Faint light filtered through the curtains that had been drawn to block out the midday sun.
I had a vague sense that it was now the time when the sun rode high in the sky.
'I have to get up.'
Even though I thought that clearly in my mind, my body refused to cooperate.
The fatigue from days of continuous insomnia had finally reached its breaking point. My eyelids kept sliding shut no matter how hard I fought against it.
Still, I slept better now than I had that morning—the terrible chill that penetrated my bones during the night had finally subsided somewhat.
Even so, I would occasionally wake, shivering.
Then something warm slipped into my arms.
'...?'
I squinted through half-closed eyes and saw Lamia carefully tucking something into my embrace before pulling the blanket more tightly around me.
"Lamia...?"
"Oh, you're awake?"
"What is this?"
When I gestured to the warm object now cradled in my arms, Lamia answered with genuine concern etched across her features.
"A water bottle filled with warm water. I thought you might be cold."
"Oh... thank you."
"You're welcome. Now go ahead and sleep a little more. Honestly, I don't know why you can't seem to rest properly..."
I hugged the heated water bottle tightly as I listened to her worried muttering.
Even though my body was utterly exhausted, I somehow found myself smiling.
"It's warm..."
"I'll be just outside, so get some rest. If you need anything at all, just call for me."
Lamia tucked the blanket even more snugly around me and headed for the door.
I wanted to ask her to stay by my side, but I was so utterly drowsy that I couldn't even form the words—I could only move my lips soundlessly.
Thanks to the water bottle's comforting warmth, sleep began to pull at me more insistently than before.
It felt like I could finally sleep soundly for the first time in what seemed like forever.
But then, suddenly, someone shouted loudly—startling me awake and making my eyes fly open.
"There you are, you thief!"
Vanessa burst through the bedroom door without warning, rushing in and grabbing Lamia by the hair before anyone could react.
A sharp, piercing sound rang out. My heart pounded violently as I was torn from sleep.
"Ahhh! What the hell are you doing?!"
Lamia struggled desperately, grabbing at Vanessa's hand.
I threw off the covers, scrambled out of bed, and shouted at Vanessa with all the fury I could muster.
"Vanessa! What is the meaning of this?!"
I was truly furious.
I had thought I might finally be able to sleep peacefully—only to have my rest shattered by this woman barging into my personal chambers and making such a scene.
Above all, I couldn't simply stand by and watch Lamia being treated so brutally.
"Release her. Now."
Vanessa, who had just now noticed my presence, smiled strangely—her expression a twisted mixture of triumph and malicious glee.
"Your Highness! This woman is the thief who stole the Empress's jewels!"
Her voice was breathless with excitement. Vanessa's cheeks were flushed with the thrill of her discovery.
"I was wondering why our party suddenly grew larger, and now I understand—this deceitful creature shamelessly pretended to be a maid and joined our group! We must report this to the palace immediately!"
Then she thrust forward a wanted poster with Lamia's face crudely sketched upon it.
'Ah. So you've finally figured it out.'
I had that fleeting thought, but surprisingly, instead of feeling panicked or embarrassed, I felt... calm.
I was so angry that all my emotions had turned ice-cold.
I had often imagined how I would react if something like this happened. So I said what I'd already rehearsed in my mind.
"Vanessa, as you well know, my personal maids are selected by Her Majesty the Empress herself."
"But Lamia was added at the very end—"
"Who do you think you are to speak so loudly in front of me?"
I shouted even louder than Vanessa.
Vanessa was visibly startled—she had clearly never seen me like this before.
When people are exhausted, they tend to lose patience. They become irritable. Angry.
I was so furious that I walked right up to Vanessa and issued a cold warning.
"As you should know, Lamia is a maid I personally favor. Release your grip on her hair. Immediately."
"But Your Highness—!"
"If you have falsely accused Lamia, I will have your hand cut off."
I meant every word.
Vanessa saw the genuine rage blazing in my eyes and realized I wasn't merely speaking empty threats. Only then did she finally release her grip on Lamia's hair.
But as if she couldn't simply back down after coming this far, she stubbornly pushed the wanted poster directly in front of my face.
"Look carefully, Your Highness! It's clearly Lamia! We cannot simply leave a thief unpunished!"
I made a show of comparing the sketch on the wanted poster with Lamia's actual appearance, then shrugged with studied nonchalance.
"Hmm. I don't see the resemblance."
Lamia—who had been silently watching me while rubbing her disheveled hair—seemed to realize in that moment that I intended to defend her to the very end. She immediately rushed at Vanessa.
"Who are you calling a thief, you wretched woman?!"
This time, it was Lamia who grabbed a fistful of Vanessa's hair.
At first glance, Vanessa might seem like a troublemaker—always irritated and sharp-tongued—but in reality, Lamia's personality was even more volatile.
Lamia seized Vanessa's hair with one hand and began raining blows down on her with the other, swinging her fists with practiced precision.
It seemed she'd learned some form of combat training somewhere.
"Ahh! Stop it! This is—!"
"What is this?! What is this?!"
Vanessa struggled violently, but Lamia never released her grip on her hair—dodging all of Vanessa's flailing attempts to fight back while continuing to pummel her with ruthless efficiency.
"Lamia, that's enough now."
I saw the guards rushing toward us in a panic, demanding to know what was happening. I gave them a calm order.
"If these two don't separate themselves immediately, take them both away and lock them in the dungeon."
Only then did Lamia finally release Vanessa.
Compared to Lamia—who was relatively unharmed aside from her mussed hair—Vanessa's face was a mess, her nose bleeding profusely.
I spoke with deliberate calmness to Vanessa, who was still clutching the wanted poster stubbornly.
"In any case, I will contact the palace and request that they investigate this matter properly. So stay quiet for now. I'll examine this more closely—give me the wanted poster."
I snatched it from Vanessa's bloodstained hands.
Then I gave orders to the guards, careful not to appear too suspicious.
"Confine Lamia to an empty room until the investigation is complete."
Lamia didn't rebel—perhaps because it was my direct command—but she was dragged away reluctantly by the guards, her feet dragging like an ox being led to slaughter.
As she passed, I whispered quickly:
"Trust me."
I wanted to tell her that I would protect her until the very end, but there wasn't time to whisper more without arousing suspicion.
And so Lamia was imprisoned.
Vanessa looked like she had a great deal more to say.
I waved my hand at her dismissively, not bothering to hide my irritation.
"I've done what you wanted. Now leave. I have a splitting headache from all this chaos, and I need to rest."
"Your Highness, this matter is extremely serious—!"
"Don't you hear me telling you to leave? Would you prefer to be dragged out instead?"
Vanessa pouted as if she were dying from the injustice of my cold dismissal. Finally, she left the room, her nose still dripping blood onto her collar.
After Vanessa departed, I sat on the edge of my bed and stared down at the wanted poster in my hands.
'Where on earth did this wanted poster come from?'
At that very moment, Empress Kavala sat perfectly upright on a velvet sofa, her eyes closed as if in deep meditation.
Her pupils moved rapidly behind her closed eyelids, darting back and forth with unnatural speed.
Then, abruptly, she frowned and her eyes snapped open.
Her brown irises were glowing an eerie, unnatural red.
She blinked several times, and the crimson light quickly faded away.
"Phew..."
She pressed her fingers around her eyes as if they ached terribly.
"Did you see the Romani woman?"
Dnieper asked cautiously.
Kavala had been casting a vision-sharing spell on the wandering merchant who claimed to have received the Dragon's Eye from the butler of Ronheim Castle.
The merchant—who had been dragged before Dnieper and interrogated—had wept and insisted he'd never seen the woman in the wanted poster. But Kavala didn't believe him.
So in the end, she'd sent the merchant back to Ronheim Castle with orders to examine the faces of everyone there—because she intended to check for herself.
But this type of magic required such delicate concentration that it was exhausting to maintain.
"That incompetent fool was wandering around the kitchen like a lost dog. Utterly useless."
This kind of intricate magic was extremely difficult to sustain for long periods.
The connection kept breaking intermittently, and Kavala was grinding her teeth in frustration at how little she'd gained for all her effort.
"Worthless wretch."
Dnieper tried to soothe the seething Empress gently.
"I don't know how the Dragon's Eye ended up in that butler's possession, but if there had been a Romani woman there, my sister's spy would have definitely reported it by now. Let's wait and see what—"
"Everyone is frustrating me! Everyone!"
Kavala glared at him with blazing fury.
A flash of crimson light flickered in her eyes once more.
At that exact same moment, the merchant who had been drinking tea in Ronheim Castle's kitchen while examining the faces of as many servants as possible suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"AHHHHH!"
He collapsed to the floor, convulsing.
"What's wrong with you?!"
A kitchen maid came running in alarm.
"My eyes! My eyes!"
The merchant rolled on the ground, clawing desperately at his face.
"AHHHH! UGHHH!"
The maid saw wisps of smoke rising from his eye sockets and screamed for help.
"Someone bring me a wet towel! This man's eyes are burning!"
That day, the atmosphere in Ronheim Castle grew dark and ominous.
A horrifying incident had occurred: a wandering merchant visiting the castle had suddenly lost his sight in a gruesome manner.
And a maid brought by the Marchioness herself had been accused of being a wanted criminal.
The walls were closing in.
And innocent blood had already been spilled.
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