Two people who absolutely had to attend the noble council still had not arrived.

Naturally, all eyes turned to Ferio. At that moment, the highest-ranking person present was the Duke of Voreoti.

“I don’t have the authority to start the noble council, you know?”

Ferio twitched one eyebrow.

Hosting and conducting the noble council was strictly the responsibility of the Imperial family.

“But if you need advice.”

He shrugged as if generously offering a favor and continued.

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Then he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“If that’s what you say.”

Carnis agreed, slipping a hand into his pocket. What he carefully pulled out was a portrait drawn by [N O V E L I G H T] his children.

Ferio instantly regretted speaking.

“You wouldn’t believe how talented our Ufi is! She’s practically a professional artist! And look at this one that Pinu drew! He even got my eyebrow color just right...”

As he was enduring the endless bragging about his friend’s children and was about to cut him off with a sharp remark, the tightly closed doors opened and someone entered.

At first, no one recognized who it was.

But it didn’t take long for them to realize that the haggard old man was none other than Viscount Olor.

“......”

“......”

Everyone was too shocked to speak.

The viscount, once so youthful that no one could guess his age, had aged beyond recognition.

In a very short time, he had grown old—deep wrinkles now covered his face, and his skin had become dry and dull.

One could easily imagine the amount of suffering Viscount Olor must have endured.

But that wasn’t something Ferio cared about.

Rather, he believed that this hideous and frightened face was the true and vile appearance that Olor had always hidden.

As Ferio stared with such thoughts in mind, his eyes naturally met those of Viscount Olor.

The viscount, the moment he saw Ferio, quickly turned his head and sat down.

“V-Viscount Olor......”

“Good day.”

Some nobles who were somewhat acquainted with him cautiously approached and greeted him.

But the viscount remained silent, his lips tightly shut, eyes fixed only on the floor.

“Hey.”

Carnis gestured toward the viscount.

Olor, sitting alone and ignoring the greetings, continued to mutter to himself.

His voice trembled and faltered, filled with an anxious tone—clearly not normal. It was like the fervent prayer of a fanatic lost in some cult.

From time to time, he would glance up at Ferio.

Sometimes he would break into a creepy grin, other times he would turn his head away in terror.

His bizarre behavior made even the nearby nobles instinctively recoil in discomfort and step away.

“Has he finally lost it?”

Carnis muttered. Even the Mad Dog of Revoo found this madness unsettling.

“At this rate, I wonder if he’ll even be able to properly make reparations.”

Marquis Ortio, who had quietly approached at some point, interjected.

“Marquis, haven’t you already received compensation?”

Carnis recalled a newspaper article he’d read not long ago.

The Olor family had paid enormous sums in compensation to various noble houses—Marquis Ortio’s among them.

“I received payment for the potion manufacturing, but I’ve yet to be compensated for the defamation caused during the Ritual of Honor, when his son insulted my husband’s abilities.”

The marquis smiled thinly behind her fan.

'She really milks them dry...'

Carnis clicked his tongue. Still, the marquis’s well-known devotion to her husband made it understandable. If anything, she was being quite restrained, considering how much she was enduring.

“Still, something about him is strange.”

Marquis Ortio narrowed her eyes at Viscount Olor.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s under the influence of any drug.”

Everyone knew Viscount Olor had been through a rough time.

But aging that drastically in such a short period—something severe must have happened.

“Your Grace.”

Marquis Ortio whispered.

“They say it’s about to ‘begin.’”

“The Empress?”

“She’s with the consort.”

At those words, Ferio glanced at his wristwatch. Today, he wore the very first model Leonia had ever made and gifted to him.

“......”

Ferio’s brow furrowed.

'...What is this?'

Suddenly, his stomach churned.

In fact, ever since Viscount Olor entered the room—since he sat and began acting strangely, since he kept glancing at Ferio with that deranged smile—an inexplicable sense of foreboding had been stirring deep within him.

'The Fangs...'

Ferio placed a hand over his chest.

Ever since Varia’s pregnancy, the Fangs of the Beast had lain dormant like a sleeping mouse, but now they stirred.

That mysterious movement grew stronger, and now it had reached the point where even his heartbeat was accelerating.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Your Grace?”

Carnis and Marquis Ortio called out, sensing something was off. But Ferio had no room to respond.

His breathing had become labored.

Something was wrong.

The Fangs had helped him predict countless events, but never before had they made him feel this anxious.

Just as Ferio stood up, unable to bear this unfamiliar fear—

“...What is it?”

Coincidentally, the young heir of Marquis Pardus also rose and walked toward the window.

He frowned as he noticed the growing unrest outside the palace.

His usually warm expression had grown visibly grave.

“Now that you mention it, things do seem noisy.”

“Is something happening?”

“If so, someone should be arriving here soon as well.”

The tense atmosphere outside was now seeping into the council chamber. Marquis Ortio and Carnis exchanged a meaningful glance.

Only Ferio remained isolated in that moment.

He could hear Carnis calling out to him near his ear.

After being called multiple times with no response, Carnis’s voice grew increasingly serious.

But Ferio still didn’t reply.

He was fully focused on the Fangs of the Beast that growled endlessly within him. If he let his concentration slip even slightly, the fangs felt as if they would burst out of him.

Now, along with anxiety, Ferio felt a jolt of shock.

In his proud and well-ordered life, this was the first time since Leonia and Varia that he had struggled to maintain control.

“Excuse me.”

At that moment.

Knock knock, a small sound accompanied an unfamiliar voice.

The door opened shortly after. But no one was visible.

“Excuse me.”

Again, the voice announced its presence. Only then did the nobles look down.

There stood a child, wrapped in a deep blue cloak.

The child politely bowed to the adults, her short dark-blue hair swaying slightly.

“Greetings. I am Unicia Ortio.”

It was none other than the daughter of Marquis Ortio.

She firmly explained that she had come as part of her successor training and was currently acting as her mother’s secretary for the noble council.

“Duke Voreoti.”

Then she approached Ferio and spoke.

“Your aide, Viscount Ricoss, says there’s an urgent matter.”

“Viscount Ricoss?”

“Will you come with me?”

“...Then I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”

As Ferio left the chamber, he passed Viscount Olor and glanced at him.

The viscount was smiling as he watched Ferio exit.

A smile full of fear.

“Your Grace.”

Once they had distanced themselves from the council chamber, Unicia spoke to Ferio.

“I apologize. Viscount Ricoss didn’t actually call for you.”

“But something is definitely going on.”

“Please try not to be alarmed.”

Stopping in her tracks, Unicia looked up at him with a serious yet calm face.

“A short while ago, Viscount Olor’s son passed through the palace gate.”

With the Duchess of Voreoti.

***

Not long after Ferio left, Varia also began preparing to go out.

“I wanna go too!”

Leonia clung to Varia’s leg and flopped to the floor.

Ever since Ardea had returned to the mansion, Leonia had been receiving private lessons every morning and couldn’t go out with Varia.

Varia laughed at her daughter’s clingy tantrum.

“I’ll be back soon, so make sure you do well in your lessons, okay?”

“I don’t need those dumb lessons!”

“If you say that, Teacher Ardea will be sad.”

“Hmph. Grandpa will be happy and head straight to the library instead!”

Leonia, who had now gotten up, adjusted Varia’s hem as she spoke.

Thanks to the cooler weather, Varia wore a skirt she liked for the first time in a while.

A green skirt that went well with her pink hair.

But her shoes had very low heels.

“I’m just picking up a book I ordered.”

She’d received word that the books she ordered had arrived at a bookstore that opened early in the morning.

Since Ferio wasn’t around, she figured it was the perfect chance to get some air and quickly step out.

“You could’ve just sent someone...”

Leonia still wasn’t happy about it.

“But if not now, when would Ferio ever let me out?”

Lately, Ferio had been extremely sensitive about Varia leaving the house.

He tried to prevent her from going out alone at all costs, and if it was unavoidable, he insisted on either accompanying her himself or sending Leonia along.

“I’ll just get a breath of fresh air and be right back.”

Having been cooped up in the mansion all summer—with rare excursions limited to the garden—Varia wanted to see the world beyond the estate walls.

“Then really come back quickly.”

Understanding how stifled Varia must have felt, Leonia relented, on the condition that she bring her escort knights along. Varia gladly agreed.

Finally boarding the carriage, Varia turned to Meleis and said proudly,

“Who on earth did Leo take after to be such a worrier?”

“Undoubtedly, her lord father.”

“Sir Levipes thinks so too, right?”

“It may be a harsh expression, but... at times it’s almost frightening.”

“Huhu.”

Varia chuckled softly.

“...But wasn’t it a little surprising today?”

She then recalled Leonia’s stubbornness earlier.

“Lying on the floor like that.”

Though whining and complaining were a part of Leonia’s daily routine, lying on the floor clinging to someone’s legs was a first.

She had been truly startled when her daughter grabbed her leg like that.

“She once did that to His Grace when she was younger.”

Meleis recalled.

“She tricked him and blackmailed a knight into taking her horseback riding to meet her stalker.”

“I’ve heard that story.”

It was the tale of Inseréa Hieina, the former stalker and now secretary under House Voreoti.

Leonia had proudly recounted her daring feat, but Varia had nearly fainted hearing about it.

“They say Ferio scolded her terribly back then.”

“He scolded her severely.”

Even Meleis shuddered slightly, saying no scolding since had ever matched that one.

“I would have done the same.”

If she’d been at the Voreoti estate back then, she would’ve scolded Leonia just as harshly—maybe even more than Ferio.

“In my opinion,”

Meleis said,

“When the young lady clings to you or His Grace like that, it might be her way of expressing anxiety.”

At the word ‘anxiety,’ Varia’s eyes widened.