* * *
Hesia, dozing off while leaning against the carriage, startled awake at the touch of someone shaking him.
Of all things, he’d been having a nightmare of being chased, so his reaction was even more intense.
The way he half-sprung up from his seat made the coachman, who had woken him, look equally startled.
“Whoa, easy there. You sure know how to make a scene waking up. We’ve arrived at the Duchy of Teian. Come on now, up you go.”
Urged on by the coachman’s waving hand from outside, Hesia obediently stepped down from the carriage.
After paying the fare, the coachman unloaded his baggage and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Watching his hasty retreat, Hesia picked up his things and headed into the duchy.
Word was there’d been a minor ‘incident’ at the imperial palace, and the duchy had gotten caught up in the unrest.
Glancing at the people exuding a gloomy air even this early in the morning, Hesia quickly averted his gaze.
He walked into a modest inn, rented a room, and without even unpacking, collapsed onto the bed and slept for hours.
Only after that did he begin to move at a relaxed pace.
His first destination was a certain intelligence guild, with a paper envelope in hand.
From the outside, the place appeared to be a simple jewelry store.
On one side, a customer seemed to be pocketing money from selling a gem, and on the other, a staff member tidying up the display turned and greeted Hesia with a friendly smile.
“Hello, sir. How can I help you today?”
“I’d like to sell some lapis lazuli. Are you buying right now? I just happened to come across it, and I’d like to make sure it ends up with someone who’ll value it.”
He was saying he had information to sell.
At that, the staff member blinked in surprise before nodding gently.
“Ah, lapis lazuli. Of course we’re buying. Hmm, we do have other guests at the moment—would you mind stepping this way?”
After a short pause, she smiled and spoke.
When Hesia nodded, she guided him to a room.
The moment she shut the door behind them, he got straight to the point.
“Julie, I’m thinking of selling some information on Vivisian Teian. Interested?”
“Of course. An anonymous client, hmm? Vivisian ‘Teian’… That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. There’s no information we won’t handle. Do you already have it written down?”
“I do.”
Without any emotion, Hesia handed over the envelope he was holding.
Julie took it, humming a common folk tune as she opened it.
But the moment her eyes hit the first line, the humming slowed… then stopped altogether.
She checked the document—thin, but heavy with content—several times, her face gradually overtaken by confusion and shock.
Details of Vivisian’s death, the cause, and even the eerie condition of his body—neither burned nor buried, like some untouchable truth—filled the pages.
If this was all true, then an innocent man had suffered far too long.
Working with information, she knew all too well how often people were falsely accused and wrongly condemned.
But this level of injustice—dragged out for so long, and in such a brutal way—was almost hard to believe.
Still stunned, she sprang to her feet.
“Please, could you wait here for just a moment? This is… beyond my clearance. I’ll bring someone with the authority to handle it, if you don’t mind waiting a little.”
“I’ll wait.”
Hesia lounged back on the sofa with a calm answer, and Julie hurried out—not through the main store, but through what looked like a secret passage on the opposite side.
Showing something like that to a stranger?
She must’ve really been rattled.
Hesia let out a quiet laugh and glanced at the documents again—his gaze falling on the word “Deceased” at the top.
He knew Vivisian was dead.
He wasn’t in denial.
It’s just… for Hesia, accepting that Vivisian was truly gone was still too painful a truth.
As he stared vacantly into space, lost in thought, a plainly dressed man entered the room.
There was something off about his face, as if intentionally blurred—likely some kind of trick.
The man gave a slight nod and sat down on the sofa across from him.
“Hello. I’m the guild master here. I was told you brought some… intense information, so I’ve come to verify it myself. May I take a look?”
“Go ahead.”
With a voice like a sun-soaked cat—languid, unbothered—Hesia responded.
The master picked up the documents Julie had left behind and read them through.
After finishing, he stared thoughtfully at the corner of the table before asking calmly,
“Is this information reliable?”
“Didn’t you say your guild handles everything? Since when do you fact-check before you buy?”
“Well, we do buy first and verify later… but something like this, if it turns out false, could cause all sorts of trouble.”
It was information that turned everything people thought they knew on its head.
The infamous villain of the Duchy—turns out he was innocent all along?
Anyone living here had likely heard of Vivisian’s evil reputation at least once.
The idea that it was all slander was enough to make anyone cautious.
As the master’s brow furrowed slightly in thought, Hesia let out a long breath and turned his gaze to the window.
He watched the calm-yet-tense domain outside, then finally spoke again, face composed.
“It’s real. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“You saw it… yourself?”
“Yeah. With my own two eyes. Anyway, aren’t you people supposed to not pry into clients’ business? Why are you asking so many questions? Are you even planning to buy the info or not?”
His irritation bubbling over, Hesia snapped, and the master gave a sheepish smile, brushing his hand along the corner of the papers.
“Apologies. It’s just… the fact that you said you saw it yourself means you’re probably not from around here. Vivisian Teian… he’s pretty famous in this duchy. For the worst reasons.”
Spoken with caution but clarity.
Hesia let out a derisive snort—it was obvious, wasn’t it?
“I know. I did my own digging while putting that file together. The things I found… unbelievable.”
“…And even knowing that, you’re still so certain of his innocence?”
“I only believe what I’ve seen. And the Vivisian I saw—he was kind. A good man. Sure, everyone has two sides, but being both a monster and a saint? That’s not easy. You—have you ever met Vivisian yourself?”
“No.”
“Ha, figured as much. If you had… no matter what you believed before, the moment you read that file, you’d know. Vivisian was innocent. He never did anything wrong.”
It was the kind of belief only a devoted follower might hold.
Absolute love can be religious—deifying someone and worshipping them from the depths of your heart.
‘This man… he’s in love with Vivisian, hopelessly so.’
The master, now understanding why the face beneath the robe looked so achingly lonely and in pain, gently set the documents down.
This wasn’t just paperwork.
It was love—painstakingly written, desperate love—meant to clear the name of someone he cherished.
He now understood why the ink had smudged in certain places.
Gently, the master traced his finger over the word “Deceased” at the top of the file.
“What do you want in return? Clients like you… usually don’t ask for money.”
“You’re right. I don’t want money.”
“Then what is it that you want?”
“The honor of Vivisian Teian. I want his innocence to be known by all. That he, too, was a victim, that he committed no crime whatsoever.”
“May I ask the precise goal of your request?”
“Precise goal?”
As if wondering why such a thing was worth asking, Hesia tilted his head slightly.
He looked almost naïve—too innocent for someone bearing information that could shake not only this duchy but possibly the entire empire.
He was acting for the sake of someone’s honor, and yet, it looked more like he was cloaked in malice rather than good intentions.
Unconsciously rubbing his neck, the Master spoke again in a slow, cautious tone.
“Knowing that helps us tailor the job. If your goal is the Duke’s downfall, we’ll focus there. But if it’s solely to restore Vivisian Teian’s honor, then we’ll focus on that instead.”
“My ultimate goal…”
His voice, as if groping toward something distant, gradually sharpened.
Then, with a faint chuckle, Hesia whispered:
“It’s probably better if you don’t know.”
“If it’s uncomfortable to say, you don’t have to.”
At the Master’s words, Hesia’s lips moved as if mulling over something.
Then with a face slightly subdued, he replied.
“I want the downfall of the Duke—and beyond that, everything that led to Vivisian’s death.”
The Master had expected the job to be difficult, but he hadn’t imagined the client’s objective would be this extreme.
Momentarily speechless, he simply opened and closed his mouth.
Hesia, noticing this, laughed cheerfully.
“What, do I seem insane to you?”
“Are you serious right now? The one responsible for Vivisian Teian’s death is, broadly speaking, the entire duchy. You’re talking about potentially collapsing the empire—”
“Do I seem like I’m lying to you?”
Cutting off the flustered question without mercy, Hesia smiled faintly from the shadows beneath his robe.
Then he slowly lifted a hand and removed the robe.
“Let me tell you who I am, Master. I’m Hesia Merien. The sole heir to the Merien Principality, currently dreaming of tearing apart the empire with the help of my grandmother, while sowing chaos in your imperial court.”
‘Well, technically, I’ve temporarily stepped down from that position to avoid any complications—for now.’
As if simply commenting on the lovely weather, Hesia continued with a refreshingly calm expression and a clear smile.
“And I came here for the downfall of the Teian Duchy. Even if it means trading my life to make it happen.”
So, Master—can you now pay the price for that information?
Hesia asked, sweetly smiling, just like his beautiful appearance.
* * *
