Chapter 126

Night had fallen.

I slipped past the guards and arrived at Igrid’s palace.

“Damn it, I’m going to end up a professional burglar at this rate.”

But why was it so quiet?

A strange feeling washed over me as I drew closer to Igrid’s palace.

It was a dreary, cloying sensation, an unpleasant stickiness that seemed to cling to my skin.

Sure enough, the fine hairs on my arms were standing on end.

“This is strange…”

Even though it was the middle of summer, not even the sound of insects could be heard from the garden. The wind seemed to have died as well.

‘Just like when a gate is about to open.’

But no matter how I scanned my surroundings, I couldn’t find anything dangerous.

“…Is it just my imagination?”

I rubbed my arms as I approached the palace.

The structure, with a terrace for every bedroom, made it easy to scale the walls.

“The third floor, right?”

I climbed the wall as if I were rock climbing and dangled from a pillar on the third-floor bedroom terrace.

“This feels awful.”

The strange sense of unease I’d felt in front of the palace intensified the closer I got to Igrid’s bedroom. It was enough to make me nauseous.

Pressing a hand to my solar plexus, I climbed over the terrace railing and went inside.

“Hoo…”

I landed silently and listened for any signs of movement. Thankfully, it seemed no one had noticed me.

Back when I snuck into Dante’s palace, I at least had the excuse of visiting a lover if I got caught.

Things were completely different now.

Thanks to the post on the public bulletin board, my relationship with Igrid was already known to be at its worst.

So if I got caught now, it would be over.

It was the perfect situation to frame me for sneaking into the palace to assassinate Igrid.

This was also why Alex had vehemently opposed it.

It had been so difficult to shake him off as he jumped up and down, asking where I was going and if I was crazy.

“Alex, if the Duke looks for me at dinner, you need to cover for me.”

“What kind of crazy talk is that? You think Father would fall for it?”

“That’s why you have to do a good job.”

“Don’t even think about dragging me into this!”

“You’ll do it, won’t you?”

“I said no!”

“Please, brother.”

“…I’ll do my best, but it might not work. If you get caught by Father, I don’t know anything.”

“Alright. I won’t blame you even if I get caught.”

“Hey!”

“What?”

“…J-just be careful.”

“Okay.”

Remembering Alex’s flushed face as he’d gruffly told me to be careful, I hunched my shoulders.

“This is nerve-wracking…”

I’ll just take a quick peek. I only need to confirm if Dante is here.

Truthfully, I’d been regretting this ever since I climbed over the imperial palace wall. I couldn’t help but think what a crazy thing this was to do.

Honestly, wasn’t the assumption that Dante would take revenge on Igrid for my sake strange to begin with?

What did me getting slapped by Igrid have to do with Dante? Unless, of course, he actually liked me.

‘There’s no way…’

I had a bad feeling.

It felt like if I went home, Dante would be there with that smooth face of his, asking slyly, ‘Darling, where have you been?’

‘…I’d rather that be the case.’

It’s better for me to be delusional than for Dante to actually be with Igrid.

I tiptoed across the terrace and approached.

‘Please don’t be here. Please…’

Through the half-open curtains, I could see Igrid. His eyes were wide as he muttered something.

He definitely wasn’t alone, but I couldn’t see who he was with. Not even a single sound escaped the room.

‘I can’t hear a thing.’

If even I couldn’t hear it with my hearing, it wasn’t because of soundproofing. The sound must have been blocked by magic.

‘Casting a soundproofing spell on an entire building this large?’

I didn’t know if that was possible, but my gut told me it wasn’t magic.

The strange unease surrounding the entire palace was slightly different from the foreign sensation one felt when mana was in motion.

If so, what was the source of this power?

‘It can’t be Dante’s power. If he had this kind of ability, he wouldn’t have endured the Emperor’s abuse all this time.’

I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Then who is it? Who is he talking to?’

No matter how I craned my neck to change the angle, I couldn’t see who Igrid was talking to.

But I could see Igrid clearly.

He was frozen stiff, trembling uncontrollably, the very picture of someone terrified.

‘So he’s capable of fear, too.’

I let out a small laugh and quietly backed away.

Dante wasn’t here, and Igrid was fine. In that case, there was no reason to linger.

Even if I left now, I’d barely make it back in time for dinner.

‘Time to head back…!’

I was about to turn when I froze.

Igrid ran to the bedroom door and started pounding on it. It was obvious he was trying to escape.

“What’s going on?”

I crept to the window and gave it a gentle push, but it didn’t budge.

“Huh?”

It felt like I was pushing against a solid wall. Even when I pushed harder, ready to risk being discovered, it was the same.

Meanwhile, inside the bedroom, Igrid had his back to the door and was shouting something.

Then, he began to move his stiff legs, taking one halting step after another.

“What is he doing?”

Moving like a rusted robot, Igrid desperately grabbed at his own legs.

As if trying to stop his body from moving on its own…

Just as I was frowning at the bizarre sight…

Igrid’s conversation partner finally came into view.

A tall man, standing with his back to me, his sword hanging loosely at his side.

I knew who it was in an instant, even without seeing his face.

“Dante?”

I shook the window with all my might, but it was no use.

Just as no sound escaped from within, it seemed my own sounds couldn’t get in either.

“Damn it!”

Having no other choice, I raised my elbow and slammed it into the glass pane.

“Ugh!”

My entire arm throbbed as if I’d struck a boulder. And yet, the window was perfectly fine. It didn’t even make a sound, let alone break.

“What the hell, is this bulletproof glass?”

While I battled the window, Igrid was walking toward Dante on his own two feet, sobbing.

His face was contorted as he pleaded for something, but he couldn’t stop walking.

‘Don’t tell me he’s being controlled?’

Was there a Hunter with a control ability?

‘No.’

Not as far as I knew. Unless he’d obtained a mind-control item or formula from the Shop.

But that came with an important prerequisite.

You had to be a mage-type with mana.

‘But Dante is a Sword Master, so he should be a warrior-type, right?’

Classes don’t overlap. That was the law of this world.

‘There’s no way Dante is a multi-rank like me… So what is that?’

“Ah!”

There was one way to use magic even without possessing mana.

A magic scroll.

He must have acquired a dark magic-type scroll from the Shop.

‘So there were items like that…’

Then again, aside from healing items, there was nothing you couldn’t get from the Shop.

Just then, Dante finally swung his sword.

“…!”

Igrid’s arm, cleanly severed, fell to the floor, and blood spurted like a fountain.

All the way to the window where I stood.

Dante didn’t stop there; he poured a potion on Igrid’s severed arm.

It wasn’t for healing. He was preventing the severed arm from ever being reattached.

As I stared blankly at the blood splattered on the window, unable to believe it, Dante turned around.

“… .”

I watched him silently as he slowly walked over and opened the window.

*Click.* The window that wouldn’t open no matter what I did slid open smoothly, without any resistance.

“Darling, you’re here?”

“…You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Yes, a very good mood.”

Dante really did look pleased.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.

Considering Igrid’s excessively self-centered personality and his inferiority complex toward Dante, their relationship must have been the absolute worst.

Therefore, what Dante did to Igrid, while cruel, wasn’t entirely unexpected. It was like a festering wound had finally burst.

However, the timing was terrible.

The crown prince issue would have been resolved soon… To think he couldn’t wait and caused a scene like this.

“You clearly said you were going to the guesthouse, so why are you here? Is this the guesthouse?”

“No, this is Igrid’s bedroom.”

“Your Highness.”

As I gave a strained smile, Dante’s eyes curved into a grin.

“Yes, darling?”

“Shut your mouth.”

I pushed past Dante and entered the room.

The bedroom was a complete mess.

Igrid was passed out and foaming at the mouth, an arm was rolling on the floor, and blood was everywhere…

The situation was beyond hopeless.

“Of all the trouble to cause, you had to do this? How am I supposed to clean this up?”

Dante tilted his head at my grumbling.

“Why is the Princess worried about that?”

“Are you saying you can handle this on your own, Your Highness?”

Just as I clenched my fists and glared at Dante, I heard someone approaching from outside the bedroom.

“Your Highness, the First Prince, His Majesty is on his way here… Your Highness? Are you asleep?”

“…!”

Good heavens. The Emperor is coming, in a situation like this?

I pressed a hand to my forehead.

“Damn it…”

I couldn’t hold back the curse.