The prison bars weren't very wide, so I shoved my sword hand through the bars and swung it, leaving long scratches on her cheek.

"I heard that dying in a fire is the most painful thing, so wait for the end of the burning fire to come."

As time went by, the day she would be burned at the stake would make her feel more injustice and more pain.

To be honest, there was a bit of medicine on the sword,so when she went to the capital, she was going to feel worse.

Killing her was really easy as killing a worm, but before that, I wanted to savor her painful time as long as possible.

Of course, there was room for use.

And above all else, I wanted her to get down on her knees before my mother and father and tell the whole capital of her evil deeds.

Lanella spit out all sorts of swear words, but I shrugged my shoulders once and turned around.

'Ah, I'm better at this than I thought. Framing and blackmailing...'

In the past, I had done a lot to Ian.

I framed him for having an argument first, and threatened to not let him go the next time I saw him...

But I thought it could be applied like this.

It was one of those few moments that was worth living as a trivial villain.

I went out and spoke to the people.

"Now, Lanella has come to her senses."

I didn't say what happened, I didn't say that other people couldn't hit her.

"I think you can go and see it. If she pretends to lose her mind, it's an act, so take that into account."

People's hands were full of stones and eggs.

"She can't die, so avoid the head and throw it. Of course, I promise to treat her more painful than death. I am also a huge victim of the misdeeds she committed."

The people nodded eagerly, and I left the dungeon fresh.

I wanted to talk to Ian with the newly obtained information.

I had to somehow figure out the temple's allies.

Apparently, Ian knew the temple people much better than I did.

Moreover, since Robert had been suspicious of the temple for a long time, there was a high possibility that Ian also had information he had heard.

Of course, aside from all rational reasons, I was very eager to brag about my excellent interrogation skills right now.

'He said that it was the room next to the room I stayed in.'

I was excited and headed to Ian's room.

***

Richard received a message from Carlon.

Seeing the note tied to the leg, he frowned and fell in thought.

"Brother?"

Then Elburn came and sat in front of him.

"Is it Prince Carlon? What's so special?"

"It said he will be returning from the Duchy of Edison soon."

"Well, it's time for him to come back."

"...It also said that he is bringing in a strong man who can kill Annabelle Rainfield."

At Richard's words, Elburn's eyes widened.

Elburn trembled slightly, remembering Annabelle, who didn't blink an eye even in front of the fourteen assassins last time.

"Are there any other people like that other than Ian Wade?"

Without answering Elburn's stupid words, Richard pulled out a cigarette.

It was a habit he had when he was having complex thoughts.

Elburn asked again.

"Then you mean to assassinate Annabelle Rainfield?"

"It's stupid. If you're going to kill her secretly, there are many other ways. But if you do it in secret, you will get a backlash from Prince Robert."

As always, all the schemes were devised by Richard. Elburn only nodded frantically as he listened to his older brother.

"Prince Robert is strong, so an unexpected death can make the atmosphere strange."

"Then what are you going to do? Are you going to kill so everyone knows?"

Richard nodded his head with his thoughtful eyes.

"In a formal duel agreed upon by each other, it doesn't matter if you accidentally kill your opponent."

"...Ah. A duel..."

Elburn rolled his eyes and murmured.

If someone dies due to lack of skill during a fair duel, there was no room for Robert to intervene.

The question was how to get Annabelle to agree to a duel.

It was Carlon's order that he devise a way until he arrives.

"This time, we must unconditionally win the trust of Prince Carlon. I have to do it well."

Richard wrote a reply on the spot, biting his cigarette.

He said he would provoke Annabelle Rainfield well because he knew her personality.

The pigeon hung Richard's note and immediately disappeared out of the window.

"What are you going to do? If Annabelle avoids the duel in a sour way, that's the end."

"Fortunately, Annabelle has no idea about this. Ian Wade is the only opponent who can beat her, and he will be contributing."

"Ah, that's true."

"In addition, there is a great sense of inferiority, and at the same time, there is a sense of superiority, so she can't stand a little criticism. We should use it to set up a trap."

Richard continued coldly with a cigarette bite.

"Unfortunately, she'll die after being humiliated in front of many people."

***

"...Oh my."

Nick was lying on the table and taking a deep breath.

His head was spinning and his tongue felt twisted.

"Why is the alcohol so strong...?"

The two shared drinks, and Nick was drunk for the first time in his life.

He was confident in drinking, but the traditional distilled liquor he bought for a large amount of money was different.

Ian, who thought he would collapse first, emptied the glass and even got up intact.

The plan failed.

"Whew... I can't believe I'm drunk first..."

"Lord, I'll take you to your room."

The butler sighed and helped Nick, who couldn't control himself.

"Let's go to bed tonight."

"Ummm... But... But... The small operation..."

"Don't worry. When the little duke got up from his seat, he looked quite drunk. Too drunk."

"Really?"

Nick welcomed the words with his eyes raised.

"Yes, I just guided him to the room, and he stumbled and breathed. He's definitely drunk on gibberish words."

"That's a relief. He'll be down in that room until tomorrow morning. Therefore..."

Nick murmured happily.

"According to my amazing feeling, the two will never meet tonight. He won't be able to enter Annabelle's room!"

Upon arriving in his room believing in the butler's words, he fell into bed without washing.

"By the way..."

After the butler left, Nick muttered to himself with his eyes closed.

He was very drunk, so he didn't even know what he was talking about.

"It's really weird. I've interrogated a lot of false lovers..."

He had interrogated countless outsiders who had been married or lied that they were going to marry.

Nick himself was quite meticulous, so he filtered out most of it.

The most accurate way he filtered out fake and real lovers was a repeated question.

When asked the same question over time, the things made up of lies changed in detail.

Nick grasped the changed part like a ghost with excellent memory and persistently bit it.

Then, in the end, the romance that they made up was bound to be revealed.

That was why it took him hours to examine outsiders.

"...That look is... I can't change my words at all."

He asked Ian the same question while drinking.

"How did you meet Annabelle?"

"8 years ago, I met her for the first time in the final of the swordsmanship competition..."

The question and answer he asked the other day to see if it was a fake lover were almost the same.

"There were some impressive moments that I remembered, but I forgot because it has been so long. But at some point, I found out that I didn't know the person who I thought I knew so much about..."

"What?"

"I got curious, so I wanted to observe more."

If they hadn't revealed to the end that they were fake lovers, Nick probably would have concluded that they were real lovers.

"No way... It's not real. He pretended to be a fake lover. Well, that's how I think..."

Like that, Nick fell asleep with confidence.

Of course, it was not a lie that Ian was quite drunk, as the butler said.

Ian did not show that he was drunk, but when he arrived at the room, he was out of his mind.

He washed with superhuman force, barely managed to change into his indoor clothes, and then fell down on the bed.

"Oh..."

In a distant sense, Ian realized for the first time in his life that he was drunk.

Every time he blinked, dreams and reality began to mix up.

It was before he fell asleep on his bed that the door burst open.

"Hey, Ian?"

So Nick's feeling was wrong again.

It was successful to make him drunk to the point of being insane and stay in the room.

However, Nick did not think that Annabelle would enter Ian's room.

"I have something to say..."

Of course, Annabelle's words did not sound right to Ian, who had already lost consciousness halfway.

However, his unconsciousness clearly recognized the changes in the environment, and his heavy body began to tense like wet cotton.

In unconsciousness, Ian judged that this figure was familiar.

And whenever he felt this momentum, a reckless surprise always followed from behind.

He snatched the hand that approached him, pushed it on the bed immediately, and climbed up on top of it so that figure could not move.