“And one more thing! Find a house for a young mother, a young boy, and an elderly couple in their 60s – four people in total. Also include usable identities. The location should be a quiet village near a small or medium-sized city, far from the capital.”

“Understood!”

After pondering for a moment what else to add, Onyx immediately spoke again.

“It would be good if it’s a place where crossing borders is easy. So they can easily cross the border if necessary.”

“Yes, vice-leader!”

“That’s all. You may go now.”

“Yes!”

The subordinates who had filled the office all left at once. However, one of them remained and quietly asked Onyx.

“By the way, vice-leader.”

“What is it?”

“Did something good happen?”

“Something good? What do you mean all of a sudden?”

“No, it’s just… You look happy. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen you smile.”

“Ah…”

Onyx always maintained a poker face. He thoroughly hid his expressions within the information guild. Especially when standing in front of his subordinates. But today was different. The corners of his mouth were slightly curled up as he gave orders.

Only then did Onyx realize he had failed to control his expression at all. His face, slightly reddened, hardened. He spoke in a cold voice.

“There’s nothing good, so stop talking nonsense and go do what you’re told.”

“Yes, I understand. I was hoping the vice-leader might have found a lover, but I guess not.”

Until the last moment of leaving the office, the grinning expression showed no sign of believing Onyx’s words. Finally left alone, Onyx rubbed his face with both hands. His face was hot.

‘I looked happy? Come on.’

Hah! A big sigh burst out in disbelief. There was nothing to be happy about.

No, rather, if he thought that Killian might know Veronia’s identity, it was a situation where he should be worried first. Because it was an urgent situation where the request could fail.

‘But… I was smiling? Me? I must be crazy.’

In fact, when he received a new request from Veronia, his mood had sunk a little. It seemed that even after many years together, the relationship of client and employee was still emphasized.

‘But why am I feeling good now? Why was I smiling?’

Onyx asked himself. But no answer came to mind, and he only felt frustrated. Then suddenly one possibility flashed through his mind.

‘No way… Is it because of the thought that I could remove Killian from Veronia’s side? No… Surely not? Really?’

Pfft, hahaha! It was such a ridiculous possibility that he couldn’t help but laugh. As he was laughing alone like a madman, suddenly a chilly wind woke him up.

It seemed that this ridiculous possibility was actually true.

‘Hah… I really must be crazy.’

Killian, that guy, had been strangely displeasing from the start.

It was also strange that he alone didn’t give up on Veronia, whom the whole world already believed to be dead. Moreover, for a top nobleman to hover around a commoner woman and show affection.

‘But it’s none of my business… So why?’

It was incomprehensible why he was developing such personal feelings about someone related to Veronia, who was just a simple client.

‘…Is it just some kind of competitiveness?’

Like competing to win at darts. After all, men often get stuck on strange things and unnecessarily burn with competitiveness.

‘But what do I gain if I win the competition?’

As Onyx pondered deeply, one answer came to mind, and the moment it did, his face turned bright red.

‘What I gain from the competition is… Veronia… right?’

Despite it being the answer his own mind had produced, he thought it was an answer he could neither understand nor accept.

But regardless of this thought, his face grew redder and redder. That wasn’t all. Thump thump, his heart began to beat violently as if having a seizure.

‘W-what is this? Why is this happening suddenly?’

Onyx was flustered by this physical change he had never felt before. That’s when it happened. He remembered the last words his subordinate had said as he left the office.

‘…I was hoping the vice-leader might have found a lover…’

Onyx’s face, now even redder, looked like a bomb about to explode at any moment.

‘A lover… he said?’

Thump thump, it felt like his heart might jump out of his mouth at any moment. It seemed that if he stayed still like this, it wouldn’t be strange if his head or chest burst.

Onyx stood up. When his head was complicated and his chest unsettled, he needed to move his body. He immediately headed to the fitness room in the basement of the building.

He punched and kicked the sandbag hanging from the ceiling. Soon sweat was flowing all over his body. He felt much refreshed.

Next, he took daggers in both hands and slashed through various targets one by one. He jumped up and swung his arms, rolled on the floor and swung his daggers.

The martial arts of an information guild member are not for full-frontal confrontation. Rather, they aim to slash at the enemy’s weak points and quickly escape. Therefore, Onyx preferred daggers over long swords.

‘Now I feel a bit more alive.’

After a bout of exercise, his reddened face and racing heart returned to normal. Thinking it was fortunate, he began to clean up. He reached out to pull out the throwing stars stuck in the target.

That’s when he noticed the bandage wrapped around his wrist had loosened. It was the bandage Veronia had wrapped for him.

‘I told you it was really nothing.’

‘Still, I don’t feel comfortable. Since we got the ointment and bandage from the doctor, we might as well use them.’

He recalled the conversation they had in the carriage. Veronia’s voice echoed vividly in his ears.

The abnormal reactions in his body started again. Heat rushed to his face and his heart sped up. Even if he tried to attribute it to moving his body, it was an undeniable resonance.

‘Why does this keep happening? Do I really like Veronia or something?’

Onyx asked himself. But the answer didn’t come immediately. Still, he felt like he might be able to know the answer.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps because his concentration was broken. He cut his finger on a throwing star. Red blood dripped down.

“Damn it…”

In a hurry, he thought to unwrap the bandage on his wrist to stop the bleeding. But his hand stopped for a moment as he was unwrapping the bandage. He had a strange thought that he didn’t want to unwrap the bandage Veronia had put on. He hesitated to soil the bandage Veronia had given him with blood.

‘I must be crazy.’

Onyx shook his head and unwrapped the bandage to wrap his cut finger. As he watched the bandage quickly turn red with blood, Onyx clenched his molars.

Finally, the day of the coronation dawned. It was a day when the eyes of all the empire’s people were on the imperial family, and the eyes of all the large and small countries on the continent were on the Aesternum Empire. It was supposed to be the most splendid and perfect day.

Everyone under the elegant roof of the imperial palace, from the lowest to the highest, should never let go of the tension.

The emperor and empress, wearing brilliantly golden crowns, slowly walked forward on the red carpet. Their eyes held a solemn air, and their lips bore faint smiles.

On both sides of the carpet, all the people in the palace stood in line, bowing deeply, and as the emperor and empress passed by, they murmured greetings softly.

“May the glory of heaven and the mercy of earth be with Your Majesties the Emperor and Empress.”

“May the glory of heaven and the mercy of earth be with Your Majesties the Emperor and Empress.”

Behind the emperor and empress followed the empress dowager and the princes, along with other members of the imperial family, and behind them followed high-ranking noble officials, including Prime Minister Killian.

Caspian’s figure could not be seen in the quite long procession. He was under unofficial confinement due to the incident a few days ago when he wielded a knife at a pickpocket in the square.

‘Caspian, you know well, don’t you? This is a day when everything must be perfect. It doesn’t seem right to have the person who caused doubts in the people’s minds attend the coronation. Stay low-key for a while.’

Jonathan had summoned Caspian personally and admonished him.

While Caspian himself didn’t seem to have much thought about the matter, Sandra was different. She thought it was not right to make Caspian miss the most significant event that would go down in imperial history.

‘Is this how you intend to sanction him, Emperor?’

Sandra gritted her teeth inwardly and vowed. She would make Jonathan regret officially stigmatizing Caspian.

‘Just you wait, Emperor.’

Sandra’s gaze towards the emperor and empress walking ahead was filled with hostility.

The procession left the imperial palace by carriage and headed for the Grand Temple. It took 30 minutes by carriage from the imperial palace to the Grand Temple.

It was not a short distance at all, and the entire route was packed with people. Everyone was there to see the new emperor and empress.

These were people who had endured terrible war and miserable poverty during the reign of the previous emperor. The eyes of the people, hoping that the new emperor would be even slightly better, sparkled brightly.

“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress!”

“Your Majesties, may you live ten thousand years!”

“Long live the Aesternum Empire!”

The people waved flags and cheered towards the carriage carrying the emperor and empress. The emperor and empress also waved their hands in response to the people.