News spread that the Vice Tower Master of the Black Tower had gone missing.

The disappearance of the second-ranked figure in an entire field should have been a major issue, yet it barely caused a stir.

Black mages were infamous for their shadowy movements, and vanishing without a trace was nothing unusual for them.

Still, there was one person who found the situation utterly absurd.

That person was Duke Tuten, the one who had hired him.

The grand estate in the capital.

His close aides, all supporters of the Crown Prince, sat lined up along a long table.

At the seat of honor sat Tuten himself, a man whose rank was second only to the Emperor.

“Still no word from Cain?”

At his question, the meeting hall fell silent.

Only the strategist calmly analyzed the situation.

“It appears he sustained serious injuries and went into hiding.”

“I heard he was among the strongest in the Black Tower.

And he failed to capture a single woman?”

A red-haired middle-aged man asked gravely.

His chest was covered with ornate medals bestowed by the Emperor.

“Yes.

Didn’t he ask for three mercenaries yesterday?

He likely intended to take their hearts if he ended up critically wounded, just in case.”

“Judging by the fact that there’s no news from the mercenaries either, the outcome is obvious.”

“Yes.

Once he recovers, he’ll return discreetly and report.

Let’s wait.”

“But that means the capture failed.

This makes it difficult to inform the Alliance.”

To Tuten, Myeoran was an excellent bargaining chip.

He had planned to wring enormous wealth out of the Eastern Continent using her as leverage.

If word spread that they had failed to properly control her, the Alliance might step in directly and take her away.

“But why did it fail in the first place?

Cain captured that Eastern woman before, didn’t he?”

“That’s correct.

The strategist said that if we locked her in the Empire’s worst prison, she would gradually weaken, making everything easier.”

Everyone turned cold gazes toward the strategist.

Eyes filled with the desire to seize his position.

“That is…

It seems the issue lies with the newly appointed warden.”

Sensing danger, he shifted the blame squarely onto the prison warden.

It seemed effective, as even the Duke furrowed his brows.

“The youngest son of the Minster family?

I thought that one would do anything for money.”

When Tuten bought the warden position, all reports had been delivered to him as well.

If a truly upright man had applied, he planned to reject them.

But the moment he saw the Minster family name, he approved it immediately.

Given the family’s notorious reputation, he assumed Myeoran would be thoroughly abused.

And if she died in the process, they could simply replace him with another corrupt official.

“Are you saying he attacked the people I sent, all for the sake of some unrelated Eastern woman?”

“No matter how depraved the Minster family is, they wouldn’t be that stupid.”

Complaints began pouring out from the aides.

However, the middle-aged strategist was no pushover.

“You never know.

Isn’t Elder Dark there as well?”

He deliberately escalated the matter, broadening the range of suspects.

“It’s possible the Elder prepared more money than us and bought off the new warden first.”

At the mention that Elder Dark might be backing Derrick, the meeting hall turned icy.

Dark was the Empress’s older brother, unmistakably part of the Princess faction.

He was Tuten’s perfect enemy, as Tuten belonged to the Prince faction.

“So he relied on Dark’s backing and dared to kill the man I sent?”

A dark shadow fell across Tuten’s face.

He was furious that a mere scion of an executioner family had chosen an exiled old man over him.

“It seems I’ll have to properly educate him on who truly stands above whom.”

The highest-ranking noble in the Empire stared intently at the strategist.

Understanding his intent, the man immediately pulled out parchment and a quill.

“Deliver my will to the Minster family.”

“Yes.

What should I write?”

“Tell them this.

Their youngest son obstructed the mission of my subordinate, and they will bear responsibility for it.”

“Understood.”

If they ignored his command and failed to punish their son,

it would mean siding with the Elder and openly looking down on him.

Tuten ended the meeting with a solemn expression.

Yet even afterward, he remained displeased with the Minster family for quite some time.

“Shady vermin, just as expected.”

Count Minster had sent gifts to the Tuten family every holiday.

Despite the family’s poor reputation, Tuten hadn’t thought badly of them.

Yet behind the scenes, they had also been courting the Elder.

What was truly disgusting was that they used their youngest son to hide this fact.

Their two successful sons were too famous, so they deliberately attached the youngest to the Elder.

Seeing through such an obvious scheme, the Duke let out a scoff.

‘But how did those lowborn scum manage to persuade the Elder?’

Duke Tuten frowned deeply.

The Dark he knew was extremely particular and despised those without proper lineage.

And yet, Derrick, the most worthless of the Minster family, had somehow earned his favor.

‘Perhaps the youngest isn’t just a simple brute after all.’

With a serious expression, Duke Tuten began paying close attention to the name Derrick.

He might even be their secret weapon, lurking in the shadows.

Warm sunlight streamed into the prison cafeteria.

A long table sat in the spacious hall.

The place that usually served only hard bread and soup was unusually lavish today.

Beef stew with thick chunks of meat, along with various fruits.

It looked like a meal fit for nobles.

“Why the sudden feast?”

Elder Dark asked.

Anje, sitting across from him, wore an equally puzzled expression.

“I know.

The prison doesn’t exactly look well-funded.”

Myeoran, seated at the far end of the table, sharply turned her head.

With her arms crossed, she simply gazed at the bright sunlight she hadn’t seen in a long time.

“This is a reward for everyone behaving so well.”

I spread both hands with the most benevolent smile I could muster.

After the chaos last night, I was genuinely grateful they had stayed quietly in their cells.

“…….”

“…….”

The old man and the woman glanced at each other.

They clearly despised one another, yet today, both seemed strangely peaceful.

“My hearing’s been failing lately, so I didn’t hear a thing.”

“I do hear screams from downstairs from time to time, but that’s just everyday life.”

Their calm responses moved me even more.

This really was the right run to become a prison warden!!

“Don’t worry about it.

This place has always been noisy.”

“Right.

Just focus on your duties as warden.”

See?

They’re already showing consideration for others.

Watching the prisoners gradually brighten, my mind felt refreshed.

“Understood.

Now then—today’s on me, so eat to your hearts’ content!”

I beamed as I slid plates toward them.

For Anje, an apple pie I had begged Clea to make.

For Elder Dark, the finest black tea I bought at a shop after giving up on corpse-hunting at dawn.

And for Myeoran, peaches imported from the Eastern Continent that I purchased at the same time.

“Let’s keep things like this going.

If you continue showing good behavior, our prison’s image will improve as well.”

The image of the prison.

At those words, the Elder cleared his throat solemnly.

Anje smiled gently, clearly pleased.

But among them, there was one person whose expression turned chilling.

Clea was glaring at me coldly, like a wife staring at a lazy husband.

“Our adjutant.

Could you get me a cup of coffee too?

I need to work hard now.”

“Here you are.”

She spoke crisply and handed me the coffee.

Expecting the fragrant beans I had yesterday, I took a long gulp.

In that instant.

I twisted my face at the bitter taste, wondering if it was poison I had fed to the knights.

“What the hell, why does this taste so bad?”

“It’s supply coffee that was shoved into the corner of the pantry.”

“Then the one I drank yesterday…?”

“You mixed all of that into poison yesterday, didn’t you?”

She had lost her most cherished favorite coffee.

On top of that, her superior had been pestering her since dawn to make apple pie.

The former imperial secretary grabbed my shoulders and shook me fiercely.

“That was something I only drank on very special days.

I don’t even know how you sniffed it out like a snake.”

“Well, hey, it was still cheaper than hiring extra guards.”

Clea let out a deep sigh, unsure whether to agree.

She dropped a sugar cube into my cup of supply coffee.

“That coffee can only be bought in the imperial capital.

I’ll buy more later.”

“Just tell me the shop.

I was planning to stop by my family home anyway.”

“Your family home…

You mean the Minster estate?”

“Yeah.

I’m going to borrow some money from my brothers.”

The easiest way to make money.

That was to blackmail my brothers and squeeze out some allowance.

After four regressions, I knew all of their weaknesses.

They were notorious womanizers, with plenty of romantic scandals.

“That’s surprising.

I thought you weren’t on good terms.”

“What are you talking about?

Our family’s incredibly close.”

I joked outwardly, but inside, my expression turned cold.

Before I possessed him, Derrick had never been close to his family.

Their father saw his children as nothing more than tools for profit.

At first, he invested earnestly in all three sons, providing elixirs and private tutors.

The two older brothers showed outstanding talent in magic and swordsmanship.

Derrick, however, was painfully average, and his growth was slow.

That was when their father revealed his true nature.

He cut off all support to the youngest and treated him as if he didn’t exist.

He even instructed the brothers to avoid him, turning Derrick into an object of contempt.

Already arrogant, the two brothers began tormenting him from that point on.

They even engineered his isolation at the academy.

They went so far as to harass the only female student who had ever been kind to Derrick.

From then on, Derrick completely fell apart and became a drunk.

I entered his body just before he chose suicide.

“I can’t wait to see my brothers.”

By now, both of them should have found considerable success in their fields.

The eldest, Dexter, had joined the White Tower as a mage.

The second, Deck, was gaining fame as a popular gladiator.

They were so successful that, true to their womanizing nature, they took countless lovers.

Many of those women were wealthy noble ladies, further tarnishing the Minster family’s reputation.

“…….”

I fell silent as filthy memories surfaced.

Clea noticed and quietly stepped back toward the window.

As she gazed alone toward the prison entrance,

she suddenly spotted a carriage approaching from the distant horizon.

The carriage bore the shield emblem of the Minster family.

“Warden.

It looks like you have guests.”

“Who?”

“They seem to be from the Minster family.”

“……?”

I frowned and approached the window.

At that moment.

I recognized the familiar faces stepping out of the carriage.

The two brothers I had just mentioned.

Dexter Minster and Deck Minster had arrived.

Handsome faces with mysterious silver hair.

But today, they were speaking to the guards with expressions full of anger.

Then, forcing their way in, they shoved past them.

“Yeah.

My brothers.”

My fingers trembled slightly.

Probably an instinctive reaction born from horrific memories.

In contrast, my expression remained utterly calm.

All the painful memories would disappear today.

“Bring them to the warden’s office.

I’ll receive them personally.”

The prisoners, who had come up to the first floor for the first time in a while, watched quietly.

With curious eyes, wondering what the warden’s brothers would be like.

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