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"Wait, what if it's a dangerous situation?"
“……”
"Don't go. Leave this to the servants."
After a moment of silence, Rosia twisted her wrist and shook off his hand.
"I thought I heard a scream coming from my room. I'm sorry."
"Rosia!"
She ignored Kadin's call and left the banquet hall.
The long, voluminous dress felt more cumbersome than ever.
'Who is it? Who went into my room? What are they trying to do?'
With a pounding heart, she climbed the stairs and reached the hallway.
There, she saw the servants gathered in front of her door, murmuring.
"What's going on? Everyone, please move aside."
As Rosia squeezed through the crowd, everyone's eyes turned to her at once. Their eyes were filled with a mixture of astonishment and fear.
'…Why are they looking at me like that?'
An ominous feeling crept over her. Soon, she found Cedric standing tall in front of the door.
"Brother, what on earth…"
"Rosia."
Cedric turned to her with a cold, hardened face.
"Did you do all this?"
Rosia's head creaked around at his unusually cold and subdued voice.
And soon, her eyes widened as she looked into the room.
"Wh, what is this…"
Rosia stepped into the room, gasping for breath.
There, a huge Magic Circle covered the floor.
Drawn with ash and blood, it looked like a trace of ominous Magic no matter how you looked at it.
And around it, Magic tools that she had usually hidden from view were scattered haphazardly.
"N… No. I didn't do this!"
When she turned her head, she saw the maids trembling and stepping back. Rosia approached the servants with bloodshot eyes.
"What kind of trick are you playing! Tell me, is this your doing? Or…"
Rosia's head soon turned to Cedric.
"Is it your doing, Brother? Is it?"
"Rosia."
"If not, why did you bring people here all of a sudden!"
“…I was going to put your presents there.”
Cedric gestured around, not hiding his cold gaze. Then, the servants hesitated and placed the gifts in front of her.
Her mind was in turmoil at the sight.
'No way. Then who came into my room and did this?'
Clearly, the alarm went off at the same time as the scream. It meant that no one had the time to break in and make a mess of the room.
Unless all these people were accomplices.
As she was wondering how to understand this situation, people began to gather in the hallway one by one.
Among them was Duke Calios. In an instant, the blood drained from Rosia's face.
"What on earth is going on here?"
"Ah, Father…"
Rosia hurriedly closed the door and shook her head.
"It's nothing. You don't need to see it."
"Why are you hiding it from me if it's nothing?"
The Duke frowned and turned to Cedric, who was standing next to him.
"Tell me instead, Cedric."
"...There were so many gifts piled up on the first floor for Rosia, so I was going to move them into her room in advance. But when I opened the door, the inside was a mess."
Cedric said, gesturing to Rosia's door.
"It would be faster to see it with your own eyes for more details."
"Ah, no. Father, please…"
The Duke ignored his daughter's plea and grabbed the doorknob. And he opened the door wide, ignoring her attempts to stop him.
As the inside of the room was revealed, gasps erupted from here and there.
"Rosia, did you really do this?"
The Duke's face stiffened as he sensed the seriousness of the situation.
"Ah, Father. There's no way I would have. Think about it. Who would do this to their own room on their birthday?"
“…I hope that's true.”
The Duke fixed his gaze on the room and quietly ordered his son next to him.
"Cedric, send the guests gathered here back to the banquet hall for now, and call the knights."
"Yes, Father."
"And Rosia is to be locked in a solitary cell until the investigation is over."
At those words, Rosia screamed as if she was wronged.
"Father! I'm innocent. I really didn't do it!"
"If you are innocent, it will be revealed through investigation."
The Duke dismissed her protests, saying that he could not simply cover up this incident under the Imperial Law.
Soon, the servants hesitated and approached her.
"Get your hands off me, where do you think you're touching!"
It was the moment when Rosia was huffing and puffing, saying that she would go on her own.
Among the crowd gathered in the hallway, a figure who should not have been there caught her eye.
It was Ayla.
"You…! How are you here!"
As soon as she saw her neatly dressed and naturally mixed in with the VIPs, she felt like the blood was rushing to her head.
"Was it you? You're the one who made my room like this!"
Rosia began to shout in a rage, like a person who had lost her mind.
"You were jealous that your life was taken away, so you tried to bury me like this!"
Rosia's eyes glowed with hatred.
Ayla looked at Rosia and let out a ridiculous laugh as if she was dumbfounded.
"Me trying to bury you? What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Then why are you here! When you weren't even invited!"
It was when Rosia was about to rush at Ayla, consumed by anger. Felix quickly blocked her path and stopped her.
"Stop, Rosia!"
Following behind, Calios also grabbed Rosia's shoulder and snapped in a low voice.
"Stop it, Rosia!"
Deep wrinkles formed on the Duke's forehead. His eyes, looking at Rosia, were filled with a mixture of anger and disappointment.
"Don't make a scene in front of people. The investigation will reveal who did it."
Rosia shook her head violently, breathing heavily.
"Ah, Father. But no matter how I think about it, it's strange. Ayla being here…!"
"I invited her, Rosia."
Cedric cut her off with a deep sigh.
"And Ayla just arrived at the mansion. She didn't have time to do anything to your room."
"Th, that can't be…!"
As if cutting off Rosia's flustered words, Calios quickly ordered the servants.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you isolating Rosia in a solitary cell!"
Rosia's face turned white in an instant. Her sharp voice echoed through the hallway.
"Father!"
Once again, she struggled, but the servants did not hesitate as before.
They firmly grabbed Rosia's arms, as if afraid that she would cause more trouble, and dragged her somewhere.
Calios entered the office with a heavy sigh.
Then, the family members, who had heard the news, greeted him with hardened faces.
"Father, what is all this about? Rosia used Forbidden Magic… Is that true?"
Gerard asked the Duke with an incredulous face.
Instead of answering, the Duke plopped down on the sofa and turned to look at Cedric.
"Tell me what happened, with your own mouth."
Cedric opened his mouth with a heavy expression.
"There were so many gifts piled up that I was going to move them to Rosia's room in advance. But the maid who went in first suddenly screamed and ran out."
He took a short breath and then calmly described the scene inside the room that he had witnessed.
The Duchess and Gerard remained silent as they listened to the explanation.
"The details are under investigation. It's not certain yet whether Rosia did it. I've called a Mage from the Magic Tower, so the results will be out soon."
Calios explained and then closed his eyes tightly.
How much time had passed? After a while, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
The door opened silently, and a Mage in a robe appeared.
"Duke, I came to give you a brief report."
“…Was anything revealed?”
Instead of answering, the Mage placed a small silk pouch on the table with a gloved hand.
Then, he took out a stone made of purple crystals from inside.
"It is still necessary to investigate what purpose the Magic Circle was drawn for. But before that, decisive evidence came out of the room."
Calios' expression hardened.
"Decisive evidence? This stone?"
The Mage nodded and continued.
"Yes, this is no ordinary stone. It is a crystallized Magical Beast's heart."
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