***

“You know, this plan you’ve got going on, do you realize that it’s insane?”

“We cannot stay undercover forever. Are you planning to wait for the basement to open your whole life?”

Nicole and Dagger quickly left the mansion. There would be many hired hands who had begun to desert in the commotion of the day anyway, so their disappearance wouldn’t raise too much suspicion.

They stopped under a small bridge.

“We should head back to the mansion.”

Dagger said.

“You have no idea how much these twenty minutes I made for noona meant to me, and I’ve done some suspicious things today, so I need to take care of myself.”

“You didn’t do anything suspicious, you actually did something. You were the one who started the fire, weren’t you Dagger?”

Dagger nodded slightly at Nicole’s words.

“That was our mission.”

A competent agent would accomplish the mission skillfully and quickly. Nicole made a suggestion to Dagger to break up this tedious standoff. She suggested starting a fire.

Of course, she had no intention of hurting innocent people. Nicole made a thorough calculation and set fire to the second floor.

There were fewer people in the main building than in the daytime, because after 7:00 p.m., employees who didn’t work overnight went home.

She also checked the weather. It wasn’t windy in the capital at this time of year, so the chances of the fire spreading were low.

Nicole, who had nearly burned to death once, knew better.

“Did you know the Marquis of Saratheve?”

Dagger asked, glancing at Nicole.

“How would I know that son of a bitch?”

“You seemed to know him very well.”

“Well, he’s a narcissist anyway. I thought he’d run away, so I saw an opening.”

Nicole replied.

In any case, there was no time.

“Did you know that the Marquis of Saratheve was secretly buying people?”

Nicole asked quickly this time.

“If you mean the illegal slave trade, I knew.”

“And you let him get away with it?”

“I told you, it’s what he does with the slave trade that matters. Buying a few people might hurt him, but it’s not enough to end his family, and he belongs to the Seven Houses of the Empire, so as long as he doesn’t get taken down on the spot, he’ll get away with anything.”

The imperial family had no intention of ceding the capital’s sole military power to Grand Duke Valentine.

So they would let him kill a few innocent people in the Marquisate of Saratheve.

Nicole had expected the imperial family to do so, but hearing it from Dagger’s lips made her mouth taste bitter.

“Then how about this, what if we reveal what they’re doing with the people they’ve bought and sold? What if they’re being used as human sacrifices in a cult?”

Nicole pulled something out of her bosom. It was a copper plate pendant.

The copper plate pendant had a horned devil raising his hand. It was a classic piece of devil worship.

“This fell down in the basement.”

“Hooh.”

Dagger’s eyes changed.

“This is a common object carried by those who practice demon worship. He was performing a ritual sacrifice for it…….”

It’s a different story when religion is involved. Currently, the Imperial family has prophetic powers and divine powers granted by the gods.

If someone who is a vassal and right-hand man of the imperial family is practicing a cult, that’s pretty serious.

In an empire where religion holds absolute sway, it would be difficult to avoid public criticism.

Social rituals involving the sacrifice of life, especially human sacrifice, were among the most forbidden of the Empire’s religion.

In the imperial family, they’d be too afraid of the stares they’d receive to ignore it.

“Noona, you made an accident. If you steal something like this, the marquis will notice that you’re suspicious. I have no choice but to report this to the higher-ups.”

“…… That part was my mistake.”

Nicole admitted meekly. It’s standard in undercover work to preserve a perfect scene and leave no evidence of a break-in.

In all likelihood, Gaston would notice the missing items and begin to suspect that someone had broken into the room.

“You probably won’t make it back to Saratheve Manor.”

Dagger looked at the copper plate a few times, then smirked.

“That’s resignation for anyone else, but I don’t know why you’re looking more and more competent by the minute.”

Dagger’s face lit up with a strange kind of amusement.

“I’m glad because I finally see a chance to punch that son of a bitch in the face.”

Dagger said.

Nicole gave a small nod. But inside, she agreed with Dagger more than anyone.

‘I’m the one with the grudge against Gaston.’

She couldn’t even hate him anymore, knowing he was doing this disgusting thing.

‘But does Dagger have a personal grudge against Gaston?’

Nicole felt her suspicions grow, and she quickly recounted her encounter with the butler.

“I think I’ve avoided suspicion, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I’ll make a report to the higher-ups on my end, and you’ll go to the general store and hide yourself. I’ll find out about this pendant, and you’ll stop working for the Marquis of Saratheve. Don’t leave the general store.”

“Understood.”

Nicole nodded obediently.

“I’ve got to go now, noona, take care of yourself.”

“Are you okay after starting the fire?”

Nicole grabbed Dagger one last time.

“Don’t worry, I’ll never get caught. And even if I do get caught, I’m not only Dahlia, I’m also Dagger, so I can get out of there on my own.”

Dagger stuck his tongue out a little. It was the most boyish thing Nicole had ever seen him do.

“And when you went into the main house, guess who let the animals out?”

“……That was Dagger, too.”

Nicole marveled at her colleague’s competence. And Dagger had even kept her near the main house, just in case.

In many ways, Dagger wasn’t a bad senior.

“I’ll be back with new instructions around midnight, so wait for me, and make sure you lock the door.”

Dagger said in a low voice.

***

Nicole felt dizzy. She pressed her hood deeper into her face and hurried through the dark streets of the capital.

‘I’m tired. I’ve gotten myself into a lot of trouble today.’

She hadn’t eaten all day and was starving. At this rate, she’s going to starve to death before she makes it big. At the same time, she laughed out loud.

‘Yes, I’m hungry…….’

In her past life, she had been skinny. She was always depressed and mentally ill, so she didn’t think it was a good idea to eat something tasty. She didn’t think she’d be rewarded for it in this life.

‘If people are going to keep dying anyway, I might as well stop it.’

But where does Gaston get people?

Nicole thought Gaston needs to die anyway. Quickly, before he does any harm to Raul.

She turned into a deserted alleyway, just a short walk away from the shop.

It was the moment. Nicole felt someone staring at her from behind.

‘Who is it?’

Was she being followed? An ominous feeling of foreboding shot through Nicole.

“Heok!”

Nicole quickened her pace. The streets in these back alleys were narrow and winding.

Step, step

The sound of footsteps grew closer. Nicole’s pace quickened.

“Hah, this is more like it.”

But it didn’t take long for Nicole’s pursuer to catch up with her.

He was a foul-smelling man with a boil on his nose. He was dressed in very plain clothes, a leather hood over his head, and a knife in his hand.

“The marquis wants to see you.”

As soon as she heard the words, Nicole had a hunch.

The butler had reported to Marquis Saratheve that he had seen her near the portrait room today.

“Why does he want to see me?”

“You’re quite a handful. Do you think we don’t know who started the fire today?”

“…… Let go of me, I’m calling for the Royal Guards.”

“Hihi, if he hadn’t told me to bring you in urgently, this would have been fun. I’m sure our master will have a good time torturing you himself today.”

The man’s eyes glittered with greed.

Then there was the sound of shuffling footsteps.

Tak, tak. Biik!

A whistling sound accompanied the steady footsteps. It was the whistle of a security knight on a routine patrol.

“Over here!”

Nicole tried to shout. It was the moment.

Puk.

Nicole didn’t know what had happened to her. Her vision turned red and her stomach felt like it was being ripped apart.

“I told you to be quiet!”

The man said. Nicole fell to the floor, a smelly hand clamped over her mouth.

The man muttered something profane.

Step, step

The sound of the knights’ footsteps grew closer.

“The order was to capture her, not kill her, damn it.”

The man muttered through gritted teeth, then turned and began to run.

Nicole clutched her stomach and ducked into the shadows of the building.

She had to avoid the security knight. She didn’t want to be recognized.

Perhaps…… Raul wouldn’t want that…….

‘I mustn’t create a disturbance…….’

The sound of the knights’ footsteps passed by. Nicole staggered against the wall and began to walk. Her stomach was damp. It was still bleeding.

Along with pharmacy, she knew basic medicine.

‘This is a fatal wound. I’ve been stabbed.’

Is she going to die?

That’s what Nicole thought at that moment.