She checked the population of the Small Villages.
Unlike Cohen, Small Village reports its population quarterly, so it was impossible to know how many people had disappeared so far.
However, adding up the number of people caught stealing and the number of witnesses, it was about half of the village.
Adonis couldn't understand why the people of Small Village had started to steal.
It was hard to comprehend why people who had been doing well suddenly turned to crime.
Then, she suddenly remembered that day.
'The Starfall Village.'
During the collection of promissory notes, the master of the Silence Tower intervened, and because of that, Adonis had a conversation with the tower master as a king's representative.
'Looking back, the Starfall Village was very peaceful.'
Since she had made a promise with Reed, Cohen paid all the money without a word, and even gave all the promised wheat at once, so there would be no problem with the onset of winter.
'They replaced wheat and money with promissory notes... No way.'
It can't be.
Adonis stood up from her seat, denying it.
She couldn't believe it unless she confirmed it with her own two eyes, so she moved her steps without hesitation.
She walked to the finance department of Cohen Castle and requested documents from them.
"Hello, Commander of the Knights. What brings you here?"
"Could you show me the promissory notes and verification certificates issued to Soma Village?"
Upon hearing these words, the finance director answered with a troubled expression.
"I'm sorry, Commander of the Knights. No matter how much you're a hero of Cohen, we cannot accept that request."
"Why not?"
"If the Commander of the Knights interferes with administrative affairs, it will be a problem for both you and us."
Each department had its own power, as each was specialized in different areas.
In short, they would not tolerate their authority being violated.
However, Adonis asked him without batting an eye.
"Is the problem that I'm a knight?"
"Yes, that's right."
Upon hearing his words, Adonis took off her armor.
When she even took off her armor, her white underwear was revealed underneath.
There was no exposure of skin, but everyone in the finance department was taken aback.
Adonis spoke with a strong face, without a hint of embarrassment.
"Then, I will request it as a princess, not a knight."
A knight represents the power of the army, but a princess is different.
Moreover, although Morgan Hupper did not appoint the next king, she is the most likely candidate for the next king due to her character and reputation.
The finance director could not refuse any further.
Usually, Adonis would have backed off at this point, but she was more aggressive than ever.
The finance director nodded his head in resignation.
Now, he had no choice but to provide the documents she requested.
***
King Hupper'soffice.
"No matter how much you're the Commander of the Knights, you cannot just barge in here..."
Adonis ignored their words and flung open the office door.
The guards holding the windows followed her in with flustered faces.
Morgan raised his white eyebrows and looked at Adonis's face.
At the same time, he gestured to the guards to step back.
"What is it? It's customary to request an audience first."
"I apologize, Your Majesty. But there was something urgent I needed to ask."
"Well, what is it?"
"Are you aware that the number of thieves has been increasing recently?"
"Yes, I'm aware."
Morgan had ordered patrols for public safety, so there was no way he wouldn't know.
"I've come up with a measure for this public safety issue."
Adonis said, showing Morgan a bundle of papers.
"You have to repay all the promissory notes that have been issued."
"What good would the promissory notes do?"
"The people of Soma are all living day to day. If you do not give them money to buy the necessary items for the winter, they will have no future. Hence, they resort to thievery to secure their future."
Morgan responded coolly to Adonis's words.
"We haven't yet received all the harvested goods. We will repay them soon, so don't worry."
"Then shouldn't we at least send the wheat in the national treasury to them first?"
"That's a separate issue. Moreover, it's not right to distribute materials that need to be reserved, and all this is happening because they do not trust the nation. I have no intention of negotiating with such disrespectful people."
"How can the people trust the nation when the nation hasn't shown any trust in them?"
Morgan's face turned grim.
But Adonis did not back down and pleaded with her hand on her chest.
"I, Adonis Hupper, before being the Commander of the Third Knights, am a princess of the Hupper Kingdom. If you care about the people, please tell me a valid reason why I am wrong, Father."
She stated her conviction clearly without wavering.
Seeing this, Morgan furrowed his brow further, his beard twitching.
In the tension that seemed like an outburst was imminent, what burst from Morgan was a cough.
"Cough, cough..."
Whether a wise king or otherwise, no one can withstand the passage of time.
Morgan was still showing his vitality, but he was clearly a dying man.
He was well aware of it, and it was time to designate a successor to prevent internal strife.
Morgan covered his mouth with a handkerchief to prevent his saliva from splattering on the documents.
"Cough, cough! Commander of the Third Knights, suddenly you're interested in things you didn't care about before. Have you fallen for the devil's scheme?"
"..."
"All the actions you take are out of line. You just need to fulfill your duty as the knight commander. I will not allow any further oversteps, third knight commander."
"..."
In the end, the conversation ended uncomfortably.
Adonis came out without even greeting him, her fist clenched tightly.
'Even my daughter... things aren't going my way anymore.'
Morgan closed his eyes in despair.
Time was of the essence.
Morgan wrote a letter to be sent to Freesia.
-I need that magic. As soon as possible.
'Why! Why won't he say anything?'
Adonis knew that she was overstepping her bounds.
But she wanted this issue resolved.
A 'wise king' would certainly lend an ear to the opinion of an ignorant knight.
So, she went to see Morgan in one swift step, but...
Adonis felt the situation becoming more tangled, as Morgan hurriedly hid his true feelings.
The image of the king and her father, Morgan Hupper, as Adonis knew him, was becoming increasingly distorted.
'Devil's scheme.'
Was this a devil's scheme?
Was Reed Adeleheights Roton the devil trying to drag her into the abyss?
She thought about Reed objectively, he was not a bad person.
He helped her without saying a word.
If Reed had any expectations of her, he would have appealed to her long ago.
'If Reed is not the devil...'
It's often the ones calling others devils who are the devils themselves.
Her own father, Morgan Hupper, was exactly that devil.
A devil wearing the mask of a king, trying to dry up the small villages for some reason and kill them.
And then,
Adonis felt all the pieces of her puzzle fall into place.
'Could it be...'
The sudden invitation to the demonstration.
Her father, who was unusually sweet to her.
Being treated like a princess for the first time in eight years.
And the mysterious power that tried to kill her that day.
They had planted a bomb among the nobles that would change Adonis's fate with perfume as the switch.
Reed knew about this malicious force but did not tell Adonis.
Then what could be the reason?
All the clues are connected into one sentence, leading to a conclusion.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Adonis's legs gave way.
She felt like vomiting and covered her mouth with her hand.
A cold chill pervaded her body, causing Adonis to shiver.
Biting her thumb, Adonis swallowed her sorrow.
Unable to utter a single word, she repeated only one sentence in her mind.
'It can't be. It can't be....'
She could understand why Reed didn't tell her about the malicious force.
Could it be that this malicious force was her own father?
That the person she had admired and protected was her own enemy?
She didn't want to believe it.
Her heart fiercely rejected it.
But the more she did, the more reality clung to Adonis, tormenting her.
'If I can't even trust my own blood... then who on earth can I trust?'
Adonis despaired.
***
The first customers of "Project: Sound of Music" were nobles.
They carefully wrapped the items to be sent to them and successfully delivered them to each address through the merchant guild.
The magicians, who had to finish all their work within the set time, were all exhausted, but they celebrated their achievements together.
Starting tomorrow, everyone except those on duty could take a day off, so even though they were tired, some people decided to play games and drink.
However, the research of Kaitlyn and Reed was not over yet.
Kaitlyn was not the type to enjoy parties from the beginning, and as a magic engineer, it was only natural that she loved research.
So as soon as the delivery was all finished, Kaitlyn began her research on Reed's gauntlet.
Reed also sneaked into the lab while everyone was resting and helped Kaitlyn with her research.
-Regarding magic absorption using Magnesium (Research progress: 10%)
"Ugh...."
Kaitlyn, who had been drinking and brainstorming, folded the paper into a rose.
Contrary to her deathly expression, her hands moved without hesitation, and a paper rose more delicate than the ones Rosaria had made was neatly placed on the desk.
Just one more rose and she'd have a bouquet of 108 roses.
Kaitlyn blankly stared at the rose and then said,
"I guess I won't have to worry about a wedding bouquet soon..."
"What you should worry about is not the wedding, but the research."
Her shoulders jumped like a surprised cat.
Only then did Kaitlyn remember that Reed was there.
"Ah, I'm sorry.... It's a rare research project with you, Tower Master, and I'm ashamed to show you such a lack of progress."
Kaitlyn slammed her head onto the desk with a dispirited face.
Reed fully understood her situation.
Having taken on the final inspection and production, her stamina was already at rock bottom.
She had been thrown into the research immediately after returning from her vacation, like a house on fire, so the backlash was bound to be huge.
With both focus and magic energy lacking, Reed would like to tell her to take it slow, but he didn't have enough time to afford such luxury.
'I can't afford to let my guard down.'
Freesia already knew that I had ruined her plans.
If she has a plan, she would accelerate her research on possession magic to enter Morgan's body.
In order to confront such Freesia, he needed the magic absorption ability of the gauntlet.
Only then would they have at least a fighting chance.
That's why, even though it was selfish, he had no choice but to push Kaitlyn.
"Do your best to the extent that you can. If you need anything, I'll supply it immediately, so please put in a little more effort."
"When Tower Master says so, I must gather my strength! I will strive to meet your expectations."
Kaitlyn slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of it.
Just then,
Whoosh!
A blue bird flew into the research building with a cry and landed on Reed's shoulder.
'It's Adonis Hupper's bluebird.'
The bluebird was used to communicate with Adonis, and there was a note tied to its leg.
-Please help. My younger brother has disappeared with the king.
The situation had escalated quicker than expected.