“Are you serious?”

“…I’m not forcing you.”

“I’m glad it’s not coercion. I understand it’s your freedom of thought, Captain. However.”

“However?”

“From now on, please do not express such thoughts in words or actions in front of me.”

“What if I continue to express them?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than he sneered and threw back a question. At that moment, Sidney felt something snap inside her.

Stay calm. If you get excited here, it’ll be just as he wants. The sound of grinding teeth leaked through her tightly closed lips.

“If you continue to insult me… I’ll have to leave the investigation team.”

“Are you serious?”

That sarcasm came from the certainty that ‘Sidney Warden’ would not ‘dare’ to do such a thing.

It couldn’t be helped. Logan Redford knew her financial situation better than anyone else.

Was that why? Sidney didn’t want to take back her words due to some inexplicable defiance.

Even though it was obvious she would regret it later.

As if a non-existent pride had come to life, her mouth moved on its own.

“Yes. Even if I have to do that, I’ll remain a knight who knows honor.”

It wasn’t even funny. Sidney Warden talking about pride and honor.

If it seemed that way to her, how ridiculous must it look in his eyes?

Feeling awkward, she stared intently at the carriage door handle. After a moment of silence, Logan’s voice was heard.

“…I respect your opinion.”

With the sound of two knocks on the carriage wall, the carriage jolted. At the same time, her heart sank.

Damn it. Sidney Warden’s face twisted with regret. She was immediately overwhelmed with worry about next month’s rent and her younger sister Emilia’s medical expenses.

Is it too late to take it back? Sidney bit her lower lip and glanced at Logan.

He was looking down, deeply lost in thought about something.

As she hesitated for a moment, the coachman’s cry of “Whoa” and the sound of the horse snorting were heard as the carriage came to a complete stop.

Damn it. Sidney squeezed her eyes shut and began to apologize.

“Captain, I got too excited…”

“There was a murder last night. It’s not far from here… Let’s talk as we walk.”

Her words were drowned out by Logan Redford’s voice. By the time she understood his words, Logan had already leapt out of the carriage.

“Aren’t you getting out, Officer Warden?”

Only when she heard the coachman’s question did Sidney come to her senses. And then she followed Logan Redford with her eyes as he walked away in the distance.

[This is the timeline separator]

The place where Sidney Warden and Logan Redford got off was the 4th district of Marcel, an entertainment area prone to incidents and accidents.

Although it would be bustling with bright lights and people at night.

Was it because it was early morning? The empty street had no passersby, only the crunching sound of Logan and Sidney’s footsteps in the snow.

As the wind that rose at the end of the road swept through the snow and rushed towards them, Sidney thrust her hands into her coat pockets and slowly looked around at the buildings.

Most of the old buildings were 3 stories high, with the first floor being taverns or gambling dens.

It seemed unlikely that people would live in such places, but all those 2nd and 3rd floors of the many buildings were for residential use.

At night, this street would be filled with the loud voices of drunks and frequent fights.

Just hearing this, it’s clear that this area is too poor and dangerous an environment to be a residential area.

But because of that poor living environment, the rent was very low.

Thus, all those in difficult circumstances gathered here. Just as she had in the past.

Sidney became lost in memories as she looked at the laundry hanging on the old buildings.

After the war ended, when she was working for the Capital Defense Force following Logan…

While Emilia’s medical expenses remained the same, they lived in extreme poverty due to the loss of hazard pay. To the point where they couldn’t afford proper food or firewood.

So Sidney applied for a transfer to the border area. It was to save on housing and food costs and receive hazard pay.

But Logan Redford rejected Sidney’s application. And then he said.

Damn it. Sidney barely swallowed the curse that was about to burst out of her throat.

Who wouldn’t know how good the Imperial Guard was?

The work was easier than the border guard, which was said to be grueling, promotions were faster, and the salary was several times higher…

Because it was such a good position, one needed to pay bribes or have connections to join the Imperial Guard.

Money that didn’t exist even if one wanted to eat and die. To someone doing this job to earn that money… was it words or dung?

Sidney, recalling old memories, gave a bitter smile.

Logan Redford walking in the distance. Her eyes wavered following the hem of his black coat fluttering in the desolate wind.

Logan Redford.

She thought that he, who had never known poverty in his life, would never understand Sidney Warden.

Until two days later, when he handed her a wad of cash.

Sidney took that envelope of money. Perhaps if it had been someone else, she would have felt shabby or miserable.

But because it was Logan Redford.

Because he was a man who would never sympathize with anyone… she took the money proudly.

Making excuses that it was compensation for enduring Logan’s hellish temper all this time.

Looking back, Logan had always been like that.

He would make things difficult for her, but whenever she was about to collapse from exhaustion, he would reach out his hand.

For that reason, Sidney could neither truly thank Logan nor hate him.

At the sound of a match being struck, she instinctively looked up.

Ten paces away. Logan covered his mouth with his hand and lit a cigarette. Then he slowly turned around, exhaling a long stream of cigarette smoke.

Dilapidated buildings and bare street trees stood in rows, and only his footprints were imprinted on the sidewalk covered in white snow.

That scenery and Logan Redford standing crookedly matched strangely well.

She approached him one step at a time. The scent of cigarettes grew stronger in the biting cold air.

As she stopped walking, his heavy voice broke the silence.

“Sidney Warden, did I ask you to undress?”

No. Logan neither dissuaded nor requested Sidney. With a belated realization, Sidney’s face twisted with chagrin.

“…I’m sorry, Captain.”

The hair by her ears fluttered in the wind. Logan’s eyes following this looked somehow wistful.

“Actually, I can’t remember her face.”

Of course not.

The artifact Sidney had been wearing interfered with ‘facial recognition’. It was natural that Logan couldn’t remember Marien’s face.

“I think that’s made me more anxious. If I made you uncomfortable… I apologize for that.”

Logan Redford apologizing… She had hoped to hear it once, but not like this. At least not for her lie, for something he hadn’t done wrong…

Ha, where did it go wrong?

Even if it was just a one-night fling, it should have been ended properly. She should have woken Logan up or at least left a note.

If she had said goodbye, saying it was a good time but let’s never see each other again… he wouldn’t be looking for Marien.

Sidney bit her lower lip, blaming herself.

For a moment, Logan Redford’s eyes flashed as if seizing an opportunity.

This was so brief that no one could have noticed it.

Moreover, Logan Redford even put on a sorrowful face and voice to make Sidney let her guard down.

“Just once, just once, arrange a meeting with Marien.”

“…That’s.”

Sidney made a troubled expression and couldn’t continue speaking. At this, resentment welled up in Logan’s blue eyes.

“You have Lady Owello, don’t you?”

“…What does that have to do with anything?”

“Sidney Warden, you really are selfish and cold-hearted.”

That’s what Victoria had said to Logan. Such a sore loser. Sidney couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You should at least give me a chance. Wouldn’t that make things easier for you too?”

Is he threatening me now? It was already hard enough dealing with his perfectionism and moody, prickly temperament.

If Logan was determined to torment her… Just imagining it made her shudder involuntarily.

“Absolutely not.”

Rather than seeing that, it might be better to persuade him as Marien. Deep wrinkles formed between Sidney’s brows as she followed Logan.

[This is the timeline separator]

Just as her face was starting to sting from the cold, she saw two black carriages with the police mark and police officers gathered.

Of all places.

Sidney looked up at the building where they were standing with anxious eyes.

The old green awning visible on the first floor of the brown building, and the sign swinging in the wind… It was just as she remembered.

“19 Conrod Avenue.”

The address of her former home came out of Sidney Warden and Logan Redford’s mouths. Then Logan’s voice was heard.

“22-year-old female, died from stab wounds. Occupation is strip dancer and the name is… Marien.”

Logan emphasized the name ‘Marien’ with a look that asked if she understood.

Sidney’s eyes grew wider as she mumbled the name under her breath.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine how surprised Logan must have been when he saw the name of the murdered woman in the report, how he must have felt rushing to the scene, and how he must have felt facing what must have been a gruesome corpse.

Good heavens, so that’s why he went so far… Understanding Logan’s rudeness and obsession, a sense of guilt washed over her.

So what? Is she going to reveal now that she’s Marien? If her identity as a woman is revealed and she’s kicked out of the Imperial Army, does she have a plan?

Sidney tilted her head back and looked up at the sky. As she gazed at the clouds covering the gray sky.

“Let’s go in.”

Logan exhaled cigarette smoke and hurried his steps. Only then did Sidney follow him.

“Captain, you’re here?”

Walter Asner, who had been talking with the police officers, raised his hand and greeted Logan.

“Have you checked the scene?”

“Yes, Officer Spencer is recording the scene now. This way to the alley.”

Walter Asner guided them to an alley between buildings.

The path was so narrow that two adult men could barely walk side by side, and it reeked of urine.

Knowing the source of the stench, Sidney took out a handkerchief from her pocket and covered her nose.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

One police officer was bent over, leaning against the wall and dry heaving.

He seemed to have become nauseous after seeing the murder scene. Walter approached the police officer with quick steps while grumbling.

“This is why rookies…”

Walter supported the struggling police officer and moved him to the side.

Thanks to this, a wooden door with peeling green paint became visible. This was the back door of the building used by residents of the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Sidney pushed open the door, which was creaking in the wind, and entered the building.

A small space about five steps long leading to steep stairs greeted them.

As Sidney looked down at the messy footprints on the floor with a frown, Logan added,

“The report came in at 4 AM. The police officers recorded the footprints as you taught them.”

“That… probably won’t be of much use. There are 20 households here.”

Creak, creak, with every step the stairs screamed as if in pain. As if to soothe them, Sidney lifted her heels and moved her feet.

After climbing to the 3rd floor like this, doors appeared on both sides of the corridor. As they walked down the corridor past those doors.

Room 308.

As they got closer to the room she used to use, the fishy smell of blood grew stronger.

At the same time, she remembered the woman who had said she would use that room instead of her.

“Somehow…”

No wonder the name Marien seemed familiar. Sidney frowned and made a grimace.