The time had finally come to catch the little rat hiding underfoot.

Feeling his hunting instincts slowly boiling up, he began forming his plans one by one.

* * *

Many witnessed the personal guard knight who had forced his way into the main castle to confirm the life or death of the Duchess coming out sobbing heavily.

Consequently, the rumors grew even more embellished.

“It’s been over three days since she passed away!”

“They say there’s a rotting smell near the main castle!”

“I heard the lord loves his wife so much he won’t even hold a funeral and keeps hugging her corpse!”

“Oh my. Just when they finally got married…. What will happen about the heir?”

“I heard the lady was actually pregnant with an heir when she met such a tragic fate? That’s why the lord is even more devastated!”

What started as a brief whisper from villagers who had witnessed her being carried limp as a corpse and Sir Rupert’s pale face wondering ‘Could she be dead?’ became distorted and expanded until it transformed into this.

Moreover, Castle Cream’s lack of any response made people believe the rumors even more.

They thought it would be normal for either the lord or his wife to show themselves outside if she wasn’t dead.

Even if not that, looking at the overall atmosphere surrounding Castle Cream and the gloomy faces of the knights on patrol, one couldn’t help but lean toward that conclusion.

“They say the lord has gone mad.”

“I heard he wanders the rear garden every night?”

“Oh dear. How tragic.”

“What will become of this territory…”

“It seems like just yesterday we were rejoicing at having another Oathkeeper as a good omen, oh my…”

The territory’s residents joined in the sadness, worrying about the future of their lord and territory.

This depressed atmosphere gradually spread until it reached a shabby tavern located on the outskirts of the central territory. And a man’s shoulders briefly shook at the voices of people murmuring among themselves.

A faint “kekek” sound seemed to leak out, but no one paid attention due to the thick noise. The hooded man downed the cheap alcohol on the table in one go, left a few coins, and disappeared.

* * *

The prince would be nearby.

He would surely want to personally witness Constantine struggling in an ocean of despair.

This was closer to certainty than speculation. And based on this certainty, he decided to try a somewhat forceful tracking method.

It involved spreading shadows like a spider web to screen all beings that got caught in it.

Instead, since it couldn’t be used during the day, he tracked the traces from the plague village in a hunter’s way, and used the shadow web method after sunset.

Given the wide range, it wasn’t easy even for Constantine, and it was a quickly tiring method, but his determination to catch the target before losing him made it manageable.

Moreover, unlike before, there were results.

‘Looks like he’s entered the central territory.’

The traces found in the mountains where the poisoned fish were led toward Castle Cream.

Inside Castle Cream–

Though disgust welled up at how obvious his target was, Constantine gritted his teeth. He couldn’t ruin things with impatience after coming this far. He tried to stay as calm as possible while sharpening his senses further.

Shadows gradually spread through the darkness into the city.

People who unknowingly stepped on the shadows briefly flinched and looked around, but soon tilted their heads and hurried on their way.

Meanwhile, the shadows spread to deeper, more complex back alleys. Even for back alleys, there were many people to screen due to the higher population compared to the outskirts of the central territory.

He felt his power being consumed at a rapid rate, but he continued searching. A brief strain was far better than prolonged searching.

And then…

Constantine’s eyes, which had been closed while reading energy signatures from atop a building, suddenly flew open.

‘…Found him.’

A flash of blue killing intent crossed Constantine’s eyes before disappearing.

* * *

“This is frustrating.”

Saena was essentially confined to her room.

She ended up unable to leave her room as they decided to use rather than dispel the false rumors about the death of Duchess Kramer.

The things she could do in the room were obvious, so she spent time reading books or working on completing her Arlesian thesis.

Even that she couldn’t do for long.

Could it be because the impact was strong enough to break the bracelet?

Though there were no particularly painful spots, her whole body ached and her stamina felt strangely depleted.

With weakened stamina came lower concentration, and she started getting tired of being stuck in her room. Though she wasn’t particularly social and thought she’d be fine not going out for a while, that wasn’t the case. She desperately wanted to at least walk in the rear garden.

It was even more stifling since she couldn’t open the windows in case someone noticed movement in the Duchess’s room, and the blackout curtains had been drawn from day to night.

“This is really suffocating.”

—Bear with it. Just a little longer.

“I want to breathe the outside air.”

—He’ll be caught soon.

“I miss Constantine too.”

—Well…

Yuri grumbled, clearly unwilling to answer.

“How soon is ‘soon’? It’s been days already.”

Why was he running away so well?

Why, just why did the prince have to discover his outstanding talent now, and use it against them of all people?

Saena’s complaints piled up.

“Sigh… I can’t take this. Let’s at least get some fresh air for a moment.”

The suffocating feeling kept getting worse. She felt like she would die if she didn’t walk in the rear garden for even ten minutes. At this rate, she might end up screaming or crying loudly calling Constantine’s name.

—Oh fine. Night is better anyway.

Darkness had already fallen. The inner castle’s rear garden was originally difficult for just anyone to approach. Moreover, with the rumors causing the castle staff to be reduced to minimum, there were very few people around.

A brief walk outside didn’t seem like it would cause any major problems.

—Well, I can sense if anyone approaches.

With Yolly’s presence and a hood for good measure, she was fully prepared.

—Go down that way.

Yolly guided the way well toward areas without any human presence.

Guardian Spirits were this useful.

Other Oathkeepers might laugh at this assessment of usefulness, but that was Saena’s immediate impression.

‘Constantine seems to really hate Caligo.’

Actually, Saena still didn’t know exactly why.

She had heard the assessment that he talks too much, but didn’t think this was the core reason. Constantine’s expression of utter disgust didn’t seem entirely justified by mere talkativeness.

She had come to realize ‘Constantine doesn’t like chattiness much,’ but that was about it.

Because of this, there was a time when Saena spoke less, causing Constantine to grow restless, thinking she was angry. The conclusion they eventually reached was simply that he disliked Caligo.

It gave her a peculiar feeling to realize that not all relationships between masters and Guardian Spirits were necessarily good.

—There seems to be no one around right now.

“Oh, good.”

Saena excitedly moved forward.

The cool settled air mixed with grass scent created a fresh night fragrance. The smell of outside.

She savored the feeling of the ground beneath her feet while actively moving her body that had felt stiff from constantly sitting or lying down.

Honestly, though the weather and scenery were much better in Delvon, Saena now felt this place was like her home.

When did it become so familiar?

Walking between bushes without light should feel eerie, but she didn’t feel that way at all.

No matter how dark it was, she had trust that nothing behind it could harm her, or perhaps it was the stability felt from this being her home.

—Wait.

“Hmm?”

—There’s someone over there.

“…At this hour? A patrol knight?”

—Doesn’t seem like it. They’re not moving. Like they’re… hiding.

…Perhaps that trust had been too hasty.

Saena felt a slight chill.

—Plus, there’s not just one or two? People who aren’t moving.

No, what kind of situation was this? So many suspicious people?

“Let’s go back inside and report this.”

According to Yolly, this was practically an emergency.

—One is close, the rest are all around the perimeter… What kind of formation is this?

His voice had a slightly puzzled tone.

—Wait, someone’s approaching quickly… Ah, your husband?

“What?”

If he who had gone to track the prince was coming here… Does that mean that suspicious person is the prince?! Then are those multiple stationary people perhaps the prince’s subordinates?

It was already hard to understand how the prince appeared in the northeastern territory breaking through intense tracking, and it seemed odd that he could command so many subordinates, but there was no time to analyze that now.

“Which direction?!”

Saena became urgent.

—It’s dangerous. What can you do by going?

“I need to at least warn him!”

What if the prince and his subordinates all jumped Constantine at once while she went to alert the knights?

She thought she should quickly go warn him, thinking that even with many opponents on the other side, escaping would be entirely possible.

Actually, since Constantine also had a Guardian Spirit’s power, he could naturally detect the presences Yolly had noticed, just as Yolly had.

Moreover, how could ordinary people defeat a combat-type Oathkeeper no matter how many there were? That’s why Yolly didn’t really think it was a major situation.