Ilarid brushed past Cledius’s arm conspicuously as she walked by.

Her fading footsteps were straight and light. With each step that grew distant, Cledius’s breathing became rougher.

The end of his anger was directed at other objects. Cledius struck the back of a nearby chair. Under the empty awning, a dull sound broke the silence.

“Damn it…”

Now he could understand the series of actions Ilarid had shown.

He should have been suspicious from the moment she suddenly asked for permission to access the imperial records repository, saying she wanted to view the records of past empresses.

It was never just mindless copying and reading of documents. Moments when he had dismissed her, thinking what could a powerless empress do anyway, gradually came back to life.

‘No. That can’t be.’

Cledius stomped out the last small spark of doubt that was rising.

Ilarid was rumored to be a modest empress in public. There was no way she would take the initiative to tarnish the image she had painstakingly built up over the years in one fell swoop.

And it was impossible that Ilarid, who had always been like a wooden block, would bring in Lebel as a ‘shadow’.

Hadn’t she shuddered at nothing more than unnecessary budget flows?

Starting with minor gift offensives for consorts, how would she manage the maintenance costs? Ilarid was not the type of person to go through the trouble of engaging in such inefficient activities.

He was confident that he knew Ilarid better than anyone. How many years had they lived together and observed each other? Cledius shook his head quietly, trying hard to deny it.

As he came out from under the awning, a dizzying sunlight poured down. The sharply honed rays of light pierced Cledius’s eyes.

His eyes instinctively squeezed shut. The end of avoidance was always darkness. But underneath the eyelids he thought would be pitch black, shards of light burrowed in, glittering.

Cledius’s hand that he had quietly set down twitched. The only exception began to stir within his palm. While forcefully denying the oncoming anxiety, he headed towards the banquet hall where the nobles would be gathered.

**

The mercenary group’s camp was in a festive mood.

Regardless of their actual skills, hadn’t they defeated a group that was said to be the elite of elites gathered from the empire? Moreover, it was a battle where the captain went out alone. The members, whose morale had soared to the sky, all raised their glasses in a toast.

Lailo, who was already quite tipsy, raised his glass again.

“Wow, honestly, I didn’t think you’d achieve a complete victory.”

“Lailo. What did you take our captain for? Our mercenary group is worth at least a hundred men each.”

“I thought you’d at least falter once. But did you see how you held out till the end without wavering? I was properly impressed. Captain, would you like another drink?”

Despite the members’ urging to have one more drink since it was a good day, Lebel ultimately shook his head. Although the treatment was done, from disinfecting to stitching up the open wound, it kept throbbing, perhaps due to accumulated fatigue.

“By the way, Captain, are you alright with your injuries?”

“For our captain, that level of injury heals with just spit.”

“What are you saying, is he some kind of superhuman? If wounds aren’t treated properly, it can be serious.”

As Eddie grumbled in a worried voice, Lebel patted Eddie’s shoulder and stood up.

“Don’t worry.”

“Where are you going?”

“…To cool my head.”

Lebel quietly left his seat, leaving behind the tipsy members. Just a little way from the camp was a small artificial forest. It was a suitable place to hide oneself.

But it was a quiet night with no one watching. There was no need to hide his presence and survey the surroundings while using his abilities. Lebel slowly sat down, leaning against a tree trunk.

He quietly raised his hand. Perhaps because he had been gripping the sword incessantly, the wound on his right hand was particularly slow to heal. The bandage that Ilarid had wrapped for him earlier had been changed many times long ago.

Is it just a vain desire to want to keep it as long as possible? If only he could desperately grab even the small trace she left behind and hide it under his skin.

The wound that he always brushed off as nothing throbbed especially today. Lebel leaned back and let out a low sigh. Would he be able to recall that voice he heard earlier every time he saw this wound?

‘No!’

For a very brief moment, he had felt a small ripple in the audience. Lebel had to focus on the sensation at the tip of his sword while forcefully suppressing his wildly beating heart. It would have been troublesome if he accidentally injured the emperor. It wasn’t time yet.

That urgent voice. That voice that dizzily filled his vision. Where had Ilarid’s cry been directed? Could it have been towards the emperor?

It was unknown whether any affection for the emperor remained after suffering such a terrible ordeal.

A person’s heart was always unpredictable, and sometimes there were those who embraced even distorted and broken things, considering them love.

So he wouldn’t even expect it. Lebel closed his eyes just like that.

“…Who’s there.”

The presence was felt from the front. He opened his eyes wide and looked ahead.

“I’m sorry. You seemed to be resting, so I deliberately suppressed my presence.”

Lynette was blinking in surprise. As the dark figure approached, the familiar face of the head maid of the empress’s palace appeared.

Lynette, who stood in front of Lebel, gave a light greeting. He quickly got up and looked behind Lynette, but Ilarid was nowhere to be seen.

“Captain Lebel. Were you waiting for someone?”

There was a barb behind Lynette’s kind words. It meant to speak honestly since she already guessed. Lebel let down his guard and smiled wryly.

“As expected, those who serve Her Majesty the Empress are different.”

“We have to be quick-witted to survive.”

Lynette shrugged her shoulders. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the imperial palace, she sensed a certain wavering in Lebel’s eyes.

He was clearly waiting for Ilarid.

“Her Majesty the Empress was worried about the captain’s injuries.”

Worry. Lebel took that single word in his mouth and savored it slowly. The end of the word that seemed like it would be only sweet was bitter.

“…Please tell her I’m fine.”

“Understood. And I have one personal question.”

“Please speak.”

Though she had said she would observe a bit more, Lynette was convinced by the incident that happened earlier in the day.

Ilarid had begun to waver when looking at Lebel.

That short and intense cry was absolutely not directed at the emperor. It was an instinctive scream that burst out upon detecting Lebel’s crisis.

But it was still not enough to be certain. Did the two of them have the same feelings? Lynette took a short breath for a moment, then immediately threw a question at Lebel.

“Captain Lebel, do you have Her Majesty the Empress in your heart?”

A long silence followed. Words that could neither be affirmed nor denied. Lebel moved his stiffened tongue with difficulty.

“Everyone in the empire admires Her Majesty the Empress. I am no exception.”

It was a good excuse to cover up and pretend not to know. Ilarid’s portrait often appeared in newspapers.

Everyone in the empire praised the empress and extolled her virtues. Perhaps there would be no one who didn’t know her even beyond the western continent to the eastern continent.

But Lynette still looked at Lebel with suspicious eyes. Was that the look of someone who merely admired her?

Lebel always had a fiercely devoted look in his eyes, especially in front of Ilarid. The look of a person who could throw away everything for her. But why, for what reason?

It was as if he had vowed to live for Ilarid from long ago. Since when? Right after entering the imperial palace? Or much earlier than that?

In the end, she couldn’t get a satisfying answer from Lebel. Lynette made a final request to Lebel.

“Be careful for a while. Due to the series of incidents that happened earlier today, His Majesty the Emperor will be keeping a close eye on Captain Lebel.”

“I will be mindful.”

“And please refrain from visiting the empress’s palace for a while…”

“…Yes.”

Lebel bowed his head. Rather than causing unnecessary misunderstanding and ruining things, it was better to act as if nothing had happened from the beginning.

‘If Captain Lebel became Her Majesty the Empress’s person, it would be perfect…’

She and Ilarid had been through too much to believe the visible loyalty as it was. Lynette returned the greeting and left. Lingering expectation fell in dots over her footsteps.

**

It had been almost a few weeks since Alice had been confined inside the mansion.

“This is really something that shouldn’t be done…”

The books she had asked the butler to bring from the library had already been read to the point of wear. Reading the same book again is one thing, but now she could recite even the preface with her eyes closed.

Moreover, her favorite book had a ‘forbidden book’ label attached and couldn’t be opened. She was even more cautious after her father received the title of count.

‘Don’t do anything that could harm your younger sister! We could not only be expelled from the palace but even face extermination!’

Alice had no choice but to lower her tail at Count Diobe’s thunderous admonition. In the end, that book gathered dust in the corner of the library, wrapped with a paper strip labeled ‘forbidden book’.

It was because the author was none other than ‘Keira Rowen Melpiram’.

The forbidden book label would only be removed after the Melpiram family cleared their name of the accusation of plotting treason. But would such a day ever come? Alice sighed as she lay sprawled on the bed.

“…Should I go out?”

Compared to the beginning, the surveillance network of the employees had also loosened. Her father had left the mansion since morning, saying he was busy. It was an appropriate situation for Alice to secretly go out and come back.

When it came to turning decisions into actions, no one could match Alice. She immediately ran to the backyard and checked the wig she had hidden. It was dusty, but it seemed to be in a fairly decent condition if she just groomed it.

Alice secretly hid the wig and returned to her room. Then she took out the men’s clothes she had sealed under the bed.

“How long has it been since I went out…”

The scent of freedom was refreshing and thrilling. Alice, who had finished disguising herself, clenched her fist tightly, steeled her resolve, and peeked open the door.

Most of the employees also took a break during this time. She managed to walk carefully down the corridor and successfully get out of the mansion.

There was a place with a low wall in the backyard. She just needed to take a running start and jump over it, but there was a loud noise from behind. Startled, she turned around to see a bucket rolling on the dirt ground.

“Young lady!”

Although she thought she could leave quietly, her eyes met directly with a child who was helping in the kitchen. The child, not knowing what to do, alternately looked at the kitchen and Alice, stomping their feet.

“Shh. I’m just going out for a bit. I’ll be back before dinner.”

“If something goes wrong, I’ll get scolded and so will you, young lady…”

“You didn’t see me. Okay? And I didn’t see you either.”

Alice winked lightly and nimbly jumped over the wall. A short, small scream was heard from inside the wall, but she didn’t mind. The outside air she was breathing after a long time was refreshingly cool.

There were many places she hadn’t been able to visit for a while, including the Clover tavern. To at least say hello, Alice headed towards the center of the city.

There had been many changes in the central area in the meantime. Not only the noisy carriages moving around and the disorderly crowd, but there were also several newly constructed buildings.

Among them, there was one new building that stood out the most.

“A hotel?”

Alice shielded the pouring sunlight with one hand and read the large sign. On top, it was elegantly written ‘Hotel Wenry’. As if the completion was not far off, inside they were busy arranging furniture and other items.

Not only Alice, but people passing by the hotel also raised their heads at least once to look up at the very top of the building. Who could be up there?

In front of the representative’s office on the top floor of the hotel, Count Diobe repeatedly cleared his throat with a very tense face. Soon the office door opened and the secretary bowed their head and guided him inside.

‘Now I’m meeting the Wenry I’ve only heard about.’

They said he was a wealthy person with exceptional business acumen, enough to build a hotel in the capital. Moreover, rumors said he was interested in charitable work. If persuaded well, he could become the most reliable sponsor of the Gloria Foundation.

But the person who greeted Count Diobe inside was completely different from what he had expected.

“Welcome.”

“Ah, no… I came to meet Mr. Wenry…”

“Yes. You’ve come to the right place.”

A young woman strode towards Count Diobe. Her long, wavy brown hair was full of vitality, and there was strength in her steps. She revealed a business-like smile and opened her mouth.

“Nice to meet you. I am the representative of this hotel, ‘Marsha Wenry’.”