The underground staircase connected directly to the servants’ quarters of the estate.

There were numerous rooms, proof that many servants had once lived here in the past.

Yet now, only three doors still bore nameplates.

To think a mansion of this scale had only three servants remaining.

A noble estate would normally employ around thirty servants.

The exact number varied depending on how the household was managed, but three was far too few no matter how one looked at it.

Anyone even slightly interested in the Empire’s political climate would already know that the Seidler Count family had been declining, but Ailie had never imagined it had become this severe.

And just as Dea had described, the rooms were completely barren, devoid of even basic furniture, making the place feel even more pitiful.

Still, the fact that someone had stripped clean even the servants’ quarters—where there obviously would not have been anything valuable—made the situation feel unnatural for the work of an ordinary thief.

“This is the room my friend Maren used.”

Dea pointed toward the nameplate bearing her friend’s name.

When they opened the door and stepped inside, they found a maid sprawled across the empty floor of the vacant room.

Even though the group had made no effort to hide their footsteps while entering the estate, Maren showed no sign of waking.

She did not even stir slightly.

Her pale face lay still in sleep, without so much as the sound of breathing.

“At first… I truly thought Maren had died….”

Behind them, Dea trailed off tearfully.

It was understandable that she would think so.

Thankfully, warmth still lingered in Maren’s body, and faint breathing could be felt if one held a hand beneath her nose—but aside from that, she looked no different from a corpse.

Trying to imagine how Dea must have felt upon returning to the estate after so long only to think her friend was dead, Ailie frowned.

The pain must have been beyond imagination.

That did not mean she could forgive Dea for trying to steal the Empress’s belongings, but it did allow her to understand just how cornered Dea had truly been.

“I’ll examine her for a moment.”

Liton stepped closer and carefully touched Maren’s hand.

The transparent magic stone embedded in the hilt of the sword at his waist immediately began glowing brightly.

It was the very magic stone Ailie had bought and gifted to him at the magic shop before.

Though it was not as powerful as the original one Liton had possessed, it still retained at least a basic magic-detection function.

In other words, the fact that it reacted meant there was a high chance Maren’s condition had been caused by magic.

“So it really was magic after all.”

At that moment, Benate murmured as though the answer had been obvious all along.

Then he lowered the golden magic tool close to Maren.

To everyone’s astonishment, the light from the golden artifact suddenly flared brilliantly, bright enough to fill the entire room.

Then the swirling light slowly began gathering into a single point.

That point settled upon Maren’s forehead.

The light spinning above her brow spread throughout her body as though sinking into her flesh itself—and soon faded away.

Not long afterward.

“Mm….”

As though it were a lie, a faint voice escaped from Maren’s tightly closed lips.

And then, slowly and with difficulty, her eyes opened.

“Maren!”

Dea burst into tears and rushed toward her friend.

“Maren! Are you okay? I’ve been so worried about you all this time….”

At first, Maren looked completely bewildered as Dea clung to her in joy.

But after hearing Dea tearfully explain the situation, she seemed to vaguely understand and slowly nodded.

As though trying to reassure the friend who had worked so desperately for her sake, Maren tightly embraced Dea in return.

Tears shimmered in both of her eyes.

Even Breni, who was watching the scene unfold, discreetly wiped away tears of her own.

Liton quietly held out a handkerchief toward her before helping Maren stand upright, supporting her carefully since her body still lacked strength after sleeping for so long.

Thankfully, Maren did not appear to suffer from any major physical problems.

She staggered slightly, but she could walk.

Her voice was hoarse, yet still functional.

And although she had not eaten anything the entire time she had been asleep, she did not appear dangerously weakened either.

It truly was fortunate for both Dea and Maren.

Had they failed to break the spell, there was no telling how long Maren might have remained asleep upon that cold floor.

And now that they knew how to remove the magic, they could continue breaking the spells affecting the other servants and the Count couple one by one.

That alone would bring enormous progress to the investigation.

Still—

‘I never expected the mystery of the Seidler estate to be resolved this quickly….’

Ailie looked up at Benate with astonished eyes.

Come to think of it, when Benate first arrived at her residence earlier, she had asked whether they should bring along an Imperial magician in case the strange happenings at the estate were caused by magic.

At the time, he had firmly replied that there was no need.

She had assumed there must be some reason behind his confidence—but she never imagined he possessed such a clear solution himself.

Perhaps sensing her gaze lingering on him, Benate’s pale blue eyes quietly turned toward her.

Then, with a faint smile, he stepped closer and whispered softly enough that the others could not hear.

“You want to know, don’t you? What exactly is happening here.”

“Ah….”

Because he was standing so close, Ailie instinctively stiffened awkwardly for a moment. But her curiosity outweighed her embarrassment, so she quietly nodded and listened carefully.

When Benate touched the golden brooch attached to his coat, it immediately began to glow.

Apparently, it was meant to prevent their voices from leaking out.

As though the outside sounds had been blocked away entirely, the voices beyond the two of them became faint and distant.

“It’s information I discovered in the late emperor’s journal. The golden magic tools passed down through the imperial family apparently generate waves that interfere with black magic.”

“Really? A magic tool can interfere with black magic?”

The golden artifacts inherited by the Sun of the Empire.

Because they were considered treasures of the imperial family, Ailie had heard that each possessed extraordinary abilities.

Even the defensive magic tool alone had been capable of completely immobilizing objects.

It had worked not only against the thieves at the second hideout, but even against magical beasts possessing immense mana.

That alone had been remarkable enough.

But to think it also possessed a hidden ability capable of disrupting black magic—this was the first she had ever heard of such a thing.

“Yes. However, until recently, that power had apparently been sealed away and rendered unusable. It seems certain measures were put in place when the law banning black magic was first established.”

“Ah… If it was information that important, then it must have been kept in the library’s inner chamber?”

“That’s right. Only the Emperor is permitted to enter that room. There’s no safer place for keeping something secret.”

There were only two keys to the hidden library.

The one Benate had temporarily lent to Sirion and herself and the key he carried personally.

And even if someone somehow managed to obtain a key, the door would never open unless Benate himself willed it to.

Moreover, the late emperor’s journal had been stored within the inner chamber of the secret library.

That place could not be accessed even by a legitimate heir of the imperial bloodline unless they had formally completed their coronation.

Only one person—the Sun of the Empire—was permitted to enter.

“More importantly, this has provided us with valuable evidence. It’s all thanks to the trap that the Empress carefully set to secure Miss Colube’s cooperation.”

Benate said those words with a satisfied smile.

“Useful evidence?”

“Just as with ordinary magic, black magic has a unique wavelength that belongs to the individual magician.”

“A unique wavelength…. This is the first time I’ve heard of something like that.”

“Only highly skilled magicians can usually distinguish it. But because I possess the imperial family’s magic tools, I can sense it as well.”

That, too, was something Ailie had never heard before.

So, if someone came into contact with magic, was it possible to identify the person who had cast it?

“And it’s not only when directly encountering the magic itself. Even objects once used by them retain faint traces of those wavelengths.”

“Objects…? You mean that dagger?”

“You catch on quickly. I sensed the wavelength from that dagger as well. The same wavelength as the magic cast upon this maid.”

At his words, Ailie’s eyes widened.

Which meant the owner of the dagger and the person who had magically put the maid to sleep were one and the same.

She had suspected as much already, but hearing clear proof still left her stunned.

“And that’s not all. During the New Year Festival, Donata Seidler brought me a jewel. Perhaps she was trying to curry favor with me. She kept saying ridiculous things about how I should recognize her.”

As he spoke of it, Benate let out a faint scoff.

Unlike the smiles he showed Ailie, there was not even the slightest trace of warmth in it.

The coldness of that expression was enough to make her freeze instinctively, despite knowing the smile was not directed at her.

“I told her I had no need for such a jewel and ordered her to take it back, but she stubbornly left it behind anyway, saying she wanted me to remember her. I kept wondering what possible use it could have—never imagining it would become useful in a situation like this.”

If the jewel Donata Seidler had left behind truly served some purpose, then perhaps—

“The wavelength I sensed from that jewel was exactly the same.”