“..is there new evidence?”

“There’s no evidence, but the circumstances allow speculation. If he died by murder and not suicide it means that the count won at gamb—”

“Melchor. If there’s no evidence, stop speculating.”

The Emperor cut him off swiftly. Melchor studied his face. The colorful expression from when Melchor was talking had disappeared, and an expressionless mask hung like a stone statue.

He knows.

Melchor stopped talking before even mentioning the empress. This meant that he didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Your Highness, gambling amongst aristocrats is not something to take lightly.”

“There are many aristocrats who secretly dabble in gambling; the only evidence was Count Crimson Rose. I didn’t intend to make a big deal out of this from the start. That’s why I asked the empress to end it as soon as the Crimson Rose family was captured.”

But Melchor didn’t think that’s why it had been left for the empress.

Melchor knew that the emperor was protecting the empress, but he couldn’t point that out. Now Melchor had offered to protect Roseline as her husband. It was the same as when it got harder if he dug deeper. The empire would be divided if the imperial family and grand duke had a falling out, and there was no reason to start a war over this.

“Understood, Your Highness. If that’s what you want.”

“Don’t sound so upset, Melchor. I really care for you.”

“Thank you.”

“And don’t listen so vacantly. I am still thankful that you saved the empress six years ago.”

That was true before Melchor had become the head of the Postenmeyer family; when he was still treated like a troublemaker. He had heard that Melchor was able to participate in the race for a successor with the support of the emperor for saving the empress.

There was one problem.

“I have no recollection of that.”

“I know. But I’m asking you to thank me for remembering it.”

“..yes.”

Although he may not know what he had done in his uncertain memory, it had led the emperor to completely trust Melchor six years ago.

There was nothing bad about receiving the emperor’s trust, but Melchor was somehow uncomfortable about thanking him for something he could not remember.

“Then I shall head back, Your Highness. Now that I have your approval, I will officially announce our marriage.”

“Mmm-hmm. Okay. Are you going to take care of Countess Crimson Rose’s situation as well?”

“Yes. I will.”

Melchor left the audience chamber after bidding farewell to the emperor. That’s when Emperor Balthazar, leaning in his chair, let out a sluggish sigh.

“Crimson Rose.. Should I have dried the seeds from the beginning?”

* * *

There was still no change in Roseline’s daily activities. She woke up, had breakfast, changed her clothes, and went back and forth between her room and the living room drinking tea or staring out the window, napping occasionally.

It was frustrating that she was still unable to go outside, but it still paid off. This was because Damian and Heinz, who became lenient when Roseline complained, started throwing clues one by one under consultation. They were tiny clues when she picked them one at a time, but she soon discovered a connection between them.

So if I put them together, the grand duke’s motive for bringing me here has nothing to do with Father’s daily routine.

The grand duke’s first visit with the Black Knights was the reason why she was suspicious of the empress’s Blue Knights. But the grand duke’s aim seemed to have changed after meeting Roseline in that place.

{His Excellency was young.. That’s why his pre-adult memories are unclear.}

She had never heard of Grand Duke Postenmeyer having a mental problem, so maybe only his confidants knew about it. Despite that, the reason they’d told Roseline was because of the next reason.

{His Excellency is actually looking for some person.}

Neither Damian nor Heinz had heard who that person was. Because Duke Postenmeyer was not the type to tell them what he held inside. In their way, they had concluded the process of collecting clues under the orders of their supervisor.

{What’s certain is that the person His Excellency is looking for is named ‘Roseline’. The same first name as Lady Crimson Rose.}

The grand duke had called Roseline by her name when he first met her. Even when he had brought her in and interrogated her he’d only asked her if she knew someone who looked like her.

They said she looked like me, though she must be much older.

He had been looking for someone because of his memory of an uncertain past, and he had brought someone who looked like her and investigated. Roseline understood up to that point. The next part was problematic: she doesn’t know who that person is.

And yet he doesn’t send me back and keeps me here.

They said he had sent back someone who came to pick up Roseline at the order of the empress. Even though he no longer had to keep Roseline, he had even set up a confrontation with the empress to protect her.

“I don’t understand. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Just sign.”

When she lifted her head at the voice that replied to what she’d said to herself, someone was standing at the door, someone whom she couldn’t meet even if she wanted to. It was Melchor, Grand Duke Postenmeyer.