“Rembro Masipacius has been arrested.”

Delian, who seemed to have rushed to me as soon as I woke up in the morning, said while panting.

I put down the teacup I was holding and jumped up from my seat.

“Your Majesty! You must be careful!”

Mylene and Frill exclaimed in alarm and approached me to support me.

As my belly grew heavier, not only did it hurt when I stood up suddenly, but it also became difficult to maintain my balance.

“Where was he arrested?”

“He was found near the back mountain close to the former Masipacius residence. It seems he had been living in a small cabin nearby……”

I sighed.

To think he had been staying in that cabin that Detrian and I had forgotten to deal with.

“But… there’s an even bigger issue.”

Delian looked at me cautiously.

I felt my breathing quicken with inexplicable anxiety.

“…What happened?”

“Rembro Masipacius was arrested by… the Masipacius Knight Order. It seems Rembro Masipacius stabbed Rubert Masipacius in the abdomen with a knife and fled.”

Surprised by the unexpected news, I staggered and broke a teacup that had been placed on the table.

Mylene quickly covered it with a cloth to prevent me from stepping on the fragments, and Frill carefully seated me back in the chair.

“Your Majesty. You need to breathe deeply. This could strain His Highness inside you.”

Following Frill’s words, I repeatedly practiced the breathing method that was said to calm the mind and body.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t erase the rising anxiety.

“How is my brother’s condition?”

“Fortunately, he’s stable now and conscious. The knife suspected to be the weapon that stabbed his abdomen was found and examined, and there was nothing suspicious like poison.”

Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Rowenloa!”

While I was talking with Delian, Detrian burst open the door and entered the room.

“I’ve heard from Delian. Let’s go. I’ve prepared a carriage.”

I tilted my head at his sudden words.

“Detrian. What about your work?”

Delian answered instead of Detrian.

“Right now, cleaning up the mess Rembro made comes first. You need to be careful. We need to prioritize confirming how far it has spread… and whether Lord Rubert has been exposed to dark magic.”

So I got into the carriage Detrian had prepared, with only a cloak thrown over me, not even having time to change into an outdoor dress.

The palace carriages began to line up behind the carriage we were in.

It seemed an investigation team had been formed for this incident.

The newly built marquis castle welcomed us with its usual gleaming appearance.

“Brother!”

As I opened the door and entered, I saw a physician who seemed to have just finished disinfecting and Rubert sitting weakly on the bed.

Brother opened his eyes wide in surprise when he saw me, then exclaimed in shock:

“You… how could you come here! Did you ride in a carriage in your condition?”

I approached him slowly as if I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and frowned at the bandage stained with blood.

Brother covered his wound with the blanket.

“This isn’t a good sight for a pregnant woman. Why did you come?”

“How could I not come when I heard my brother was stabbed? By the way, brother. Did Rembro mutter anything when he stabbed you? Or was there a small magic circle drawn in your room……”

Hearing that, my brother shook his head with a faint smile.

“After hearing that Rembro had approached me, last night Detrian… I mean, His Majesty the Emperor sent several sorcerers to the residence who could detect dark magic wavelengths. Fortunately, they couldn’t find any wavelengths of dark magic anywhere.”

Only with that answer could I breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you look much better than yesterday.”

Rubert smiled.

“The wound wasn’t that deep. I’m worried about the work that’s piling up. Lord Delian also visited yesterday, and I’m grateful that you’ve come again today.”

I slowly turned my head toward Delian and Detrian.

“…So you both knew about this yesterday but only told me this morning?”

Delian avoided my gaze, and Detrian also made an “oops” expression and awkwardly rolled his eyes.

“…There was no point waking you up since I couldn’t put you in a carriage that night. And that day I was also busy chasing after the Masipacius Knight Order that went to arrest Rembro who had fled……”

I sighed.

“So that’s why you prepared the carriage from early dawn. To avoid my nagging as much as possible when I found out?”

Detrian nodded with an embarrassed smile.

“…It’s fine since everyone is safe. Anyway… where is Rembro now?”

“Rembro Masipacius is currently in the palace’s underground dungeon. We’re conducting an investigation, but… he’s not answering questions about where he learned dark magic, whether he’s used dark magic in the Gellions Empire, or if he has taught it to anyone.”

There was only one conclusion.

“I’ll have to go ask him myself.”

The people who heard those words were shocked and alarmed.

“What are you… absolutely not!”

Starting with Rubert’s restraint, others also began to stop me, saying it was absolutely impossible.

“Your Majesty. That’s a bit……”

“Don’t say such nonsense, Rowenloa.”

“Your Majesty…. Are you serious about going to the underground dungeon in your condition?”

Mylene was looking at me with a blank expression as if she might faint.

“You know I’m safe from dark magic.”

Detrian still shook his head, saying it wasn’t allowed.

“It’s not about being safe from dark magic or not. The underground dungeon itself is not a place that would have a good influence on the baby.”

I sighed at those words.

“If I don’t resolve this, I’ll continue to suffer from anxiety. Don’t you think that would be worse for the baby?”

I turned to Detrian and whispered quietly.

“Wilty has created a barrier of spirit power for the baby too. Both the baby and I are safe. This is the final task of Masipacius that I need to resolve.”

Detrian still looked displeased, but after meeting my eyes filled with firm determination, he eventually sighed.

“Haah……”

I smiled brightly.

“It looks like I’ll be going to the underground dungeon this evening, so could you postpone our appointment with Grace?”

“Rowenloa!”

“Your Majesty!”

Rubert and Delian shouted at me in restraint, but I just smiled at them and that was all.

“Brother, please lie down and rest well. Frill, please contact Heris and ask her to accompany me this evening.”

With those final words, I left the Masipacius residence to escape the concerned gazes.

Then I sat in the carriage and thought for a long time.

Why didn’t Rembro use dark magic on Rubert?

And why did he seek him out?

Was it because my brother had taken the position of Marquis Masipacius?

If he wanted to k*ll him, there were many other methods, so why did he choose a knife, a weapon with a high possibility of getting caught?

The complex thoughts tangled in my head made it feel like it might explode.

Let’s stop thinking about it.

Any more would not be good for the baby.

As I closed my eyes and surrendered my body to the carriage sofa, Detrian and Delian boarded the carriage.

That’s how we returned to the palace.

Even until we parted, their concerned gazes never left me, so I had to work quite hard to ignore those looks.

Heris, who came to my room after hearing the news, also strongly objected to my going to the underground dungeon, but after hearing my explanation, she nodded as if she had no choice but to accept it.

“You must stay right next to me. It’s even better if you maintain physical contact with me.”

Heris looked at me with an anxious expression after hearing my words.

But I couldn’t tell Heris about spirits, so I had no choice but to insistently ask her to trust me.

Heris seriously told me that if anything strange happened, she wouldn’t hesitate to behead Rembro, and I nodded to indicate that I didn’t mind.

When evening came, Heris and I ate a simple dinner and then headed underground with an escort from the knight order.

There, what I encountered was Rembro Masipacius, who had lost a lot of weight since I last saw him, with his arms and legs bound and a gag in his mouth.

“It’s been a while.”

When I greeted him, Rembro bit down on the gag with a crunch.