CH 48.1

People walked hurriedly towards the nearby palace. The dazzling appearance of the beginning of the play was gone, and everyone was covered in dirt and looked messy.

Collen, Jade and I were also caught up in the crowd.

‘It’s quite a distance to the palace.’

My legs are already hurting from this walk. But that thought was only fleeting, as all I could think about was this incident.

‘Surely, there’s someone behind this strange incident. I need more information.’

Countless “why’s” floated around in my head. “Why today?” “Why a theater?” “Did I really kill Lavigne?” “What happened to Lavigne?”

‘Poor Ravine.’

Did someone really swap the knife with magic? Why? How?

My head was spinning. Several ideas came to mind.

‘Which hypothesis is closest to the truth?’

One hypothesis began to emerge in my mind.

‘Because I saw the twins’ past, I was able to detect the murders in the incident with Ledin and Leon.’

I’m not sure what this ability is, but there may be ideas that only I, who knows the location of the secret passage, can think of.

‘I need more information.’

I pulled on Collen’s sleeve.

“Dad, I feel dizzy. I can’t walk.”

“I understand.”

Collen immediately hugged and lifted me up. I whispered in Collen’s ear.

“Dad, the whole scene was captured in magic stones. Is there any way to see the recorded footage?”

“It’s impossible. The guy who filmed the surveillance stone ran away during the incident. Luckily, we recovered one or two, but… the magic is distorted, so it will take a long time to restore the footage. At least a month.”

Collen pointed to the wizard Yoan, who was walking wobbly, clutching the only remaining surveillance stone like a treasure.

Hmm. As expected.

Although surveillance stones in this world are very valuable, they are not as convenient as CCTV in my previous life.

‘I don’t have the luxury of waiting for a month.’

If the interrogation starts, I might actually be tortured. Not only me, but also the servants and maids will be investigated. Someone might even be falsely accused.

I have no choice but to go to the scene myself.

‘I have to find the knife, the evidence.’

I tightly gripped Collen’s shoulder.

“Dad, do you believe me?”

“Of course.”

The answer came back incredibly quickly, and it was a precise answer. I felt my heart warming up and spoke.

“Please take me back to that secret passage. There’s something I want to check. And if possible, I want to go back to the theater.”

“To the burning place?”

“Yes. If someone has manipulated this, we need to confirm the evidence first.”

“Okay.”

Collen gave Jade a glance. Jade was silently watching us as he walked.

“Did you read his lips?”

Collen whispered. Then he gestured towards the direction of the king to Jade.

“Hurry up. It’s operation number 3.”

“…Ask Zion to do that.”

Zion? Why is our butler there? And what is operation number 3?

“For your little sister. Behave yourself, Jade.”

Jade bit his lips. He looked slightly annoyed, but he nodded his head.

“What, I’ll do it for Leticia’s sake.”

Then Jade hurriedly approached the king with quick steps.

“Your Majesty, I have something to say.”

“What is it, kid? Now?”

“No matter how much I think about it, it seems like my younger sister has been caught up in an unjust situation. There seems to be a need to request separate protective observation. I’m too angry.”

“Little boy! What are you doing? Calm down!”

The king spat out, seeming annoyed.

“Little boy?”

Then Jade fainted. Literally collapsed.

I shut my mouth. And then I realized that this was Dad’s Operation 3.

‘Operation 3 is the fainting operation.’

…Does Collen usually make Zion do things like this?