“A–Ari?”

In a corner half-hidden behind a pile of junk, a pair of pale rose-colored eyes—so similar to Ailie’s own—widened in shock.

Light blond hair, just like hers. It was Claren, the third son of the Erdei family.

He looked terrified. Breathing hard as if he had been chased until moments ago, his pale face and fair hair were damp with sweat.

Nearby, her eldest and second brother sat with their arms drawn tightly behind them.

Were they bound by invisible ropes?
Caught by a spell?
Their red eyes stared blankly into empty air.

“Claren, what happened here?”

“T-that… I—I was sure that I…”

Claren mumbled incoherently, like someone who had lost his senses.

What in the world had happened?

Ailie frowned in worry.

Her brothers weren’t at Ricciardo’s level, but they still had considerable talent in swordsmanship. And with all three together, they shouldn’t have been subdued so easily.

“For now, just rest, Brother Claren. We’ll figure out what happened step by step.”
“Ah… right. Yes, I—I will…”

Ailie sat beside Claren, waiting for him to calm down. He was in no state to hold a coherent conversation. No matter how anxious she was, all she could do for now was wait.

Ricciardo checked the conditions of the eldest, Emond, and the second brother, Paulo, while Deputy Commander Liton searched the abandoned house for traces of the culprit.

“They’re not injured. You can relax about that, at least.”
“Thank goodness. Truly—thank you.”
“Still, I’ll check whether they’re under a spell or a curse.”

Ricciardo spoke with a seriousness that Ailie had never seen in him before. Before he left to study abroad, he had seemed like a sheltered young man with no experience of the world. Had he learned all this at the academy?

Whatever the case, he was surprisingly dependable, which was enough to put her mind at ease.

“Your Majesty, this appears to be a storage space for stolen goods. Do you notice anything familiar?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Erdei, so I don’t know the details. But earlier, the steward mentioned thieves. A group that caused trouble here several months ago—and lately, they’ve been targeting valuable crafted items.”

“Valuable crafted items… yes, that makes sense.”

Liton nodded and picked up a pendant from the table. A large golden gemstone hung from it—expensive at a glance.

But the moment he stepped forward with the pendant in hand—

“…Hmph. So that’s what this is.”

The red jewel embedded in the hilt of the sword at Liton’s waist suddenly burst into life. A brilliant light flooded the entire abandoned house.

Ailie flinched and shut her eyes instinctively. When she opened them again, the red glow had disappeared.

Liton carefully replaced the pendant and nodded several times, as if confirming something.

“Your Majesty, Lord Alvaro. These objects are dangerous. You must avoid touching them, even by accident.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems these thieves have enchanted the stolen items.”

“Enchanted… the stolen goods?”

Ailie and Ricciardo exchanged bewildered looks.

Given her brother’s condition, she had suspected that something unusual was going on, but for the thieves to include a capable mage among them?

Enchanting this many items took skill.

Ailie pulled Claren gently towards her, keeping him away from the cursed piles.

‘To think they’ve managed all this in just a few months… The original group of thieves must have gained a mage.’

Who would have thought that criminals would hatch such plots in her beloved Erdei?

If Ailie had not happened to visit, they might never have been caught. Their influence would have grown unchecked and they might one day have consumed Erdei entirely.

Once criminals expand their funds, their ambitions always grow alongside them. That ambition would inevitably turn towards the whole of Erdei.

It could have ended terribly.

“How shameless.”

Ricciardo muttered, shaking his head.

Erdei held memories for him too—of their childhood. Of course he would be angry.

Liton continued searching the abandoned house, while Ailie sat beside Claren, watching his complexion carefully.

“…Ari, I think I remember now.”

At that moment, Claren spoke in a weak voice. All three turned toward him immediately.

Though still pale, he looked far better than before. His breathing had steadied, and the rose-colored eyes that had trembled in fear now showed clarity.

“Can you tell us what happened?”

Ailie asked softly.

Claren nodded resolutely and began.

“It was early morning when we went to the shop to pick up your gift. The piece wasn’t finished yet, so all three of us waited there.”

“Father told me. He said the gift might not be done yet.”

“Yeah. The artisan said it wouldn’t take long, so we figured we’d wait. But then… suddenly, I got really sleepy.”

“Sleepy?”

Sleep?

Ailie’s brow furrowed.

Had the thieves used a sleeping agent?

“Oh—because you were coming after so long, I was too excited last night and couldn’t sleep. Turns out my brothers were the same. Are we just shamelessly doting brothers?”

“…”

…It seemed she had guessed wrong.

Ailie cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Anyway, when we woke up, everything was a mess. The gift had just been finished, it seems. The artisan said he stepped upstairs for a moment to have a cup of tea before waking us.”

“And in that short time…?”

“Yeah. Apparently the thieves stole it while he was gone.”

“Ah…”

“Emond got furious and confronted the artisan. Paulo started questioning people nearby. And I checked the shop to see how the thief got inside.”

“Of course they did.”

Ailie nodded, remembering her brothers as they were in her memory.

Emond, the eldest, always maintained his dignity, but could wound someone deeply with a few sharp words.

Paulo, the second son, was gentle and persuasive and could draw the truth out of anyone with a smile. Then there was Claren, the third brother, who was sharp-eyed and precise, never missing even the slightest detail.

As this involved her gift, they must have been even more formidable than usual.

“And then we decided we had to catch the thieves and get the gift back…”

“You decided, and then?”

Ailie prompted.

“We—uh—searched everywhere we could, without thinking. I was too heated to stop and plan.”

…Yes, they must have been quite terrifying.

“Luckily, we found this abandoned house quickly. Since it was deserted, we just opened the door and went inside—and it turned out we were right.”

To find such a hidden, ominous hideout at once… Their absolute determination to retrieve Ailie’s gift must have guided them straight here.

Ailie let out a helpless laugh as she watched Claren explain proudly. Two years apart meant nothing; her brothers were exactly the same.

“The moment we stepped in, we knew this was the thieves’ base. So we split up to look for your gift.”

“How did you split up?”

“Emond went to the second floor, Paulo took the big storage room, and I was supposed to search the first floor.”

“The second floor?”

Liton glanced around, puzzled.

This space was certainly larger and arranged differently than what they’d seen from outside, but there was no staircase leading up to any second floor.

“What are you talking about? The stairs were right in front of us when we came in—”

“No such thing was here.”

Liton said firmly.

“…What?”

It wasn’t just the second floor. There was a storage area, but it was so cramped that only one person could fit in it.

It wasn’t the kind of large storeroom that would justify splitting up the search.

Ailie tilted her head, lost in thought.

Perhaps the structure of this hideout changed depending on who entered it.

‘To delay anyone who stumbled upon it until the thieves returned?’

It was a plausible theory.

Even if valuable items were lying around, wealthy clients who commissioned such expensive, bespoke goods would first attempt to retrieve their missing property.

To prevent these owners from taking other stolen goods, the thieves must have added an extra layer of security by altering the layout.

“Claren, I think this place changes its structure each time someone enters. Enough to make the owner lose their way if they ever came looking.”

“Ah… so that’s why—?”

“Does something come to mind?”

“You were probably right. When we first came in, even just on the first floor, there were several rooms and the storage room had multiple doors. It felt like a maze.”

A maze-like structure…

Ailie nodded.

That explanation fit perfectly.

“But Ailie—if that’s true, why is it so simple now?”

Ricciardo asked.

‘Right… that is strange.’

If the aim was to buy time, the structure should have remained complicated. But what they were standing in now was far too simple. There was a small first floor, a cramped storeroom and stolen goods stacked like mountains.

As they puzzled over it, Liton suddenly spoke, as if something had just occurred to him.

“It’s likely because of the magic tool I’m carrying. It controls and interferes with other spellwork.”

He pointed at the red gem set into the hilt of his sword.

Ailie softly snapped her fingers.

Everything fell neatly into place.

The moment the three of them entered, the spell that continually rearranged the hideout must have been disrupted by Liton’s artefact.

Instead of generating a complex labyrinth, the magic had created a much smaller, simpler space. All the scattered stolen goods had been squeezed into this limited area, and her brothers, who had originally been in different parts of the hideout, had ended up together here.

“Ah…”

“So that’s what happened…”

Claren and Ricciardo nodded repeatedly as the explanation finally made sense.

Now that they understood the nature of the hideout’s magic, only one thing remained.

“Then… please continue your story, Brother Claren.”

Who were the thieves behind all this?

And what harm had they intended for Ailie’s precious brothers?