Captain! Where is the Battlefield?

  Bianca’s words echoed in Rosalie’s mind as she saw his face.

  “He’s quite an intimidating person. He’s hard to approach.”

  And today, she discovered why Derivis felt so unfamiliar. It was because Derivis had never been cold to her before. He always had a relaxed attitude, but his eyes were always warm and affectionate.

  Seeing her dazed expression, Derivis quickly called her name.

  “Rosalie? Are you feeling feverish? Is your vision okay?”

  “…I’m fine. I’m not running a fever, and my vision is clear.”

  Feeling strange, Rosalie hurried her steps. Derivis followed her while still wearing a worried expression.

  She asked him when he kept following her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see you off.”

  “…Are you going all the way to the mansion?”

  “Only to the front of your mansion. I’m worried since we haven’t discovered who’s behind it yet, so I’ll follow you on horseback.”

  Rosalie could only nod when he looked at her with concern in his eyes. As she made her way to the carriage, her steps were halted by the sound of a small voice.

  “Devi…? Rosalie?”

  Sonia, who had stiffened up, scanned the two of them. Derivis looked at her and asked.

  “Sonia? Why are you here?”

  “I stopped by at the palace with my father for a bit. What about you two…?”

  “Rosalie had an audience with the Emperor today.”

  The word ‘Rosalie’ flowed so effortlessly from Derivis’s mouth that Sonia bit her lower lip tightly in frustration. 

  She wasn’t sure if the assassination hadn’t started yet or they had failed, but to Sonia’s eyes, Rosalie looked unharmed and untouched.

  ‘What are they doing, not doing their jobs…? Those useless people.’

  Sonia approached Derivis and tried to gently grab his arm.

  “Let’s put this off until next time, Sonia. I’m in a hurry right now.”

  Since Rosalie’s rest was Derivis’s top priority, his voice came out firm. It felt cold to Sonia.

  Sonia hesitantly stepped back, and Rosalie looked at her then got into the carriage. Derivis headed towards the horses standing at the back.

  Sonia bit her lower lip as she watched them leave.

  Derivis wore a robe and followed behind as the carriage started moving. Nathan, who was waiting for them, naturally followed.

  Derivis looked at Nathan and asked.

  “Nathan. Did you find it?”

  “Hmm… Rosalie must have told you.”

   Nathan’s gaze shifted from Derivis to the carriage.

  “I was going to find you anyway. That guild is famous for being good at this kind of thing.”

  “That fame will end today.” 

  Nathan’s grin widened at Derivis’s growl, and his eyes flashed. 

  Upon arriving at the mansion, Rosalie turned to them as she dismounted from the carriage.

  Derivis dismounted and stood there, intending to watch her enter the mansion. He looked at the people and knights who were out there and spoke. 

  “You called the knights. Well done.”

  “I’m afraid that my knights didn’t recognize you because of your robe. I’ll them to greet you.”

  “No, that’s enough. Hurry and go upstairs to get some rest.”

  Derivis waved a hand in dismissal. It seemed like he wanted to avoid any commotion. Seeing this, Rozalli nodded her head and turned away.

    ⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

  “Welcome, Your Grace.” 

  Martin, Emma, Whitney, Joey, and the knights were in front of the mansion. Erudit was there as well. Joey, who was at the forefront, approached Rosalie with a look of concern.

  “Are you okay?”

  “It’s okay. You’ve worked hard to get here. Is everything in order?” Rosalie replied.

  “Yes. All the arrangements have been made.”

  “Pay extra attention to the outside.”

  “Yes, understood.”

  The knights quickly dispersed to their respective positions under Joey’s command. Rosalie turned to Erudit, who was standing in the back, and gave him a puzzled look.

  “Why are you here, Erudit?”

  “…I’m sorry. I was too worried, so I came with the knights.”

  “You’re the one who’s supposed to take care of matters at the duchy while I was away.”

  Rosalie sighed, reprimanding Erudit in a rather heavy voice. Erudit adjusted his glasses and lowered his gaze.

  “I was worried about the poison, so I came along. If it’s about work, I can handle it. I’ve taken care of everything in advance, so even just for a while…”

  “Erudit, don’t do this again next time.”

  Upon hearing Rosalie’s firm words, Erudit tried to hide his bitter feelings and continued speaking.

  “If you really need me to go back, I’ll go later. For now, please go upstairs and rest.”

  Rosalie quietly sighed and didn’t say anything more. Looking at his expression, it seemed like she didn’t need to be angry anymore.

  If it were her former self, she would have been more harsh. However, she somehow didn’t want to do that to Erudit. And most importantly, she felt that her body had reached its limit.

  Upstairs, Rosalie buried herself in her bed and was about to fall asleep when Emma came into the room. She held out a luxurious-looking vial that was filled with a yellow potion towards Rosalie.

  “What is this?”

  “His Highness the Crown Prince gave me this before he left and said that it was an antidote. I didn’t even know it was His Highness because he was wearing a robe. He came to me and told me to give it to Your Grace.”

  ‘When did he bring this? I’m always getting help from him.’ 

  Rosalie stared at the potion and gulped it down. She then buried her body in the soft blankets again, falling asleep.

  Erudit stood outside Rosalie’s room with a restless look on his face. Soon after, Emma came out of the room and found him.

  “Sir Erudit…?”

  “How is the Duchess doing?”

  Emma smiled lightly as if to tell him not to worry. Erudit always had a stoic face when he was in the Duchy, but Emma thought that he looked cute when she saw him acting like this.

  “She’s fine. After taking the antidote that the Crown Prince gave her, she fell asleep.”

  “The Crown Prince…?”

  As Erudit asked, Emma made a regretful expression and brought her index finger to her mouth before speaking softly.

  “Yes, they are quite close.”

  Erudit nodded his head in bewilderment, and Emma turned around to go get a washcloth to wipe any sweat off Rosalie’s face.

    ⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

  Meanwhile, in the alley where the tavern was located. 

  Despite having been there for a long time and being open every day, the tavern had a sign that read ‘Closed’ today.

  However, contrary to the quiet appearance, the inside of the closed store was on the verge of being devastated by two men. The place was littered with people who were beaten up, and Derivis was holding a bald man by the scruff of his neck.

  “Why are you doing this?!”

  The man on his knees shuddered and glanced at the sword in Derivis’s hand. Derivis then asked the man in a dry voice.

  “Who paid you to kill Rosalie Judeheart?”

  “That…! We don’t know either! We guarantee thorough anonymity… cough.”

  The man couldn’t continue his sentence. It felt like Derivis’s auror was suffocating him, making it hard to breathe.

  Sitting with his legs crossed on the chaotic table strewn with broken bottles and bodies, Nathan spoke up as he watched the scene.

  “Devi~ He’ll be dead before he can talk.”

  Derivis withdrew his auror upon hearing Nathan’s words. The man began to breathe raggedly, trying to catch his breath.

  “Cough… gasp, cough.”

  “The person who ordered it?”

  Derivis’s voice was icy. Still gripped by the neck, the man was afraid and started to speak.

  “W-we don’t know who gave the order! We just received money and did the job! We only know that the person who gave the order seemed to be a commoner woman… and that she was hit by a carriage on the main road and taken away by the carriage owner! I swear it’s true…”

  “Tell me the information about that carriage.”

  When the man didn’t answer the question easily, Derivis began to intimidate the man with his auror again, and the man shuddered with a newfound fear.

  “T-The carriage! It looked like a luggage carriage for a certain upper-class family. That’s all we know! People said that the woman must have died… that she was badly hit…”

  “As for the money the woman gave you?”

  “…The money has already been spent a long time ago. Ah, the pouch looked expensive, so I put it behind the bar for now!”

  As the man finished speaking, Derivis leaned in closer to him and whispered each word slowly.

  “From now on, anyone who targets the Duchess of Judeart will not survive. Make sure that everyone around you knows that. Stay quiet like a dead mouse while you’re in the capital. If you try to run away recklessly, you’re not going to live.”

  With Derivis’ momentum, it seemed like he could swing the sword he held at any moment. The man nodded vigorously in response to Derivis’s threat.

  Derivis clicked his tongue and lifted the man by the scruff of his neck, throwing him against the wall as Nathan got up and headed towards the back of the bar.

  The money pouch the man mentioned was easily found in a small paper box behind the bar. Derivis dusted off his hands and approached Nathan.

  “Where’s the money pouch?”

  “Here. But it’s mixed with too many smells, so it’s hard to distinguish.”

  Nathan sniffed at the money pouch and tilted his head. A unique, pungent smell that he had smelled somewhere before pricked his nose.

  “Ah! This smell… wasn’t it… Sonia, the one I saw with Rosalie at the bookstore?”

  Nathan remembered and exclaimed, and Derivis’s face quickly froze beside him. His blue eyes were trembling in confusion.

    ⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

  After the two of them decimated the assassination guild without leaving a trace and returned to the mansion, it was already deep into the night. Derivis and Nathan found Erudit lingering in front of Rosalie’s room.

  Erudit immediately made a disgusted expression when Nathan approached him with a cheerful smile.

  “Erudit. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m just here.” 

  Erudit replied coldly, then noticed Derivis behind Nathan. He respectfully bowed his head.

  “I greet His Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire.”