Recently, the Empress was feeling uneasy.

Even today, it was the same. Ever since she prohibited contact with unidentified women, her husband had rarely spent time at the palace.

According to Haria, he was now using all his leftover time on Hound duties since he wasn’t spending it holding women.

Of course, this was a good thing for Marianne as well. Regardless of how Isaac came to lead the Hounds, the smoother their operations, the fewer conflicts that would arise within the Imperial government and the palace.

“But why doesn’t he come to see me?”

Throwing her tired body onto the bed after barely finishing her work for the day, a wave of strong dissatisfaction suddenly struck Marianne.

She paused.

Earlier that day, her legal husband Isaac had visited the Imperial Palace. As protocol dictated, any entry into the palace by Isaac was automatically reported to Marianne.

When she heard he was here, Marianne assumed that his patience had finally worn thin. Not that she intended to do anything special for him—but at least she figured she could lend him an ear as a conversation partner.

It just so happened that she was planning to take a short break herself. Really, it was nothing more than a coincidence.

But he didn’t come to see her.

On the contrary, he had quickly finished his business and left again without even sparing her a glance.

Just as with his entry, news of Isaac’s departure was also automatically relayed to Marianne.

When she heard he’d left so indifferently, Marianne—who rarely showed such behavior—had sat there blankly, staring at the empty air.

“No matter how I think about it, he’s deliberately ignoring me.”

Lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling, Marianne mumbled to herself. She knew it was irrational for her to get angry at him for ignoring her after she had sent him to his death.

And yet, she was increasingly consumed by her tangled and messy emotions.

“If he simply disappeared from sight, I wouldn’t care at all. But the fact that he keeps hovering around, just barely in my view—doesn’t that feel like he’s deliberately trying to catch my attention?”

If Isaac had heard her now, he would have applauded her for her creativity and vigorously denied such an absurd thought. But to Marianne, her theory seemed entirely plausible.

In truth, this belief was a product of the environment in which she was raised.

Her grandfather had fallen from grace after being punished for offering honest counsel to the tyrant. Her parents, in turn, attempted to avenge him and were killed in the process.

And she? She trained her strength, sharpened her wisdom, and gained knowledge to seek revenge and to protect her last remaining precious relative—her younger sister.

…Though that sister turned out far more wayward than anyone could have predicted.

Regardless, Marianne knew her own exceptional talents. She had always been remarkably intelligent from a young age and possessed the ability to focus solely on her goals, ignoring everything else.

In short, she lacked certain things. Not only was she devoid of love or affection, but she also had no experience of developing the innocent fondness that children often feel toward someone or something.

So she didn’t know.

She had no idea how to deal with a man who was starting to occupy her thoughts—even slightly.

“Fine. Tomorrow, I’ll summon him myself and see how he reacts.”

She didn’t even know what reaction she wanted to see. She was simply bothered by the fact that the same man who had been so obsessed with women seemed to regard her as nothing.

Resolving herself with this conclusion, her mind finally allowed her body to rest. Thanks to that, Marianne fell into a deep sleep.

But by the next morning, she was forced to abandon her plan.

“Repeat that.”

“Three Imperial mages from the palace were found dead, Your Majesty.”

“….”

Marianne felt a sharp pain in her head.

It seemed today would require another all-nighter.

I resisted the urge to clutch my throbbing head as I spoke.

“Don’t worry, Gilbert. There are other mages assigned to the palace besides them.”

I said this to reassure Gilbert, who was supposed to officially retire from the Hounds today. However, the man in question shook his head and replied firmly.

“No, I can’t believe this is just a coincidence. I want this to be my final task before I retire.”

I felt gratitude toward Gilbert for his composed response. Truthfully, since I had already agreed to let him retire, I wouldn’t have had much to say even if he insisted on staying out of it.

And yet, Gilbert insisted on properly seeing this case through to its end before he left. To be honest, he was right.

Because, as Gilbert said, this incident could not possibly be a coincidence. Turning to Haria, who stood behind me, I asked:

“Where are Derrygan, Damus, and Garel?”

“As per your orders, they’re guarding Gilbert’s house, sir.”

The moment I heard the news that three Imperial mages had been found murdered, I immediately sent three of the Hounds with the highest combat skills to guard Gilbert’s house.

Given the blatant timing of the attack, it was highly likely that the next target would be Gilbert’s family.

If something happened to his wife or daughter, not only would Gilbert be devastated, but it would also deal a fatal blow to the morale of the entire Hound unit.

Fortunately, both Gilbert and his family were safe. I had ordered Gilbert to stay with his family, but he still insisted on returning to the base and taking part in the mission.

“The enemy is strong enough to have killed Imperial mages. Everyone, don’t let your guard down.”

Given the gravity of the situation, all of the Hounds had been summoned. Even those outside the base had returned on their own before I could call them.

And, as if to prove they deserved the name Hounds, they had gathered information remarkably quickly.

Among them, Coil and Boros—whose primary roles were information gathering—had moved ahead even before I gave any orders. They had already compiled all relevant information and distributed it to me and the rest of the Hounds.

“None of the three mages had any notable enemies.”

“Their residences and movements were all unrelated as well.”

“In fact, aside from being affiliated with the palace, there’s no other commonality between them.”

If we had to identify a common trait, it would be that all three had exceptional abilities worthy of serving the Imperial Palace. But that detail wasn’t particularly important at the moment.

“Gilbert, do you know anyone who might hold a grudge against you?”

“Not many people know my identity, but given the nature of our work, I have mountains of enemies.”

“That’s to be expected. What I mean is, do any of them have the skill to kill three Imperial mages in a single night?”

At my question, Gilbert paused to think, scratching his head after a moment.

“I’m sorry. I know a few who are strong, but no one who could pull this off.”

“Don’t apologize. If you had antagonized someone that powerful, you wouldn’t be standing here.”

“That’s true.”

Satisfied with Gilbert’s answer, I turned to Boros.

“Boros, what’s the status of the security forces and the city guard?”

“The former seem to understand this isn’t their jurisdiction, so they’re staying out of it. The city guard immediately requested help from the Mage Academy and are investigating, but when I left, they didn’t seem to have made any progress.”

It was unsurprising that the city’s security force, who usually dealt with petty crimes, would keep their heads down. But it was unexpected that the Mage Academy had failed to find anything.

“The mages were killed last night, and their bodies were discovered at dawn. And yet, it’s now well into the afternoon, and there’s still nothing?”

“Yes. My informant promised to let me know if anything turned up, but since I haven’t heard anything yet…”

I had hoped that the city guard might resolve this on their own, sparing us the trouble. But clearly, things weren’t going to go that smoothly.

At that moment, Gina raised her hand cautiously and asked:

“Um, I know this might be a bit late to ask, but… are we even allowed to get involved?”

At her words, the other Hounds turned to look at me. Their stares held an unspoken question: Did we even have the authority to intervene?

I nodded in response.

“Of course we do. Oh, right—I forgot to tell you. As long as I take responsibility, the Hounds now have independent operational authority.”

“What?!”

“Since when?!”

“Wait a minute, I haven’t heard about this either!”

What did my subordinates think I’d been doing holed up in the commander’s office all this time?

As a prince by birth, I despised asking for permission to act.

Sure, when it came to tactics, I listened to my advisors and followed their plans to ensure victory. But there was a world of difference between following expert advice and asking for permission to move.

So, whenever I had time, I had been gathering leverage under the pretense of negotiations. The documents scattered around the commander’s office were practically a mountain of treasure.

Since I’d spent less time chasing women recently, I managed to secure independent operational authority from the Imperial government and my legal wife much sooner than planned.

“How did Her Majesty and the officials agree to that?”

“Well, it wasn’t just that. Did you think I destroyed Dia Rose so dramatically for nothing?”

“Ah…”

As with any negotiation, the meaning of your words depended entirely on who was saying them. And I knew well enough that threatening or negotiating without power was nothing but a suicidal move.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“I forgot.”

While the other Hounds were talking, half in surprise and half in joy, Haria stood next to me, repeatedly poking me in the ribs to express her dissatisfaction.

It was nice to see her attitude toward me change, but it was a little troublesome that she now wanted to know everything I knew.

“In any case, since the likely target is Gilbert, this can be seen as an attack against the Hounds. That gives us more than enough reason to act.”

I then paired Gilbert with Boros and assigned Haria, Gina, and Coil as another team to investigate.

“If you encounter combat, don’t engage directly. You don’t need to get my permission—just contact the city guard for help.”

“What about you, Captain?”

“I’ll head to the scene with Selemin.”

Selemin nodded, as if she had expected this. She was the Hounds’ sole mage.

I wasn’t exactly sure how skilled she was, but she would definitely see far more than someone like me, who knew nothing about magic.

Not that this was the only reason I brought her along.

“We’ll regroup at the base in three hours. Remember, no unnecessary risks.”

As the Hounds dispersed from the base, Selemin said she needed to grab something and disappeared upstairs.

A few minutes later, she came down carrying a small bag, approached me, and said:

“All ready. Let’s go, brother-in-law.”

“…Call me Captain.”

Hearing the younger sister of my legal wife suddenly change her address the moment we were alone, I sighed deeply.