Chapter 106

In the quiet of the early dawn, the Ruthius estate was thrown into an unexpected turmoil.

The cause was the First Prince, Igrid, who had stormed the premises with his royal guards in tow.

The servants, their faces still heavy with sleep, gathered in the main hall. They all wore the expressions of people who had been struck by lightning in their sleep.

The main hall was already a mess, marred by the tracks of muddy boots.

The royal guards were searching every corner of the building while Igrid watched over them.

“Search every corner! Don’t miss a single spot!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Frank, roused from his sleep, could only wring his hands in distress, unable to intervene.

By a special privilege granted by the founding emperor, Alexander, not even the emperor himself could search the Ruthius estate without just cause.

For the First Prince to commit such an act was unthinkable.

No matter how strained the relationship between the imperial family and the Ruthius family was, this was going too far.

“Your-Your Highness, what is the meaning of this? Searching the Duke’s estate without any warning. If the Duke finds out…”

Igrid dismissed the flustered Frank with a sneer.

“It can’t be helped, even if the Duke finds out. We received intelligence that a royal kidnapper is hiding in the Ruthius estate. We must verify it.”

“A royal… kidnapper?”

“So you’d best cooperate. Unless you want to be suspected as an accomplice.”

Kidnapping a member of the royal family was a grave offense, tantamount to treason. Just as the weight of the accusation drained the color from Frank’s face, a new voice spoke.

“Are you saying there is a royal kidnapper in my house right now?”

The Duke of Ruthius appeared in the lobby.

He seemed to have just woken up, a nightgown draped loosely over his shoulders and a rod in one hand.

*So the rumors about his leg were true.*

*Serves the once-great Sword Master right.* Igrid concealed his smirk.

“I didn’t want to believe it either, but unfortunately, that seems to be the case.”

“Do you have proof?”

“Can’t you see? We’re looking for it right now.”

“So you’ve stormed into my home without any evidence.”

“You’ll have to understand, Duke. I can’t let a traitor escape just to protect your dignity.”

The royal guards, having searched the entire estate, subtly shook their heads at Igrid. It meant they had found nothing suspicious.

“Duke, where is Princess Astell’s bedroom?”

“Why do you ask for my daughter’s bedroom?”

“We need to search it.”

“…The bedroom of a noble lady?”

It was unheard of to search a noble lady’s bedroom without evidence, especially when she hadn’t been arrested as a suspect in the act.

Igrid’s eyebrows drooped in a feigned expression of regret.

“We’ve searched everywhere else; we can’t just skip the princess’s bedroom. Given the gravity of the situation, it will be difficult to respect the privileges of the nobility. Duke.”

Igrid carefully observed the Duke of Ruthius’s reaction.

The only place Astell could hide with Dante was the Ruthius estate.

The summoned beast he had seen near the pit had definitely flown in the direction of the Ruthius estate.

Therefore, Astell and Dante had to be hiding here somewhere.

*I wonder if the Duke knows. That’s what I’m curious about.*

However, the Duke of Ruthius only showed displeasure at the disrespect, betraying no other emotion.

“My daughter attended the auction, returned home, and went to bed early.”

“I’m not suspecting the princess, but it’s a necessary procedure. I hope you understand.”

“If, by chance, nothing is found, may I hold Your Highness accountable for this incident?”

Igrid’s smile stiffened.

*Insolent bastard…*

His attitude was utterly arrogant and disrespectful. Now he understood why the emperor was so desperate to eliminate the Ruthius family.

*How dare a mere Duke threaten the future emperor?*

He was boiling with rage, but he couldn’t act on his temper. His opponent was the Duke of Ruthius, after all.

*Your arrogance will soon meet its end. Enjoy it while you can.*

Igrid forced the corners of his mouth into a smile.

“Duke, I am merely acting on my father’s orders.”

“Are you suggesting I hold His Majesty accountable?”

“Well, something like that. If nothing is discovered here.”

But that was impossible. Dante had to be hiding here somewhere.

Right in Astell’s bedroom.

*He couldn’t have predicted I would order a search of a noble lady’s bedroom.*

The Duke of Ruthius, who had been watching Igrid intently, stepped aside from the staircase.

“The fourth floor. Search as you please.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Duke.”

*The way he let me pass… it seems the Duke of Ruthius didn’t know. Not that it will save him.*

The crime of kidnapping royalty was subject to punishment by association. The moment Dante was discovered, the Ruthius family was doomed to annihilation.

Suppressing a smile, Igrid gestured with his chin, and the knights swarmed up to the fourth floor in perfect unison.

The clanking and clattering of armor echoed chaotically before slowly fading away.

*Now, all I have to do is wait.*

Confident that his knights would find Dante, Igrid smiled leisurely.

“Duke, shall we have a drink?”

“…”

“Oh, that’s right. I heard you haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since the Duchess died. My apologies. That was a slip of the tongue.”

*Crrrack.* The veins on the back of Duke Ruthius’s hand bulged as he gripped his rod.

“I’d like a drink while I wait, but I have no company… Ah! Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the Young Duke. Is he still asleep with all this noise?”

Tilting his head, Igrid walked over to the sofa.

“Duke, would you call the Young Duke? We could have a drink together.”

“…”

“Duke?”

The Duke of Ruthius remained silent. Just as a flicker of suspicion crossed Igrid’s face…

*CRASH!*

A loud bang, followed by a harrowing scream, echoed from the fourth floor.

“Guaargh!”

Igrid bolted up the stairs.

“What is it!”

In the fourth-floor corridor, knights were sprawled on the ground, groaning and clutching at their bodies.

Igrid grabbed one of them by the shoulder.

“What happened!”

The knight, who was moaning while clutching his jaw, opened his mouth. All his front teeth were missing.

“Th-Thah… Herness… shhe… ugh!”

“What?”

“The… the Prin… cess…”

“The princess attacked you?”

The knight, his eyes welling with tears, nodded frantically.

What on earth had she done to reduce the Imperial Royal Guard to a bloody mess in such a short time?

Igrid clenched his jaw and shot to his feet. He violently shoved open the half-open door to the princess’s bedroom.

“Prin—!”

Striding in confidently, Igrid froze at the sight of Astell.

A thin slip, silver hair naturally disheveled, a fair face devoid of makeup, and bare feet without slippers.

Astell looked nothing like someone who had just trudged through a muddy, rain-soaked gray forest.

*Wh-what is this? She looks like she just woke up!*

Even if she had washed up in a hurry, her hair should still be damp.

But her hair showed no signs of moisture; instead, it was pressed down in the shape of how she had been lying.

*That bitch didn’t sneak Dante out? That can’t be right.*

*Thwack, thwack!* She, who had been grabbing the captain of the royal guard by the collar and pummeling him with her fists, slowly turned her head.

“Who are you?”

Her voice was low and subdued, as if she had just been woken from a deep sleep.

Igrid swallowed hard. Astell’s cold gaze and blood-stained fists were terrifying.

*N-No need to be scared! The monster brat must be hiding here somewhere!*

Igrid’s position had been precarious lately.

The number of Bluebird guild members had dwindled to a mere thirty, and the emperor was showing signs of appointing Dante as the Crown Prince.

The nobles were also beginning to avoid him, perhaps due to some scheme by the Duke of Ruthius.

That was why he couldn’t return empty-handed.

He had boasted to the emperor that he would capture Dante, so he had to deliver a concrete result.

Wasn’t that why he had trespassed on the Duke’s estate at dawn and stormed a princess’s bedroom?

The situation had escalated too far to be dismissed as a mistake. He absolutely could not go back with nothing.

“P-Princess, show some respect! How dare you speak so informally to a prince!”

Astell, who had been squinting to identify the figure silhouetted against the light, raised an eyebrow.

“Is that you, Your Highness, the First Prince?”

“Y-Yes, it is!”

“Were these insolent fools your men?”

“They are not insolent fools, they are the Imperial Knights!”

“These perverts who barge in on a sleeping woman are the royal guard? You must be joking.”

“…”

Astell’s gaze grew even colder. Feeling a threat to his life, Igrid hastily explained the situation.

“T-This evening, the Second Prince was kidnapped from the Imperial Palace!”

“And?”

“The fiend who kidnapped the Second Prince escaped through the Gray Forest connected to the imperial hunting grounds and fled on a summoned beast.”

Igrid pointed a finger at the floor.

“Straight in this direction, toward the Ruthius estate.”

One corner of Astell’s mouth tilted up in a smirk.

“Your Highness, I cannot summon beasts.”

“I heard the princess is a Multi-type? Wouldn’t that make it entirely possible?”

“Being a Multi-type doesn’t make one omnipotent. If everyone with mana could summon beasts, every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be a summoner.”

Igrid was at a loss for words at her plausible answer. After a moment of hesitation, he raised his voice again.

“Fine, I’ll believe you on that. Someone else could have summoned the beast for you. In that case, what were you doing all evening?”

“I was at the central auction house to participate in the auction. After it ended, I came straight home and, as you can see, I was sleeping.”

“…Is that true?”

“I even won a bid. You can check with the central auction house.”

Igrid ground his teeth in frustration.

*She prepared an escape route in advance!*

He didn’t know how she did it, but she had clearly arranged things to make it seem like she had attended the auction.

The problem was that he only had suspicion, no proof.

*Do I have to retreat like this? N-No, I can’t. What do I do?*

*Thump—*

Just then, a faint sound came from deeper inside the bedroom.

*There!*

Igrid’s expression relaxed once more.

*You cunning little bitch. I almost fell for it.*

“What’s in here?”

“Nothing.”

“Is that a dressing room? Mind if I take a look?”

A noble lady’s bedroom, let alone her dressing room, was an intensely private space. Akin to a secret pouch where she might keep her feminine products.

And Igrid was essentially asking for a tour.

“…I didn’t realize you had an interest in dresses.”

“I’ve developed a keen interest lately. Princess, would you mind stepping aside?”

“…”

“Strange, why won’t you move? Do you have something to hide?”

Igrid smirked vilely as he pushed past her.

“Wait, Your Highness!”

Astell tried to block him, but Igrid was a fraction faster.

*CREAK!*

The dressing room door swung wide open.