* * *
Sylvian tilted his head, but then his mouth fell open as a paper slipped out of the mirror.
‘This is how they use search engines here?!’
It was like typing a query into the internet—information appeared instantly.
Sylvian stared in awe.
“Please read it here. I’m afraid I can’t let you take it with you.”
As he read through the documents, Sylvian’s hands started to shake.
‘That bastard—what the hell did he do?!’
“I don’t know the exact details, but that’s what’s currently known. And yes, Timothy Cavern really did do all those disgusting things.”
Sylvian thought it would be too merciful for Timothy to die quickly by execution.
It wasn’t just Martius he had wronged—there were too many who deserved an apology from that man.
“If I want to continue working with you, how do I do that?”
“Here is the ‘Gem of Truth’.”
Lauren handed him a small ring.
“What’s this?”
“A simple transmission artifact. You write your query and place it atop the ring.”
‘A fax machine too?’
Sylvian’s eyes sparkled.
“Once we provide the cost for the information, place gold in the hand wearing the ring—”
“Hyung?”
Martius’ voice called from outside.
“He’s looking at another item inside. Should I bring him to you?”
“Yes, please.”
Before Martius could arrive, Sylvian slipped the ring onto his finger.
“How much is it?”
“Fifty gold.”
Lauren gave him a wink, promising he wouldn’t regret it.
‘What a scam,’ Sylvian thought, but he tore a check and handed it over.
“What’d you buy?”
“This. It’s pretty.”
He wasn’t just being polite.
Even to Martius, who knew little about jewelry, the red gem looked expensive.
Its ornate design also suited Sylvian’s fair skin perfectly.
“I saw something I think would suit you too.”
Sylvian gave Lauren a look, then led Martius to a display.
“It’s for attaching to a sword sheath. Can I give it to you as a gift?”
“I’ll treasure it like an heirloom.”
“There’s no need to go that far.”
When he asked if there were other colors, Lauren brought out various gems and designs.
By then, Yuri had returned.
Sylvian ended up buying gifts for Yuri, Martius, and even Zeroth.
“Today was so much fun. Thank you for the clothes. I’ll treasure them.”
Just before stepping down from the carriage, Yuri took Sylvian’s hand and said seriously,
“Thank you. For everything.”
Martius resisted the strong urge to scratch his arm.
Because of what he’d said earlier, it felt awkward to interrupt now.
If that’s really love, I swear I’ll break both his legs.
He held himself back from jabbing his finger into Yuri’s eyes, which were burning holes into his older brother.
“What you did for me was so much more, but I’m the one who’s grateful you accepted it,”
Sylvian said with a bright smile, tousling Yuri’s hair out of habit.
“Please invite me again next time. I’ll be waiting.”
After stepping down first at the Holt estate, Yuri stood there for a while, watching the Duke’s carriage fade into the distance, unable to bring himself to go inside.
“The Duchess was here?”
“Yes, Master. I’ve delivered the ring safely.”
Bowing respectfully at the voice coming from the comm-sphere, Lauren answered.
“And what is he doing now?”
“Playing around at the Cavern estate, probably.”
“How ill-tempered,”
Karl chuckled at Lauren’s response.
The Count had found a poor commoner man with a build similar to his son’s—his substitute, prepared well in advance.
Even before the incident, this man had been shadowing Timothy, copying his mannerisms, his tone, even his voice, to perfection.
“When will the guards who were stationed at Timothy’s cell be taken care of?”
“One will ‘commit suicide’ over gambling debt. The other will die in a jealous lover’s quarrel. We’ll handle it gradually.”
As long as they made it through today without suspicion, the Count would get everything he wanted.
“How pitiful… A man crying over someone who isn’t even his real son.”
Lauren showed no reaction to the Marquis’s mocking comment.
As of today, Timothy Cavern was dead.
Last night, the Count, a mage, and an assassin had visited Timothy.
They cast illusion and mind-control spells on him.
Then they tore off his face and replaced it with a pre-made fake.
He probably died without even realizing he was being killed.
They couldn’t use magic on the Count, so they kept him at a distance, watching from afar to avoid suspicion.
“Since we went through the trouble of tearing off his face, we may as well put it to use.”
“You actually tore it off?”
“Wouldn’t it be fun if the supposedly dead Timothy showed up somewhere else?”
There was no point wasting expensive procedures on someone meant to die anyway.
But that face?
It could still be useful.
Sitting on the bed, Karl ended the communication and glanced down at the artifact tracking Sylvian’s location with a satisfied smile.
Didn’t expect him to move this quickly, just from learning the truth about his brother.
He’d thought Sylvian was all softness—but he had backbone after all.
“You’re starting to remind me of you, Hailey.”
Karl’s thoughts wandered to someone still vivid in his memory.
“Is that why I was drawn to Zeroth Graham?”
But if that were the case, Yuri Holt resembled Hailey more.
The same hair, same eyes, even that bold and refreshing personality—uncanny.
Yet it was Sylvian who kept drawing Karl’s gaze.
“He’s completely forgotten you. That’s why he’s capable of loving someone who’d be helpless without others.”
Karl kissed the pendant hanging from his necklace with care.
[Karl! Look! I saw this and thought it looked just like you, so I bought it!]
It was supposedly the most expensive thing at that street vendor’s stall, but turned out to cost only 50 silver—cheap junk.
Even after being told the real price, he just smiled brightly and said it suited Karl well.
Why did you have to love someone like that?
And more than that—why did he have to be the enemy?
Karl let out a long sigh over the riddle he still couldn’t solve.
But still, the fact that Zeroth had killed Hailey hadn’t changed.
That, he could never forgive.
He would give Zeroth the same despair—for killing the one he loved just because they were on opposing sides.
‘Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll be able to rest in peace.’
Karl turned off the artifact he’d been watching.
While Zeroth basked in peace and happiness, he would deliver the worst kind of despair.
“Father! Do I really have to go? This is insane!”
“Go. This is my last favor to you.”
Count Cavern dragged out his son, who had been confined to the annex.
Now, his son bore the face of the poor commoner he’d once brought home.
His wife had fainted after watching that commoner—wearing their son’s face—get killed.
Even when told it was a fake, she screamed hysterically that her son had died.
“Do… do I not even get a home?”
“I can’t leave even a single thread of connection between us. Do you have any idea how much money this cost?!”
“Father…”
Behind him, the eldest son called to the Count, cautiously glancing around.
“Sigh… Consider this your inheritance. Now go.”
“Hyung! Please!”
“Timothy, what you did this time was unforgivable.”
The Count’s eldest son had hired someone in secret to kill his younger brother.
Better he die on the execution block than keep being a threat to the family.
Putting on a grim expression, he shook his head deliberately.
“Leave.”
The guild member posing as Timothy turned and trudged away from the estate, shoulders slumped.
‘That should be convincing enough.’
The Count didn’t even bother checking for Timothy’s pheromones.
They had even bottled them up in case he got suspicious—but the precautions were unnecessary.
Maybe he really did want his son dead.
Smirking, the imposter slipped into an alleyway the moment the estate was out of view.
Now it was time to await his master’s orders.
* * *
