Recently, the emperor had been suffering from relentless headaches.

They weren’t just hangovers. Something about them was wrong.

His vision spun endlessly, and in his ears, the resentful voice of someone echoed on and on. Even the hallucinations blamed him.

“You tried to harm my husband!”

“I’ll spend my whole life getting revenge on you.”

“I’ll take everything from you.”

“The Imperial family, Olor—everything!”

The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar, and it choked the emperor’s throat.

“Haa... haaa...”

Drool dripped from the emperor’s mouth as he gasped, looking like a half-conscious beast.

In truth, his terrifying headaches and ceaseless hallucinations weren’t just due to alcohol.

It was the delayed side effect of Alkina, the substance Consort Usia had used on him for years, finally taking hold.

Combined with his hangovers, the side effect brought a pain that felt like it was splitting his skull open.

Eventually, unable to withstand it, the emperor collapsed to the floor.

If there was any stroke of luck, it was that the coldness of the floor and the sharp sting of glass shards helped him come back to his senses.

If I fail here...

His blurred eyes trembled.

Everything falls apart...

The long-standing secret undertaking of the Imperial family would come to a pointless end.

Because of me.

Because of you.

The accusing voices in his ears shifted gradually.

Why are you so incompetent?

If only you had half the qualities of the Duke of Voreoti’s daughter...

You’re still not enough.

At least meet half of my expectations...

The late emperor had always blamed his son for falling short.

Each time, the son would bow his head and grind his teeth in silence.

But now, there was no need for that.

CRASH!

“...Y-Your Majesty!”

The door burst open, and the attendant who had been nodding off outside jolted to his feet.

But he couldn’t approach.

“What in the world...!”

The servant recoiled in horror.

After several days, seeing the emperor again was—frankly—grotesque.

His face was gaunt from constant drinking, his eyes were bloodshot, his fingers trembled, drool trailed from his lips—

—and he was covered in blood.

It was from the wounds he had sustained when he collapsed onto the broken glass earlier.

Without a word, the emperor brushed past the servant, his gait sluggish and unsteady.

“Your Majesty! Where are you going?!”

The attendant, finally regaining his composure, rushed to his side.

“You must receive treatment! If you go out like this, everyone will be shocked—!”

Realizing how serious the situation was, the attendant stepped in front of him.

If the emperor stepped outside in this state, it would be catastrophic.

Mustering what little loyalty he had, the servant pleaded.

But his sincerity didn’t reach the emperor.

The emperor swung his arm, and the servant collapsed to the ground.

“Urk!”

The servant coughed up blood. He stared in disbelief at the red liquid pouring from his throat.

“...!”

He called for the emperor in a trembling voice, but the metallic taste in his mouth smothered the words.

Wherever the emperor walked, drops of blood trailed after him.

It was the servant’s blood, still clinging to the dagger hidden in the folds of his long sleeve.

***

Late at night.

When Ferio returned home in the dead of night, he frowned.

“Leonia, what are you doing?”

As he passed down the corridor, he noticed a light on in one of the rooms. Inside, Leonia sat on the floor in her pajamas.

“Oh, you’re back?”

The child simply raised a hand in greeting.

With the other hand, she casually scratched her thigh and side like it was no big deal.

Stupefied, Ferio walked over to her.

“You’re not sleeping in the middle of the night?”

“It’s nothing. I just...”

Getting up, Leonia gestured toward what she’d been working on.

“I couldn’t sleep. I had this nagging feeling.”

Spread out across the floor were large maps. They were pinned all over, with lines drawn in pen connecting them.

“...Tsk.”

Ferio clicked his tongue.

Not at her—but at the emperor, who’d driven his daughter to be up this late working.

The whereabouts of Emperor Subiteo were still unknown.

Naturally, it was being kept as a high-level secret. The Empress had ordered silence from the palace staff and sent the assaulted attendant to a secluded palace ward for treatment.

Officially, the emperor was said to be gravely ill and in seclusion.

Meanwhile, the Empress had mobilized an elite unit of imperial knights to locate him.

But a few nobles already knew of his disappearance—and some were helping with the search.

For example, House Voreoti.

“Any progress?”

Leonia asked if they’d found the emperor. Ferio shook his head.

She didn’t seem particularly disappointed, as if she’d expected it.

“You should’ve pinned it to the wall,” Ferio said, noting her hunched posture. “Your back and neck must hurt doing this on the floor.”

He sat beside her and examined what she’d been working on.

“Got any leads?”

“I marked places he might be.”

Leonia pointed at the map of the capital.

“Yellow pins are places the emperor visited at least once. Blue ones are where he went more than once...”

She explained each marking in detail.

The emperor had gone out more often than expected—he enjoyed flaunting himself in public.

But the places he visited multiple times were far fewer.

“What about these red ones?”

Ferio pointed to three red pins.

“Places linked to Olor.”

The emperor’s repeated visits all °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had one thing in common: a connection to Olor.

“Connected to Olor?”

Ferio narrowed his eyes, inspecting the map.

The palace had already searched all plausible hiding places. The Olor estate had been checked too—but the emperor wasn’t there.

“One’s a company suspected of laundering money for Olor. Another is a high-end restaurant he invested in. That one’s a gallery he sponsored.”

“...And how do you know all this?”

Ferio rarely sounded surprised—but now, he did.

Even he had only learned of these places through a recent report from Lupe.

They hadn’t been reported to the Empress yet—Ferio had planned to dispatch the Gladiago Knights for a private raid.

“Mom told me.”

Leonia gave the source.

“She tracked Olor’s financial flows back when she worked in the Treasury.”

Varia, remembering those records, had easily pointed out the three locations.

Should’ve hired her as a secretary, not a tutor, Ferio thought.

He was once again impressed by her capabilities. The corruption documents she'd delivered from the Emperor’s faction had been meticulously compiled.

Once we return to the North, I should ask if she’d consider working as my secretary.

It felt like a waste for her to only serve as Duchess.

“Actually, she was helping me just a little while ago.”

Ferio looked up at his daughter.

“But then she just fell asleep.”

Varia had been fine just moments earlier. Leonia had personally carried her to bed when she suddenly nodded off.

“Is Mom really not feeling well?”

The little beast asked with slight concern.

“She seems really tired lately, and she just passed out like that.”

“Did the physician come today?”

Ferio asked. Leonia nodded.

The physician who came that morning had examined Varia and said there was nothing wrong.

“She’s just really fatigued. He said she should eat nutritious food, avoid working too much, take garden walks, and get plenty of rest.”

Ferio only nodded in response.

So it was pregnancy after all.

He had suspected it for some time.

The Fangs of the Beast—once an extension of himself—had gone quiet whenever he stood near Varia.

And when he cautiously summoned them near her sleeping form, they had dissipated so quickly it startled him.

He had known that the Fangs weakened when a bonded mate was pregnant—but experiencing it firsthand was shocking.

Still, only for a moment.

Now Ferio was conflicted.

He felt joy at the thought of a new addition to their family.

But he also worried about Leonia—what if she felt hurt or left out?

And there was the issue of public perception.

The child between him and Varia would be a legitimate heir.

Ferio feared that the scum who looked down on Leonia for being a “bastard” might now challenge her right to inherit.

He knew she was sensitive about that sort of thing.

She’d endured such comments all through her early years—and her pride in the name Voreoti was unmatched.

“...Leonia.”

Ferio asked softly.

“What would you think... if you had a younger sibling?”

“A sibling? Out of nowhere?”

Leonia’s eyes widened. She had just been plotting how to beat the emperor once they caught him.

“Is Mom pregnant? Is that why she’s been so tired?”

“No, not that. I’m just asking ‘what if’.”

Judging by what the physician said, Varia likely already knew.

But she hadn’t told Leonia yet.

She must be thinking the same thing I am...

Varia was probably worried that news of a pregnancy would hurt Leonia.

And strangely enough, Leonia—who was usually so picky about people—had taken to Varia instantly.

Varia, in turn, genuinely cherished Leonia. She had stayed with her until she nearly collapsed from drowsiness.

Of course she’d be cautious about sharing the news.

“A sibling...”

Leonia folded her arms, deep in thought, then nodded.

“Well, it’d be weirder if there wasn’t one by now.”

She glanced sideways at Ferio.

“If you’ve been doing it that much and still nothing, maybe your fertility’s the problem.”

“...Are you saying I might not have any?”

She asked in a pitiful tone.

“Is that why there’s been no news until now?”

“My restraint comes from being too potent.”

Ferio, pride stung, boasted about his excellent fertility.

“If I didn’t hold back, you’d already have three younger siblings crawling around.”

“Wow. Anyone hearing that would think you’re the one giving birth.”

Snorting, Leonia paused to consider the idea of a sibling.

“Hmm...”

And then she answered.

“...I’ll raise them!”