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Even though he didn’t know what she was trying to steal from him, he didn’t want to be deceived any further.

“Your Highness, what are you doing?”

A deep voice called out. Etienne glared at the intruder with a sharp gaze.

“Simon. Have you forgotten how to knock?”

“I’ve been knocking, sir. You didn’t respond for a long time, so I came in. Is there something troubling you? Is it because of that document?”

Etienne’s face turned serious after glancing at Simon.

For the past few days, he had been so preoccupied with Dahlia that he had forgotten about the very thing he needed to retrieve.

Could this be her intention as well?

The other things she had stolen didn’t really matter. They were valuable, of course, but money was overflowing for him.

There was only one thing he wanted to retrieve.

The document on magical research.

He recalled that day, more than ten years ago.

It had appeared countless times in his dreams, vivid as if it were yesterday.

<Etienne, leave the palace. And never covet the throne. Promise me.> The Empress barely managed to squeeze out her voice. Then she shed another drop of black blood. A black puddle formed on the floor.

Etienne couldn’t do anything. The Empress wasn’t wounded or ill.

It didn’t take long until her breath completely stopped.

As she grew colder, her once elegant face turned pale, as if she had expelled all the blood from her body. Her features withered, losing their grace.

It was dark magic.

<I will never covet the throne,> murmured the still-youthful Etienne. He gently caressed the empress’s dried-up hand.

<But I must seek revenge. I will make them suffer even more.>

“Yes. That’s because of that.”

His tone was blunt.

Simon studied his complexion. There was no change in his expression, but his eyes were hollow.

Simon’s mouth felt dry.

Since that day, Etienne had been wandering outside the palace. He had visited every place rumored to have dark wizards.

Even acquiring the absurdly expensive Zoadeus Monastery was for that purpose. It had housed numerous imprisoned dark wizards.

And there, he found the document.

“Now that we finally found a clue, she had to steal it on that very day. Lady Dahlia, really… She’s truly draining our energy. If she wanted to steal something, she should’ve taken jewels instead. Haha.”

Simon deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Don’t worry. Lady Dahlia couldn’t have dealt with all that wealth at once. There wouldn’t have been any merchants daring enough to engage in such risky business either.”

If Dahlia were to sell all the stolen items, she could easily afford several luxurious mansions that most ordinary people couldn’t even dream of owning. Most of the items were high-end goods that the general public wouldn’t handle.

In other words, it implied that if she were to enter the market, it would be relatively easy to trace the items back to her.

No fool would engage in the risky business of selling the Prince’s belongings in the black market without proper preparation. Simon’s words were correct.

“So, where do you think those items might be now?”

“They must have been stashed somewhere. She probably has sold the harder-to-identify items first. And she likely didn’t grasp the significance of that document either. If you’re not fluent in the magical language, it would just appear as gibberish.”

It made sense. Unless Dahlia had received someone’s guidance, she wouldn’t have understood its importance.

Etienne believed that there must be someone behind Dahlia, but he didn’t feel the need to reveal his suspicions to Simon.

“It’s always fascinating to see.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You look like you could easily knock over a goblin, but surprisingly, you also have a sharp mind.”

“Why are you saying that again? It hurts my feelings.”

This time, Simon tried to act cute, but it didn’t work.

“That’s creepy. Go away.”

Simon pouted, but Etienne pretended not to see and shifted his gaze back to the documents.

“By the way, during the Empress’s birthday celebration, will you really accompany Lady Dahlia?”

Etienne rubbed his head with his hand.

Taking Dahlia along carried various risks. She was a woman whose thoughts and actions were unpredictable.

But what if everything wasn’t solely her own doing?

There might be someone behind her.

No, the possibility seemed even greater. Pretending to let his guard down and observing with vigilance who Dahlia secretly conversed with could potentially aid in tracking their movements.

“Yes, I will go with her.”

“Very well. I understand.”

“But keep a close watch. How has she been lately? Has she exhibited any suspicious behavior?”

“Well, um…”

Simon’s face had noticeably grown gaunt over the past few days.

Etienne continued unbuttoning his remaining golden buttons, waiting for Simon to finish his sentence.

“I don’t know how to put it into words…”

“What? Why did you start speaking and then stop? Are you bored? Do you want to play riddles with me or something?”

“Lady Dahlia… she’s been acting strangely, or rather, she’s changed.”

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