[Thank you. Truly.]

As he offered his thanks one last time, his body gradually began to fade.

It seemed that all he had truly wanted was to return the seal.

“......”

As always, Camilla quietly watched them go, seeing them off until the very end.

“Well then, I guess I should get going too.”

Once Emperor Alberto disappeared, Camilla finished sipping the rest of her tea and rose from her seat. There was no reason for her to remain here alone any longer.

[What? You’re leaving already?]

But she was not allowed to leave as she pleased.

[That won’t do.]

[You’re sneakily playing favorites, aren’t you? Forget everyone else, you have to hear my request before you go.]

Because the other royal ghosts hurriedly stopped her. And these people...

[No cutting in line. My request comes first!]

[Which generation down are you, anyway?]

[Why are you asking that now?]

[I was wondering whose descendant grew up with such a big mouth and no respect.]

[No respect? Ha!]

The moment rank was brought up, a mocking laugh flew back at once.

[Do you know I would be your great-grandfather?]

[We all died at around the same age, so why does that matter?]

[You must have gotten cursed out a lot while you were alive. For having no manners.]

[I’ve never seen anyone who says things like that turn out to be any better.]

...They were not shouting in rage, but why did smiling while bickering make them feel even scarier?

In case the sparks flew her way, Camilla quietly took a step back.

[Your parents did an excellent job raising you. Truly impressive.]

[You and I may have had different bodies, but we were raised by the same bastard, so let’s not insult each other’s parents. Or are you trying to spit in your own face?]

[Oh? So are we all brothers, then? That feels completely disgusting.]

The moment Alberto, the oldest and highest-ranking emperor among them, disappeared, the struggle for dominance began immediately.

They really are the same bloodline.

Crown Prince Edsen was over there too, and over there too?

The way they casually jabbed at one another with lazy smiles looked far too practiced.

[Hear my request before you go.]

[I told you, I’m first!]

“Haa.”

Damn my life.

*****

“M-My lady...?”

“What?”

“This is way too heavy....”

Dorman staggered into the house with boxes of all sizes piled all the way to the top of his head.

“Be careful. Some of them are breakable.”

“C-Could you maybe help me carry them...?”

“Wow, Dorman.”

“Yes...?”

“You really think I’m that nice of a person?”

“......”

“Why? Didn’t you say they don’t need me at the café anymore? That you’re enough on your own? Try keeping that energy at home too.”

“...You really hold grudges.”

You only realized that now? Why are you acting impressed all of a sudden? It almost makes me proud to hear it.

“Lady Camilla?”

The moment she stepped through the entrance, the butler, Rube, who had come out to greet her, spoke with a puzzled expression. Had you gone shopping?

“What is all that?”

“Used junk.”

“Pardon?”

Did you visit a secondhand market?

Why secondhand, of all things...?

Rube tilted his head over and over, looking even more unable to understand.

“Oh, right. Hold on a second....”

As if the timing were perfect, Camilla pulled one of the boxes Dorman was carrying and tossed it toward Rube.

“A gift.”

“For me?”

What exactly had she brought home?

Watching Camilla, who still had more than a few odd sides to her, Rube opened the box lightly.

“Hm?”

But the moment he opened it, his expression turned strange. There was nothing inside the box.

And yet it had weight. Something was definitely in there. What was it?

“Be careful. It’s a sword.”

“...What?”

Rube’s hand, which had reflexively started reaching toward whatever was inside, stopped short. He could not see anything, and yet there was a sword inside?

“Watch your hand. The hilt is on the left.”

“......!”

When he moved his hand to the left as Camilla said, he really did feel the hilt of a sword.

It was so transparent it let even light pass through it exactly as it was, to the point that unless you touched it, you could not know the sword existed at all.

What in the world was it made of?

“I heard it used to belong to an assassin named Zero.”

“...Who?”

For the first time, the face of the usually unreadable Rube completely shattered.

Assassin Zero. Anyone who worked in that world knew the name. He was practically a legend.

There was no one he could not kill if he made up his mind to do it. And there had been one special weapon he used.

So nobody had ever seen his weapon because of this.

Was that why? With a blade like this, it was the perfect weapon for an assassin.

“H-How does my lady have something like this?”

“Oh?”

Now this is genuinely fresh. Rube stammering? From a man who looked like he would watch people die beside him without changing expression.

“Someone gave it to me.”

“Who would give you something like this...?”

[Who was it? Who in the world gave something this precious to my lady?]

Oh? Derin, when did you get here?

“What kind of person were they?”

[As for this sword—!]

At some point Derin, the ghostly butler, had joined them as well, firing off questions with the exact same expression.

Ugh, stop talking at the same time. This is exhausting.

“So what? You don’t want it? Should I take it back?”

“No!”

...Today really is full of new sides of Rube. Now he’s even raising his voice?

“So you like it?”

“My lady, this sword—”

“Later, later.”

Camilla waved her hand carelessly and kept walking.

Rube looked like he wanted to ask more, but she ignored him. I’m a little tired today.

That man was unbelievably persistent.

Crown Prince Edsen, that was. Of course, she had never thought he would just let it go.

The First Emperor’s seal? How in the world did you find it?

That was the first question Crown Prince Edsen threw at her the moment she entered the imperial palace after being summoned.

How did you possibly find something no one else could?

I picked it up.

...Picked it up?

Yes. There was something strange lying around on the road, so I picked it up, and it turned out to be the seal.

.......

Edsen was not an idiot, so there was no way he would believe that. Naturally, he looked like he did not believe a word of it.

Still, what’s he going to do about it?

If the person who handed it over says she picked it up, what can he do?

Still, maintaining a bright smiling face of I don’t know anything at all! under that razor-sharp gaze had been exhausting.

[My lady, didn’t you go to the imperial palace today?]

She had managed to shake off Butler Rube, but Derin followed her all the way to her room and finally asked.

“That’s right.”

[Then where would someone who went to the imperial palace get a sword like that...!]

“Did you know this?”

A little worn out, Camilla dropped onto the bed as if collapsing onto it and told Derin one thing she had learned today.

“One of the royals back then was friends with Zero.”

[What?]

You look shocked.

Well, I was genuinely startled too when I first heard it.

I was even more shocked when he said he would give it to me.

The gift she had received after granting the request of one of the princes whose body had been stolen by John Carter was that sword.

[Thank you. For telling me what became of her.]

The man had said that he wanted to know what happened to the woman he had loved.

Considering he was an ancestor of that sinister little snake Crown Prince Edsen, it had been a surprisingly unexpected request.

That’s really your wish?

[Yes. I wanted to know how well she lived after leaving me behind.]

...So he got dumped.

The prince’s reaction to the report that she had married another man, had children, and lived a good life until she died had been unexpectedly calm.

No, more than ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) calm, he had looked satisfied. He had not wanted her to be miserable? That was surprising.

[If she had married me, she would have ended up living with the bastard who stole my body. That would have been worse.]

Well, anyway, the thing she received after granting that request was this sword. And apparently it had been the weapon used by the assassin who had once made a name for himself.

And on top of that, that assassin had been the prince’s closest friend.

A fact the public had never known at all.

[I see. Sir Zero... ha.]

Watching Derin continue to marvel, Camilla rose from her seat.

“By the way, where is Perol? Where is he right now?”

Did he go to the café again today?

[Why are you asking for me?]

Right on cue, the ghost chef Perol slowly appeared. Lately he kept hanging around the café to watch Laila cook whenever he got the chance.

“I have something to give both of you too.”

[To us?]

[What is it?]

Leaving the puzzled pair behind, Camilla rummaged through the boxes Dorman had brought in.

These were all gifts she had received in return for granting one request or another from the dead royals.

Just how many secret places are there in the imperial palace?

Every single dead royal had hidden their own treasures somewhere no one else knew about.

Today already marked the seventh day since she had begun the job of finding them one by one. It was not exactly easy to track them down without anyone noticing.