On the other side, Lia climbed on the horse as Zion held her shoulders, gripping so tight that even the princess frowned. "Can't you hold lightly?"

Zion said nothing. He would never admit to the fact that he had been given a scare because of what had happened earlier. He nearly felt he was about to fall off the horse when Lia heroically jumped off to find Martin back then.

​​

The girl could tell what this guy was thinking about, and the corners of her lips curved up. "Servant, what're you scared of? You have saved so many soldiers' lives. You should be proud of yourself."

The detective was silent again. He didn't really want to talk to her anymore and knocked on the system's door. "Hey, 007, what's the status of the case? Is it finished yet?"

The system came out and pouted. "Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you be clear if it's finished or not?"

Zion shook his head. "Things aren't simple. Check and tell me."

The system sighed and said, "I don't have stats and other features. I told you already that I'll get them after the upgrade. But don't worry. I'll get a notification soon when the case is finished."

Zion pursed his lips and went silent again, staring at the back of Lia in a daze. He was still feeling uncomfortable, but he knew he didn't have any choice. He had to survive, but the fact that he paved the path to living after indirectly becoming the cause of many people's death made him feel uneasy.

He had always been a law-abiding citizen and never thought he would end up doing something like this. If some people had even told him about the choices he would make, he would have laughed at their faces. He let out a sigh thinking of that.

Lia heard his voice and couldn't help but ask, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes."

"What did you do in the courtroom?" The girl couldn't stop herself from asking this out of curiosity. "How are you sure the case will be completed automatically because of one dead body?"

"Look." Zion's attention shifted toward the case as he started to explain. He was effectively distracted from his depressing thoughts. "I had suspected that the imposter didn't tell anyone that he isn't the real crown prince. If that were the case, he wouldn't have hidden Bradley's body in that small hut. And secondly, I think Prince Linton and that guy Oswin must have found out something about the imposter, and that's why they were killed-"

"Uncle Linton's dead?!" The princess asked in shock, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Zion tilted his head at her reaction and didn't think too much about it. "Yes. And I couldn't explain many things earlier since we didn't have much time, but the thing is that this imposter relied on hiding his real identity to get the throne. Who knows what he wants to do after killing the king, but I suspect that this guy loved destruction, not just the throne. There are two ways for him to get the throne, and the easiest route is staying away from war and surrendering to the king as Bradley.

"The imposter could have found a substitute enemy who had planned the fake murder, and he could have portrayed himself as a faithful son who never planned to revolt. The king, being foolishly attached to his son, would have bought this excuse, and the imposter would have gotten the throne easily. But that person didn't do that. So it seemed only the throne wasn't the goal. But there's something I don't understand…."

Lia was still in a daze, and even the horse's speed slowed down while she continued to listen to Zion's theories. After a long time, when she noticed that the human behind her stopped talking, she gathered herself and asked, "....What?"

Zion pursed his lips and said, "Why kill so many people? I know what he must have planned to do after this, or else he wouldn't have continued to use Prince Bradley's identity. He must have wanted to use that identity to gain the sympathy of the Vanne kingdom's citizens and kill the king before taking the throne. What I don't understand is his reason for killing so many people. I have heard a lot of villagers were murdered by those soldiers in black robes. But why?

"Anyway. What I did is I made it difficult for him to continue to use that identity. When everyone figures out that this person was an imposter, things will be difficult for that man. His followers will feel cheated, and they would perhaps side with the king to get revenge against the imposter. If things go right, they will save the kingdom, but I know things won't be that simple. The man will definitely do something to turn the table around."

"Why are you so sure he'll do that?" Lia tried to keep her voice steady even though she felt her limbs trembling after hearing Zion's words. No one could see that her face had turned pale, especially when she heard about the murder of so many villagers. It seemed that she knew about something that could help Zion understand why the imposter had initiated a war against the kingdom instead of choosing a simpler route, but she kept quiet. She continued to force herself to stay calm and ask the detective her query.

Zion didn't know what was going on in the princess's mind. After he heard her question, he looked at the sky and squinted his eyes. "It's because the man had always been a step ahead of me. He would have planned for something like this. I'm sure that he has some backup plan to save himself and turn the table around."

Both of them went silent as the horse continued to gallop at medium speed. Their surroundings were that of a forest that had failed to show even a trace of a living being. The only good thing was the rocky road that was wide enough to fit over half a dozen horses in a row. But neither of them was in a mood to observe the surroundings.