“Still, we should have pursued them to the end and taken their heads. Such things need to be nipped in the bud completely.”

Amidst the grumbling voices, a monotone voice interjected.

“What happened to the one who escaped?”

‘It’s the Duke.’

“We confirmed that he had stopped breathing.”

As I peeked out, I could see several men gathered, all dressed in black.

While I was contemplating whether to pretend not to notice and pass by, the Duke suddenly turned his head.

“Diane.”

The Duke slightly extended one hand towards me. However, I first spotted a familiar face among the group in black.

“It’s Yan!”

“Ah, young miss.”

I ran towards Yan with outstretched arms, but the Duke swiftly caught me.

I was briefly lifted into the air before being gently cradled in the Duke’s arms.

Huh? I stared blankly at Yan with a puzzled look, and he kindly explained.

“I’ve just finished my mission, miss. I haven’t had a chance to clean up, so I’m quite dirty.”

Now that he mentioned it, unlike his usual neat appearance, he was covered in dust and his hair was disheveled.

At that moment, another knight interjected between us.

“Young miss! It’s been a while! Do you remember me?”

“Yes, you’re Bart, right?”

“Ah, young miss! I was there too at that time!”

“I know, Gezwill!”

“Young miss, what about me? What about me?!”

“Do you know me too?”

After I acknowledged knowing one or two of them, the other knights all clamored to ask me their names.

There were a couple I didn’t know, so it wasn’t until I had heard all their names that the name-calling finally ended.

‘Phew, they all love having their names called.’

I even considered memorizing the other knights’ names to build up goodwill.

“By the way, Yan, where have you been?”

“I was delayed completing a mission. Did you wait long?”

“Yes, you’re supposed to be my guard, after all.”

“I’m sorry, I should have finished sooner and returned.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re here now, so it’s okay.”

I didn’t want to complain about Yan being late.

In fact, all my discontent was directed at the Duke.

‘He said he’d make Yan my guard.’

If he keeps giving Yan other tasks for days on end like this, having someone else constantly substitute as my guard defeats the purpose.

‘The Duke is clearly doing this on purpose to keep Yan busy.’

I glanced at the Duke, and he too was looking at me with a stoic gaze.

“What is it?”

“…”

Seeing his irritated expression, I pressed my lips together and shook my head.

Anyway, whatever the mission was, I was glad it ended safely and he returned.

“So, starting tomorrow, Yan will be my guard again, right?”

“Yes, of course-”

“Shouldn’t he rest now that the mission is over?”

The Duke interrupted Yan’s words. Yan’s eyes widened at the Duke’s statement.

Bart, who was standing nearby, scratched his ear and nudged Yan.

“Yan, I didn’t mishear that, did I? Did our lord just tell us to rest?”

“…Well, your ears seem to be working fine. Your mouth, however, still seems unable to read the situation.”

At the Duke’s sharp words, Bart closed his mouth with a ‘hup’. Behind Bart, Gezwill carefully raised his hand to ask a question.

“Um, are we really allowed to do that? Is it true that our lord, who usually says we can’t sleep with our skills, actually said that?”

Normally, I would have narrowed my eyes at the Duke and asked, “Did you really say that?”

But this time, when I did so, the Duke subtly averted his gaze.

“The mission is over, so you can rest for a day or two.”

“Wow… wow… Our lord told us to rest…”

“If you’re not satisfied, you can go back out right away.”

“We’ll gratefully rest for two full days and then return!”

The expressions of the others noticeably brightened. At that moment, my eyes met Yan’s again. Yan smiled at me and said,

“I’m fine, my lord. My original duty was to guard the young miss. I’ll resume my guard duty immediately.”

Those words made me very happy. I fidgeted in the Duke’s arms. If the Duke had let me go, I would have hugged Yan tightly.

‘The Duke must think Yan is admirable too.’

He seemed to disapprove of Yan already, so I thought this was a good development and looked up.

However, what I saw was the Duke’s face, hardened with displeasure.

‘What is the Duke unhappy about now?’

“I heard you have younger siblings.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, why don’t you go see their faces while you’re at it?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m telling you to visit home.”

Yan’s eyes widened. He seemed unsure of how to respond. Regardless of Yan’s surprise, the Duke continued nonchalantly.

“You said your home was near the capital, right? In that case, I’ll give you a vacation. Take a generous ten days and go.”

“Ah.”

“Go while you have the chance.”

“Ah, th-thank you.”

Yan seemed bewildered by this unexpected reward. I asked about something I was curious about from the Duke’s words.

“Yan, you have siblings?”

“Yes, in the capital…”

“Didn’t you know?”

Bart cut off Yan’s answer and eagerly continued.

“This guy has three younger siblings! The youngest should be about your age, young miss. The oldest is 15, and the second is 4 years younger than that, I think?”

“The youngest sibling should be a year older than you, miss? Anyway, this guy adores his siblings so much. He goes to see them every holiday. When you see that, it’s no wonder you like him the best, young miss. This was an unfair competition from the start.”

“But if I had met the young miss first on that day, she would have liked me the best. Then the guard position would have been mine!”

Yan’s family history was recited in detail by the other knights. Despite his personal information being thoroughly exposed, Yan just smiled good-naturedly.

I narrowed my eyes.

‘Really, it’s a wonder Yan doesn’t get scammed everywhere he goes.’

Come to think of it, in the original story, Yan joined thinking the Leviche Knights were just a knightly order guarding the border from monsters.

He had no idea they were the Duke’s personal knights who committed evil deeds.

Thinking about it that way, Yan had already been deceived by the Duke.

‘I hope he doesn’t just lend money to anyone who asks.’

That part was seriously worrying. I made a mental note to earnestly advise Yan later.

‘That he shouldn’t lend money to just anyone.’

“Go see your siblings’ faces. Ten days should be enough, right?”

When there was no answer from Yan, the Duke urged him. At a glance, his attitude seemed interrogative.

“Ah, yes. Then…”

In the middle of his response, his eyes met mine. Judging by his expression, Yan seemed concerned about me.

To ease his worry, I said bravely,

“I’ll be fine, just be careful on your trip.”

“Yes, young miss. Thank you.”

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed, but I couldn’t insist when he was going to see his siblings.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t know Yan had three younger siblings.’

No wonder being held by Yan felt as comfortable as being held by Sophia. Perhaps it was because he had three younger siblings that he took such good care of me.

During the time Chrissy was my guard, he would occasionally hold me, but it always felt uncomfortable and I would quickly leave his embrace.

Each time, Chrissy would look dejected, but his way of holding was so awkward that I couldn’t stay long.

‘Come to think of it, the Duke holds me quite well too.’

The Duke’s way of holding was just as skillful as Yan’s.

‘It’s surprisingly comfortable.’

Even now, the fact that I was so comfortably nestled showed that the Duke’s hold was quite stable.

“Alright, dismissed.”

At the Duke’s command, the knights began to dust off their clothes and return to the training ground one by one.

I belatedly noticed the black hoods each of them was holding.

Suddenly, I had a sense of déjà vu.

Where have I seen this before?

“By the way, Yan, what’s that outfit?”

“Ah, this? It’s the outfit we often wear when going on missions.”

Following Yan’s kind answer, Bart quickly jumped in and said,

“This is a very comfortable outfit! It has magic on it so the hood doesn’t come off easily!”

Bart even demonstrated by pulling the hood down deeply.

“And it doesn’t obstruct your vision either. Part of the hood has transparency magic on it!”

Seeing Bart with the hood pulled down, I opened my eyes wide. The deeply pulled hood looked strangely familiar.

‘Could it be…’

As I searched my memories, I recalled a scene from the memory the silver snake had shown me.

‘Hahaha! You fools! I’m here!’

‘Next time, please leave that guy out?’

‘What if that bastard finds out we came secretly? Can you handle that? That guy will sulk for three months if we don’t include him in these things.’

It was the group of black-hooded assassins who had attacked!

‘That was the Leviche Knights?!’

Now that I think about it, the man who had slashed the assassin had particularly caught my eye.

‘Don’t overdo it and finish quickly, I need to return before sunrise.’

Then that man at that time was…

“Is something wrong, young miss?”

Yan asked in a gentle tone. It was a completely different manner from the voice that remained in my memory.

“Ah, it’s nothing…”

Come to think of it, on the day I deliberately let the assassin escape, the mansion’s security had been unusually lax.

‘Well, I was concealed by the silver snake’s invisibility.’

That day, the assassin was even injured. According to what the silver snake had told me, he had even been poisoned and wouldn’t be able to escape easily.

It didn’t make sense that such an assassin could safely escape through the Duke’s tight security.

‘Then does that mean the Duke intentionally let the assassin go?’

I was shocked by this newly realized fact.

‘He probably doesn’t know that I went down to the underground prison that day, right?’

If he had known, there’s no way the Duke would have remained quiet.

‘If he knew, he would have definitely asked about it.’

I looked up at the Duke, and he tilted his head slightly to look down at me.

“What?”

‘…Right, if he knew, there’s no way he would be this nonchalant.’

“My lord.”

At that moment, Philen whispered something quietly to the Duke.

“You can get down now.”

When the Duke said that, it felt like I was the one who had asked to be held first.

‘Who asked to be held?’

Glad for the chance, I lightly stepped down to the ground. The Duke immediately followed Philen into the mansion without a word.

As soon as the Duke disappeared, the remaining knights crowded around me again.

“Young miss, who are you thinking of having as your guard while Yan is on vacation?”

“Are you considering changing your guard?”

“Young miss, I heard you like cookies for snacks…”

When these men, as big as mountains, gathered all at once and started chattering loudly, it was overwhelming.

‘My ears!’

I frowned and covered both ears tightly with my hands. The men standing around burst into loud laughter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Philen, who had urgently called for Cailius, handed him a note and said,

“This is quite unexpected, for them to say it directly like this.”

A few minutes ago, an urgent letter had arrived at the Duke’s residence. Inside the envelope was a sprig of myrrh along with a note.

− G.R.]