What?
I shot up from my seat.
‘The former princess—did she just say the former princess?’
“Eve?”
Caesar looked at me curiously as I suddenly stood.
“Shh!”
I pressed a finger to my lips, signaling him to be quiet, and focused entirely on the voice coming from the surveillance device.
<I see. But the security at the snow festival was tight, so how did you… Ah, right. I promised not to ask. I haven’t forgotten.>
Krause sounded flustered. That confirmed it—she was talking about Floria, and the person on the other end was the one who had kidnapped her.
Still listening intently, I scribbled a note on the corner of a document.
「Please call everyone. Sir Alvin, Sir Olche, Katana, and Her Majesty the Empress.」
Caesar looked bewildered at first, but when he saw the seriousness in my expression, he nodded.
****
Before long, we were all gathered again in Caesar’s office. I quickly explained the situation to everyone.
To make sure I didn’t miss anything Krause said while talking, I delivered my explanation in writing.
We sat around a round table. In the very center lay the magical listening device I had worn in my ear.
The volume had been turned all the way up so everyone could hear Krause’s voice. Next to it, Katana had set up a recording tool in case we needed to listen again.
Everyone focused on the words spilling from the device.
<So why did you contact me?>
At last, Krause got to the point. I perked up my ears.
<…What? But wouldn’t it be better if you did it yourself…?>
Hearing her speak informally, it was clear the person she was speaking to was either younger or of lower rank than Krause.
Still, the hierarchy was obvious. Krause was clearly concerned about upsetting the other person.
<Ah, no, I wasn’t expressing dissatisfaction, of course.>
She quickly backtracked.
<Who exactly are we kidnapping?>
Kidnapping?
Caesar and I exchanged a look. There was another target—someone else the mastermind was planning to abduct. Depending on who it was, we could finally start to understand their goal.
<Hmm? That may be true… But in that case, wouldn’t it make more sense to take the emperor…? Oh, there’s someone else you need?>
Who could it be? I leaned in, focusing hard.
And then Krause said flatly—
<Right. Evelyn Chester. I know who she is.>
“…What?”
The unexpected name slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. Everyone turned to look at me.
*****
Viscount Krause stared blankly at the communication device that had just gone silent. Not only had the person on the other end revealed that they were the one who kidnapped the former princess— they had also ordered Krause to kidnap Evelyn Chester.
‘What in the world…’
Krause was shaken. Kidnapping? Everything she had done until now had never crossed that line. She had always made sure to leave herself a way out in case things went wrong.
But this was different. To be connected to the kidnapping of the former princess… She might end up taking the fall for everything.
‘Should I obey?’
Honestly, she didn’t want to. But Krause knew exactly what kind of person her contact was.
‘If I don’t follow through… he might come for me next.’
She thought back to the day she first made contact with Ian Bryden— the man who had kidnapped the princess.
It was the day Caesar had ascended to the throne.
After Duke Spiegel’s death, the noble faction was losing power. Krause had nearly given up on her dream of wiping out the royal family and ruling the empire herself.
Then Ian had reached out— and claimed that he was the one who had killed Duke Spiegel. He confessed to orchestrating the princess poisoning incident, and said he was still aiming for the throne.
At first, she hadn’t believed him. But the evidence Ian showed was undeniable. And honestly, Krause had already suspected something about Duke Spiegel’s death.
‘He was the one who suggested making an issue of the crown prince’s hair at the banquet, too…’
But she hadn’t anticipated the poisoning incident. If that was true, Ian was far more ambitious—and ruthless—than she had originally thought.
Ian approached Krause saying he’d help restore the noble faction’s power. And he delivered. She had been able to build her influence, and even interfere with Caesar’s policies several times.
It was Ian who had told her to plant a surveillance device on Caesar’s aide and spread damaging rumors. He had even supplied the device himself.
His only demand: find out as much as possible about Caesar’s mysterious ability.
That ability—whatever it was—had become Ian’s obsession.
‘Then… is that why he kidnapped the former princess?’
Krause replayed the recent conversation in her mind. Ian had refused to answer most questions— but there was one thing he had responded to.
‘Why Evelyn Chester?’
‘Because she’s the reason the emperor can use his ability.’
‘What? So kidnapping her is to… stop Caesar’s power?’
‘You can’t assume one action always leads to one outcome.’
Krause felt another headache coming on. That cryptic way of speaking…
‘There’s something I don’t understand. About that “ability”…’
She remembered witnessing Ian’s power with her own eyes— and recalled the deaths of Duke Spiegel and the maid. A chill ran down her spine.
She understood now: there was no way out. Now that she was involved, she had no choice but to obey Ian.
The next day, a package arrived at Krause’s estate. Inside was a vial of magical potion—said to render anyone unconscious with a single drop— along with a letter detailing the plan.
The plan was simple. Evelyn spent most of her days in the emperor’s palace from morning until late evening.
Naturally, during the day, palace maids cleaned her quarters. Krause was to bribe one of them to slip the potion into Evelyn’s water pitcher.
A few hours later, that same maid would check to see if she had passed out. If she had, they’d wrap her in a sheet and smuggle her out with the laundry.
Evelyn’s quarters were less heavily guarded than most other palace wings. No one would bat an eye if a maid came and went.
Once out of the palace, they’d load her onto a carriage that Ian had waiting by the back gate.
All Krause had to do was bribe the maid and oversee the operation.
A few days later, she carried out the plan perfectly. They had contingencies in place in case Evelyn didn’t drink the water—preparations for the next day and the one after.
But they weren’t needed.
Everything fell into place that very day— and Evelyn collapsed just as planned.
Krause had two men lift her onto the back of the carriage, into the cargo compartment.
“Whew…”
With the operation complete, Krause let out a sigh of relief.
“Move out.”
The driver looked at her and gave a knowing nod. The carriage quickly rolled away.
Minutes later, in the pitch-black cargo hold, Evelyn—who had remained perfectly still—suddenly opened her eyes.
****
I wriggled out from the sheet I’d been wrapped in.
“Phew!”
The plan had been simpler than I expected. Krause hadn’t suspected a thing when she loaded me into the carriage.
I lifted the lid of the cargo hold slightly. Since I was stored in a separate compartment at the rear, there was no risk of the driver noticing.
Cold wind brushed my cheeks. I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.
By now, the knights led by Olche would be following the carriage in secret.
Thanks to the tracking device Katana had made, which was inside my body. It was safe from searches or confiscation—and impossible to detect.
The mysterious mastermind had ordered Krause to abduct me. I recalled the words I’d overheard from the surveillance device.
‘<What? So kidnapping her is to stop Caesar’s power?>’
I hadn’t heard Ian’s voice directly, but I could guess his reply.
The mastermind knew about Caesar’s ability— and that I was his guide.
Once I realized that, deciding to become bait was easy.
If they were after Caesar’s ability, they could’ve just killed me. But they chose to kidnap me.
‘Which means… they need me.’
So I was sure they wouldn’t kill me—at least not right away. This might be our first chance to locate their hideout.
And if I were imprisoned, there was a good chance Floria was being held in the same place.
‘I’ll rescue Floria—and catch the mastermind.’
Who is the mastermind? How do they know about the emperor’s ability and about me? Why kidnap Floria?
The answers to all those questions lie at the end of this road.
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