her mouth.

“Aren’t you the imperial guard commander? Don’t you know you should take off your helmet when talking to people at the very least?”

“…There’s no need to face a criminal directly.”

“I’m not a criminal, just a suspect… That’s why you’re using honorifics and calling me Duchess consistently, aren’t you?”

The moment you give in or back down even once, you hand over the initiative in the conversation to the other person.

Serena knew well what to do in such conversations.

Moreover, Serena had witnessed that the other party was afraid of Magnus’s existence anyway.

And Magnus was behind her.

“…What do you want to say?”

“I don’t want to tell my story to someone I don’t even know. What if the next person who comes to interrogate me isn’t you but someone else? You could be the person who set this trap for me.”

“That won’t happen.”

“My belief is that there’s no such thing as 100% probability in this world.”

Serena spoke slowly.

She smiled faintly with her chin propped up. She hid her tension and pretended to be at ease.

The moment you show fear, the other person will apply even more pressure to get the answer they want by any means necessary.

“So if you want me to cooperate, you should cooperate with me too. I need to know exactly who I’m dealing with… to have a conversation I can trust, right?”

“……”

“Or, call Magnus. I’ll talk to Magnus. I think he’ll handle you better than I can.”

Clank.

The sound of armor clashing was heard. Perhaps because the face wasn’t visible, it was impossible to read what the other person was thinking.

In fact, hiding one’s expression is the most important thing in a conversation.

Because the moment you reveal your emotions, it’s like handing over your cards to the opponent.

And right now, only Serena was showing her face. This was too unfair a fight.

“If not that, can you send me back to prison? I don’t think I have anything to talk about with you.”

Serena made an unreasonable demand.

As if she had no desire to talk to him anymore.

The other party fell silent at Serena’s words. Even without seeing his expression, she could somehow sense that he was offended.