It was said to be over, but it wasn’t really over.

As soon as the knights returned, the palace was turned upside down.

It was natural. It was a jewel that had been rumored to be cursed even before this situation, but with such chaos at the auction house and a major accident that nearly destroyed a mansion, it was inevitable that attention would be drawn to them.

Judging from the traces found in the haphazardly dug garden, the golem seemed to have been hidden in advance using a subspace magic scroll, and was intended to attack and annihilate everyone when everyone gathered and the auction began.

The incident was concluded to be the work of rebels who held a grudge against the Imperial family and Lord Neumann.

An apprentice knight who was friendly with Neumann happened to receive an invitation, and the three captains of the Imperial Knights, who happened to hear about the blackmail situation, attended the auction for fun and prevented the situation from happening.

The story ended roughly like that.

It was exactly as Arendt had planned.

On one hand, the incident was being dealt with in full swing, while on the other hand, a court meeting was scheduled to report the aftermath.

“It looks quite nice.”

Cantares made a mocking noise.

Through the slightly open collar, a bandage wrapped tightly was visible. His pretty face was also covered with bandages, but Arendt just shamelessly shrugged his shoulders.

“Do I still look handsome? I know this very well.”

“It would have been nice if that mouth had been bandaged too.”

“But if that were the case, you wouldn’t be able to hear the full story.”

Diana added a word of regret to Kendrick’s sigh. Now, Laius seemed to have given up on pointing out Arendt’s rude mannerisms and just drank his tea in silence.

The people gathered in the small conference room were the three captains, Cantares, Arendt, and Jereon.

Finally, Jereon, who had also offered warm tea to Arendt, went to stand behind Cantares.

The Crown Prince spoke first.

“So… what on earth did you do?”

“What did I do?”

“What did you do? You did it from beginning to end, you punk. You even made a threatening note and dragged the captains to that place, and then that guy in the mine popped out.”

Cantares eventually growled fiercely at Arendt, whose smiling face looked so annoying.

“That guy, he was in relatively good condition until he reached where the people were. Then he suddenly vomited blood and collapsed. There were more than one or two witnesses, so how can you explain that?”

“Tch.”

“Don’t click your tongue.”

Now that it had come to this, there seemed to be no way out. It was not like they could sew all the mouths of the witnesses shut.

Besides, he had a deal with Laius.

“He tried to use the artifact and it completely turned his stomach inside out. It was his own fault.”

Arendt summarized it simply:

“The Unquenchable Heart. If that were a real artifact, I thought they would come to retrieve it.”

Of course, he threw in a little bit of lies.

“And if they really did come, I figured it was most likely going to be the guy in the mine. He made a huge mistake by allowing the mine to be taken away, so it was obvious he’d want to make up for it.”

Up to this point, it was a story that Arthur knew as well.

“And I thought maybe he had the artifact. I know they have a few more like it in their possession.”

Arendt leaned back against the chair, crossing his arms.

“Of those artifacts, the one most suitable for battle was the one used for this incident. The name of the artifact is the Eyes of the Ruler. It has the ability to control people and golems as it pleases.”

“I see. So Baron Cromwell…”

Kendrick muttered quietly.

Arendt nodded slightly and continued.

“So I asked Lord Neumann and Count Stadler to prepare something that could counter it. I asked Lord Neumann to hand it out at the entrance of the mansion, but it seems Baron Cromwell already fell to the power of the artifact.”

“Was it the brooch that was given at the entrance to use instead of an entry pass?”

This time it was Diana who asked.

“Yes, it was that one. The decorations on it were made from byproducts from the magic stone mine. Count Stadler himself made them.”

“But how did they protect the people from the power of the artifact?”

“Artifacts operate by directly interfering with magical power.”

Arendt responded simply:

“Besides, since the thing he had was the ability to control the magical powers of humans, golems, and ghouls… I thought they might be able to block an attack or two.”

A finger wearing the Frosty Touch popped out and pointed at himself.

“Compared to normal people, you and I are more like walking balls of magic.”

“That’s… that’s right.”

Although the description was a bit strange, Cantares nodded for now.

“But for ordinary people, they are different from us, so the magic power contained in the byproducts from the mine was enough.”

That is, they acted as shields.

“It was along the same lines of the reason I gave you all the magic stones in advance. That mere accessory wouldn’t have been enough to hide the knights’ magic power.”

It was the same logic that a small person could hide themselves with just a small shield, but a large person would need a larger and stronger shield.

“If it was someone as skilled as the captain or senior Richt, it would have been okay without the magic stone, but that wasn’t the case for the other three. It would have been dangerous if they were exposed to the artifact with their bare bodies.”

Kendrick nodded vaguely.

“He was going to control our bodies, but instead, the magic energy bounced off and tore his body apart. Did you know this would happen from the beginning and led him to where the people were?”

“If you operate the artifact without considering the consequences while your eyes are turned away, you will inevitably end up like that.”

If it had only been a few people, then it would have been fine, but if the artifact had been used on so many people at the same time and the backlash had been reflected; even Vincent would not have been safe.

Arendt shrugged.

“Of course I didn’t expect him to break the floor. I thought it was a good thing he was running towards the crowd, so I just gave him a little push.”

Vincent must have been convinced that his judgment was not wrong when he saw the urgent look on Arendt’s face in that split second, not knowing that it was a shortcut to the pit of hell.

Diana let out a weary voice as she tried to put the series of events in chronological order.

“What a scary guy…”

“I was just quite lucky. It was nothing special.”

Arendt summarized it as usual, as if it were really nothing special.

A look of silent reproach fell upon him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Okay, okay. Anyway…”

Kendrick waved his hand as if he was tired and opened his eyes slightly.

“It seems like you have some really interesting stuff, let’s take a look…”

“No. I won’t show you.”

Arendt quickly hid his hands behind his back.

Kendrick backed away meekly, his lips licking his lips in regret.

“Yeah, that’s a secret too.”

“It seems like this kid is using it everywhere, even though he said he was going to hide it.”

“There’s no need to not use what I have. I’d be dead without it.”

A short grumble returned to Cantares’ teasing addition.

Diana chuckled.

“Don’t worry, Sir Benjamin and Sir Helen didn’t seem to notice. The body has already been disposed of.”

“I wanted to see the face under that pervert’s mask at least once, but it’s too bad.”

Even as he responded like that, Arendt felt a brief sense of relief inside.

After Laius performed an autopsy, Vincent’s body was taken to the palace and examined once more. During the process, the scars left by the Frosty Touch were also clearly exposed.

It was only natural that Kendrick and Diana noticed the existence of the artifact Arendt had.

‘I was worried that they might confiscate it.’

For example, they might’ve said that they couldn’t entrust dangerous items to an apprentice knight, but fortunately, it was only a worry, and they didn’t seem to have any such intentions.

It was Cantares’ voice that brought his mind back to reality from his momentary reverie.

“Okay. Anyway, since I know the gist of it, I guess we should move on to the next topic.”

Cantares, who had been silent for a moment with a trembling face, changed the subject.

“The nobles who attended the auction are protesting and are asking what the identity of the enemy who suddenly appeared is. I think now is our chance, but what about you all?”

“An opportunity…”

Kendrick nodded slowly, following his words.

“It must have been engraved in the minds of others by now that the rebels considered the Empire their enemy.”

“I think so too. Besides, most of their plans so far have been thwarted by that guy.”

Diana then answered in the same way.

Her gaze briefly fell on Arendt, and then left.

“I think now is the right time. Our troops’ morale will not be shaken, and this incident may help raise their sense of alertness.”

“What about Captain Laius?”

“…My opinion does not differ from the two of you. The enemy’s movements are becoming more and more bold, so we need to respond accordingly.”

Laius , who had been silent for a moment, slowly opened his mouth as if he was being cautious.

“Marquis Grieg and his group have been sorted out, but I believe it is right to disclose some of the information that has been kept confidential in order to identify any remaining spies.”

As of now, only some of the Imperial Knights and Cantares were directly involved in dealing with them. In most cases, Arendt was the only one who ran around and sometimes even ran ahead to achieve victory.

No matter what anyone said, it was an undesirable situation. It was time to start asking for cooperation from others.

Cantares nodded with satisfaction.

“If that’s what you all think… good, this court meeting will be crucial. Perhaps it will be a chance to clear away the stigma that has yet to be washed away.”

“The stigma? Ah…”

Arendt, who had been absentmindedly following the Crown Prince’s words, belatedly let out a short exclamation.

“Because there are still annoying people who don’t look kindly on you. There are quite a few who still have their doubts.”

“I don’t think the reason they look at Arendt with such disapproval is simply because of suspicion.”

“…”

“What should we do about that temper?”

There was a brief silence after Diana’s precise point.

After a while, Cantares coughed a few times for no reason.

“Anyway, that’s not the important thing. From now on, the situation will change. It will probably start to boil over inside the palace. There may be conflicts, big or small. No, there definitely will be. So…”

The Crown Prince’s voice slightly subsided. But there was someone who poured cold water on the atmosphere that was finally becoming serious.

“So you’re telling me to at least prepare myself mentally? Why are you putting so much weight on something so trivial?”

“…”

He was an incredibly arrogant apprentice knight.

Cantares tapped his forehead with a loud sound.

“I don’t expect much from those who are used to desk-bound administration. It would be like poking a hornet’s nest. There will be people who blame us, and there will be many who come to me to pick on me. It would be scary to speak directly to the division chiefs or the King.”

Arendt shrugged his shoulders, regardless.

“But originally, you can’t catch fish in water that is too clear. You have to go into a clean stream with bare feet and make it muddy.”

A slightly ill-tempered smile appeared on his face, which had always been indifferent.

“I think I’ll catch some fish while playing in the water.”

It was unclear how things would play out from there, but one thing was certain.

There was nothing wrong with what Diana said earlier.

Unless something is done about that temper, the day will never come when the palace will be at peace.

Forever.