Constantine asked Lucas for detailed directions to the princess’s room and sent Morev. With two dukes’ Guardian Spirits guarding the room simultaneously, no one would be able to enter until they arrived.

Then the three shared the situations they had experienced and discovered. Thus they could fully understand the picture the Hebeta and the prince had painted.

“Hah… The Aberdeen family has shed blood all this time for that kind of prince?”

He glared at the unconscious prince as if wanting to ram into him again. Remembering what he had tried to do to his sister made him want to kill him right away.

Imperial family. Him being part of the imperial family was the problem.

“Kramer, it seems this has been quite a chronic problem for you. You must have plans for the future too? Would you explain them?”

However, even for the imperial family, this incident was absolutely not the kind that could be overlooked.

They had earned the anger of three of the five existing Oathkeepers outside the imperial family. Even the emperor would have to be careful about this, but only the prince didn’t know that fact.

The three actively exchanged opinions on how to handle this matter.

* * *

The next morning after a passionate night.

“Kyaaaaaah—!”

A shrill scream echoed through the lodging floor where the masquerade ball had been held.

“—Murder!”

If people who woke to the first scream hesitated while holding their heads from hangovers, they jumped up at the second shout.

Murder? Murder?!

It was shocking enough to make people rush into the corridor, forgetting their sensitive circumstances of having come here to spend the night with someone.

One particular room was especially crowded. People peered inside while murmuring.

“Is, is it really murder?”

“The blanket is bright red. Is that all blood then?”

“They say all three are dead?”

The white sheets were covered in dark red stains, and three figures lay motionless on top. The floor was also soaked with what looked like blood.

A murder at an imperial-hosted banquet.

People murmured in confusion at this unprecedented situation, and after some time passed, those who came to their senses began to quietly slip away one by one.

They were starting to think they might be treated as suspects in this murder case if they were unlucky.

“Stop!”

“No one may leave.”

But it seemed too late.

The Imperial Knights had appeared and begun controlling access.

Those who had delayed looking for clothes they had left here and there fumed.

If only they had woken up a little earlier!

As knights controlled the chaotic scene of various people, they opened the back.

“Deputy Commander.”

Through that gap appeared Deputy Commander Heviathan with a chilling expression.

“Where is the Commander?”

“He hasn’t arrived for work yet.”

“His Highness the Prince? Have you found him?”

“Not yet.”

Could the prince be connected to this incident?

If so, it would become an extremely serious matter.

People who turned pale began to shout.

“It wasn’t me!”

“I just came out of that room! I have nothing to do with this!”

“That’s right! This person was with me the whole time. I’m a witness!”

People even stepped forward with alibis of those they spent the night with to prove their innocence.

“Be quiet.”

At the words shouted with a stomp, people closed their mouths.

“As reported, an investigation will proceed according to procedure. Please follow the guidance of these knights to move.”

At the word investigation, people began murmuring again.

Some ladies burst into tears.

In the midst of this, someone shouted.

“Oh! The, the corpse woke up!”

“What? Oh– Looks like they’re not dead?!”

“What’s going on here?!”

Someone was observed slowly rising from the blood-covered bed.

A knight hurriedly entered the room.

“He-Hebeta!”

The woman looking around with round eyes in confusion was clearly alive.

Though she was squinting and holding her head as if things didn’t feel quite real.

“He-Hebeta?”

“Then did the Hebeta kill them?”

The knight checked the pulses of the men on either side of Hebeta and shouted loudly.

“The men are alive too!”

“They’re alive?”

“Then what is that blood?”

This time the knight sniffed at the bloodstains on the bedding and liquid on the floor and shouted.

“It’s not blood but seems to be wine!”

“Wine? So they just fell asleep while playing drunk?”

“Ah, we were worried for nothing.”

People who had panicked thinking someone died sighed in relief.

“Hey! Wake up!”

However, as they heard the knight’s voice waking the men on either side of Hebeta, they soon realized something was strange.

“Wait. Why are there two men beside Hebeta?”

“Oh no, could it be…”

“Moreover, His Highness the Prince doesn’t seem to be among them?”

The murmuring grew louder.

And following those murmurs, Hebeta’s mind seemed to finally return to reality as a sudden scream burst out.

“…Kyaaaaaah!”

Elizabeth screamed while clutching the sheet to cover her n*ked body. At that scream, the men on either side woke with a start.

The owner of the face staring at the crowded people outside the room with dull eyes was George Hollander. After a delay, the man who rose from the other side was George Hollander’s criminal friend.

This time, they woke up with Elizabeth between them instead of Saena.

“What! You bastard! What did you do to me! Why are you here!”

Elizabeth screamed and slapped George Hollander’s back, startling him into shouting as well.

“Wh-what! Elizabeth? Ow! That hurts! You!”

“You! No, why! You r*ped me!”

“Are you crazy?! What about when you asked me for drugs!”

From their conversation, people quickly noticed they knew each other and there were suspicious circumstances.

“Drugs? What’s this about?”

“Drugs, wine, and two men. Looks like they had quite a wild night.”

“No, with Hebeta’s body…”

The spreading whispers already spoke of irredeemable content. Of course, contempt began appearing in people’s eyes.

“Princess!”

At the sudden announcement, forced silence fell again.

“A murder case?”

“You’ve arrived.”

The Deputy Commander came out to greet the princess.

“What happened?”

“It was a commotion caused by mistaking wine stains in the room for blood. No one is dead, but…”

Unfortunately the Hebeta’s improper relationships had been exposed, so this too was a big problem.

“Ah, what a situation.”

The princess gaped at Deputy Commander Heviathan’s explanation.

“My brother?”

“He wasn’t in his chambers, so we’re searching now.”

Just as his report finished, a knight came running.

“De-Deputy Commander! We found His Highness the Prince!”

“Where is he!”

“But… that…”

“Where is he! Is His Highness alright?!”

The knight hesitantly pointed to the room next to where Hebeta was found.

The Deputy Commander flung open the door and was startled.

There were too many people in the room. He sighed seeing that most were so drunk they hadn’t woken even with all this commotion.

“…His Highness the Prince is here?”

“Over there… he is.”

“Where… ah….”

Deputy Commander Heviathan’s expression momentarily became blank.

Just what had happened in this room?

The sticky air. The fishy smell. The unpleasant scene just from looking.

His brow furrowed automatically at the overall wave of disgust. Though he didn’t know exactly, clearly many unpleasant things he’d rather not know about had occurred.

“Haa…. Wake them all up and get them out.”

“Yes!”

Those forcibly awakened filed out of the room one after another.

Whether from alcohol or drugs, those still not fully awake were practically dragged out with dull faces, while those somewhat conscious covered their faces rather than bodies as they left.

“Just how many people are coming out of that room?”

“No… more importantly… they’re all… men….”

Only half-n*ked men came out of the room where the prince was supposedly found.

What could this mean?

“Was the prince into men?”

“Huh…. Is that why there was no succession?”

“Not just men, but he couldn’t be satisfied with just one in a night?”

“Hebeta had two men too, right?”

“Both the prince and Hebeta….. No, what in the world is going on….”

Various speculations arose as irreconcilable misunderstandings spread once again. Meanwhile, only the prince, still unconscious, was carried to his chambers by servants.

* * *

The first masquerade ball held by the imperial family ended with tremendous repercussions.

Quite a few people had their lives turned upside down through this one night.

One of them was Hebeta Elizabeth.

Though there was no particular sympathy since she had brought it upon herself.

“Arrest that Hebeta who tried to taint the imperial bloodline immediately!”

“Yes!”

The princess too had almost become a victim of Elizabeth’s scheme. She had nearly suffered greatly while unconscious.

Setting aside her hopeless brother, that Hebeta had dared harm the imperial family without knowing her place. This was absolutely unforgivable.

The princess was extremely angry.

“No! Something’s wrong! This is a trap! Call His Highness the Prince!!”

Elizabeth screamed about her innocence the whole time she was restrained and dragged away, but no one came to save her.

She was imprisoned immediately.

Later when the Valdez family urgently requested an audience with the imperial family after hearing about this commotion, they were denied. Elizabeth’s life and her family’s wellbeing hung by a thread.

Meanwhile, unable to grasp the situation, the prince raged at news about Hebeta.

“What? The Hebeta was found with two men? That filthy–! I’ll strip her title immediately!”

Denial was obvious.

“All of this was that woman’s doing! I merely attended the banquet!”

Hebeta, for her part, blamed all charges on the prince.

“I only acted on behalf of His Highness the Prince. What power would I have to do such things! I’ve been wronged!”

All sorts of rumors boiled in the capital, and amid that chaos, people waited for the imperial family to announce proper investigation results.

Those who remembered how ambiguous rumors about the prince had circulated and been quietly buried not long ago voiced their opinions, hoping for definite punishment this time.

The masquerade ball’s impact lasted quite long rather than ending as just a party.

And someone’s punishment was decided.

[Elizabeth of House Valdez is stripped of her position as Hebeta.]

Since so many had witnessed the Hebeta’s unseemly behavior, many thought this part was natural.

[For the crimes of attempting to taint imperial bloodline and the grave offense of harming the imperial family, the aforementioned criminal shall be permanently unable to produce offspring and sentenced to lifelong confinement.]

But opinions varied on the following content.

While the charge of attempting to taint imperial bloodline was understandable, they didn’t know what harming the imperial family meant. However, if those contents were true, people grumbled that the punishment was too light, saying she was lucky not to be executed.

Then why did Elizabeth avoid execution?

In fact, it wasn’t a matter of mercy but rather spite.

The people whose lives were almost ruined through that day Elizabeth planned. More precisely, the Aberdeen siblings and Her Highness the Princess, and Constantine and Saena who prevented it.

This was the result of all their opinions combined.

The common thought was that Elizabeth shouldn’t die through comfortable means like an official execution.

Her status degraded from being stripped of her quasi-imperial position as Hebeta, and even that became a worthless situation where she couldn’t even expect protection from her family as just a criminal.

Yet with so many grinding their teeth at her, what more needs to be said about Elizabeth’s future?

She ended up in a position where all she could do was tremble in fear, facing a future full of danger from all sides.

‘So it ends like this.’

Saena thought with quiet contemplation.