-CLAP

As soon as the queen clapped her hands, the guests in the room ceased their activities and turned their attention toward her. Besides the queen were the three ministers from neighboring countries, who had come to congratulate the young prince; their presence added a certain gravitas to the room.

"I'll take my leave first; we have some state business to attend to. Guests, please enjoy the meal, and once again, I wish my son a happy birthday."

Everyone in the room applauded as the queen, a few soldiers, and the ministers approached the staircase leading to the 2nd floor. The guests watched their departing figures with admiration and respect.

After that, the other queens, except for Ismenia, also left the room. Each queen was also followed by their children. There were 14 princes in total, but only nine attended Francis' birthday. Since the queens had left, only four princes were left in the room: Harald, Alicia, Margaret, and Francis.

'The Queen and the Ministers have gone out; even Leofric has left. But that suspicious man still hasn't moved. What is his purpose? Or maybe I'm just wrong in concluding that he's suspicious?' Alicia thought about the brown-haired man who was hiding his identity.

Since the Queens had already left the room, Harald suddenly approached the man.

"Master, prince Harald is approaching you," said Ivaylo's puppet, lady Erster's corpse.

"I can't help it; let's get started."historical

Suddenly

-DUARRR

There was an explosion from outside. As a loud explosion shattered the silence, everyone jolted with fear. The sound came from the castle's front gate, causing confusion and terror to grip the minds of those inside. "Wh-what's going on?!" stammered one person, while another cried out, "An explosion?!" In an instant, chaos erupted, and fear paralyzed everyone as they struggled to comprehend what was happening.

Rachel immediately pulled Carla aside and approached Reynold and Ayde.

When something unexpected happened, Rachel was ordered to use her blessing. By chanting the name of her blessing, Rachel could hide anyone she touched within a certain limit.

"Wait! Not now. Your blessing is only active for about 2 hours. We should use it carefully if something worse happens," Reynold said.

"Rachel! Where's Felicia?" asked Ayde.

"She went out! Don't worry, Lady; she's with Allen," Even though she said so, she was actually very worried. But she had no other choice now; she had to trust Allen.

Distracted by the explosion, Harald realized that the mysterious man he was about to capture was nowhere to be seen.

'Damn!' he thought. He couldn't chase after him, rather, he shouldn't. In this unexpected situation, he had to be able to protect everyone in the room.

"EVERYONE, NOBODY OUT OF THIS ROOM!" shouted Fleur.

Alicia, without being distracted by the sound of the explosion, ran straight to Fleur and Birawa and told them about the mysterious man.

'That explosion bothered me. It happened after Leofric left this room, or rather, after Leofric had moved away from here. Which means he deliberately waited for Leofric to leave here to carry out his plan!' Alicia thought.

"CLOSE ALL DOORS!" shouted Fleur.

But before the doors closed, a badly wounded soldier, running with a limp, arrived at the door. Dying, he said

"E-everyone! Beware! They're coming! The Dolls! THE NOCTEM DOLLS ATTACK THE CASTLE!"

Just then, everyone panicked again; the Noctem Dolls had brutally killed the nobles one by one. The nobles had an intense fear of them. These dolls didn't discriminate; they were usually after those who were corrupt and guilty of crimes. As a result, the corrupt nobles became even more afraid, knowing they were next on the Noctem Dolls' hit list.

"CLOSE THE DOOR! JUST IGNORE THAT SOLDIER! HE'S ALREADY DEAD!" shouted Fleur as she ran towards the door.

'Shouting the enemy's name when the explosion had just occurred, that soldier had already failed in his duty. Doing so only caused panic!' Fleur thought.

Without thinking, the soldiers guarding the door immediately closed the door.

"What are you doing?! Why are you closing the door? We want to go home!" one of the nobles shouted.

"If the Noctem Dolls come, they'll kill us all!"

"Calm down! This is the safest place!" shouted Fleur.

"Who do you think you are to ban us?!"

Amidst the tension, Alicia immediately shouted.

"Don't panic." Her shout echoed and was very loud. It made everyone stop talking and look in her direction.

In front of Alicia was a circle of non-attribute type amnis that made Alicia's voice audible to everyone.

Alicia gave Fleur a slight wink. Fleur noddedplease visit

"Birawa, we need to get out of here; we're going after that guy. We should also tell the other knights of rounds about this," Fleur said.

"Eh? Are we leaving people here?"

"Yes, right now this is the safest place. We need to find the mastermind of this incident and protect the queens who have left here!"

Fleur and Birawa walked to the left door to follow Ivaylo who most likely exited through that door.

At the same time, Alicia tried to calm down the people in the room and distract them from letting Fleur and Birawa out.

"My fellow citizens, hear me! Let not the panic grip your hearts and run amok in your minds. Within these walls in this room, we are well-protected by an army of brave knights from each noble, ten hired mithril class dungeon explorers, and over one hundred tireless warriors who stand ready to lay their lives down for our safety. Fear may have seized your thoughts, and the unknown dangers beyond may seem overwhelming. But I tell you this – this room is now the safest place in this castle. Enemies enter through the front door, and you know how scary Noctem Dolls can be at night. If you come out you have the possibility of facing them alone, whereas inside, you will not be alone. So let us gather our strength, rid our hearts of fear, and trust in the might and courage of our defenders. Don't worry about the situation outside! The knights of rounds will definitely do something!"

Many still seemed to disagree, but they all chose to believe in Alicia. Her achievements were enough to make her heard by everyone.

'Noctem Dolls... The opponent this time will be very troublesome,' Alicia thought.

...

As Fleur and Birawa exited the room, their eyes immediately fell upon a ghastly sight. Lying strewn across the corridor were several corpses, most of them servants and soldiers. The cause of their untimely demise was evident as they observed the deep lacerations on their necks.

"Captain, these corpses are most likely bait for us to follow," Birawa said.

"Even so, we have no other clues. Since there are corpses, it means the killer also passed through here. Even if they lure us, we must still eat the bait this time."

"Understood."

They started running as fast as they could, following the perpetrator's lead.

Until they heard a scream

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

As they made their way down the corridors, they eventually arrived at the right end of the castle. It was there that they stumbled upon a girl, decked out in party attire, who was playfully poking the maid walking in front of her.

"It's you! The woman with the suspicious man!" Birawa shouted.

The woman was the corpse of Lady Erster, Ivaylo's puppet.

"Master asked me to bring you here and give him a little more time to leave," said the doll.

"Master, you say?!" muttered Fleur.

Upon hearing that, Fleur was suddenly angry, and her anger quickly surged through her veins, causing her mana to overflow out of her body. Her face turned beet red, and she clenched her fists tightly as she tried to contain her emotions

"What's wrong, captain?" asked Birawa.

"I'm sorry, I was reminded of a criminal. He could make human dolls, and the dolls called him master. Then each of his puppets would make an expressionless face when killing someone."

"That's right, Captain Rounds. I am the puppet of the person you're referring to, I am here under orders to obstruct you."

Hearing her statement, Fleur's mana overflowed even more, making her mana continue to radiate from her, the energy pulsing through her body like an electrical current, making Birawa instantly shudder. It was the first time he had seen his captain so angry.

Sensing a threat, the puppet grasped her small knife and stood in a fighting stance.

"Hinder me? Seriously."

Fleur hurried towards the doll, swiftly closing the distance between them. The doll's eyes widened in surprise, and she stepped back as if to retreat. However, Fleur's hand shot out and firmly clasped the doll's head.

Without warning, Fleur forcefully pushed the doll's head down onto the floor with a loud, sickening sound of bones shattering.

"BRAAAK!"

The doll's head was instantly destroyed, causing the ground beneath her to collapse. Fleur's hand was now covered in the splattered blood of her victim, which she expertly wiped clean using the doll's clothing.

"The ones attacking us, no doubt, are the Noctem Dolls, and the mysterious man in the room is Ivaylo, their leader. Remember well, Ivaylo has the ability to create dolls from the corpses of dead people. I don't know exactly how he does it. The process is probably accomplished by channeling his own mana into the brain of the puppet he makes. So if you break his legs or arms, the puppet he made will continue to live and kill people according to his orders. The only way to stop the dolls is to destroy their brains," Fleur explained.

"I see..." replied Birawa, briefly.

"Let's get out of here; we need to find Ivaylo immediately. I'll kill that guy!"