It clearly instructed him to be on the balcony promptly at midnight, where someone would come to meet him.

  From the letter alone, one thing was crystal clear: Lord Crawford, the Minister of State, had been threatened with something that endangered his life. And this was no mere verbal threat—it was a tangible, imminent danger. Otherwise, he never would have followed the letter’s instructions so obediently.

  Most importantly, there was one final warning at the end of the letter—

  Beware of old acquaintances.

  "Old acquaintances......"

  Hulim Heyerar mused for a moment.

  "So that’s why. Even though he crumpled the letter into a ball, he didn’t tear it up. Did he hope that if something happened to him, this letter would serve as crucial evidence for the investigation?"

  "But......" Alicia Serions said skeptically, "isn’t this letter ultimately just a trap to lure him out? Can we even trust its contents?"

  "We can. Precisely because it’s credible, he followed every word to the letter. The real question is—the true intention of whoever wrote this letter is unclear."

  Why......

  Why would the writer deliberately include such a line, knowing full well it might point back to them?

  It was almost as if they’d worded it that way specifically to make Crawford hold onto the letter!

  This was getting more and more convoluted. Beneath this single letter, there were undoubtedly several factions with conflicting agendas locked in a silent power play.

  "Ms. Martina, did you find anything else during the search?"

  "Yes, Lady Hulim. After questioning Lord Crawford’s guards, we learned that this letter was delivered to him by an adventurer acting on behalf of someone called ‘The Balance’."

  The Balance?

  Was that a code name......

  Hulim thought for a moment, then glanced at the letter again.

  "Acquaintances, huh...... It’s entirely possible that the one who pulled the trigger was exactly the kind of ‘old acquaintance’ the letter warned about."

  "Alicia, who do you think could be powerful enough to ensure that the Minister of State would never return to the city? There can’t be many people in the empire with that kind of influence, can there?"

  "Few? More like only a handful......"

  "Only a handful?"

  Hulim immediately understood what she meant.

  "Which faction does Crawford belong to?"

  "He’s loyal to my fourth sister, Felena Serions...... And there’s another thing—now that Crawford is dead, the person who will take over his position as Minister of State is a subordinate of my eldest brother, Drehack Serions."

  "......No way."

  "Exactly what you’re thinking."

  This was trouble. It was another political power struggle.

  Hulim couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. This case was going to be far more tangled than she’d initially thought.

  "But still—resorting to such underhanded tactics that cross the unspoken rules of the game...... Even Father won’t be able to ignore this, will he?"

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "No. Father will definitely personally oversee the investigation into this matter."

  Alicia replied with absolute certainty.

  "If things continue like this, the conflict between the First Prince and the Fourth Princess will escalate to an unprecedented level. But that’s none of our business. Our only goal remains the same—"

  "To uncover the full truth behind this assassination."

  "First, we need to get to the bottom of Crawford’s own secrets. What exactly did he do to incur such a deadly threat—and why did he dare not speak a word of it to anyone?"

  "There might be clues hidden in his residence. And......"

  "Alicia, I need you to do me a favor. Investigate whether there’s anyone in the First Prince’s faction who was once close to Crawford—and who is also a wind-elemental mage."

  "Of course. Wait—what?"

  Alicia blinked in confusion.

  "Wind-elemental? Only wind-elemental? But Crawford was killed by an ice projectile, wasn’t he?"

  "That’s right. Only wind-elemental!"

  Hulim affirmed firmly.

  "The assassin came fully prepared, but they made one fatal mistake."

  "I heard the sound of the magical attack clearly that night. It wasn’t just a simple ice projectile spell—it was an attack boosted by wind magic!"

  "But afterward, when I examined the crime scene, I only found traces of ice-elemental magic. There were no traces of wind-elemental magic at all—even though there should have been."

  "That means......"

  Alicia instantly realized the implication.

  "Precisely."

  Hulim nodded.

  "That ice projectile wasn’t a spell cast by the assassin. It was created by someone else. The assassin brought it to the scene by some means, then used their own wind magic to launch it, delivering the killing blow."

  "Their plan was to divert our investigation toward the owner of that ice-elemental magic. That’s why they left the ice magic traces exposed, while completely concealing their own wind magic traces."

  "But they overlooked one thing—if a single person had cast both spells, there would have been no reason to hide one type of magical trace while leaving the other exposed."

  "After all, when it comes to magical traces—exposing even one type is enough to reveal the caster’s identity......"

  "So if we follow the ice-elemental magic lead, we’ll most likely end up hitting a dead end, won’t we?"

  "Exactly. Because——"

  "That person who created the ice projectile is probably already dead by now......"

  ......

  News of the assassination of Lord Crawford, the Minister of State, spread like wildfire through the upper echelons of Langard, sending shockwaves through the entire court.

  The Emperor issued a royal decree ordering a full-scale investigation into the matter—and set a strict deadline for solving the case.

  This turn of events was undoubtedly extremely unfavorable for Hulim and the others. If they failed to catch the real culprit before the deadline expired, Filkorn Billing would truly be doomed.

  At the same time, in the palace of Felena Serions, the Fourth Princess......

  "......"

  The atmosphere in the grand hall was so heavy it could have been cut with a knife.

  Because Felena was truly enraged.

  Her eyes blazed with a fury so intense it seemed to spill over.

  CRASH——!

  With a deafening bang, the table beside her was reduced to splinters.

  "That bastard Theodore...... How dare he do this!!!"

  "Your Highness, please calm yourself!"

  "Calm down? I can’t calm down! He dared to kill my man! Let Drehack reap the benefits if he wants to! Right now, I only want to tear that bastard apart!!!"

  "This......"

  The royal advisor, a powerful magus, sighed helplessly. He knew there was no dissuading her now. He bowed deeply and said:

  "As you command, Your Highness."

  When words of counsel fell on deaf ears, their only duty was to execute her orders without question.

  "Listen to me, all of you——!"

  Felena stood up abruptly.

  Her cold, piercing gaze swept across every person in the hall, then she roared at the top of her lungs:

  "From this moment on, cease all attacks on Drehack! Pour all our strength into crushing that bastard Theodore——!!!"

  "Yes, Your Highness!!!"

  A unified chorus of voices echoed through the hall.

  ......

  In the palace of Theodore Serions, the Third Prince......

  "Hehehehe~!"

  Theodore lounged lazily on his throne, swirling a glass of the finest wine in the world in his hand.

  "I eliminated a traitor, turned the foolish Felena against Drehack, and even dragged Alicia into trouble. Talk about killing three birds with one stone~! Oh right, I also got rid of Crawford—that’s four birds with one stone!"

  Theodore took a slow, satisfied sip of his wine, a smirk playing on his lips.

  "That guy calling himself ‘The Investor’ might not have pure intentions, but he sure does have some skills. Maybe I’ll spare his life later~......"

  "Though speaking of which—why hasn’t he come to report to me this time? Normally, he’d be here bragging about his achievements the moment he succeeded."

  As Theodore pondered where "The Investor" might be,

  "Your Highness! It’s an emergency!"

  A subordinate came stumbling into the hall, his face ashen with panic.

  "Your Highness, disaster has struck!"

  Theodore frowned in annoyance.

  "Stop panicking! What’s wrong?"

  "Your Highness—Princess Felena has declared full-scale war on us! All the attacks that were originally targeting the First Prince have been redirected to us!!!"

  "What did you say?!"

  CRUNCH!

  Theodore crushed the wine glass in his hand, shards of crystal cutting into his palm. Red wine dripped onto the floor.

  "That’s impossible!"

  "Where is ‘The Investor’?! Where is he! Go! Find him for me—now!!!"

  "Y-Yes, Your Highness! Right away!"