I headed to Shulia's room with mixed feelings.

When symptoms of tancinol appeared, they needed to be notified, so there were fewer patients compared to what Richard had caused.

However, many people in Camellia orphanage were infected.

This is because Michelle did not take care of Shulia's disease in a hurry, judging it as a mild cold.

She did it because of her faith.

She knew what would happen if the Roum got tancinol, so she was more cautious.

However, thanks to Tom's tip-off, which is due to his hostility to the Roums, it is absurd that a bigger disaster has been prevented because of him.

As a result, most of the children and teachers of Roum whom Shulia spoke with that day, were also infected with tancinol.

When will the disease that Phillip created a thousand years ago will disappear...

I went into Shulia's room, careful not to mess up the barrier.

Shulia's condition was the most serious among the patients in the training center.

Furthermore, she still had a twisted mana flowing out of her body.

I also banned anyone from entering except me and Blake.

This is because the symptom of Shulia is so serious that even wearing preventive tools can be contagious.

So I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

There were so many patients, and I was busy studying treatment, but when I had time, I went to Shulia's room.

"Shulia, I'm sorry, I am a little late."

She shook her head while lying on the bed. It was hard for her to sit properly now.

"Your Highness, do I have to get out of here?"

She must have heard the Marquis Valon's protest...

It seemed that soundproof magic should be added to the barrier here...

"No, you don't have too. He's just a weirdo. Nothing to worry about. The crown prince scolded him already."

"Your Highness, you're married to the Crown Prince aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"When His Highness was 8, and I was 10 years old."

"Brother Luo is 10 years old too."

"Luo?"

"Brother Kaluo. I'm going to marry him."

Shulia smiled bashfully.

I patted her small face.

"I see."

"But he doesn't like it."

"Why did he think so? Shulia is very pretty."

"He thought of me as a real sister. So he doesn't like it."

Shulia pouted.

"It's not that he doesn't like it. It means that he loves you like a family."

"But why did he want to kill me?"

"What...?"

For a moment, my heart sank.

Did Shulia know that Richard got her sick?

"We were always playing together. I was happy. But Connin said he was going to go study magic. Karan is coming with him. A world where Roums wasn't discriminated against, she said she'd take us with her if she and her brother succeeded."

Connin and Karan... aren't they the black mage next to Richard?

"I was so happy, but other people didn't like us. They said we caused tancinol. We didn't do anything, but they won't listen."

Shulia continued with her eyes closed.

It was not like talking to me, but talking alone in her sleep.

"They killed all of the villagers. Richard helped us. So we followed Richard."

"......"

Was it really that Connin and Karan?

"Luo and I went to the orphanage. But the two of them said they would definitely pick me up. But why did Karan try to kill me?"

"What did Karan do to you?"

I asked, but she reached into the air instead of answering.

"Karan, what's wrong with you? Why did you do that to me? Why did you leave me behind? Why? I know everything. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, butre I know everything."

Tears flowed down from Shulia's eyes. I wiped away her tears.

I couldn't think of anything to comfort the little girl. Besides, even if I tell her now, she won't hear me.

***

Shulia's condition had become so serious that she was completely unconscious.

I studied the cure all night, but I made little progress.

If we couldn't catch Richard right away, we had to find a way to safely inject the mana of light into the body.

However, if we use the magic of light, their condition will deteriorate. It was more dangerous to use mana stone, and no herbs could help them.

"Ancia, are you still here?"

I was reading a book intently and I looked up when I heard Blake's voice.

"Is there something you need research for?"

"Yes."

I answered lightly, while burying myself in the books.

"Take a break. You've been overdoing it."

"How's everything going?"

Blake was searching the capital all night for Richard.

There were also testimonies that someone saw a female black mage who was wanted with Richard, plus a man with black hair.

Richard is spreading the tancinol through them.

He does not have the mana of light, and he is a wanted man, so he will not be able to move as boldly as he did a thousand years ago.

He's probably hiding somewhere in the capital and giving orders to his men.

"It's doing well, no need to worry about me."

Blake's face was overflowing with confidence.

It wasn't a word to reassure me or an arrogance. His confidence is based on his skills.

"And I found clues about Richard's black mage."

"Was it like what she said?"

"Yes, but there was something strange."

"What is it?"

"Shulia lived in the woods. And the surrounding territories said they didn't even know there were Roums there."

"But how did they attack them and accused them of having tancinol?"

"At that time, one of the villagers must have died. Everyone was surprised because they didn't know why he died, but a man appeared and said he had tancinol."

"......"

"They said the Roums, who live in the woods, moved the disease to their village, so they have to deal with it right away, or else tancinol will spread throughout the village. So they went to the place where the man told them, and they found roums."

"No way, the man was...?"

"They said they didn't see his face properly. In addition, half a year later, people died in groups, leaving only a few survivors. But I think it's almost certain."

Connin is a very talented mage. So did Karan.

Richard coveted their abilities and deliberately used others to make their parents killed.

That way, Connin and Karan would offer their loyalty to him.

And to reassure them, he sent young Kaluo and Shulia to the orphanage and pretended to care for them.

If they didn't listen to him, he must have wanted to use the kids as hostages.

That's probably why he brought Tom to the orphanage and caused a disturbance.

It was aimed at inciting Kaluo and other Roum children to constantly feel discrimination and alienation, and to instill hatred of the world.

That way, he can handle them according to his taste.

I was relieved because there was no problem with the orphanage itself.

I didn't think he would have run the orphanage with a pure heart, but I didn't expect him to have done such a mean thing either.

He used so many people to his own desires.

"How did the people in that village die?"

"They thought they were attacked by magic for killing the roums. But I think the real cause was black magic."

"Is Karan and Connin the culprit?"

"It's highly possible."

Did they take revenge? Or were they once again exploited by Richard to hide what he did and kill the witness?

Either way, Richard was the worst human being.

He trampled on the future of children who could live happily and eventually turned them into murderers.

I can never forgive him.

This time, I'll be sure to end all his evil deeds.

***

As soon as I woke up, I locked myself in my room and studied the treatment of tancinol. Soon, Chelsea came inside after a knock.

"Your Highness, why don't we move the nobles' rooms?"

"Why? Who else is protesting?"

"It's not like that, we have a new patient, and the building where the nobles are staying is already full."

Chelsea was very thorough and excellent in her work.

If it weren't for Chelsea, it would have been difficult to concentrate fully on the patient's treatment.

"Man again?"

Commoners had a similar proportion of men and women, but men had a much higher proportion among noble patients.

"Yes, three men and one woman. The condition is quite serious this time. The whole family has caught it. Of course, you have to check to make the correct diagnosis."

"Who are they?"

"Countess Chardin's family."

For a moment, my heart sank.

"Did Countess Chardin get tancinol?"

Chelsea shook her head.

"No, but the rest of the family, except Countess Chardin, were caught in tancinol. Count Chardin, his two sons, and his daughter."

I couldn't be relieved even though Countess Chardin didn't get infected. She must've felt even more pain than the patients itself because they're her family.

But something was wrong.

Countless people, regardless of status, were caught in tancinol, but those who were close to me somehow avoided the disease.

It was safe to say that no one was caught except for Collin.

Richard wouldn't have spread the tancinol out of consideration for me.

Wait...!

"Chelsea, get me a list of people who attended a tea party at the Sephia Palace!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

I quickly checked the list Chelsea brought.

As expected, except for Mrs. Marcelle and a few others, the tea party participants didn't get caught by tancinol.

And there was another person who didn't get tancinol.

It was Tenstheon.

Howard Kensway burst the mana in a narrow, windowless cellar.

It was natural that Blake, who had the power of a goddess, did not get caught, but Tenstheon also avoided the disease.

Tea party, Tenstheon...

And there's Tenstheon, but Collin wasn't....

"That's it!"

I got out of my seat and ran outside.