Kalos had to resolve several issues before going to the capital, and one of them was Irene.

Leaving Irene at Castle Esper was not an option, as there was a high possibility that Dale or his minions would try something strange while he was away.

However, taking her to the capital posed too many other risks, such as the Empress or the temple.

Moreover, due to Dale’s curse, Kalos could not use even half of his power outside the Esper territory.

He was confident he could defeat the Empress or pigeons, but if asked whether he could fully protect Irene… well.

Unless he could provide 24-hour close protection for Irene, he couldn’t guarantee her safety.

…Perhaps it would be better to leave her in the Esper territory after all.

If so, he would need to assign guards to protect Irene.

He needed to assign guards strong enough to protect her even if Dale and his minions tried something.

The problem was that there were no such knights.

Deuce was decent, but he had the most fatal flaw for being assigned as a guard.

Then who should he assign?

No, before that, he needed to decide on Irene’s accommodation.

“Haah.”

Kalos let out a deep sigh and rested his chin on his hand, troubled by the cascading worries.

If he had known it would be this troublesome, he wouldn’t have accepted the witness proposal.

He regretted it, but it was already water under the bridge.

It was too late to turn back now, so all he could do was move forward.

“Busy?”

“…”

Kalos, who had been pondering seriously, rubbed his furrowed brow as the troublemaker appeared.

Despite Kalos’s obvious annoyance, Abel entered the office without concern.

He sprawled on the sofa as if it were his own home, and Kalos stared at him with bewildered eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“I heard you got a new subordinate?”

A completely unrelated, yet extremely troublesome question came back.

“I heard you took in a useless yomi as your subordinate. Is that true?”

“…Why are you asking when you already know?”

“Well, it’s most fun to hear it from the person directly involved, isn’t it?”

As if.

Kalos snorted and turned his head away.

He had no intention of playing along with Abel’s bad taste.

“And I also heard you’re going to the capital, is that true?”

Kalos’s eyebrow raised obliquely at the following question.

It wasn’t strange for Abel to know about the yomi becoming his subordinate, as there were visible proofs like the choker.

However, Kalos going to the capital was a secret known only to a few, including Dewey.

“Seems you’ve been peeking into my daily life again.”

It must have hit the mark, as Abel smiled sheepishly.

Deep wrinkles formed between Kalos’s brows.

“Abel.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to do it on purpose.”

Abel admitted his fault obediently, unlike his usual attitude.

“I was trying to find out where you were, and then… I’m sorry.”

If Abel had brazenly claimed he did nothing wrong, Kalos would have gotten angry, but he couldn’t when Abel responded like this.

“…”

Kalos was so annoyed that he let out a deep sigh and rubbed his furrowed brow.

Abel brought his hands together politely near his mouth and winked.

“In exchange, I’ll protect that woman well while you’re gone, so don’t worry.”

“What?”

What is he talking about now?

Kalos looked at Abel in bewilderment at the sudden remark.

Abel clapped his hands with a short exclamation.

“Oh, are you thinking of taking her to the capital? Well, that’s not bad either. Maybe I should go sightseeing in the capital after a long time.”

Kalos frowned.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“Hm? Is this not it either?”

“It’s not that this isn’t it, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

When Kalos told him to speak directly without beating around the bush, Abel blinked his eyes wide.

“Weren’t you going to entrust me with guarding that woman?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

Kalos let out a dry laugh.

“Why did you think that?”

“Well, because I could definitely protect her even if Dale attacks.”

“…”

Unable to deny the fact, Kalos closed his mouth at a loss for words.

As Abel said, if he entrusted Irene’s protection to him, her safety would be guaranteed.

It would certainly be guaranteed, but… why didn’t he want to entrust her to him?

Seeing Kalos’s somewhat sour reaction, Abel asked.

“Don’t tell me. Were you thinking of entrusting that woman to Saren?”

Saren. The ruler of Nomos, the eastern territory of the underground world.

Unlike Abel or Dale, Kalos didn’t have any special relationship with Saren.

They just exchanged greetings when they happened to meet.

“Why is her name coming up here?”

Not only was he not close to Saren, but above all, she was in the underground world.

“Huh? Didn’t you know? Saren came to the human world on vacation three days ago.”

She was supposed to be in the underground world, but she’s in the human world?

“Judging by your expression, you really didn’t know.”

Abel crossed his arms and tilted his head.

“I thought you would definitely know since you’re a guardian. Did your senses connected to the gate weaken because your power weakened?”

“…”

Kalos also thought it was because of that, so he affirmed with silence.

More than that, Saren coming to the human world.

It was unexpected, but it was good timing for Kalos.

“I’ll ask Saren to be the guard then.”

Abel’s lips protruded.

“Why on earth? Why would you ask Saren when I’m here? There’s no guarantee she’ll even accept your request!”

Kalos retorted dryly.

“I still won’t entrust her to you.”

“But why! What’s the reason!”

The reason I can’t entrust her to you is…

“Because you’ll definitely bother her if I entrust her to you.”

“Huh? I’ll bother that woman?”

Abel tilted his head and then let out a short exclamation.

“Ah, is it because I said I was interested in that woman?”

Kalos answered with silence this time as well.

Abel looked at Kalos with incredulous eyes.

“What’s that about? You said you didn’t care about anything as long as it didn’t interfere with the flower blooming, but now you’re flipping like a pancake.”

“I’m not changing my words, I care, so I’m stopping you.”

“What do you care about?”

“She said she doesn’t like you.”

To be precise, she said she wasn’t interested, but it was the same thing.

“As you know, her heart is important for the flower to bloom. If she closes her heart or builds walls because you bothered her, it would be a big problem, so don’t do anything unnecessary and just stay put.”

Abel narrowed his eyes and put his hand on his waist.

“Is it really because of that?”

Kalos crossed his arms and met the suspicious gaze head-on.

“Are you saying there’s another reason?”

“Well, you would know better than me.”

The suspicion disappeared from his eyes, replaced by clear mischief.

His twitching corners of the mouth looked like they would burst into laughter at any moment.

He didn’t know what Abel was thinking, but he didn’t particularly want to know either.

He was sure to have some strange thoughts anyway.

“If you’re done talking, you can leave now.”

Kalos waved his hand, no longer wanting to deal with Abel.

“It seems to me there’s another reason.”

But Abel wasn’t one to obey so easily.

“For example, you like that woman, so you’re jealous of me getting close to her.”

“…”

Who likes who?

Me liking that woman? And being jealous because of that?

Kalos laughed dryly at the absurd statement and stood up.

He had expected Abel to have strange thoughts, but not to this extent.

He felt incredulous and even pitied Abel.

“Stay here if you want to keep staying.”

Knowing that Abel wouldn’t listen even if he told him to leave again, Kalos chose to leave himself.

*

Kalos decided to ask Saren to protect Irene, but that was just his decision.

Saren hadn’t even accepted his request.

Even if she had accepted, he couldn’t fully entrust everything to Saren, so he needed to select knight guards to protect Irene.

A skilled knight who would protect her with their life no matter what danger approached.

“I’m interested.”

…And someone who wouldn’t flirt with her like Abel.

“I’d like you to recommend such a person.”

The knights of the Esper family were entirely under Deuce’s jurisdiction.

Although he knew their names, Kalos didn’t know their personalities or skills, so he ordered Deuce to recommend a knight.

“…”

Deuce’s expression became serious.

‘It seems difficult to recommend someone.’

Well, it was understandable since he had asked for someone skilled enough to face a lord of the underworld.

“I know that no knight you recommend can match Dale, so you can recommend someone with moderate skills.”

Kalos added, fully understanding Deuce’s feelings.

Deuce stared at the brightly polished floor for a while, seeming to think more, then raised his head.

“There is one knight I could recommend.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Kalos was momentarily surprised and closed his mouth.

Deuce continued speaking calmly.

“I’m not boasting or being arrogant. It’s just that, in my opinion, I’m the only knight who meets the conditions you mentioned, my lord. If you don’t like it, I’ll look for another knight.”

“…It’s not that I don’t like it.”

In fact, when Kalos was considering a knight guard to protect Irene, he immediately thought of Deuce as a suitable candidate.

However, he didn’t assign Irene’s protection to Deuce because he knew Deuce terribly hated humans.

So when Deuce recommended himself first, it was perplexing.

“Are you really okay with this?”

Kalos asked in a slightly serious tone.

“If you recommended yourself because I asked for a suitable person and you felt you had no choice, there’s no need. I don’t intend to force someone who doesn’t want to do it.”

He was especially worried because he knew it wasn’t simply disliking the job, but something that could trigger trauma.

Deuce smiled faintly, which was rare for him, and said.

“I’m fine with it.”

“Are you really okay? She’s human, you know?”

The moment he mentioned “human,” Deuce’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

But Deuce quickly regained his composure and nodded calmly.

“Yes. I’m really fine with it. Instead, may I make one request?”

“What is it?”

“Please allow Dewey to guard her together with me.”

“…”

It was surprising enough that Deuce volunteered first to guard a human, but now he was bringing in Dewey too.

It was truly a series of surprises.

Kalos was curious about what had changed Deuce, but he felt that even if he asked, Deuce wouldn’t answer.

And if he pried and Deuce changed his mind, it would be a big problem, so he didn’t ask anything.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”