The first day of Ailie’s stay in Erdei was drawing to a close.

As she sat with her parents, Ricciardo, Damon and Breni, around the fireplace, chatting about everyday things, she lost all track of time.

The fatigue she had felt when she arrived in Erdei had long since disappeared.

As they talked happily, Ailie kept glancing towards the window.

It was night-time now, dark and heavy, and her brothers still hadn’t returned.

They had said they would be back quickly.

“My brothers are late.”

“Yes, they said it wouldn’t take long…”

Her mother had also been pacing restlessly by the window for some time.

A little earlier, Damon had gone out to check the front gate, but not only had her brothers not returned, there weren’t even any passersby left.

It was the hour when most shops closed, and the streets grew silent.

Too silent—far too late.

The Count stroked his chin thoughtfully, considering where his sons might be, then spoke.

“I think their gift must not be finished yet.”

“Not finished?”

“They ordered it in a hurry when they heard you were coming. It seems the artisan said it might not be completed in time, so instead of having it delivered, your brothers insisted on waiting at the shop themselves.”

So, at this late hour, the three broad-shouldered brothers were probably sitting together in a shop, waiting for a gift that was uncertainly timed.

Just imagining this scene made Ailie’s lingering worry melt away. They must have really wanted to surprise her. If even one of them had come back to tell her, she wouldn’t have worried so much.

“But… master, there is something that concerns me. May I speak?”

Damon suddenly broke the quiet with those uneasy words. All eyes turned toward him.

The Count nodded for him to continue.

“You recall the thefts that occurred in the territory several months ago, yes?”

“Yes, they were troublesome for quite some time.”

“That group of thieves has been unusually quiet lately, but I recently heard that they are now targeting shops. They wait for expensive, handcrafted goods to be completed and then steal them the moment the artisan lets their guard down.”

“What?”

Surely not…

Surely their delay wasn’t because of those thieves?

The people gathered exchanged troubled glances, expressions caught between surely not and growing unease.

A moment of silence passed before Ailie abruptly rose to her feet.

“I need to go look for them.”

If they were just waiting for the gift to be finished, that would be one thing. But if thieves were involved, and her brothers were caught up in something dangerous, she couldn’t just sit here.

Knowing their personalities, they were more likely to be chasing down every thief in the territory to throw them behind bars than to be in trouble.

But regardless, it was far too late. At this hour, the pitch-black night could hide any number of dangers.

“And where exactly do you expect to find them?”

“I’ll start with the shopping district.”

“And if they’re not there?”

“Then I’ll search the surrounding area. Even if I only confirm whether they’re nearby or not, we’ll know what to prepare for if anything happens.”

“Well, but…”

Her mother trailed off anxiously. She wasn’t wrong to worry. If the brothers didn’t return by morning, they would have to organize a guard unit and request cooperation from the neighboring lords.

But the thought of her youngest daughter going out into the night alone made her mother hesitate.

“In that case, I…”

Breni rolled her round eyes and seemed to muster up courage—just as she opened her mouth—

“I’ll go.”

A firm, steady voice cut in.

“Don’t worry, madam. I’ll accompany her.”

Ricciardo stood up, following after Ailie without hesitation.

Still searching for his jacket to go in his daughter’s stead, the Count of Erdei stopped short in surprise.

“You would do that for us?”

At her father’s words, Ricciardo nodded enthusiastically. Her mother’s anxious expression softened at last.

But—

‘He must be exhausted after returning from the academy…’

Was she forcing something unnecessary onto him?

As if reading that very thought, Ricciardo flashed her a confident grin and winked.

“Someone has to hold the torch.”

With that, he strode into the hallway.

Ailie quickly grabbed her coat and hurried after him.

“…I can hold it myself.”

“Your Majesty the Empress, don’t say anything so terrifying.”

“What do you mean?”

“If His Majesty the Emperor finds out that Ailie wandered around the territory at night—holding a torch and searching alone—even while I was here, what do you think will happen?”

As if he would ever find out!

Benate wasn’t the type of person to pay much attention to the Empress. Unless someone told him directly, he would never find out.

Even if he did find out, he probably wouldn’t do anything about it. He would simply let it pass or ask what she expected him to do about it.

Ailie shook her head and let out a soft scoff.

At the same time, another thought surfaced.

What if it were the Benate from the original story?

‘He would’ve dragged Ric off and scolded him senseless. Absolutely terrified him.’

He was the kind of man who was so devoted that he was practically ridiculed for it. Just as in the original title, he trusted only the Empress.

But in this world, that Benate didn’t exist. Ricciardo, who had left home at an early age to study, knew nothing of this.

“Before it gets any later, let’s go. We don’t have time to waste standing here.”

Ailie cut the conversation short, her tone cool. She had come all the way to Erdei to escape the Imperial City—she had no intention of wasting her time thinking about Benate.

When they reached the front door, Liton, the deputy commander of the Imperial Knights, rose from the chair he had pulled over like he were standing guard.

“Your Majesty, where are you going at this hour?”

“My brothers haven’t returned. I’m going to look around for a bit.”

She tried to slip past after giving only the briefest explanation, but Liton added,

“In that case, I will accompany you.”

“There’s no need. I’m not going alone—so it’s fine.”

“I am a graduate and appointed instructor of the Bris Academy. I’m more than capable of protecting Her Majesty.”

Ricciardo lifted his sword at his hip with a bright, confident smile, but Liton shook his head, unmoved.

“No. This is His Majesty’s order. I must attend to the Empress whenever she is outside the manor.”

Ailie’s words caught in her throat. She nodded because she had no choice, but the agreement tasted bitter.

She still felt trapped in the palm of Benate’s hand.

***

Late at night, the air in the room was quiet and still.

In fact, it was so calm that Ricciardo reassured her that perhaps nothing had happened after all. If her brothers were safe, they would find them by searching the market streets.

Ricciardo led the way with the torch, Ailie followed close behind, and Liton kept his distance, scanning the area.

The three of them walked through the district, checking which shops still had their lights on.

They knocked on a few doors where faint glimmers of light were visible through the cracks. However, they only found a handful of artisans working through the night under small magical lamps — there was no sign of her brothers.

“We’ve gone through the entire shopping district, right?”

Ricciardo muttered, raking his fingers through his bright red hair.

“There were no suspicious presences nearby, Your Majesty,” Liton added.

“…Right. We’ll circle the area once more, and if we still don’t find them, we should return to the manor.”

Ailie nodded, her expression uneasy. If they weren’t in the market, they had very few clues. Where should they even start searching next…?

Her pale rose colored eyes scanned the darkness anxiously.

‘It bothers me, but we don’t have time to inspect every single alley one by one.’

Even so, she couldn’t shake the faint hope, and her gaze drifted toward a nearby alley beside one of the shops.

Old, empty stalls. Boxes strewn everywhere. Fruit peels littering the ground. It was filthy enough to make anyone hesitate to step inside.

And deep in the back, through the cracked window of an abandoned house long left vacant—

“Ailie, let’s check somewhere else.”

—flash.

For the briefest moment, light flickered from within.

A spark of intuition struck her.

Her brothers might be in that abandoned house.

“W-wait!”

Ailie quickly stopped Ricciardo and spoke carefully, step by step.

“I saw a light inside that alley. It might be my imagination, but… let’s check just once.”

“That alley…? There’s only an abandoned house inside.”

“Yes. But still, I want to take a quick look.”

Ricciardo stared into her steady rose-colored eyes—then raised the torch without any hesitation.

“All right. If the Empress leads the way, I suppose I must follow—even if it’s straight off a cliff.”

“…Don’t joke about that.”

“Sir Knight! We’re going to take a little detour. Is that all right?”

“I have no objections.”

“Then let’s go.”

Ricciardo took the lead and stepped into the narrow, shadowed alleyway.

Up close, it was just as filthy as it had looked from afar. A sour stench pricked at Ailie’s nose, and the dust in the air scratched at her throat. It wasn’t just dirty, the atmosphere itself felt wrong.

Liton, who had maintained a sharp watch the entire time, now scanned the surroundings with even keener eyes.

“Farther in?”

Ricciardo murmured quietly.

Ailie retraced the brief glimpse she’d caught earlier. Yes—deeper, toward the abandoned house. She nodded silently.

They moved forward cautiously, even softening their footsteps.

And then—

“Ah.”

Flash.

For a fleeting instant, a spark of light flickered from the abandoned house again before vanishing.

This time, Ricciardo and Liton saw it as well.

All three quickened their pace at once.

Soon they stood before the most ominous-looking house in the alley—their destination.

“What could be inside…?”

Ricciardo held the torch up to the broken window and peered inside.

Ailie leaned forward, glancing in as well, but nothing in particular stood out. Only old junk scattered across an empty, dilapidated room.

She was certain she had seen light from within.

Was it only her imagination?

Ailie let out a faint, disappointed sigh, then placed her hand on the doorknob without much expectation.

Curiously, the door looked strangely new compared to the rest of the decrepit house.

—Clack.

It wasn’t locked.

The moment the three of them stepped inside cautiously, the air seemed to twist as if space itself were bending. The interior that appeared before them was completely different to what they had seen from the window.

There were piles of gleaming valuables stacked high, gold coins and bundles of money strewn across the floor, and countless footprints leading deeper inside.

“…Brothers?”