"There was nothing wrong at the palace."

When I said it, Blake nodded.

"Yes, but I'll tell them to tighten their guard."

"Especially father's escort. I'm sure he'll go after him again if they find out that he doesn't get the tancinol."

"I'll do it."

Blake's expression was dark ever since he knew that Collin got tansinol.

Collin wasn't simply Tenstheon's assistant to him.

He has known Blake since he was a kid, and he cared about Blake regardless of the curse. I'm sure it hurts for him.

"Blake, don't worry too much. Sir Collin will surely be healed."

"Yes..."

He nodded, but his expression was not relieved.

"Do you have any other concerns?"

"No. It just reminded me of the old days."

"Old days?"

"When I was a child... before I was trapped in the palace, His Majesty held my hand and cried when he found out that I got the curse. I've forgotten all this time, but it just popped into my mind. I think he was very sad then..."

"Of course, you're his beloved son."

"Is that so..."

His voice was unsure. Now it seems like he has foggy memories, but the scars of his childhood still remain.

Still, I think he's ready to accept his father's love.

I held Blake's hand tightly.

"Your Highness!"

Then Edon rushed over.

"What's going on?"

"It is said that there's a tancinol outbreak on Camellia orphanage!"

***

Blake and I headed to the orphanage right away.

I never thought tancinol would take place at the Camellia orphanage.

A thousand years ago, Phillip was after the imperial family. After spreading the disease around the imperial family, Rakshul and the emperor, the Zelcan Empire was in chaos because there was no heir to the throne, so he easily took over.

So I thought he would use the same method this time.

But I didn't think he would spread tancinol to the children he was taking care of.

When we arrived at the Camellia orphanage, the

the captain of the guard explained the situation.

"The Roum kid in the orphanage caught tancinol."

"It's not tancinol!"

I was listening to the captain of the guard's report, and Michelle, who was next to me, flatly denied it.

"It's just a cold. What do you mean tancinol? It's out of the question. Tom misunderstood that."

"No! It's tancinol!"

Tom, who was far away, shouted.

He couldn't come this way because he was blocked by other teachers.

It looked like he was being scolded by the teachers. In the meantime, however, he raised his voice.

"It's definitely tancinol! Isn't it obvious because they're Roums?"

"What happened?"

While they were arguing, Blake asked the captain of the guard.

"It's..."

The captain of the guard explained the situation.

A Roum child caught a cold, Tom knew it and claimed it was tancinol.

The teachers described it as a cold, but Tom apparently did not listen and reported to the knights guarding them.

Michelle was surprised and explained, the captain of the guard agreed with her.

However, as long as the report of tancinol was received, it was a rule to report it to authorities, so it was in accordance with the rules.

Anyway, it was a relief. I'll have to check to be certain, but when I heard the story, it seemed much more likely to be a simple cold.

"Did you quarantine the patient?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"But I don't think it's tancinol. She couldn't have gotten such a terrible disease."

Michelle strongly denied.

"Is the child with the disease Shulia?"

I was surprised and asked Michelle.

"Yes, but it's really a cold. She must be shocked that Kaluo disappeared."

"What do you mean, Kaluo's gone?"

"He suddenly disappeared last night. He must have left the orphanage."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

"Can he even do that? The knights are guarding the place."

The guards were monitoring the orphanage in case Richard showed up. When I questioned, the captain of the guard made a hasty excuse.

"All of the guards coincidentally fell asleep at the time he disappeared."

Is it just a neglect of security? Or is it black magic?

Richard has a black mage next to him, so he may have ordered them to take Kaluo.

"Let's go in for now."

Blake and I headed to the room where Shulia is.

'The kid having tancinol...it might be just a simple cold. Please just be a simple cold...'

I took a quick step, praying inwardly. But as soon as I opened the door, all hope in me disappeared.

Like the prison where Howard was at, a powerful mana of light filled the room. The sinister mana was spouting from a little girl lying in bed.

"It's tancinol."

Shulia got tancinol.

Richard spread the disease to the young girl he was taking care of.

***

Tancinol began to spread rapidly. The Emperor and the Crown Prince were safe, but the other possible people in the capital were caught in tancinol one by one.

In addition, it was spreading with terrifying speed, regardless of status, such as nobles, commoners, and slaves.

Even though the whole capital was in panic, Richard, who caused the incident, was leisurely drinking black tea and looking at the newspaper.

The newspaper was plastered with stories about tancinol. The majority of reporters blamed the Roums for the sudden outbreak.

The imperial family explained that the Kensway family had been responsible for it, but the words were not heard by the already panicked people.

"In the orphanage established by Richard, a Roum child was caught in tancinol, and the epidemic spread."

Everyone believed this story. This is because it was easier to accept the fact that the Roums, who were originally despised, spread the disease.

[Priest Howard caught tancinol after visiting the Camellia orphanage!]

Richard laughed at the title of the article. Howard had never even been to Richard's orphanage.

Reporters were simply bent on writing provocative articles without confirming the facts.

These days, the more they criticize the Roum, the more newspapers they sell.

Originally a subject of contempt and a favorite subject of third-rate newspapers, the Roum have now become the perfect public enemy.

There were a lot of articles criticizing the imperial family for treating the Roums equally as others, rather than annihilating them.

Wouldn't it be the first time Tenstheon has been criticized since he ascended to the throne?

"What are you so happy about?"

Connin who was next to him asked.

"Isn't it funny that they don't even know what the truth is?"

The imperial family was the only one who had a good grasp of the current situation.

Maybe it's all thanks to Ancia.

Judging from her abilities and what has happened, it was clear that she also found memories of her past life.

"Master, will you leave the Camellia orphanage like that? The children are suffering."

The Camellia orphanage was pointed out as the main culprit of tancinol, and the children were under tremendous criticism.

"They're young. It won't last long. They'll stop eventually."

Richard spat out and put down the newspaper. Connin couldn't say anything more and shut his mouth because Richard looked upset.

The atmosphere calmed down, and soon, they heard the footsteps as Karan came inside.

She was holding onto her wrist with her left hand. Blood was leaking out from his wrist. But Richard asked Karan without looking at her wounds.

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry. The security was so tight that I failed."

Richard somehow tried to transmit tancinol to Tenstheon. However, the Imperial Palace was so heavily guarded that he had yet to make a proper attempt.

"How long are you going to fail? You're worse than Connin!"

When he rebuked her coldly, Karan felt unfair. It would have been much easier if she had been tasked to spread tancinol to their relatives and nobles like connin.

"It's because the palace is heavily guarded...."

"I don't want to hear it. You haven't done anything right lately. Go out!"

"Yes, master."

Karan kept her head down, biting her lips tightly.

***

When Karan came out, Connin followed her.

"Look at the wound. Are you okay?"

"I'm alright."

Karan said nervously.

"I'll ask the master to treat you."

"Who are you to ask our master for a favor? Don't be cheeky because Richard praised you a little bit these days."

Originally, Richard always favored Karan.

He always praised her because of her cautious and smart personality, he also said that although Connin's magical qualities are excellent, Karan was better.

She also regretted that if she was born with mana as much as Connin, she would have definitely become a much better mage.

But everything changed after Sophia Westin's wedding plan failed.

Richard trusted Connin and neglected Karan, so she became more nervous.

"Karan, what are you talking about?"

The two were childhood friends. They were like a family that had been together since childhood, but serving under Richard, Karan changed.

Karan felt inferior to Connin's magical qualities, and began to think of him as a competitor, not a friend.

It wasn't like this before. She was the one who praised Connin purely for his natural talent for magic.

However, now she is sensitive to trivial matters.

"Nevermind. More than that, what do you think of Richard these days?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you think he changed a little?"

Connin and Karan saved Richard from drowning in the river. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with his body. But then Richard changed.

He seemed to have turned into a different person.

He used to be a man who would do anything to achieve his goals. However, everything was to save the oppressed Roum and eliminate discrimination.

But it's different right now.

Richard didn't care about Roums at all, even though the tancinol incident has reached its peak. He even looked happy.