Episode 34
— Dig into Adrian’s background.
That was the order I had given Pinky.
Of course, I didn’t expect Pinky to uncover everything about Adrian. It wasn’t that I doubted his abilities, but Adrian was simply too skilled at concealing himself.
‘I’d be satisfied if we could at least figure out his motives.’
Muttering to myself, I walked toward Pinky, who was waving from a distance.
“Lady Charles! Over here!”
You don’t have to shout—I can see you just fine.
I chuckled softly and opened the warehouse door.
This was an abandoned warehouse.
Originally, I had planned to sneak him into the mansion and talk in my room, but now that I couldn’t predict Lu’s movements, I couldn’t afford such a risky choice.
So, we relocated to a nearby abandoned warehouse instead.
“Have you been well? My, you look even more beautiful than before!”
“The fact that you’re greeting me with empty flattery tells me you didn’t get much information.”
“Haha… What makes you think that?”
Pinky laughed awkwardly, his eyes darting around.
When I simply stared at him, he eventually sighed in resignation and slumped his shoulders.
“To be honest, you’re right.”
As expected.
I frowned slightly.
“But! It’s not like I came back empty-handed!”
As if trying to restore my faith in him, Pinky puffed up his chest and pulled out a piece of paper from his coat.
“First, take a look at this.”
He handed me the paper.
“I listed suspicious incidents that have occurred among noble families, aside from the four cases you were involved in.”
I examined the paper.
[Duke Montalte’s Household: The Duke’s adopted daughter went missing during a recital.
Viscount Howard’s Household: A carriage explosion—no fatalities, but the Viscount suffered serious injuries.
Marquis Belmore’s Household: A case of mass food poisoning.]
“……”
“And all of this was orchestrated by Catacle.”
I had suspected it, but seeing it confirmed still made my stomach churn.
“What’s the reason?”
“That… I couldn’t figure out.”
I see.
With Vice-Captain Henry purged, Pinky had become an aimless stray. Digging up such high-level information would’ve been difficult for him.
Which meant I had to take matters into my own hands.
“But!”
Perhaps sensing my disappointment, Pinky hurriedly added,
“I did find out that Adrian is working on something else.”
“Something else?”
“Yes.”
He hesitated for a moment before speaking in a more somber tone.
“He’s distributing modified aura.”
“…Adrian is doing that?”
“Yes.”
I knew that modified aura was being distributed, but I hadn’t known Adrian was behind it.
“It’s already a huge trend among young nobles. They won’t even throw a night party without it.”
Something felt off.
Catacle was supposed to act for the empire’s stability. So why were they targeting nobles and drugging them?
“For what it’s worth, that’s why Themis was killed.”
Pinky’s face darkened further.
“Themis was against it.”
“……”
I forced myself to steady my breathing.
“Adrian told me the commander ordered Themis’s execution.”
Then, slowly, I murmured,
“But that could have been a lie. Because Adrian is the one distributing modified aura…”
I pieced things together.
They caused chaos within noble households.
They used modified aura to addict noble heirs.
If I considered why they were doing this…
A horrifying possibility surfaced.
‘No way.’
I didn’t want to believe it, but no other answer made sense.
My hands clenched into fists before I realized it.
If that truly was the reason—if that was why they sought to destroy noble families and spread drugs—then…
‘I have to go to headquarters.’
I needed to meet Baylor.
But I couldn’t act immediately.
Tonight’s outing had to end here.
‘Soon.’
Before something worse happened, I had to go.
With that thought, I pulled out a pouch of gold coins.
“Here.”
“Thank you!”
Pinky bowed deeply as he accepted it.
As he grinned and eagerly counted the coins, I observed him for a moment before speaking.
“Let’s meet again on the next new moon.”
Pinky tucked the pouch into his coat.
“Is there anything else you need me to look into?”
“Just keep me informed about what’s happening inside Catacle. If you can dig further into Adrian, do that too.”
“Understood.”
Pinky saluted but then suddenly fumbled through his hair.
“Oh, right.”
He removed a pin from his bangs and handed it to me.
“This was from Vice-Captain Henry. I figured you might need it.”
I looked down at the pin.
“It’s a magnet?”
“Yes. Supposedly, it’s used to open a secret vault, but I never found where it is, so I never used it.”
I probably wouldn’t find it either.
But it was better to have it just in case. I nodded.
“Alright. Thanks.”
“No need to thank me.”
Pinky grinned and tilted his head back.
The starry night sky was clear, a sharp contrast to my turbulent thoughts.
“Stay safe.”
I ruffled his hair.
“Things are getting really dangerous.”
***
On the way home, I walked through the darkness, lost in thought.
[Duke Montalte’s Household: The Duke’s adopted daughter went missing during a recital.
Viscount Howard’s Household: A carriage explosion—no fatalities, but the Viscount suffered serious injuries.
Marquis Belmore’s Household: A case of mass food poisoning.]
Duke Montalte’s family had a long history of sponsoring the imperial orchestra and artists.
Viscount Howard worked in the treasury.
And Marquis Belmore managed the high-end food supply chain for the imperial court.
‘All of them are connected to the imperial family.’
And the noble families involved in my four incidents were also connected to the imperial family.
In other words…
‘Something is happening between Catacle and the imperial family.’
Ugh.
I ruffled my hair in frustration.
‘Maybe I never should’ve come back to the empire.’
From the moment I arrived, I had been dragged into one catastrophe after another.
And I had learned things I never wanted to know.
‘But it’s not like I had a choice in coming back.’
Whether I wanted to or not, I had to deal with what was in front of me.
‘I shouldn’t act recklessly until I have a clear conclusion.’
With that resolve, I retraced my steps, climbed over the mansion’s wall, scaled the tree, and reached my bedroom window.
The window was still open, meaning no one had entered while I was gone.
So, without hesitation, I grabbed the windowsill and pulled myself inside.
And then—
“…Huh?”
Instinctively, I backed up, pressing myself against the window frame.
Someone was in the pitch-black darkness of my room.
“Wh… Who’s there…?”
At that moment—
The moon, which had been hidden behind the clouds, slowly emerged, casting a clear, luminous light into the room.
“Charles.”
No way…
“It’s late. Where have you been?”
Bathed in the moonlight,
It was Lu.
Oh, no.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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