Her ears felt a bit stuffy, but fortunately, there were no other problems.

Kalaian, who had been silent without reprimanding her rudeness, opened his mouth.

“…I see. There’s no need to apologize like that, Lady Eldeiz.”

Hearing his gentle voice, Aris softly looked at him. The man’s face came into view. When their eyes met, he smiled slightly. Aris was momentarily dazed.

It was very similar to that wonderful smile Kalaian had shown at their wedding reception. No, it seemed a little different.

“I will respect your wishes.”

Unexpectedly, he showed no signs of being displeased with Aris’s choice.

“Sister!”

Just then, a familiar voice was heard from afar. Aris turned around, her face brightening.

“Aion!”

Aion, who had been running towards her, noticed the man beside her and gradually changed his expression.

By the time he reached her side, his expression had hardened to the point of looking fierce. Aion shot a wary glance at Kalaian and then abruptly grabbed Aris’s hand.

Aris, flustered by her brother’s behavior, looked around nervously and then grabbed Aion’s arm. He couldn’t possibly not know the Crown Prince’s face, so why was he acting like this?

“A-Aion?”

“Sister, Father is looking for you. Let’s go quickly.”

“Aion, but we should at least greet…”

“Please enjoy yourself, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Aion, who had spoken curtly, began to drag Aris in the opposite direction. And so, without even being able to say goodbye properly, the meeting with him ended abruptly.

‘Still, it’s fortunate… Seeing how easily he accepted my opinion, he probably didn’t want that marriage either.’

Although she felt a bit bitter, she decided to welcome this gladly. If Kalaian had any lingering attachment to this marriage, she would have undoubtedly become more entangled with him.

“Sister, what did His Highness the Crown Prince say? He didn’t do anything to you for rejecting his proposal, did he?”

Aion, who was leading the way while holding Aris’s hand, said.

“What? It’s not like that. He said he would respect my wishes.”

“…What, was that all? I thought you had heard something unpleasant because your expression looked bad.”

“He’s not that kind of person.”

“What would you know, Sister.”

Aris had a lot she wanted to say, but she swallowed her words. That he was a man who strictly separated public and private matters, and unless something truly angered him, he only showed ceremonial smiles and actions.

It was the same when she was the Empress of Belvaiden. Even after things that could have strained their relationship, it was always only Aris who felt uncomfortable. Regardless of what had happened before, he consistently showed a lukewarm smile and polite speech.

In short, he rarely showed personal emotions. So even if Aris rejected his proposal, while he might give her a cold shoulder, he wasn’t the type to openly show malice.

Aion spoke, displeased.

“Sister, how on earth did you end up meeting His Highness the Crown Prince? Father was already looking for you, saying he would greet His Highness after hearing that he was in attendance.”

“What? And you showed that attitude just now?”

“What does it matter? It’s not like we’ll see each other often anyway. You’re not going to marry him, right?”

Aion spoke in a half-rebellious, half-nonchalant tone.

‘No matter what, how can he take such an attitude when the other party is the Crown Prince…’

Aris sighed at her brother’s incomprehensible behavior. She opened her mouth to give at least a small warning.

However, a loud voice from the other side stopped Aris from speaking.

“That’s not fair!”

The sound came from the direction of the warehouse opposite. Aris and Aion looked at each other in puzzlement. Aion shrugged and pointed to the other side, suggesting they ignore it and go.

Aris was about to nod, but she stopped moving due to a sudden chill. It felt as if all the hair on the back of her neck stood up from the cold sensation. A strange ringing, like the one from earlier, echoed in her ears.

It was as if the ringing was connected to where the sound came from.

‘Why does my chest feel so tight…’

Aris looked towards the warehouse, taking short breaths.

“Sister, are you still feeling unwell?”

Aion asked in a worried tone. After hesitating, Aris answered.

“Yes… Aion, would you mind going ahead? I’ll be right there. I’m feeling really sick… I think I need to empty myself a bit.”

“Alright. I heard there’s a bathroom over there.”

“Thank you.”

Aris sent Aion away, pretending to be very unwell by slightly covering her mouth. Then, after going in the direction Aion had pointed and confirming he had left, she turned her steps in the opposite direction.

As she approached that place, the sharp ringing subsided. At the same time, she felt an eerie sensation as if all her senses were on edge.

As she reached the warehouse, two figures came into view. With an ominous feeling, Aris watched them stealthily from a secluded spot.

“You just need to turn a blind eye. Or I’ll give you a portion of the amount that will come in next time.”

It was a voice she had heard before.

“If our number 13 horse wins by a large margin this time, you know how much money will be at stake in the next race, don’t you?”

“But I’ve heard that the ‘black drug’ has severe side effects. Due to its excessive awakening effect, the horse might deviate from the course and injure spectators…”

A hearty laugh interrupted those words.

“Do you think that would happen? Let’s not worry about such things. Being too cautious can make you miss opportunities.”

Aris, who had been listening to the conversation with bated breath, slowly lowered the hand covering her mouth. Although she felt uneasy, even Aris hadn’t expected to overhear such a conversation.

She looked at them alternately.

The one refusing was the judge. The other one was… the host, Count Magren.

‘More importantly, the black drug? They used such a thing in this big event?’

Aris knew the identity of the ‘black drug’ they mentioned. Its composition hadn’t been clearly identified yet, and it was only known and traded as a stimulant effective for animals and plants.

But Aris knew that in a few years, it would be completely banned by imperial decree as an illegal drug. No, it was called a drug, but in fact, it was something that some unscrupulous people extracted and processed from the blood of demonic beasts.

When injected into ordinary animals and plants, it gives a temporary awakening effect, but soon addiction symptoms occur, and as more time passes, a horrific transformation into a demonic beast gradually takes place.

Aris clenched her trembling hands together.

Number 13. They definitely said number 13.

‘Then, was it because of that number 13 horse that Aion died…’

Aris squeezed her eyes shut. How could this be…

Because of these wicked people full of selfish intentions. Just because of their greed.

Again, Count Magren’s voice was heard.

“Well, it’s not like we’ll lose anything if a few people get hurt. They’ll just think it was a simple accident. Things like that happen often.”

Aris gritted her teeth. She wanted to rush out and slap their faces right away. No, even tearing them apart wouldn’t be enough to quell her anger.

But instead of doing that, she turned around and headed towards where the jockeys were waiting.

Aris also wondered what she could do by stepping forward like this. The fact that the ‘black drug’ causes demonification wasn’t known to the public yet, and there was no physical evidence that they had used the drug.

That was certainly true. But why was her body moving on its own like this? It felt as if something was guiding her. All along, with the sharp ringing in her ears and her heart pounding.

And someone repeatedly whispering in her mind…

— Destroy all the demonic beasts, Aristena. You, who have held me, can do it.

The sensation in her whole body was on edge at that voice echoing in her head. Aris shook her head vigorously. She kept hearing things.

After wandering for a while not knowing the place, Aris finally found where several players were preparing individually. Beyond that, she could see the jockey and  horse number 13.

“Wait a moment!”

Aris, who had run up to them in one breath, blocked the jockey who was about to mount the horse. There was still a long time before the race was to begin.

* * *

“Thank you all for waiting. I am Enoch Abert, in charge of judging. First, I’d like to welcome all the ladies and gentlemen who have attended this event!”

Before the main race began, the time for nobles to exchange brief greetings and enjoy light refreshments had ended. The players had finished their preparations, and the judge raised his voice to announce the start.

“Now, I will introduce the players who will shine in today’s Magren Racecourse.”

The judge began introducing the jockeys and horses one by one, starting with number 1. Listening to that voice, the Count let out an unsightly sigh.

“Has Aristena still not come? What on earth is she doing and where!”

“Sister seemed to be suffering from severe motion sickness… Should I go look for her now?”

“Forget it, you shouldn’t leave your seat now that it’s started. That dim-witted one is really of no help even in places like this…”

Observing horse races and outwardly displaying wealth was a culture of the Eastern nobles.

Of course, Western nobles sometimes attended too, but it was distinctly characteristic of Eastern nobles to flaunt their wealth through this, hinting at their family’s affluence.

Therefore, not showing one’s face at this event implied that the family lacked means. And Aristena had disappeared from such an important occasion.