After a while, this spy appeared before his superior—the cloaked man. Zion had indeed deducted correctly. The man was standing with his back straight before the window like before, but the person that had approached him this time wasn't the same guard from earlier. He had sent that guard somewhere else for significant work on the king's side.

The guard that had appeared in this room was the one he had sent a few days ago to keep an eye on the inn where the aristocrat detective was staying. If possible, he even asked that spy to continue following Zion if the latter found anything suspicious. Now when the guard came here, the cloaked man realized that this spy must have discovered something. ​​

But before he could say anything, the guard fell on his knees and lowered his head. "M-Master…. Punish me for my mistake! I followed the wrong person!"

The corners of the cloaked man's lips curved up, and he cocked his head. "Are you sure you followed the wrong man?"

This man's voice seemed ethereal, as if someone from heaven had come down to speak in a serene and enchanting tone. The guard was baffled for a moment as if he went into a trance after hearing that voice, but he shook his head and said, "Yes! I'm right! That man and the aristocrat detective are completely different! The person I ended up following was an extremely arrogant and spoiled young master from a rich family!"

The cloaked man let out a smile all of a sudden. This smile was so scary that someone looking at it might feel a chill down his spine. But unfortunately, his back was facing the guard, and the latter couldn't see his master's expression. Then the latter saw his master waving his hand. "You can go."

This sentence surprised the spy. "You forgave me?" His voice sounded unsure, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

The cloaked man hummed as the guard jumped to his feet and saluted cheerfully before leaving.

"It seems I'm going to enjoy this a lot." The cloaked man mumbled as his lips continued to form an upward arc.

***

At this time, Zion had just gotten out of that shop with an angry expression on his face when he felt the spy taking his eyes off of him. His shoulders relaxed, and he continued to walk with a smile on his face.

Now that no one was keeping an eye on him, he was free to do whatever he wanted. His eyes glanced down at the knife on his waist as a meaningful smile formed on his lips.

No matter who planted this thing to delude everyone, this was the only evidence he had at present. So he had no choice but to find the seller of this knife. Zion knew that if the murderer were to think of planting fake evidence, he would never use his own things. That person would only buy from a very inconspicuous place.

So his first goal was to ask a professional to check out the knife and tell him more about it. After thinking of this, he walked over to the nearest tea shop and tapped on the counter. The person who was holding the tea kettle glanced at Zion.

"Is there a shop from where I could buy a knife?"

The man with the kettle shrugged. "Depends on what kind of knife you want."

Zion quickly fetched the knife and showed it to the kettle man. "Something like this."

The man came closer and stared at the knife with interest. Then he glanced up in surprise. "Where did you get this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…." The kettle man put the thing in another hand while he caressed the knife's handle carved in a rose design. Its metallic surface looked more like someone had painted it with a matte lipstick of the metal color. "I don't know much about knives, but this one used to be a royal knife, and the design carved here"—he pointed at the rose—"doesn't belong to the current era. The current king forced the manufacturers across the kingdom to stop making such knives when he took over the throne. In fact, he even destroyed all those knives in the palace with this design! So to say, this knife shouldn't even have been here!"

Zion raised his brows and glanced at the rose design on the knife handle. "I picked it up from the road."

The kettle man sighed and shook his head before a sympathetic smile formed on his lips. "The owner of this knife must be wondering where it's gone."

"Thanks a lot! I'll quickly find the owner or at least the manufacturer to return it."

When he moved away from the shop, Zion traced the rose design. His brows furrowed. "Was this knife meant to be found by the king and give him a warning?" He mumbled to himself.

After hearing from the kettle man, it was clear that the relationship between the current and the late king wasn't very good. Otherwise, why would Rhesus force everyone to stop making such royal knives? It seemed more as if the king wanted to remove all traces of his father….

It was either that Rhesus was someone who had murdered the late king, or he must be hiding a secret.

So that meant the king wasn't as pure-hearted as he showed himself. And that was perhaps the reason why the murderer might have planted this evidence on purpose—to warn the king that there was still someone who could become a threat to the former.

This case seemed more like a royal war between brothers and sisters of the older generation.

But who did this knife belong to? A frown appeared on Zion's forehead. Since all the manufacturers stopped making this item, this knife must be decades old!

Maybe he would have to enter the palace to find more evidence. This time, he wouldn't become an aristocrat who had attracted the attention of not only the king but also the spies of the murderer hidden in the dark. So this time, he planned to keep himself low enough that not even the closest servants would tell that he was investigating the murder.