With my back to Lerrhagen, I couldn’t see his expression, but knowing his temperament, I doubted something like this would surprise him.

I curled the corner of my mouth into a crooked smile.

“Admitting it so easily. How boring. You should have resisted more.”

“But that seemed rather pointless.”

Ilian still hadn’t erased that relaxed smile from his face.

His expression suggested someone who already knew he would end up in this situation.

I straightened my posture slightly and stared directly at Ilian’s face, still bound.

His light green eyes held a strange glimmer of amusement.

While I stared at him, Ilian opened his mouth.

“Won’t you hear my excuse?”

“Now that you know my identity, your excuse doesn’t matter. Why complicate something that can be solved with death?”

“Whoa…”

At the mention of death, Ilian’s eyes finally showed some agitation. Perhaps he hadn’t expected to die.

I let out a small laugh.

“But let’s hear it. Who was it? The person who told you the emperor had become a child?”

Ilian seemed to gain hope from my question and smiled.

However, instead of speaking immediately, he slightly shifted his gaze to Hasis.

“If you lower this sword…”

“No.”

Hasis refused flatly.

“Who knows what you might do.”

When Hasis responded more firmly than expected, Ilian let out a long sigh.

Then, looking once at Lerrhagen behind me and once at me, he began to speak.

“I’m an alchemist who was imprisoned in Death Gorge.”

“The charge?”

“Assault on nobility.”

“Oh. Quite an interesting charge.”

“As you know, Death Gorge is a place you can never leave once imprisoned. Alchemists and mages can’t even use magic there because of the energy disruption.”

“And?”

“But a few days ago, someone came to see me.”

“…”

“They said if I followed their orders, they would help me escape from there.”

“What orders?”

“To steal the Emperor’s seal.”

The seal?

I raised my chin slightly.

Every royal family has a seal that only the monarch can use, and it’s certainly important.

However, my seal wasn’t something passed down through generations.

After my coronation, I had created a new one with magic layered on it, making it impossible for anyone but me to use it, and nearly impossible for others to even find.

“Did that person tell you? That I had become a child?”

“Yes.”

“And the magic stone?”

“That person gave it to me. I assure you, I had no idea such a commotion would occur. Did that person want me to die?”

After finishing his words, Ilian wrinkled his nose and smiled. His face showed no trace of anxiety, suggesting he wasn’t lying.

But…

‘What could someone do by stealing my seal?’

The ultimate purpose of an emperor’s seal is, of course, political use.

But stealing the seal alone doesn’t transfer imperial power to someone else, and Ilian’s appearance was excessively dramatic just for stealing a seal.

‘Could it be…’

Finally, I turned my head to look at Lerrhagen.

I asked him as he stood with his arms crossed, watching us indifferently.

“What should we do?”

“You’re asking me how to deal with someone who entered your room?”

“It seems wasteful to kill him. Should we let him live?”

“That’s up to you too.”

“Was that black energy earlier really from Death Gorge?”

“Probably.”

Lerrhagen didn’t give definitive answers to any of my questions.

But I hadn’t expected definitive answers from him anyway.

I turned my head back to look at Ilian. When our eyes met, Ilian smiled again.

“Spare me, miss.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Spare me, Your Majesty. I’ll do anything if you spare me. Really. If you don’t send me back to Death Gorge and just let me live, I’ll truly do anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes. Anything.”

His tone didn’t sound particularly desperate.

His attitude suggesting he didn’t care if he died was quite irritating, but I somewhat understood why he was acting this way.

He already knew I wouldn’t kill him.

And truly annoying as it was, I definitely had no intention of killing him.

‘The culprit either knows me or is someone I know. So this guy isn’t the culprit.’

But it’s also true that he came from Death Gorge, appeared with black magic, and even arrived with the coordinates to my room.

Whether Ilian’s words were true or not, the person behind him was likely the culprit who made me like this, so killing Ilian wouldn’t mean much.

Someone new would just come again anyway.

‘It seems my activities have already been exposed to the enemy.’

I had expected my actions might be exposed in a situation where I was turned into a child without any warning, but it still felt unpleasant.

However, regardless of my feelings, if this was the case…

‘This guy has had the closest contact with the culprit so far.’

I couldn’t carelessly kill him and cut off this lead with my own hands.

Of course, keeping him imprisoned and watching him would also be a good approach.

But.

‘It’s too sloppy. And sloppiness always has a reason.’

Ilian didn’t seem interested in hiding that he knew I was the emperor.

No, considering everything from his appearance to his words, it was practically the same as asking me to realize that he knew my identity.

And the enemy knew that I could figure this out.

And simultaneously, I knew that the enemy knew what I was thinking.

I couldn’t be certain, but perhaps the enemy had sent Ilian to my side as a spy with some purpose from the beginning.

Even while announcing that Ilian was a spy. Ilian was essentially being used.

This was a battle proceeding with both sides fully aware of each other’s intentions. With the enemy clearly having the upper hand.

How vexing.

I narrowed my eyes.

‘Kill him, let him go, or…’

While I was deliberating, silence fell over the room.

And after some time had passed.

“Fine, I’ll spare you. I won’t even imprison you.”

“Hey!”

As soon as I finished speaking, Hasis frowned and called out to me.

I clicked my tongue in a gesture telling him to be quiet, and turned my gaze back to Ilian.

A bright smile spread across Ilian’s face.

“But I have conditions too.”

“Tell me, miss. I’ll agree to any—”

“You’ll have to make a covenant with me.”

It wouldn’t be my first time making a covenant anyway.

What I did with Lerrhagen was a type of covenant magic, and what I did with Hasis was also covenant magic.

“A covenant?”

“Yes, in other words, a contract. However, it’s more powerful in terms of punishment because it’s conducted through magic rather than paper.”

“Oh… so what kind of covenant do you want to make, Your Majesty?”

“First and most importantly, you must not reveal my secret.”

“That’s obviously something I should do.”

“Second, you must not harm my life.”

“That’s easy too.”

“And if you break either of these two clauses, you die instantly.”

“…Instant death?”

At the mention of instant death, Ilian’s face changed strangely.

I’d noticed it earlier, but he seemed quite afraid of dying. However, I paid no mind to that.

“Yes, instant death. And there’s more. Third, if the person who made you the offer contacts you again or attempts to communicate, you must report to me immediately. The time limit is one hour. If you’re late, it’s a contract violation and again, instant death.”

“Wait, I’ll die if I miss the time? That’s a bit extreme…”

“Fourth, like that guy, you’ll have to act as my brother. And if other people find out you’re not my brother due to your carelessness, again, instant death.”

“…What?”

“Fifth, you have an obligation to maintain confidentiality about everything that happens in the imperial palace. Don’t leak any information about me to the outside. If you do, instant death. For your reference, the instant death I’m talking about is suffocation, so keep that in mind.”

“…”

“Oh, and there’s an additional clause. Your intention doesn’t matter in any of these clauses. In other words, even if you had no intention of revealing anything, but someone infers something from your words, it’s your fault and you die.”

“…”

“All of this will be maintained by my magic, and the covenant will last until you die. So, will you do it?”

“…”

“Just for your information, if you refuse, I’ll immediately report you to the Magic Tower and have you locked up in Death Gorge. Also, Viole, the current head of the Magic Tower, is from the Arsis Empire, so she has no choice but to follow my orders.”

“The Magic Tower doesn’t belong to any country…”

“It doesn’t, but if you were her, would you ignore an order from your country’s emperor? Would you never return to Arsis?”

“That’s political interference with a magical institution—”

“Yes, interference. But it’s fine. My ‘criminal record’ is quite colorful, so everyone will just accept this and move on.”

Ilian’s expression, which had been cheerful until now, gradually hardened as I listed each condition.

I folded my arms and gave him a look that said, “Go ahead and choose.”

Hasis, who had been looking displeased at my words, now looked rather glum.

Well, when I mentioned a covenant, he probably imagined the playful covenant I had made with him.

But I wasn’t stupid enough to put Hasis, Lerrhagen’s disciple, on the same level as this unidentified person with impure motives.

Ilian furrowed his brow at my words and made a face that was hard to tell whether he was crying or laughing.

Finally, after sighing, he smiled ambiguously and said:

“I have no choice. I’ll accept. I really don’t want to go back to Death Gorge.”

I looked satisfied with his answer.

Soon, I snapped my fingers in the air. At that moment, a golden magic circle intricately woven with magical power appeared on the floor, emitting a bright light.

After looking at it, I turned to Hasis and said:

“The contract needs blood. Stab him just enough so he won’t die.”