Turning

“Th-This, this is! I mean—!”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to blame you or mention what you just saw to anyone else.”

As if reading Kiole’s panicked mind, Kishiar spoke.

“I only came here to assist Yuder in ensuring your safety. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“......”

He even said that if Kiole wished, he’d swear it upon the name of la Orr. A royal oath sworn on the family name carried immense weight. It wasn’t something one brought up lightly, not even in jest. In the past, Kiole would’ve thought the Duke of Pelleta was joking because he didn’t understand the weight of such a vow. But not anymore.

Kiole clenched his fists tightly and calmed himself.

“Th-Thank you... I don’t need a la Orr oath. I know just how much help I’m receiving here... P-Please do as you wish, Cavalry Commander... sir.”

Calling the Duke of Pelleta “Commander” felt so awkward it was almost physically painful.

“Oh? Is that really alright with you?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

What was this? Why did he keep asking? Kiole’s eyes wavered in confusion before he tightly shut them.

“Y-Yes...!”

“Haha. In that case, the rest of us will wait outside the pergola. Now that we’ve confirmed the vault opened properly and there’s no threat to you, we’ve no reason to stay inside.”

“Take your time and inspect everything.” With a light tone, Kishiar turned and walked out.

By the time Kiole blinked in confusion, Kishiar had already exited the pergola, taking Yuder and Nathan with him.

‘...Did they really just leave?’

It seemed the only reason the three of them had entered the pergola in the first place was to confirm whether there was any real danger to Kiole once the vault opened.

And now that the threat had passed, they left without the slightest sign of lingering curiosity or regret about the secret vault.

‘I thought for sure they’d all want to stay and examine everything together...’

Wasn’t that the obvious thing to do? The feeling wasn’t just strange—it was downright absurd. Still, from Kiole’s perspective, being left to examine things on his own was somewhat of a relief.

After hesitating for a moment, Kiole reopened Pillar One. When he opened the chest of jewels again, the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} same brilliant light from earlier poured out.

‘Just as I thought...’

Earlier, he’d been too shocked to get a proper look. Now that he was seeing it clearly, he could finally understand what it was.

‘These are the jewels gifted to House Diarca. No doubt about it.’

As a collector, the Duke of Diarca received many rare jewels as gifts. But few met his aesthetic standards. Kiole had always believed that any gifts the Duke rejected had either been returned to the sender or donated. But clearly, that wasn’t the truth.

He’d always said that only greedy houses kept gifts they didn’t need. So... did that mean there was a reason to keep these?

Kiole looked down at the jewels with a somber face, then closed the chest and opened the lid of another one below it.

The second chest didn’t contain jewels, but several metal cards. Thin and luxurious, they were client certification cards—premium-grade passes issued by prestigious merchant associations with branches all over the continent.

Kiole only glanced at the issuing company name and moved on, but in truth, holding one of these cards meant he could freely access all the Duke’s dispersed assets entrusted to the respective merchant guilds across the continent. Along with the financial resources, it also granted access to the guilds’ personnel and logistics networks. In that sense, these were even more valuable than the jewels.

The third chest held stacks of paper. These were real estate documents—records that only the Duke himself would fully understand. As Kiole read through the endless listings of land and buildings, his jaw dropped.

Naturally, these exceeded the legal property limits allowed for noble houses. Perhaps the Duke had been aware of this, as he had divided the list between properties owned under the Diarca name and those under false names.

Jewels, merchant cards, real estate deeds... From all of it, Kiole could feel the greed of someone who’d meticulously built up wealth, keeping the fronts and backs completely separate.

And that someone was his father.

Kiole opened Pillar Two. Inside were several small magic tools in the form of rings, placed in a jewel box. From the crest stamped on the box—marking it as a magical artifact container—and the nameplates attached below each tool, Kiole quickly understood what they were.

‘...Communication-type magic tools.’

They weren’t two-way communicators. These were one-way tools—meant for secretly conveying messages.

‘There are hardly any mages left who can even make these now. Not even the Imperial Guard uses them anymore...’

Among the names written on the nameplates were several Kiole recognized as old noble aides close to his father. There was even one labeled with the name of the Diarca private soldiers' administration center he’d visited recently.

But not all the names were familiar. Spotting an unknown name, Kiole flipped over the nameplate. There, engraved alongside it, were two symbols: the jagged dagger emblem often used by assassins, and the flag of Nellarun.

Assassins—and Nellarun?

‘Wait... does that mean... this name belongs to someone from a Nellarun assassin group?’

His father had been in contact with assassins? From another country, no less?

He recalled the Duke of Diarca's voice from his sickbed, casually ordering the deaths of people from both the Emperor’s and Empress’s sides. Kiole felt a chill down his spine and nearly dropped the nameplate.

‘Am I... am I misunderstanding something?’

Panicking, Kiole hurriedly flipped over all the nameplates he didn’t recognize. The Duke had thoughtfully engraved each one with symbols that hinted at the recipient’s identity.

The swirling eye-and-ear crest of the information guilds. The crossed sword-and-axe for mercenaries. A quill and boot for bureaucrats. The military emblem and rank insignias of the Imperial Army... Every one of them included a national flag identifying their country of origin.

After checking them all, Kiole realized there were no fewer than five assassin groups from different nations, and four separate information guilds. The Duke must’ve come here to use these magic tools whenever he needed to send them a command without official correspondence. This was the hub of the secret black network the Duke had maintained all this time.

Kiole suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled. He barely caught himself by grabbing a pillar, but the magic tools and the multitude of names attached to them now seemed horrifying.

Panting, he turned his head—and saw the backs of the three men chatting casually with one another. Kishiar, Yuder Aile, and Nathan Zuckerman genuinely looked like they had no interest in what Kiole was doing.

“......”

With a trembling hand soaked in cold sweat, Kiole finally managed to close the door of Pillar Two.

He had no more courage to open the other pillars—but he gritted his teeth and pressed on. Pillar Three contained nothing but stacks of books and papers. Flipping one open at random, it looked like an old history text, so he left it alone and moved on.

In Pillar Four, he discovered a chest filled with scrolls sealed by magic, along with old letters. At first, he wasn’t sure what any of it was, but then he unrolled the nearest scroll—and a familiar woman’s portrait emerged, revealing the truth.

‘It’s Mother.’

It was a portrait of Langretsi la Diarca. Far older than the one hanging in the Diarca estate, the woman in the painting looked not just young, but nearly a child. Her smiling face showed not a single trace of worry or fear.

Beneath the portrait were the name Langretsi Dilejian and a date from over thirty years ago. That meant this had been painted before his father even married his mother.

‘Why would he go out of his way to store something like this here?’

Dazed, Kiole began to roll the portrait back up—then stopped when his gaze fell on the ring his mother wore in the image.

‘Huh?’

At first glance, it was just a simple red gemstone ring. The ruby had been carved into the shape of a flower petal, like the kind nobles often wore.

Kiole had seen that very ring once in his father’s room.

‘But that ring... if I’m remembering right...’

It was said to have belonged to the former Empress Dowager from House Diarca—Lady Inella la Orr.

His father had definitely said that.