The sensation of hair flowing down my back was vivid.

The hair that had grown to below my waist was long enough that I couldn’t deny it was a mistake.

Moreover, since the other person was behind my back, the front of my top was completely torn.

All the buttons of the shirt had flown off so I couldn’t fasten it, and the vest was the same.

Suddenly I felt my heart pounding again with fear.

I quickly picked up the ring and put it on, then stood up as if nothing had happened.

Since I had been crouching, they probably hadn’t seen the details. I knew who the voice belonged to as soon as I heard it.

“Lord Ianathas?”

I turned around with such a bright voice.

“Why are you out at this early hour?”

Ianathas was Felix’s most trusted hound.

While officially working as an aide, he was actually the action leader, and one of the few people who could enter and exit this mansion without a special pass.

He was quite familiar with the servants.

And with me too.

“How strange.”

“What’s wrong?”

Ianathas walked over with a kind smile. However, I knew well that this person was not as gentle as he appeared.

“You looked like a woman just now.”

“What? Me?”

Without realizing, I subtly pulled back my left hand wearing the ring. He approached very close and looked down at me with interest.

“Ah…! What are you doing…!”

“Let me check.”

Ianathas pressed his palm firmly against my chest. Perhaps because it was so sudden and forceful, my body shrank back.

“How strange, really. Am I dreaming?”

“Lord Ianathas, I think I smell alcohol.”

“That’s because I drank.”

Though not as strong as the smell coming from Felix’s room, Ianathas also reeked of alcohol.

However, while the level from Felix’s room was enough to sting the nose and make one dizzy, this was more like it was seeping through despite being oddly masked by perfume.

“I just saw an incredibly beautiful woman.”

“Pardon?”

“But as I was walking over here, she suddenly became a man.”

“…Pardon?”

He spoke again while pressing hard on my chest. It should be a perfectly flat, ordinary chest since I’m a man.

“You must have been dreaming while walking.”

“I suppose so. She had quite large breasts. I don’t feel anything on you.”

“…Yes.”

He laughed at my answer, finding something amusing about it. My heart felt like it was shriveling up, so I lowered my gaze.

“I’ve thought before that you would be quite beautiful if you were a woman. That must be why.”

“You flatter me.”

“Does this sound like a compliment to you?”

“Isn’t it a compliment?”

I found it difficult to converse with Ianathas. He always spoke in roundabout ways, making it impossible to know his true intentions. It was the same now.

His attitude of confusing people by making it unclear whether it was a compliment or not remained the same.

“Let’s make it a compliment.”

He said that and finally moved away from me.

“I break out in hives whenever I touch other men.”

“But you were just touching me…”

“That’s why. It’s strange, isn’t it? I don’t get hives when I touch Reniel.”

Ianathas looked at me suspiciously, so I faced him directly without averting my eyes, though I was afraid.

Then he smiled again with a kind expression, his eyes crinkling as if something was amusing.

“It would have been nice if Reniel was a woman. Then she would have been the ace in my business.”

For reference, the business Ianathas managed for Duke Le Pelique was a gambling house. He must be referring to the female dealers who worked there.

That gambling house had a somewhat unique structure.

The dealers were all women, and according to rumors floating around the duke’s estate, it was said to be a place for gathering information.

Recalling what I had briefly seen in the original work, those female-only dealers were assassins.

“That’s… unfortunate.”

I said that instead of saying it was fortunate.

“Indeed.”

Ianathas said that while checking the gap in my clothes again.

“But what brings you here at this early hour?”

When I asked without avoiding his gaze, his yellow eyes crinkled again in a seemingly fresh smile.

His brown hair also seemed to look like a deep night color when hidden in the darkness.

“I have something to report to the master.”

“I see.”

“What about you, Reniel?”

“I was on my way back to the night duty room.”

“Is that so? Let me escort you.”

“No, I’ll go alone.”

“Let me escort you.”

“No, I’ll…”

“Let me escort you.”

Feeling like I was fighting with a broken machine, I finally nodded, and he took the first step.

His long legs were carelessly climbing two stairs at a time, so I pretended I couldn’t keep up and only climbed one at a time.

Then he turned back and looked at me as if telling me to hurry up, so I had to climb two at a time as well.

It felt absurd that I couldn’t even control my walking speed on the way back to my room, but fear preceded that feeling so I just smiled and followed along.

“Huff… huff…”

“Your stamina seems quite weak. You should exercise more.”

“…Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

By the time I was almost out of breath, we reached the 5th floor.

He went to the night duty room first and opened the door. With a loud sound, the door to my room moved to the side as if screaming.

“Thank you for escorting me.”

I said that, hinting for him to leave the room. But he was looking around the room as if searching for something.

“How strange.”

“What is?”

He wandered around that small night duty room as if trying to sense something, but soon gave up and stepped back, saying:

“I heard the lost daughter of the Nuremberg duchy had blue hair and purple eyes.”

“I see.”

“By coincidence, Reniel and that duchess have the same age, hair color, and eye color. Isn’t that interesting?”

“…I see.”

I didn’t want to know what nonsense he was talking about, but I tried to respond as if I was curious.

“But there’s nothing here, so it’s boring.”

“Yes, I’m a bit boring.”

Then he laughed and patted my shoulder.

“Well then, take care.”

“Yes, you too, Lord Ianathas.”

And with that, he left the room.

I was finally able to be alone.

****

Ding-a-ling!

My eyes flew open at the sound of the bell.

The 5th floor night duty room where I was staying was connected to only one room.

That connected room was none other than Felix’s bedroom.

I quickly wiped my drowsy face with a handkerchief and walked quickly towards the duke’s bedroom on the 3rd floor.

My body felt a bit weary, probably because I hadn’t slept properly.

But the salary I’m receiving now is higher than a knight’s, and with my savings I could buy a small piece of land in the borderlands.

“Let’s hang in there.”

Saying that, I soon arrived at the 3rd floor after passing through the 4th floor.

Unfortunately, the duke’s bedroom was right in the middle of the ‘ㄷ’ shaped building, so I had to walk quite far.

The main building was several times larger than other buildings, so it felt like running across a sports field.

Nevertheless, I was able to force a smile while thinking about my salary.

Ignoring my trembling legs, I arrived at the duke’s bedroom on the 3rd floor. I caught my breath and naturally knocked on the door.

As soon as I knocked, my head rang severely.

It seemed to be an aftereffect of not getting enough sleep. But what does it matter if I don’t get enough sleep? I’ll get overtime pay and special work allowance.

Knock knock.

“Master, did you call for me?”

By the way, knights are not usually allowed to enter the main building.

Normally, nobles would of course be accompanied by escort knights, but the Le Pelique duchy was an exception.

The reason being that there were so many people who might betray them, and many who held grudges. So they don’t even keep knights by their side.

You never know when someone might conspire to commit murder.

Of course, if someone really wanted to kill them, they could disguise themselves as a servant and enter, but unless they were sturdy knights, they would be quickly subdued.

And recalling the original work…

‘Ha! Die! Felix Le Pelique! Ahaha!’

Thanasis, the madman in the original work, had once fed Felix the deadly poison he was carrying.

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t die from poison. I’m immune to all poisons.’

‘That’s impossible.’

‘It’s all thanks to your mother. I’ve tasted every poison in the world.’

So since he couldn’t be killed by poison anyway, he was a bit lax with the servants.

“Master.”

When I called again, the voice from inside stopped.

“Come in.”

After receiving permission, I entered.

“Ah, you’re here.”

Ianathas was still in the mansion.

Felix, wearing only a robe carelessly, was sitting on the bed with a bored expression, puffing on a cigar.

“My lord, I happened to see Reniel wandering the 3rd floor corridor at dawn today.”

I looked at Ianathas, not understanding why he suddenly brought that up. Then he looked at me with a kind smile.

“Reniel, his lordship says that yesterday, his excellency also saw that blue-haired woman I saw.”

“Pardon?”

“But his lordship took sleeping pills, so his memory isn’t clear, right?”

Cold sweat ran down my back. My palms felt clammy and my breathing quickened. It wasn’t just because of the terrible smell of the cigar.

“Reniel, didn’t you see anything?”

“Ah, no… I didn’t particularly…”

Then Felix lifted his chin and blew out a long puff of cigar smoke before saying:

“That woman stole something important yesterday.”

The moment our eyes met, he said that as if he knew everything.