Sever’s face hardened at the unexpected answer. Though he wasn’t particularly fond of Lerrhagen, he had always acknowledged the Dragon Lord’s strength. But now…

“Is this opponent truly that powerful?”

“No. I’ve grown weaker.”

“…”

“Keep this from Estria. She’s already anxious enough without knowing such details.”

“Understood.”

Given Sever’s nature, he would never do anything to cause Estria anxiety. Knowing this, Lerrhagen turned his head.

“Understood?”

Viole flinched as the question was suddenly directed at her.

“Ah, well…”

‘So he knew we were here all along?’ she grumbled internally. Nevertheless, she nodded quickly, politely, and graciously.

Satisfied with her response, Lerrhagen vanished from sight. Sever stared at the spot for a moment before addressing Viole.

“Do you have combat records of all the monsters you’ve dealt with so far?”

“Yes.”

“Send them to the ducal residence.”

“What? Wait—”

Before Viole could finish, Sever was already walking away. Once he disappeared from view, someone behind her muttered.

“Tower Master, are you alright…?”

“Damn it all, I never knew being a lapdog to power would be this difficult. How is it possible that not just one but two such beings exist in this world? No, with Estria, that makes three!”

The mages felt relieved about their Tower Master’s mental stability, considering she had just received what amounted to unspoken threats disguised as orders from both the Dragon Lord and Sever, yet remained unharmed.

“What’s with those two anyway?”

Anyone could see the atmosphere between them was terrible.

Muttering this, Viole sincerely admired Estria’s control and mental fortitude for being able to keep both men in check simultaneously.

* * *

Perhaps because autumn was approaching, the day darkened much faster than expected.

“Your Highness!”

I slightly furrowed my brow as I watched Evelyn running toward me, her face plastered with excitement and joy.

“Don’t trip.”

At my words, Evelyn slowed her pace. Soon she arrived before me with a bright smile.

The ribbon I had given her glittered atop her head, perhaps specially decorated for the festival.

“I’m so, so happy we can go to the festival today!”

“Are you?”

“Yes. Oh, and these are pumpkin candies. They’re eaten during Thanksgiving, apparently. I got some from the pastry chefs at our mansion. This one is for Your Highness.”

Certainly, pumpkin candies were eaten during Thanksgiving, but this was mainly a commoner tradition. Nobles typically filled their tables with various meats. Honestly though, for a seven-year-old child, candies seemed more appropriate than expensive roasted meats.

However.

‘I don’t like sweet things.’

Looking at Evelyn’s sparkling eyes, I let out a deep sigh.

“Thanks.”

Taking a candy from her hand, I unwrapped it and put it in my mouth, making Evelyn smile broadly. I chewed awkwardly as the sweet flavor spread through my mouth.

Glancing to the side, I saw Sela smiling at us while holding two cloaks I had prepared.

“Your Highness, I’ve brought the cloaks you requested.”

“Ah, give the black one to her. I’ll wear the white one. Is that okay, Evelyn?”

“Yes. Anything is fine with me. But why do we need these?”

“Well, when nobles or royalty go out, they should conceal their identities with these for safety.”

This was complete nonsense, of course. During festivals, people typically adorned themselves as lavishly as possible. While nobles might stand out, there was no reason to be wary about wearing overly luxurious clothes.

However.

‘We can’t risk anything happening.’

While this was a festival for Evelyn, for me it was also somewhat of an information-gathering mission. It wouldn’t hurt to check if there was anything unusual in the capital while we were at it.

‘Of course, the best scenario would be returning to the palace quietly without incident.’

I glanced at the cloak draped over Evelyn’s body. This cloak, originally from my—that is, the Emperor’s—storage, served to block most external magical energy. Conversely, my cloak…

‘Prevents anyone from tracking my magical energy.’

This was actually a trophy I had acquired while dealing with monsters at the northern border some time ago.

“By the way, where is Ilian… brother? Why isn’t he here yet… Oh, there he comes.”

I frowned at Ilian, who hadn’t appeared despite our meeting time having passed.

Is he showing up late just because Hasis isn’t around?

“Hurry up, why are you late?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, young lady. I misread the time. Ah, the little miss from the Adler family is here too?”

Despite Ilian’s gentle words, Evelyn hesitated and hid behind me.

Why is she acting like this? I don’t recall Ilian having any previous interaction with Evelyn. While I was pondering this, Evelyn softly murmured.

“Hello.”

“Hello, little miss. Did I do something wrong?”

“N-no. It’s just that, having a b-brother is new to me.”

It’s not that having a brother is new, but rather having a kind older sibling is unfamiliar to her.

Ilian, who had attended the previous garden party, seemed to understand the situation somewhat. He smiled gently and spoke kindly.

“I see. I look forward to spending time with you today.”

‘Huh, he’s being surprisingly nice.’

Though Evelyn was a child, she was still a noble, so I was surprised by Ilian’s kindness. Noticing my reaction, Ilian silently mouthed to me.

‘She’s your friend.’

He speaks well.

‘Who’s my friend?’

Soon after rejecting his comment, I walked out of the palace. Evelyn clung tightly to my arm as she matched her steps with mine.

After boarding the carriage, my expression grew tense. For some reason, I had a feeling something would happen today—or was that just my imagination?

After some time, the rattling carriage came to a stop, and the coachman’s voice reached us.

“Your Highness, we’ve arrived at the entrance to the festival grounds. Would you like to disembark here?”

“Is it impossible to continue by carriage?”

“Not impossible, but—”

Feeling already tired from the noisy voices outside, I asked this question. But before the coachman could answer, Evelyn, who had peeked outside through a gap in the curtains, spoke with an excited face.

“Your Highness, let’s walk from here. Please?”

When was she ever this assertive? As I was thinking this, Ilian suddenly spoke gently.

“My lady, you know how incredibly crowded festival grounds get, don’t you? Do you want to be the princess who ruins the commoners’ festival?”

This is really…

In the end, I nodded in pretend defeat. As soon as I gave my consent, the carriage door opened and—

“Come see this!”

“Freshly baked cloud bread! Five pieces for just 2 lots!”

“Magical stones as gifts for Thanksgiving!”

I squinted at the bright lights that assaulted my eyes, then found myself gasping in amazement.

‘What is all this?’

“Your Highness, let’s go!”

Evelyn grabbed me with a bright smile. Uncharacteristically excited, her expression and touch eventually pulled me along with her.

* * *

In stark contrast to the festival’s fervor, the imperial palace was utterly silent.

Occasionally, distant cheers from the people could be heard, but the palace remained cold, seemingly completely isolated from it all.

Hasis walked through these corridors.

His face remained impassive as he moved quietly through the dim, shadowy passages. Yet, not forgetting Esht’s orders, he continued to survey his surroundings.

‘That kid really gave me a troublesome task.’

Though he grumbled internally, his face didn’t show any genuine annoyance. This was natural—if he had truly found it bothersome, he wouldn’t have agreed to it in the first place.

Having spent his life in back alleys, he had developed a somewhat rough personality, but he had a soft spot for those he considered “young.” And he precisely thought of Esht as that “young” child. After all, by his standards, the stark boundary between adults and children came down to exactly that.

‘The more immature they are, the more they insist they’re adults.’

Of course, he had noticed that Esht had softened considerably lately. The prickly child he had first met now seemed to have gained some composure.

‘Still, that temperament of hers isn’t going anywhere.’

With this thought, Hasis exhaled a long “hmm” as he walked through the corridor.

‘I’ve checked more than half the palace and found nothing unusual. I’ve examined every nook and cranny, but there’s no strange energy.’

Trained as a magic swordsman by Lerrhagen, he was especially sensitive to human presence thanks to his Eye of Truth. If he hadn’t noticed anything suspicious…

‘Does this mean the palace is safe?’

Well, he’d need to look around more to be sure.

Hasis continued walking forward.

Suddenly, he stopped short when a familiar figure appeared before him.

“Master?”

“What are you doing?”

Lerrhagen asked his disciple indifferently. Facing his master whom he hadn’t seen in a while, Hasis replied gruffly.

“Where have you been these past few days? You’ve been completely out of sight.”

“I was busy.”

“What happened?”

“What about you? What are you doing here? This isn’t Estria’s palace.”

“Ah. That squirt asked me to look into something, so I’m checking around.”

“What did she ask you to look for?”

“The dead.”

“…”

“She asked me to check if there are any resurrected dead people in the imperial palace.”