Episode 8
A few days later—
“Your Majesty, just as you predicted.”
In the Emperor’s office.
Merlin reported the news of the Woodrock official’s death.
“We locked him up in the dungeon just like you ordered, but he ended up dead.”
Merlin couldn’t help but be amazed by the emperor’s big-picture thinking.
“So that’s why you told me to loosen security… to see if someone would make a move.”
“That’s right. They didn’t know his tongue had been cut, so they rushed to kill him.”
To everyone else, it would just look like an accident caused by the emperor’s neglect and laziness.
“Only a few people knew about the missing tongue. Since nothing leaked, it proves that group is secure.”
Alastair smiled in satisfaction.
“Thanks to this, I’ve narrowed down the list of people I can trust. You and Miss Foy are safe.”
“And my knights too. They knew about the tongue, so they had no reason to kill the guy.”
They crossed off a few names from the list of suspects.
John Smith—aka Emperor Alastair Greenmeldi—fell into thought.
“So he was already dead when you checked the dungeon this morning.”
“Yes. It wasn’t poison. Someone broke in during the night and stabbed him with a sword.”
Even with loose security, assassinating someone in the palace was incredibly bold.
“It must’ve been a highly trained assassin. That would’ve cost a lot.”
Which meant the one who ordered it had serious money, power, and connections.
Someone wanted to shut the official up for good.
“They were scared he might reveal names, so they killed him before he could talk.”
Alastair sighed.
“The palace will be in chaos for a while.”
“Merlin, I’ve been watching the assistant office for days, but no one seemed suspicious.”
He had talked to everyone personally, asked about vacation plans, and looked for strange behavior—but nothing.
“A few are planning trips abroad, and three said they’re thinking about quitting.”
“Three people quitting?! That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Shh. Don’t poke the wound.”
Anyway, the killer was still unknown.
Even after checking everyone’s alibi, no one stood out.
“What about your background checks?”
“Yes. I did as you ordered. I looked into everyone in the assistant office.”
Merlin pulled out a notebook. It had full reports on the emperor’s colleagues.
The first name Alastair asked for, of course—
“Miss Rose Foy?”
As if he expected it, Merlin confidently opened the first page.
“Yes. Her family lost everything due to her grandfather’s gambling. They now live in an old house outside the city.”
“Gambling debts… that’s unfortunate.”
“That’s probably why she took the job. No one else wanted to work for a ‘missing’ emperor, but she stuck it out.”
Alastair’s long eyelashes trembled slightly. He knew not many would willingly work for someone like him.
“Merlin, are you sure she has no connection to Duke Davilport?”
“Absolutely sure. We sent out trusted agents to check. No ties at all.”
Alastair, who had been in a bad mood, looked visibly relieved.
No matter what happened, at least Rose Foy could be trusted.
He asked one last thing.
“Merlin, if someone’s superior died—say, the one giving them orders—what would the lower-level spy do?”
Like someone in the assistant office who had been changing the support fund numbers.
“They’d try to run away before getting caught.”
“Exactly. Let’s focus more on those planning vacations or resigning.”
Alastair, now recharged with disguise magic, left his office again.
No one was really working today or the day before.
“Why is that, I wonder?”
The sudden death of the Woodrock official had made the assistant office tense.
“Yeah… People said he was a good man.”
Only I knew the truth—that the dead man had stolen money. Mr. Smith told me personally.
So the others just thought a good official had died tragically.
“Could it be the Duke—”
“Shhh!”
Everyone kept shushing each other.
“Don’t say his name!”
What is he, Voldemort or something?
Even Mr. Smith had been extra busy lately.
Once he entered the emperor’s office, he’d be gone for a long time.
I wanted to ask what was happening, but I didn’t have time.
Even if I couldn’t focus, the paperwork never stopped.
“Miss Foy, accounting is asking for you.”
A junior assistant whispered to me. I dragged myself up to take on more work.
“Miss Foy, we’ll be sending over the support fund reports again, like before.”
Oh no! When am I supposed to sort all this?!
Thanks to all the work, I had to eat a sandwich for lunch.
My stomach, which lived for proper meals, felt betrayed.
While chewing sadly in the break room, I glanced at the clock.
“…Wait. Did Mr. Smith eat lunch today?”
I’d forgotten to ask him to eat with me.
“There’s no way he ate alone just because I wasn’t there… right?”
I stared at his empty seat for a while, then forced myself to focus on work.
“Miss Foy.”
Frisbee and Vernon came over, both looking serious.
“What is it?”
They nudged each other awkwardly. Vernon, the youngest in the office, finally spoke.
“While you were away, we were looking for the manual in your drawer and… we found something.”
He handed me a wrinkled ledger. It was crushed beyond recognition.
They were watching me carefully, like they expected me to freak out.
What on earth was going on?
Frisbee finally spoke.
“You’re usually the one who compiles the accounting ledgers, right?
So why was this one crushed and hidden in your drawer?”
It felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped over my head.
Had I made some kind of mistake?
“What is this? You found it in my drawer? Let me see it.”
But Vernon jumped in between us, like he didn’t want me touching it.
“The numbers on this ledger are different from the ones in your final report.
Can you explain?”
That surprised me even more.
Vernon’s voice got loud, and people started turning to look.
“Are you saying I forged records and lied?”
“What else could it be? Why else would you have this?”
If this went wrong, I could be labeled a criminal.
I forced myself to stay calm and explain.
“I have no idea what this is. I’ve never seen it before.
Why would I leave something that suspicious in plain sight?”
“Are you sure? It was in your drawer, and I started to wonder if maybe—”
Frisbee tried to step in, but Vernon cut him off.
“Maybe it’s just another excuse.
You were planning to deal with it later, but I found it first.”
His words stirred everyone up. My brain started spinning.
“Please explain.”
“I—”
“Miss Foy, it’s not true, right?”
“Vernon!”
He kept interrupting me. I couldn’t even talk.
And the more I struggled, the worse it looked.
“Why isn’t she saying anything?”
“Did she really fake the records?
Not many people have access to those ledgers…”
Most of the assistants were new, so they saw me as second-in-command.
Seeing their superior being accused was clearly shaking them.
“Wait, Vernon. Just let me explain!”
I paused.
Saying “I didn’t do it” over and over with no proof would just make me look guilty.
What should I say?
“Also, here’s the weird part.”
Vernon glared at me while opening the wrinkled ledger.
“The numbers are only wrong in the Woodrock reports.”
Of course. That region again.
“This is too convenient. Don’t you think it’s suspicious?”
I tried to protest, my palms sweating.
“No. I think it lines up too perfectly.
There’s more than enough evidence that you’re the one.”
Please. Someone shut him up.
Just let me explain.
It was getting harder to control the situation.
“What’s going on here?”
Just then, someone entered the office.
And the mood instantly changed.
To be continued…
