"..."

"It doesn't matter. Who'd care what she wants to do?"

In silence, the carriage rolled up to Violet County Manor.

Maur ditched Lilith, jumped down from the carriage, and headed straight inside.

Because of Evelyn's sleeping spell last night, every living thing in Violet County Manor had fallen asleep.

They didn't wake until noon.

There was no doubt about it. That abnormal situation had been caused by a high-level mage's spell.

Noble estates all had measures against low-level magic.

And because of Her Highness Athena's favor, Violet County Manor could even resist attacks from Lv4 magic.

At minimum, it would've taken a Lv5 sleeping spell to put the entire manor to sleep without the slightest resistance.

But what terrified the Violet Count even more was this—

Maur had vanished.

The Violet Count immediately sought an audience with Her Majesty and reported the matter.

Soon, after magical inspection and a series of investigations,

the royal investigation team concluded that Maur had been taken away by the Lv7 Legendary Spellcaster, the Forest Fey Evelyn, to attend the Initiate Festival.

He hadn't been abducted by anyone with ill intent.

The eldest son of Violet County Manor was not in mortal danger, and he was free to act on his own.

That point was confirmed by the Second Princess, Lilith.

Even so, the whole of Violet County Manor only came back to life after night fell and Maur finally returned safely.

That was because the Violet Count was an excessively quiet man.

Most of the time, he didn't care about anything in the manor, including Maur.

He never cared what Maur was doing, or what happened around him.

Only when Maur ran into trouble he couldn't solve would the Count appear, frown, settle the matter, and vanish again.

On the day Maur went missing, the Violet Count became even quieter.

He locked himself in his study for the entire day. The attendants didn't even dare breathe too loudly, afraid of provoking the unusually unsettled Count.

Only when he heard the attendants cheering that the young master had returned did the Violet Count walk to the window and stand there in silence behind the curtain for a while.

But very soon, he stepped away, as if he had never been there at all.

At least, Maur didn't notice him.

Maur was already used to the Violet Count's way of doing things.

After coming home, he didn't even think about explaining where he'd been today. He just went straight back to his room.

Daina was already waiting for him at the bedroom door.

"You're back, Young Master."

"Mm."

"Would you like dinner now?"

"Mm!"

Maur was actually starving today. The whole day, he'd only eaten one dessert at the maid café.

And it had been a dessert he totally didn't like!

But time had been tight, so he could only put up with it.

Now that he was finally home, of course he had to enjoy a proper dinner first.

Medium-rare grilled steak, brushed with delicious sauce;

fresh-baked bread, still carrying the warm scent of wheat;

and his favorite fresh mushroom soup, paired with a crisp fruit and vegetable salad...

After dinner, Maur sat down at his desk and began sorting through the information he'd gathered today.

Among the suspicious candidates he'd observed that afternoon, three freshmen matched the information Anne Campbell had given him.

Those three freshmen were:

[Magic Department freshman, Vera Rosa.]

This person was extremely skilled at making desserts, and she was good at building relationships with others. Though she was a foreigner, she was unexpectedly popular among the students.

The prophecy she received in the love fortune-telling hut was that she would find a romantic love in a foreign land.

And according to the reading, the person she'd fall in love with would be a great noble.

For a commoner to fall in love with a great noble and end up together in the end—it fit the heroine's profile very well.

Maur's second suspect was:

[General Studies freshman, Lydia Maran.]

This freshman was a genius at potion-making. As long as she had seen the brewing process once, she could reproduce it perfectly.

For potions below advanced rank, her success rate was said to be 100%!

Even for high-level potions, as long as she was told the formula, she could brew them with an extremely high success rate.

By now, she had already been accepted as the direct disciple of a Lv5 master potion expert from the General Studies Department.

The love prophecy this potion genius received was that no matter how difficult the process, it would ultimately bear the sweet fruit of love.

As for the final suspicious target:

[Warrior Department freshman, Agnes Novia Brook.]

This freshman was actually a princess from a neighboring country!

Though an illegitimate daughter.

But the prophecy from the love fortune-telling said, "Light will shine upon you."

That was why Maur said astrologers' divinations were basically meaningless.

Because just from the prophecies alone, all three of them looked suspicious.

"This still doesn't narrow it down at all!"

"But at least I've got suspects now. Next, I'll investigate the social networks of those three in detail."

If someone wanted to get close to Athena, they'd need a way in.

Especially now that he'd already sent Athena away, far from the Royal Capital.

As long as he figured out which of the three had social ties that could reach Athena,

that person would most likely be the heroine!

"Young Master, the bath is ready. You can wash up now."

Daina walked over to Maur's side and reminded him softly.

She saw the list Maur had written on the paper and naturally asked, "Who are these people? Do you need me to investigate them in detail?"

Maur nodded. "While the Initiate Festival is still going on, investigate those three thoroughly for me."

Daina's magic allowed her to hide within darkness, making her very hard to detect.

It made gathering information extremely convenient.

"Especially their social connections. Make sure you investigate those clearly."

After handing the follow-up investigation to Daina, Maur walked into the bathroom and started soaking in the bath.

He lay in the tub, his whole body immersed in warm water, and his mind gradually relaxed.

He'd only just fallen asleep last night before Evelyn abducted him, and today he'd been running around all day too. He was exhausted...

Maur grew drowsy.

Then suddenly—

Thud.

It was the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

"Daina!?"

Maur jolted awake and instinctively looked toward the source of the sound.

At the bathroom door, behind the half-open door, he could see Daina's black hair and part of her arm.

She was still holding the towel she'd meant to use to dry Maur off.

But now she had already lost consciousness, her body collapsed there.

"Daina!"

Maur shot up from the bathtub.

What happened? Is she feeling sick?

Or was she attacked by an enemy?

He reached for the clothes hanging beside the tub, but strange plants suddenly sprouted from the gaps in the bathroom floor.

They were vines.

They kept growing, winding sensuously up Maur's body, blooming with delicate pink-violet flowers.

The bathroom window was overtaken by vines too. They pushed it open, revealing the face of the Forest Fey, Evelyn.

"Good evening."

The fairy teacher greeted her student's naked body in a flat tone.

"Do you like the surprise I prepared for you?"