In the extravagant imperial palace, the sound of footsteps echoed continuously through the office.

A blonde girl, the third princess of the Empire, anxiously paced back and forth, her face betraying her worry.

“How on earth did things get so tangled up?”

Despite waiting endlessly, she received no word from her older brother. Was he even alive? One had to wonder.

Sudden radio silence.

Others, however, seemed perfectly calm about the situation.

The reason was simple. With the Swordmaster and even the former Hero’s companions mobilized, and on top of that, he himself was a great mage! The power at their disposal was enough to wipe out any kingdom that was reputed to rival the Empire in an instant.

It made much more sense that the first prince had deliberately gone into hiding for some reason rather than being defeated by someone.

She understood that too.

After all, he had mentioned having a means to deal with the Black Fangs and was likely plotting something.

Yet, that understanding didn’t ease her anxiety.

“I’m seriously losing my mind here.”

She felt it. Something was off.

What if her brother’s absence meant he had been taken down by the Black Fangs?

“Is your head just for decoration? That guy wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for that. If anything went wrong, he would’ve definitely sent word.”

The annoying gorilla chimed in, but as ridiculous as that seemed, there was no telling what could happen.

Perhaps the Black Fangs were so powerful that he had no time to alert anyone… That was a leap even she hesitated to take.

But there was a possibility—an agent in the royal family could have blocked a distress signal.

“That’s a relief. If you’d received that, you would’ve been fooled for sure.”

Despite hearing such explanations, the gorilla dismissed it and vanished after giving her a deep sigh.

But she couldn’t shake the unease like her second brother could so easily.

If indeed the first prince was taken down, that corpse puppet would be unreachable.

That would fall right into her hands as a failure of management.

Imagining the consequences of losing such a strategic weapon made her shudder.

Her support base was already flimsy enough as it was.

A rogue.

That was the only way to describe her chaotic personality compared to her more accomplished siblings.

And now, compounded with the radical rise of the second prince’s faction and the support of the Empire’s Intelligence Agency, things were not looking good.

Even recently, for some bizarre reason, Valzar had broken neutrality and was backing Renya, making that guy’s stock skyrocket.

Naturally, her support base was being absorbed into her second brother’s without any resistance.

But what if a disaster struck now?

All her efforts would turn to ashes. She would surely fall.

“…No.”

Her trembling hands betrayed her panic.

With a pale face, the girl muttered, “That can’t happen.”

Losing power itself was not the problem. She never craved for power in the first place; it was a burden.

But she needed a force to protect her. Not for power, but for her survival.

With a pained expression, she clenched her teeth.

Lately, the frequency of her seizures had increased.

Again, she could hear that voice.

Yelling something obnoxious. Simultaneously, the illusion magic she had crafted began to falter.

Golden hair, shining like the sun.

In other words, a symbol of the imperial family.

That was now futilely darkening.

The forced coloring was fading away.

Ten years ago, her father had said:

She was cursed. Her different hair color was why.

Whether that was true or not, who could say?

Was she truly under a curse, or was it merely a lie to cover up an illegitimate child?

What the hell was that damn voice, and why was it adamantly dismantling her illusion magic?

There was nothing she could deduce.

Even if she wanted to consult someone, she couldn’t call for help.

She couldn’t invite anyone close; she could not confide in anyone about her plight.

…The young girl silently wept alone once again today, hiding her fragile self.

*

In the midst of some adults blubbering nonsense like, “This is the promised land from the scriptures!” we managed to arrive safe and sound at our destination.

The underground city.

A place concealed even more deeply than this already secretive locale.

When I tapped what looked like a plain wall, red light scanned my iris and revealed a secret passage.

We arrived at this conference room.

As soon as I stepped into the dim space, torches erupted into flame, revealing a scene that could rival the Demon King’s castle.

The dark atmosphere, especially with that gigantic throne chair giving off intense vibes.

“What the dwarves think of me, I can’t even imagine.”

Security may have been important, but interiors were clearly not high on their list of priorities. If I had known it would be like this, I would have at least offered them a sample.

There’s a limit to the extravagance.

How the heck am I supposed to hold a meeting sitting alone in that high and mighty throne?

There was only one chair, meaning everyone else had to stand while I looked down at them.

How is a meeting even supposed to happen in such a setting?

I let out a sigh as I conjured some ordinary round tables and chairs.

They’re not suited for battle, but I can at least conjure something like roots.

“A round table. A place of equality. My lord should step down from the throne and hold eye-level discussions….”

Lucy was gazing at me with adoration, continuing to ramble on.

If I left it like this, who knows how far her enthusiasm would go, so I interrupted her and got right to the point.

“I brought you all here to discuss the retrieval of the Saintess.”

As Lucy continued her theatrical praises, the representative of the clergy chimed in.

Cardinal Dominic turned pale at the mention of the Saintess, and the reactions from the others weren’t much different.

I explained what I had witnessed.

The fate of the former Hero and the whereabouts of Saint Yuli, now left alone.

“How could a servant of the gods commit such vile acts….”

The Cardinal’s face twisted in horrid disbelief, and it wasn’t only the clergy that was agitated.

Even Ruby, who typically remained composed during operations, was momentarily frazzled.

Here, it was only Siel and Lien who seemed unaffected.

Siel was always a bit dazed, while Lien simply didn’t fully comprehend the information yet.

Overall, it was a situation that left everyone flustered.

But I pressed on with my explanation.

“Yuli is likely at the palace, having lost her memory. She probably has the status of a royal now.”

To the emperor, everyone was just a pawn in a game of chess.

Yet because of that, it was likely the emperor hadn’t brought any harm to Yuli.

No one acts out their grievances on mere pawns.

Based on that dialogue, it seemed Yuli was far more crucial than expected. Thus, she must have been kept close and watched over.

Trapping her somewhere and treating her poorly would only risk her committing suicide in despair or awakening her powers, potentially creating trouble.

It would be far more efficient to keep her nearby, protected, and under control.

Of course, this was all speculation.

Yuli could be locked away in a dungeon, or the emperor might have brought her into the palace under the guise of a handmaiden rather than his daughter.

But nevertheless, the tasks at hand remained unchanged.

“We need a way to infiltrate the palace.”

Regardless, contact with her required us to illegally enter the palace.

Everyone’s faces grew grim.

And rightfully so. We were talking about the very palace where the Emperor resided.

“How about utilizing Valzar, who is already embedded?”

Ruby pondered aloud, but it was not a feasible plan.

“Given current suspicion, if we poke around any further, we will definitely be discovered.”

Valzar was weak at the moment.

No matter how skilled he was in utilizing the soul essence, it was no easy feat for someone without strength to mimic a Swordmaster.

He had been avoiding battles and shunning displays of power, consequently building suspicion.

For some reason, the second prince seemed to be shielding him, having managed to slip through until now. But if we suddenly started stirring things up, we would surely be caught. An emperor of his caliber would see through any deception, so discretion was a must.

“If the first prince gets involved, we might truly find our situation irreversible. It also poses too great of a risk.”

The first prince’s mental fortitude was formidable; it would take more time to insert a fake among the likes of Valzar.

Having gone silent for a stretch, the sudden reappearance of someone after a period of radio silence would surely raise suspicions. If fake Valzar were to be discovered…

The Empire was no fool.

They would surely recognize that the first prince had been dealt with similarly.

A terrorist organization like the Black Fangs planting a trap was entirely different from a prince being killed in their hands.

There was a chance that we might have to confront a potential final boss with no preparations whatsoever.

“…….”

Silence.

Heavy silence hung in the conference room.

It was, in a sense, expected.

After all, we were talking about infiltrating the imperial family itself, the imperial palace no less.

If entering that domain to face the royals directly were easy, it would be bizarre.

In the end, the meeting fizzled out. The consensus was to return and brainstorm alternative solutions.

Or so I thought.

Someone raised their hand as if they had something to say.

…It was Lien.

She opened her mouth and spoke up.

“I’m not exactly sure if I understood correctly… But to contact the royalty, we need to have a position like a knight guarding Valzar, right?”

“Um… that’s correct.”

Though the problem was we couldn’t currently utilize Valzar. I was about to elaborate that point when Lien asked me outright.

“Then couldn’t we simply become knights of the Empire?”

What a completely random suggestion.

While I was thrown off, Lien presented me with a piece of paper.

A notice for the knight exam.

Set for tomorrow’s date.

However, just passing this test wouldn’t guarantee becoming a knight. Swordmaster-level ability was required to become a royal guard.

So this was nothing but nonsense…

‘…Wait a second.’

Is this actually not such a ridiculous idea?

My identity wasn’t known.

Even if I strutted into the examination hall, nobody would realize who I was.

What if I gave it my all in that exam?

Would the greedy Empire let someone with my level of talent slip through their fingers?

‘Of course, they would try to shackle me.’

But most of their restraints could be neutralized by my traits.

So when you put it all together…

‘…This might actually be doable?’

Becoming the Empire’s Swordmaster.

Perhaps this was a title worth aiming for.