“...Me?”

Now that he said it, she remembered.

Before Camilla started chasing after Petro, the person she’d given her heart to had definitely been Prince Abihel.

I’d completely forgotten.

It hadn’t lasted very long, so she’d erased it cleanly from her memory. It wasn’t something she wanted to recall, either.

When Prince Abihel had made it clear—firmly—that he didn’t want her, Camilla had withdrawn immediately.

That kid is quietly timid, too.

He was terrified of getting hurt, so he couldn’t keep liking someone who didn’t like him.

That was why she hated Petro even more.

If you don’t intend to take someone’s heart, then don’t show that kind of kindness in the first place.

If you knew perfectly well how the other person felt and still kept leaving room, wasn’t that deception?

At least Prince Abihel had told her outright that he didn’t like her. That was better.

“So you came to confirm that?”

The corner of Crown Prince Edsen’s mouth lifted slightly.

Camilla knew better than anyone what that particular smile meant, and before she could stop herself, she swallowed hard.

It was the smile he always gave to people he considered enemies.

“I don’t really like people who turn their backs on me.”

I know. I know too well.

How you destroy the ones who betray you.

He smiled and nodded like he was forgiving them, but behind the scenes he crushed them into dust—she knew that far too well, and that was the problem.

But I was never your person in the first place!

This is unfair! I don’t even have a back to turn!

But under his icy mood, Camilla could only keep forcing an awkward smile.

SWOOSH.

That was when Arsian, who’d been quietly listening, stood up from his seat.

Camilla stared at him, wondering where he was suddenly going, and he asked in a low voice,

“Is that guy still at the Sorpel estate?”

“That guy? Who?”

“The bastard freeloading at your house.”

“Jainer? He’s probably home. Why?”

“I need to commission something.”

“Commiss—!”

W-wait. Hold on. A commission?

“What—what kind of commission?”

You knew what Jainer was? Since when? How?

No—more importantly, what were you planning to commission from him?

If you were commissioning something from the head of Khan—

“Home, you said?”

“Arsian! Wait!”

What the hell is happening all of a sudden?!

*****

“The Mana Stones discovered this time seem like they could be listed at a very high price without any issue.”

“The quality is excellent.”

“Personally, I’d like to purchase them all for our house, but that would be greed.”

“Until the mining output reaches a stable level, I plan to give you priority. But the very best ones, I’m going to put up for auction.”

“A good plan.”

The Duke of Sephra read through the documents Camilla handed him, then set them down with a soft tap.

“One more has been added.”

His gaze shifted to Arena, the priest’s ghost standing beside Camilla.

She looked and felt different from the presences that usually hovered around Camilla.

[So it’s real? The humans in this house really see ghosts?]

[I told you. In this house, you have to watch how you act.]

Zeno warned her again.

Last time she’d wandered around inside without thinking and Arsian had caught her—she’d almost been erased on the spot. It was only because Camilla arrived in time that she survived. Otherwise, she would’ve truly been erased.

[Who would dare touch me?]

[Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing.]

At Zeno’s indifferent agreement, Arena lifted her eyes in a glare, but as always, the two of them—no, the two ghosts—somehow matched each other perfectly.

“It’s been noisy around you lately.”

After deciding Arena didn’t carry any harmful intent toward Camilla, the Duke of Sephra immediately lost interest and switched topics.

“That’s what I’m saying. I want to live quietly, but people won’t leave me alone. Is it because I’m just too amazing?”

“Probably.”

“.......”

I was joking, but if you nod that seriously, it gets awkward for me.

Camilla let out a short sigh.

Ever since Crown Prince Edsen told her that Consort Jabiela was pushing a marriage between her and Prince Abihel, her head had hurt nonstop.

If Edsen had heard it and come looking for her, the Duke of Sorpel had surely heard it too.

She thought the house would become noisy again, but contrary to expectation, the following days were strangely quiet.

The Duke of Sorpel didn’t mention it even once, so in the end, Camilla cautiously brought up Prince Abihel first.

‘A few days ago, Crown Prince Edsen came to see me.’

‘His Highness? For what?’

‘It was about Prince Abihel.’

‘Ah.’

As if he’d already heard, the Duke of Sorpel nodded right away.

But what he said next was far beyond what she expected.

‘Do you know what happens when a person reacts because a dog is barking?’

‘...Pardon?’

‘It barks even more.’

‘......’

‘If it said something worth calling words, maybe I’d react. But to drag my daughter into a political fight... You don’t need to worry about any of it. Unless you have feelings for the Second Prince—’

‘No!’

So that was that.

All she could do was give an awkward laugh as she watched the Duke of Sorpel treat the Imperial Family like dogs.

“When something isn’t worth dealing with, you just don’t deal with it.”

“...That’s very simple.”

“It’s a simple matter.”

It seemed the Duke of Sephra already knew what was going on as well, because he also advised her to ignore it.

Honestly, Prince Abihel’s calculating politeness didn’t bother her much.

The problem was the two people behind it.

The Emperor of Fable and Consort Jabiela. She couldn’t grasp their intent, and it made her head ache.

“Your Grace.”

“Call me Father.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Yes. What is it you’re curious about?”

...Did I just hear something weird?

“When did Guardians become banned from entering the Imperial Palace?”

The moment she’d seen the Emperor of Fable, one question had surfaced first.

The heads of the three ducal houses who possessed Guardians.

Had they never found the Emperor of Fable’s condition strange? His state, with countless souls attached to him?

“It’s been a very long time. I don’t know the exact date, but I recall hearing it was around when Guardian’s Tower was built.”

“That’s a long time ago.”

“It is. One Guardian has power equal to hundreds, thousands of soldiers, so they said even summoning one at the palace could °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° be considered treason. Something like that, anyway. It was for reasons along those lines.”

Then it made sense.

If they couldn’t summon their Guardians before the Emperor, the Guardians couldn’t properly react to the foul presence that revealed itself when Guardians were near.

So that’s why the old head of Hersel House was poisoned in the palace, too.

If a Guardian had been stuck to him, it wouldn’t have been so easy.

Come to think of it, isn’t that suspicious too?

Even back then, the Emperor of Fable was already that thing.

Maybe he was the one who killed the head of Hersel House.

“You know there are a lot of dead people attached to His Majesty the Emperor, right?”

What baffled Camilla the most was the Duke of Sephra.

The other heads—without Guardians—couldn’t perceive the dead at all, so she could let that go.

But not him.

He couldn’t see the dead clearly, but he could certainly sense whether they existed.

Yet it was strange to her that no head of Sephra had ever once questioned the dead clustered around the Emperor of Fable.

“Quite a few, yes.”

“So you did see them.”

“I couldn’t not.”

Then why had he let it pass? Had he never felt it was odd?

Not one or two, but that many?

“The throne of an emperor isn’t a comfortable seat.”

“...What?”

“Every emperor in history had many enemies. And His Majesty the Emperor also kept that seat through multiple wars.”

“Ah...”

It was brief, but Camilla understood immediately.

He was the emperor of the empire. How many people could there be who resented and hated him?

Even if the dead followed him because of those grudges, it wouldn’t seem strange at all.

“Why ask all of a sudden?”

“Just...”

Honestly, she wanted to tell someone—anyone—about what she was facing.

But the words wouldn’t come.

It was dangerous enough because the other party was the emperor who ruled the empire, but more than that, she felt that the moment she opened her mouth, she’d collide with them head-on.

I’m scared.

Yes. She was scared. Truly terrified.

Why do I have to collide with them directly?

People who treated lives like toys and took them easily—and I’m supposed to face them?

And that holy relic, too.

Maybe the obvious thing would be to warn people about how dangerous it was.

But if she made it public?

Could she really bear what came after?

She wouldn’t be able to keep pretending she knew nothing anymore.

It feels like I’m standing in the eye of a typhoon.

Quiet and still, but never safe—and not a place she could just step out of whenever she wanted.

“When I saw His Majesty last time, there were so many dead people following him.”

In the end, she dodged again. But how long could she keep looking away?

If they touched the people around her, she wouldn’t be able to stay still again. She’d collide with them, eventually.

But she wanted to delay that moment as much as possible.

Thud.

“Take them.”

In that moment, a pile of boxes—large and small—was set down in front of Camilla. They’d been stacked on one side ever since she entered the office.

“What are all these?”

Had he prepared them for her in advance?

“Medicinal herbs.”

“Medicinal herbs?”

All of this was medicinal herbs?

Now that she looked, a sharp, pungent scent drifted up from the stacked boxes.

So that was the smell she’d been wondering about.

[Wow. This house is rich. That’s an insanely precious herb.]

At the word “herbs,” Arena reacted immediately.

She’d lived helping people with holy power for a long time, and she had deep knowledge of medicinal herbs as well.

It was even recorded in the histories—that she’d contributed greatly to the development of herbology.

[Hey! Eat this right now! It’s amazing for boosting stamina! Even your pathetic stamina will jump in one shot! That’s a ten-thousand-year snowflower fruit! That’s really hard to get! And what’s that? Wow! Put that in your mouth too! Stuff it in, no matter what!]