“What does this target look like?”

I asked Ren after finishing preparations for the operation.

“Yes, Vivian. This target has silver hair. His eyes are blue, and his height is similar to mine.”

After listening quietly to Ren’s explanation, I felt uneasy and stopped in my tracks, lost in thought.

“Blue eyes, huh. Blue eyes… Hmm, something feels off.”

“Is there an issue that’s bothering you?”

Forgetting to answer, I was deep in thought for a moment before realizing the source of my unease.

“Ren.”

“What is it, Vivian?”

“That guy, you know. When was the last time we kidnapped him?”

“That guy… Do you mean Melphis?”

When I nodded vigorously, Ren thought for a moment before answering.

“Ah, it’s about time he showed up again. The last kidnapping was two months ago.”

‘No wonder I had a strange feeling.’

Throughout my activities as a handsome man kidnapper, I’ve made great efforts not to kidnap the same person twice.

I tried to remember the faces of all the previous victims and always checked if a new target overlapped with previous victims when I found one.

However, there was one person who nullified all my efforts, and that was Melphis.

At first, I just kidnapped him because he was handsome. If only it had ended there…

Not long after, he reappeared on Hildes Street in disguise, intending to be kidnapped again.

I fell for it completely and kidnapped him, and sadly, this was repeated several times.

I had long since confirmed that he wasn’t Callys.

So there was no need to capture him, but he would show up just when I was about to forget about him, flaunt his presence, and leave.

‘The problem is that his cooldown period is almost over again.’

I sighed deeply and said in a dejected voice.

“This target… It’s not Melphis, is it?”

“It shouldn’t be. Don’t worry too much.”

Yes, Ren was right. It shouldn’t be. No, it must not be.

Any other time would have been fine, but right now, Dietrich alone was enough trouble.

If Melphis were added to the mix, I wasn’t confident I could handle the situation.

‘Besides, this isn’t the time for this. I might lose the target at this rate.’

Belatedly feeling rushed, I tried to leave the hideout immediately but ended up stopping in my tracks.

Dietrich was standing in front of the hideout’s door.

“Excuse me? Could you please move aside?”

“I’ll move aside. If you allow me to come along, that is.”

What, what is this nonsense?

I was dumbfounded by this ridiculous statement that made my head spin.

“Wait, weren’t you supposed to be imprisoned? Why are you so boldly saying you’ll come along!”

“I can be released briefly and then imprisoned again. Isn’t that fine?”

“Why don’t you just go back home instead?”

“That’s not possible. I’ll have to refuse.”

“Hah…”

I sighed, slapping my forehead with my palm loudly. I had already reached my limit.

Villain or not, I had to say what needed to be said.

Finally, with an angry expression, I unleashed a torrent of words at him.

“No, no. Absolutely not. You said you’d be imprisoned first. I have things to do today, so I can’t entertain you. Stay quietly confined in your room. Understood?”

“Hmm.”

“What do you mean ‘hmm’? I asked if you understood.”

I tried to grab his collar and shake him back and forth, but his body didn’t budge an inch.

Instead, Dietrich lowered the corners of his mouth and shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright, alright.”

“You promised.”

But as soon as the words left my mouth, he held out his right pinky finger.

“What’s this?”

I glared at him suspiciously, but Dietrich didn’t lower his hand.

“You said it’s a promise. Aren’t you going to link fingers?”

“What?”

For a moment, I thought I had misheard him, but Dietrich reached out and hooked his pinky finger with mine.

“There, it’s a promise.”

He even added a thumbprint at the end, looking satisfied.

While surprised by this unexpected behavior, I noticed him staring at something behind me.

His gaze was directed at Ren.

Exchanging glances with Ren with a strangely unpleasant expression, he burst into laughter alone.

Then he returned to his room just like that.

‘What was that about? Why did he act like that?’

Although I didn’t quite understand his behavior, I didn’t think much of it and looked at Ren.

But was it my imagination? His expression seemed somewhat dark.

“Ren?”

However, it must have been my misconception because as soon as I called his name, his expression quickly returned to normal.

“Yes, Vivian. Did you call me?”

“Yeah, I’m heading out. Make sure to prepare a room for confinement in advance!”

As I stepped outside the hideout, I saw Ren waving his hand.

‘Whether it’s Melphis or whoever, let’s focus on kidnapping a handsome man!’

I activated my ability and leaped onto the building.

Following Ren’s guidance, Vivian soon arrived near the target.

She stood on the rooftop of a building, looking down at the ground below.

A man with silver hair and beautiful blue eyes immediately caught her attention.

Vivian quickly called Ren through her earring-shaped communication device.

“Is that the man? I’ll grab him right away.”

− Vivian, wait a moment!

Startled by the suddenly increased volume from the other side of the communication device, she stopped in her tracks.

− There are six people positioned around the target. They seem to be disguised investigators.

Investigators?

Hearing a word that wasn’t part of the plan, Vivian quickly scanned the area around the target.

Several ordinary-looking people were around the target.

A person sitting on a bench reading a newspaper, someone moving luggage, a person standing by the roadside eating bread, and so on.

But strangely, all their gazes seemed to be directed towards the target.

Their behavior looked so suspicious that, as Ren said, they were likely to be investigators.

“Is it a sting operation?”

− It doesn’t seem so. They appear to be just marking a handsome man they’ve discovered.

Hmm.

The situation didn’t look particularly good.

Several investigators glaring intently, trying to catch Vivian.

In the middle of it all, a man with looks perfectly suited to be the male lead of a fictional novel.

‘One way or another, I can’t give up on the target.’

If that was the case, there was only one thing to do.

“I’m just going to charge in head-on.”

− What? Vivian! Please wait a moment!

Despite Ren’s attempt to stop her, Vivian leaped into the air without hesitation.

Her golden eyes emitted a fierce glow between the mask covering her small face.

Vivian focused solely on the target, paying no attention to the surrounding investigators.

Landing lightly on the ground, she hugged the man from behind. With one hand, she covered his eyes, and with the other, she lifted him up.

It all happened in such a brief moment that the man couldn’t even comprehend the situation.

He surrendered his body to Vivian without even thinking of resisting.

She held the man in her arms and leaped high into the air.

Then, lightly bounding across the rooftops of buildings, she vanished into the distance.

All of this occurred in the blink of an eye.

The investigators who had been watching the handsome man were dumbfounded, forgetting to pretend to be ordinary passersby.

They hadn’t taken their eyes off him for even a moment, yet somehow the man had disappeared.

The investigators exchanged bewildered glances with each other.

They all shook their heads, showing signs of difficulty. No one had seen the culprit’s silhouette.

Even Bain, the investigator with a knightly background who prided himself on his dynamic vision, was no exception.

He looked down at the ground in despair. He couldn’t stop biting his lips anxiously.

‘Damn, it’s ruined. I had boasted to Her Highness the Princess that I would find a clue about the culprit…’

Princess Veronica von Agrian.

It had already been 12 months since she took command of the investigation team in charge of the serial handsome man kidnapping case in Hildes Street.

Princess Veronica, who had been synonymous with competence, began to lose her original standing after taking on this case.

She, who had been considered closest to the throne, was now being overshadowed by the First Prince.

To regain her former reputation, she needed to catch the culprit of the case somehow.

They had even tried a sting operation by recruiting a handsome man, but the kidnapper didn’t show up.

As a drastic measure, the princess assigned knights with good dynamic vision and physical abilities to the investigation team.

However, until another civilian was kidnapped, none of the knights had obtained even the slightest clue.

Bain wasn’t pleased with this situation, but he had to report to the princess.

He finally moved his heavy feet towards the princess’s office.

“I seek an audience with Her Highness the Princess.”

Bain greeted Veronica with proper etiquette, trying his best to hide his gloomy expression.

However, no matter how natural an expression he tried to put on, he couldn’t hide his body stiffened with tension.

The princess, skilled in handling people, could quickly read everything from his gestures.

“You have failed.”

A voice as cold and sharp as frost. An icy atmosphere settled over the previously quiet office.

Bain gulped nervously.

Despite his extensive war experience, her innately royal and authoritative attitude was enough to instill a strange fear in him.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

The princess sighed openly at the expected response.

“Huh, so you couldn’t even see the culprit’s face? Even a small clue would be good.”

“…I apologize.”

Bain bowed his head deeply and squeezed his eyes shut.

Though he couldn’t see it, he could easily imagine the princess’s face filled with anger.

He didn’t have the courage to face that sight.

Fortunately, contrary to his expectations, her face was calm.

However, her tightly clenched fist under the desk revealed her unfiltered emotions.

Previously, she had mobilized mages, and this time, knights.

But not one of them had found any clue about the culprit.

Moreover, a civilian was kidnapped again despite the presence of investigators.

The repeated failures were an unfamiliar bitter taste for her.

“Have you secured the identity of the victim?”

“We tried to find out, but he’s an unidentified person.”

“…That’s somewhat fortunate. Let’s cover up this incident.”

“But, but!”

“Don’t you know there’s a noble council meeting soon? Do you intend to boast about letting the kidnapper slip away right in front of you at such a crucial time?”

Bain pressed his lips together and bowed his head.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I will focus on maintaining confidentiality.”

Veronica sent a cold gaze towards Bain before quietly composing her emotions.

Then, in a cold and elegant manner, she quietly muttered.

“I’ll have to devise another strategy.”

The weight of her position as a princess, which felt suffocating, pressed down on her even more today.

But she was destined to become the Empress one day. If she couldn’t accomplish this, there would be no next step.

Her cyan eyes burned with even more determination.