Given the situation, ensuring the safety of as many people as possible was the better choice.
Protecting the First Prince alone was already overwhelming for me. If something unexpected happened, guarding Dietrich as well would be nearly impossible.
“Nanny, Dietrich.”
I called out to them again and gently shook her body. The nanny, who had been in a deep sleep, slowly opened her eyes.
She must have thought I had a nightmare and was coming to her for comfort because she smiled as soon as our eyes met. She even patted the edge of the bed, inviting me to climb up.
“My lady, are you here to sleep with me? Come up here.”
“No, Nanny, now… we have to go get Daddy.”
“Huh?”
The drowsiness on the nanny’s face began to fade as she processed my words.
I quickly explained the situation in the lowest voice possible.
As soon as I mentioned the assassination attempt on the prince, her face turned pale, starting from her cheeks.
“I’ll call the guards immediately.”
“No.”
We couldn’t trust them completely.
“Keep it a secret and just go quickly by yourself.”
“But what about the young master and my lady?”
“I can’t ride a horse. Just take Dietrich and go.”
“But leaving you alone here is too dangerous.”
“Just come back quickly. I’ll go to my room and hide quietly. No one knows he’s in my room.”
Even for the nanny, taking two children on a horse was too much. And at this hour, moving a carriage was out of the question.
Sneaking out with a single horse might just avoid drawing attention, but a carriage would definitely be noticed by any enemies lurking in the darkness.
Realizing my reasoning was sound, the nanny furrowed her brows and got up.
“My lady, you must hide well. Understood?”
“Yes, I know. Daddy went to the Takiten Barony.”
“Got it. It’s not too far, so I’ll bring the master back as fast as I can.”
Though there was a day’s gap between my dad and the nanny’s departure, my dad was traveling with knights, marching at a slower pace than the nanny would be moving alone.
Along the way, he had to hunt magical beasts and search for escaped prisoners, but catching up to him was still possible.
I watched as the nanny woke Dietrich, who was still fast asleep, and quickly prepared to leave. Only then did I quietly return to my room.
Carefully, I opened the wardrobe connected to my dressing room. Just as I had left him, the prince was still sitting there, hidden.
When he saw me, his expression showed slight surprise.
“Why did you come back?”
“This is my room, isn’t it?”
What was he saying? I was the rightful owner of this room, so why was he acting like I shouldn’t be here?
Seeing my confused expression, the boy slowly added an explanation.
“I thought you wouldn’t come back.”
“Did you think I’d go and bring bad people here?”
He didn’t answer, which meant he had indeed suspected me.
The nerve of him. If I were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have helped him in the first place.
Personal feelings aside, as long as he was the First Prince, I would never let him die in my house.
I didn’t know the full details, but a prince was still the emperor’s son.
If the emperor’s son were to die in our house, dealing with the aftermath would be incredibly difficult.
‘I’m going to live a long and peaceful life!’
Dietrich, the nanny, and…
For some reason, at that moment, the words ‘Your Loving Dad’ from the card I had seen earlier popped into my mind.
I let out a short laugh, then closed the wardrobe door again and returned to my bed.
After all the tension and running around, sleep took over quickly.
***
The court physician entered the underground chamber cautiously, glancing around.
A foul, metallic stench filled the interrogation room below. Despite trembling as if he were about to faint, he searched between the iron bars, looking for Steve.
‘Stay quiet while you’re in this house. Do nothing and keep to yourself, and I’ll make sure you leave here unharmed.’
Remembering the child’s cold and detached voice, without even a hint of her usual childish lisp, sent chills down his spine.
He had thought she was nothing like the terrifying Leopord, but at that moment, when she gave that explicit warning, she had worn the exact same expression as Leopord.
A girl as cunning as a demon.
But he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
The physician wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he recalled Mariela approaching the magical beast’s cocoon.
If she had discovered what lay beneath…
‘I almost got caught hiding the magical beast’s offspring.’
Mariela, who didn’t know much about magic poison, had assumed the cocoon was its source, but that was just a disguise.
In truth, the magical beast’s cocoon suppressed the magic poison. That was why he had brought it into the house disguised as a children’s toy from the very beginning.
If anyone had discovered the Gigantia magical beast hidden beneath it, he would have been as good as dead.
Originally, he had been ordered to poison Leopord and had gone to great lengths to obtain the most lethal magic poison-infused Gigantia offspring.
But things hadn’t gone as planned.
Steve, who was supposed to approach Leopord on his behalf, had been captured.
‘At this point, I have no choice but to escape. As soon as possible.’
He clutched the bottle in his coat—inside was the Gigantia, sealed away.
From within the specially treated glass, the magical beast’s offspring thrashed violently.
Having been forced to release its venom, the creature was furious. Even as a small hatchling, its killing intent was palpable.
But there was no other way.
The plan to kill Leopord had failed, but the prince had to be eliminated.
‘By now, he must have drunk the poisoned water infused with Gigantia’s venom.’
If he truly carried the sacred bloodline of the imperial family, there was no way he could survive refined magic poison.
‘With the prince dead, my master won’t come after me.’
Steve was imprisoned in the farthest cell of the interrogation room.
Four guards stood watch outside, but they were all slumped over, asleep—no doubt under the influence of the sedatives the physician had secretly mixed into their wine.
“S-Sir Steve.”
At the physician’s call, Steve, who had been lying against the wall, slowly lifted his head.
Seeing the battered and broken man before him, the physician instinctively took a step back, sucking in a breath.
His legs, in particular, were in a horrible state.
No healer in the world could restore them.
“Well, well, look who it is—the good physician.”
Steve forced a smile, but his voice was hoarse, laced with a metallic rasp.
The court physician trembled as he fumbled with the keys, trying to unlock the cell. It took him several tries before he finally found the right one.
With a loud click, the lock was released and fell to the ground.
“H-hurry and escape. We must leave before the guards notice.”
“And how do you expect me to ride a horse with these legs?”
“I’ll help however I can, though I know it won’t be enough.”
Steve struggled to lift his body from the cold stone floor.
He couldn’t stand fully—he barely managed to raise his upper body—but even that much sent waves of pain through him, making his vision blur.
Despite his pitiful state, crawling on the ground like a broken man, his eyes gleamed with a strange, eerie light.
Seeing that madness, the physician instinctively shrank back, his shoulders shaking.
“The magical beast…?”
“I have it. Once we destroy this evidence, even Sir Leopord won’t be able to do anything.”
“Let me see it.”
“W-what? Why?”
“I just want to check.”
The physician couldn’t stand against the intense, feverish glint in Steve’s eyes.
With trembling hands, he held out the glass bottle containing the Gigantia hatchling.
Steve, his fingers broken and twisted, barely managed to grasp the bottle.
Inside, the many-legged magical beast wriggled furiously, trying to force its way out through the narrow opening.
Staring at it, Steve spoke slowly.
“If I remember correctly, Gigantia prefers the blood of those with protective blessings, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Magical beasts tainted by magic poison are particularly hostile to those with divine protection.”
“Right. That’s what I heard.”
Steve glanced down at his ruined legs.
His life as a knight was over. Even if he returned to his master, he was already as good as dead.
A discovered spy had no future. That was something he had known from the start.
As Steve fell into silence, it was the physician who began to grow uneasy.
He nervously bit his lip, observing Steve’s face—it looked as though he had gone completely mad in just a few days.
“S-Sir, we don’t have time to—”
And then—
With a sudden motion, Steve hurled the glass bottle to the ground.
A loud crash echoed through the room as the glass shattered.
