The Order of Repose?
That was enough to drive all sleep from Alberto’s mind.
Before he even realized what he was doing, he had dropped to the floor in front of Sungjin and was desperately offering excuse after excuse.
“I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness! That is nothing more than a meaningless ornament. I truly only happened to come into possession of it by chance!”
Alberto confessed that he had obtained it while searching and investigating the group led by the self-proclaimed “Sage.”
There was no way the Marquisate of Benso could have been unaware that they held suspicious gatherings every day.
As a faithful servant of the Lord God, and as the acting authority for Marquis Benso, Alberto had a duty to investigate this “Sage” thoroughly.
During that process, he had happened to confiscate one of their possessions as evidence.
It did not appear to have any particular use beyond decoration, and it looked reasonably valuable, so he had thought he might later hand it over to a craftsman and make some money from it.
Then he had forgotten about it until now.
And besides, who could possibly have guessed an imperial prince would actually come into my bedroom?
Unfortunately for Alberto, it had been an ordeal he could never have prepared for.
It was bad enough that the prince had barged into his bedroom without warning, but he had also spent several days grinding…