57. The Dark Shadow

Forgetting why he had covered her mouth in the first place, the two stood there, staring at each other in a daze.

Suddenly, as Roselia’s lips moved slightly, a soft sensation brushed against Klaus’s palm, causing his muscles to tense as if struck by lightning.

Klaus quickly realized his reaction, pulling his hand away from her lips and stepping back in a flustered hurry.

He cleared his throat and spoke, trying to maintain a gruff tone.

“I’ll look into the Grand Duke’s matters myself.”

Roselia, who had been frozen like him, snapped back to reality and quickly bowed her head.

“Th-then, I’ll take my leave now.”

Watching Roselia hastily flee the room, Klaus let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead with a bewildered expression.

What was that strange tension just now?

And why was his heart racing like this again?

Frustrated by the inexplicable situation, Klaus raked his fingers through his hair.

Back when he was trapped in the rubble with Antonio… Could it be… that he had such tendencies?

Yet, the feelings he had for Roselia, his sister, were clearly romantic in nature.

Could it be that he had been unaware of his own bisexuality all this time?

With doubts about his own identity swirling in his mind, Klaus remained motionless for a long time.

* * *

In a room far too large to be considered a bedroom, a massive bed sat at its center, where three or four women lounged.

The man lying among them, wrapped in their arms, didn’t even flinch when a shadowy figure slipped into the room. He merely rose from the bed and draped a robe over himself.

The man, with silver hair and golden eyes, appeared to be in his forties, though he could easily be mistaken for someone in his early thirties, given his youthful and sturdy build.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with a pipe in his mouth, the man remained indifferent as the two women behind him caressed his chest and waist.

They were high-end courtesans, sleek and alluring, each one worth a small fortune.

Despite their touch, the man gazed coldly at the shadowy figure, speaking in a low, steady voice.

“The medicinal herbs meant for Raphelios have been discovered.”

Hearing the man’s weighted tone, the shadowy figure, prostrated on the floor, replied in a trembling voice.

“I-I apologize.”

The man, observing the quivering figure, leisurely crossed his legs and lit his pipe, exhaling a plume of smoke.

“That’s unfortunate.”

He spoke with the casual tone of someone lamenting the loss of an item he had meant to purchase yesterday.

“It would’ve been better if the imperial family had discovered it.”

His gaze shifted to the shadowy figure as he said this.

Though his voice remained calm, his eyes were icy, sharp as frost, causing the figure to bow their head even lower.

“…I am truly sorry.”

As if atoning for a grave sin, the figure pressed their forehead against the floor, trembling. The man’s expression softened again, and he spoke with a languid tone.

“Well, there are still plenty of opportunities to stir up trouble between Valtazar and the Crown Prince.”

He took a long drag from his lit pipe and blew out a cloud of smoke.

“Who exactly discovered the herbs?”

“I heard it was a servant from the Duke’s house.”

“A servant?”

The shadowy figure scowled, recalling the insolent man who had trailed them.

“Antonio… He’s the adopted brother of Roselia, whom you’ve been seeking, Your Grace.”

“Her brother, you say?”

The mention of Roselia’s brother seemed to pique the man’s interest. Adjusting his posture, he leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the shadow, silently urging him to continue.

“Yes. But oddly enough, despite not being blood-related, they look strikingly similar. I tried to take care of him, but the Duke showed up unexpectedly and ruined everything.”

“The Duke saved a servant?”

As he pressed forward with the question, the shadow, suddenly feeling he might have said too much, stammered his response.

“Yes…”

The man, lost in thought for a moment, finally spoke again.

“You mentioned that finding Roselia has been difficult.”

“Yes, we couldn’t even uncover her place of residence.”

“There must be a reason why Viscountess Clément took an interest in that servant. She has an impeccable sense for such things.”

She had once been a high-class courtesan who had entertained him. It was he who had provided her with information about Viscountess Clément, disguising her under the mask of “Lugvela.” He had found her cunning ways rather profitable for some time, but who would have thought that wily woman would get caught so easily…

He recalled the sight of her being dragged away by the imperial guards during the Count of Bleymond’s soirée, her gaze desperately seeking his.

She should have known better than to overstep her bounds.

With a twisted smirk, the man took a drag from his pipe, speaking casually.

“Look into this Antonio further.”

“Yes, understood.”

The shadow disappeared through the window as swiftly as if it had never been there.

The man with silver hair roughly pushed away the hands of the courtesan who had been caressing his chest and got up, heading toward the bathroom, seemingly disinterested.

* * *

Klaus, sitting in a carriage and reviewing documents, glanced at Alejandro seated across from him and spoke.

“Did you investigate the organizations under the Grand Duke Rubelio?”

Alejandro, as if he had been waiting, handed over the prepared documents.

“Yes, as you suspected, a secretive organization operating in the shadows under the Grand Duke Rubelio’s influence uses that emblem.”

“Is that so…”

Klaus’s expression grew rigid.

How in the world did Antonio know about the Grand Duke Rubelio’s involvement?

Such information wasn’t easy to uncover, even if one knew where to look. It would take the Duke’s level of connections and resources to uncover such secrets.

Even though Alejandro reported the findings with apparent ease, it had likely required substantial time and money to gather the details.

Yet Antonio seemed to have known something about it, even if only vaguely.

Could it be that he had already made contact with the Grand Duke’s faction without Klaus’s knowledge?

If that were the case, it was a dangerous situation.

“Assign a shadow to Antonio again.”

Alejandro, puzzled, questioned Klaus’s firm command.

“Didn’t you order the withdrawal last time?”

“Just do it.”

Seeing the urgency in Klaus’s expression, Alejandro set aside his doubts and complied.

“Yes, understood.”

Klaus couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that lingered.

The Grand Duke Rubelio…

He had become entangled with a figure beyond even his control.

The Grand Duke was the younger brother of the late Emperor and the uncle of the current Crown Prince.

Though he was lower in the line of succession than the Crown Prince, he held a solid reputation and influence among the nobility.

Being born into the royal family, he was skilled at manipulating people, the kind to hide a dagger behind a friendly smile.

Without constant vigilance, one could never be sure what might happen.

And what made Klaus even more uneasy was the sense that Antonio knew something about them.

Damn it, why did his thoughts keep circling back to Antonio?

It must be because that man couldn’t sit still and always seemed to attract trouble.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, the carriage approached the imperial palace.

By the time they arrived at the entrance of the Crown Prince’s palace, Klaus had regained his usual cold composure.

Alejandro, watching him with admiration, stepped out to greet Klaus as he exited the carriage.

“I’ll have the carriage wait nearby.”

Klaus nodded wordlessly and made his way toward the Crown Prince’s palace.

As usual, he had come to deliver reports regarding the construction of the academy.

Though the Crown Prince, who had requested the report from Antonio, didn’t seem pleased by Klaus’s presence.

“I specifically asked to hear the report from Antonio. Why does the Duke keep coming to deliver it?” the Crown Prince drawled in a bored tone.

Klaus, unfazed by the Crown Prince’s discontent, replied calmly.

“You will receive a more detailed account this way.”

The Crown Prince propped his chin on his hand, muttering loudly enough for Klaus to hear.

“You’re incredibly dull, you know that?”

“…”

Klaus was used to this kind of provocation from the Crown Prince by now.

In a way, the Crown Prince was remarkably consistent. He despised all nobles equally, not just Klaus.

As a child, the Crown Prince had been a promising figure, but the death of the Empress had undoubtedly played a significant role in his turning so bitter.

Not that he felt the slightest bit of sympathy for the Crown Prince.

He, too, had lost his parents early and had fought fiercely to protect the estate and Claucet from relatives who sought to exploit the Duke’s wealth.

Unlike himself, the endlessly wayward Crown Prince appeared to him as nothing more than a pitiful failure.

Sometimes, he couldn’t help but wonder if a nation led by someone like that could ever be a truly proper one.

As Klaus delivered his report on the construction project, lost in these thoughts, the Crown Prince suddenly interrupted, as if he could see right through Klaus’s mind.

“I heard that some medicinal herbs were found on the school grounds?”

The Crown Prince’s voice had turned uncharacteristically serious, a stark contrast to his earlier casual tone.

Klaus, his expression hardening, bowed his head slightly and responded.

“My apologies.”

Seeing Klaus lower his head so quickly, the Crown Prince’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Well, it’s fortunate that you found them in time. If things had gone differently, I might have had to detain you, Duke.”

It was hard to tell if he was genuinely relieved or subtly regretful.

Klaus stared at him silently, prompting the Crown Prince to shift the conversation with a faint smile.

“I heard Antonio played a part in finding those herbs?”

“…”

Klaus’s brow furrowed instinctively at the sudden mention of Antonio.

Watching his reaction with interest, the Crown Prince leisurely crossed his legs and spoke again.

“Duke, have you ever heard of the bloodline of Raphelios?”

Klaus frowned slightly at the Crown Prince’s inscrutable question but answered calmly.

“I understand that the Marquess of Euciliod, currently visiting for the Empire’s treaty discussions, is a member of the Raphelios bloodline.”

“Yes, even though their blood has grown thin over the years, I hear that some of their descendants still retain certain abilities.”

Information about the abilities of the Raphelios bloodline was documented only in royal texts accessible to the imperial family.

Klaus knew only that, according to legend, the Raphelios bloodline had used their powers to influence historical events since ancient times.

Events like the Raphelios Conquest War two centuries ago or the Charlemagne Civil War in the capital were said to have occurred due to their abilities.

Klaus frowned, puzzled by the Crown Prince’s sudden interest in the Raphelios bloodline.

Watching Klaus’s reaction with a leisurely gaze, the Crown Prince made another cryptic remark.

“Did you know they possess a distinctive scent?”