After leaving the Seidler Count estate and returning to her residence, Ailie spent long into the night wandering across the balcony, replaying the conversation she had with the Count and Countess over and over in her mind.

‘Donata was another candidate for Crown Princess?’

At first, she had not believed it.

There had been no mention of such a thing in the original story.

Even Benate himself had reacted with unconcealed shock, insisting he had never heard of it before.

At first, Ailie thought there must have been some misunderstanding.

Or perhaps the Count couple had been deceived by someone.

Considering how unnatural their behavior had been before revealing the truth, she had even suspected they might be lying.

Yet the Count and Countess repeatedly insisted they would never dare speak falsehoods before the Emperor and Empress.

According to their explanation, the reason they had initially hesitated to mention it was because they believed Ailie and Benate would never accept such a story anyway.

And more than that, they feared speaking of it aloud would make it seem as though they could not acknowledge the Empress who had already been officially chosen.

Such words would constitute a grave insult not only toward Ailie, but toward the Imperial Family itself.

The Count couple repeatedly explained that while it was true Donata had thrown prolonged tantrums over the matter, those complaints eventually disappeared after she met the dance instructor.

And that they themselves held no dissatisfaction toward the Imperial Family’s decision.

Moreover, they had shown undeniable proof.

“It’s only natural that Your Majesties were unaware. Donata was a candidate personally selected by the late Emperor himself….”

With those words, the Count and Countess opened a locked safe that, according to them, only they could access.

From within, they retrieved an old document.

[Among the prospective Crown Princess candidates destined to form ties with the Imperial Family, the second daughter of the Seidler Count family, Donata Seidler, is hereby selected.]

Stamped upon the document was the unmistakable seal of the Imperial Family.

There was no magic placed upon it.

Nor were there any traces of forgery.

The document had been written one month after Ailie herself had been chosen as a Crown Princess candidate when she was twelve years old.

And the late Emperor had informed Donata of her removal from candidacy when she was fourteen.

Which meant, without even realizing it, Ailie had spent two entire years engaged in an invisible rivalry with Donata.

And once she learned that truth, it finally felt as though Donata’s motives—long hidden behind a veil—were beginning to reveal themselves at last.

‘Could it be that she resented the Imperial Family because she could not accept the late Emperor’s decision to remove her from consideration?’

Because the position Ailie now occupied—the position of Empress of the Empire—had once been within Donata’s reach, only for her to lose it in the end.

Before the dance instructor appeared, Donata had apparently spent nearly a full year throwing tantrums before the Count and Countess.

Demanding that they restore her candidacy.

Demanding that they return her lost opportunity.

If she had clung to it for that long, then either the late Emperor had never properly explained his reasoning or Donata herself had simply refused to accept it.

The place she believed would naturally become hers had suddenly slipped away.

For a young girl, it was understandable that such a thing would leave deep resentment and disappointment behind.

Still, the authority to decide had belonged to the late Emperor from the very beginning.

‘There was never any way to reverse that decision.’

Now Ailie finally understood why Count Seidler indulged Donata so desperately.

He must have felt guilty for being unable to grant the wish of his devastated daughter.

Unable to overturn the Emperor’s decree, he likely tried instead to give Donata everything else she wanted.

Believing that, eventually, she would come to accept reality.

But if Ailie’s suspicions were correct, then that guilt had only poisoned Donata further.

Because the fact that her tantrums stopped only after meeting the dance instructor could mean just one thing, that was when Donata crossed a line from which there was no return.

‘And then, at fifteen—the age when I first met Benate.’

If the hallucinations had already begun by then—whether the dance instructor and Madam Fedroti were the same person, or whether the instructor had merely connected Donata to Madam Fedroti—it meant Donata had already come into contact with black magic immediately after meeting that instructor.

Madam Fedroti may have been the one who carried out the hallucinations, but she herself had no motive.

She had possessed no connection to Ailie whatsoever.

The one whose motive was unmistakably clear was Donata Seidler.

‘She targeted me specifically. Me—the other Crown Princess candidate.’

Was the intention not painfully obvious?

Donata had planned to destroy Ailie’s life and seize her place afterward.

Which meant, before her regression, the woman who toyed with Benate within Ailie’s hallucinations must have been Donata herself.

She had likely intended to carve the image of herself into Ailie’s mind by pretending to be his mistress—and then, once Ailie finally broke under the torment and chose to leave, Donata would step forward and offer to take her place instead.

After all, Ailie at that time had been utterly exhausted in both body and soul.

Donata must have believed that someone already planning to leave anyway would never refuse such an absurd proposal.

Donata could never have predicted that Ailie would suddenly attempt to flee, die in the process, and regress into the past—nor that, for some unknown reason, the hallucinations would shatter afterward.

And judging from the circumstances, the reason Donata had been able to cast those hallucinations in the first place was probably….

“As long as you can pay, that is.”

Money.

The most reasonable conclusion was that Donata had hired Madam Fedroti with money.

Ailie did not know exactly when fifteen-year-old Donata first met the dance instructor, but it was difficult to believe that within only a few months, she could have mastered black magic powerful enough to break through the Imperial Palace’s barriers.

She likely had not been capable of doing it herself yet.

That was why she borrowed Madam Fedroti’s power instead.

And in reality, Madam Fedroti had indeed been the one to carry out the spell.

And the reason Donata recently stripped the Count estate bare was likely—

‘To hire Madam Fedroti again.’

Although Donata had ultimately killed Madam Fedroti for some reason, the original purpose for seeking her out had probably been exactly that.

To cast the hallucinations once more.

To ruin both Ailie’s and Benate’s lives again.

To somehow reclaim the place she believed should have been hers.

“…….”

Everything fit together perfectly.

The conclusions were satisfying in one sense, yet deeply revolting in another.

Because if her deductions were correct, then Donata Seidler was moving even now to cast those hallucinations again.

An unpleasant sensation crawled slowly through Ailie’s mind.

The sense of peace she had fought so hard to regain after her regression wavered beneath rising anxiety.

‘I need to learn more about black magic. Before the hallucinations return.’

She still did not know why the hallucinations had shattered after her regression.

She had heard that the golden imperial artifacts in Benate’s possession could interfere with black magic.

And they clearly could.

But whether those powers would work against hallucinations as well, that remained uncertain.

She could not afford to entrust her future to uncertainty and risk having her entire life stolen away again.

Never again did she want to be pierced and wounded by those cold eyes sharp as shards of ice.

And never again…

‘Never again… I don’t want him to endure loneliness.’

She did not want those pale blue eyes, fixed solely upon her retreating figure, to become clouded with loneliness once more.

Above all else, she could not bear the thought of him, who had waited for her for so long, becoming trapped in another endless wait with no promise of an end.

‘I have to stop it.’

That was why she needed to uncover more.

She had to search through records, cling to every tiny clue she could find, and follow each thread to the very end.

Because perhaps, at the end of it all, she might discover a far more certain solution.

“Haah….”

Letting out a long sigh, Ailie finally returned to her bedroom.

The more she let her thoughts spiral, the more exhaustion began crashing over her.

It felt as though the ominous premonition gnawed endlessly at her reason.

The moment she threw herself onto the soft bed, drowsiness swept over her immediately.

‘Tomorrow, I should call Sirion and ask him about Madam Fedroti’s appearance. And then….’

If she still heard nothing from Ricciardo, then perhaps she should reread the strange book discovered in Madam Fedroti’s hideout.

With all the annotations covering it, it would undoubtedly take a long time but surely there had to be at least one small clue hidden somewhere within.

That was enough.

Little by little.

One piece at a time.

She would uncover the truth somehow.

Fighting against sleep, Ailie slowly blinked her heavy eyes and looked toward the communication magic tool resting upon the table.

Then, just as new words appeared across its surface—

[Have a peaceful night. Don’t worry about anything.]

[No matter what happens, I’ll protect the Empress.]

—only then was she finally able to let go of her anxiety and drift into sleep.

***

The following day, at a pitch-dark hour far too early for the start of ordinary duties, Ricciardo Alvaro walked silently through the quiet corridors and knocked upon the door of the Knight Commander’s residence.

For someone still technically a newcomer, visiting the Commander at such an hour would normally be considered highly improper behavior, no matter how promising a knight he might be.

Yet soon enough, a calm voice invited him inside without hesitation.

Because the meeting had already been arranged beforehand during working hours.

The Commander himself had specifically ordered Ricciardo to come secretly at this exact time.

Once the barrier research was complete, the Knight Commander intended to depart for the forbidden land at any moment—but not yet.

Even though the entire Imperial Knights Order had been thrown into chaos lately, it was not so busy that the Commander could only spare time in the dead of night.

And yet, the reason the two had deliberately chosen to meet at this hour was simple.

“Commander… have you not slept at all?”

“I needed time to organize my thoughts.”

“I see. Well… I suppose you had much to think about.”

There was good reason for that.

Because this was a matter that absolutely could not be heard by anyone outside the Emperor’s investigation team.

“Then… now that I’ve finished organizing my thoughts, I’ll get straight to the point.”

“Yes. Please do.”

Ricciardo’s black eyes sharpened intensely.

“Tell me the truth.”