There was no memory of signing that ridiculous document, the blanket additional interest contract. So Ansi was upright.

“I told you. I’ve already paid back the money I promised.”

Ansi squeezed out the words. Apart from being confident, her voice trembled pathetically. She bit the inside of her lip.

It was obvious what Geris would answer. He would insist unreasonably, asking why she didn’t borrow money elsewhere if she didn’t like it.

Just as it was so obvious to Ansi that she had repaid all the money, Geris was packaging his claim that she hadn’t paid as fact.

“Well, Rein.”

However, Geris’s answer was unexpected.

“Where did you get the money from?”

Geris tilted his head in disbelief. His sharp face twisted fiercely.

“…What?”

Confusion soaked Ansi’s head.

That money, she had paid it all back?

No, that’s impossible. There’s no need to even try to remember. Because such a thing never happened even in dreams.

“Did you find a way to come up with a large sum? What’s with these luxurious clothes, did you finally sell yourself?”

“You crazy bastard.”

If this madman hadn’t admitted that the illegal interest was wrong, he must have confused her with someone else. After all, his daily job was to collect money from countless people. It’s not strange to make such a mistake this way.

If there was another possibility…

For a moment, Damion’s face flashed through her mind. He surely wouldn’t even know about the debt Ansi had owed.

“Still, even if you paid back the money, Rein.”

At that moment, Geris let go of the hair he had grabbed. And with an apologetic face, he gently stroked Ansi’s head once.

Goosebumps rose all over Ansi’s body.

“I said I’d come back, didn’t I? I should say goodbye before leaving. Do you know how surprised I was when you suddenly disappeared?”

One of Ansi’s eyebrows raised. Goodbye, what nonsense. Geris was acting as if they were friends. It was truly an absurd attitude.

Why did she have to face Geris in this alley in the first place? This bastard shouldn’t even have a reason to cling to her like this now.

“You’ll have to compensate for the time I spent looking for you.”

At Geris’s words, Ansi tightly gripped the hem of her skirt.

“…Get lost.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

Ansi turned around sharply and started walking quickly. At least for now, it wasn’t the time to think about why Geris mistakenly thought she had paid back all the money. Just getting out of here was important.

“Hey.”

Geris spat out in a rough voice. He grabbed Ansi’s shoulder and turned her around.

Ansi, holding the hem of her skirt with both hands, kicked Geris in the groin.

“Argh!”

Geris collapsed suddenly from the intense pain. His face contorted horribly.

At that sight, Ansi was startled and stepped back. Geris rolled on the ground, sweating coldly in agony. Although she had kicked him to make him fall, she wondered if he might die like this.

But Ansi knew. That bastard wouldn’t die from just this. And that this was her chance to escape.

She immediately turned around and started running.

“Hey! Rein… Stop right there!”

Geris got up staggering. He chased after Ansi, dragging his trembling legs. The whites of his eyes turned red with bloodshot.

“I said stop!”

A cracked voice burst out. Scared by that voice, Ansi ran with all her might. If she ran just a little more, this narrow alley would end.

“Rein!”

Geris frantically reached out his hand. She was almost caught, but not quite. He hurriedly searched for his pistol in his pocket. However, as he pulled out the gun, he tripped over a stone and fell.

With a dull noise, his body fell forward onto the ground. The gun fell from his hand and flew forward. It was at Ansi’s feet.

“…!”

Ansi hurriedly picked up the gun. She turned around and pointed the gun at Geris.

“You…”

Geris’s body stiffened.

Holding the gun with both hands, she was aiming precisely at Geris’s head. It was a perfect stance. He thought she wouldn’t know how to hold a gun with that frail body, but it seemed she hadn’t learned in vain.

Ansi’s right index finger rested on the trigger. Geris took a breath. Cold sweat ran down his spine.

“Rein.”

“Don’t ever look for me again.”

Ansi glared at Geris as she slowly stepped back. The gun was still pointed at his head. Even as she moved away from sight, Geris couldn’t approach.

With that, Ansi disappeared at the end of the alley. Only then did the strength leave Geris’s body.

“…Rein.”

Geris, who had been dazed, suddenly got up. He ran out of the alley, almost falling.

The square was bustling. Numerous people and carriages were hurriedly moving in their own directions. Noisy sounds spread into the open air.

But Rein wasn’t among them. He searched frantically among the people like a madman. He looked through the shops surrounding the square, and even other alleys, but couldn’t find her. It was as if she had evaporated.

“Ha…”

A sigh mixed with a sneer escaped.

It was futile and futile again. To lose her right before his eyes like this.

He had already thoroughly searched the places in the capital where she might stay, that is, the shabby neighborhoods. Yet he couldn’t find Rein. There was no trace of her anywhere.

He only understood why today. Judging by the clothes she was wearing and her glossy face, he had been searching in the wrong neighborhoods from the start.

Geris returned to the narrow alley from earlier. He searched the ground with keen eyes, wondering if she might have dropped something. But there was no trace of her left in the alley. Even the hat he had taken was gone, picked up at some point.

“Damn it…”

Geris, who had been blankly staring at the gray ground, chewed his lips.

After the futility, a maddening anger swept over him.

This couldn’t be. How could he lose a woman he had found like this? Such a coincidence was unlikely to come again.

Now where should he start from? What if that woman uses a different name? What if she no longer comes out, hiding herself?

“Argh! Aargh!”

Geris screamed, kicking the grass by the roadside. He was angry at himself, and angry at that woman. How could she not welcome him when they met again like this? How could she point a gun at him?

“Rein…”

A gloomy murmur filled the alley. Geris rubbed his face with both hands. A chilling light settled in his eyes as he glared at the empty space between his fingers.

Meanwhile.

There was a man watching this scene from a terrace of a building in the alley.

“My, my…”

The man let out a small sigh. However, he couldn’t hide the corners of his mouth turning up. A laugh filled with interest flowed from him.

A little while ago, Ansi, who had come out to the square, hurriedly looked for a place to hide. She hadn’t completely shaken off Geris yet. He would soon come out of that alley, and if she was caught by him this time, there was no telling what might happen.

Should she hide in a store? Or in another alley?

No, Geris was a persistent man. He would surely search all the places one might hide around here. But if she tried to run away on foot, she would surely be spotted soon.

It was still a long way to where the carriage was. She had left the carriage far away to avoid revealing that she was sending mail.

Ansi pressed her hat down firmly. She had frantically picked it up when Geris was rolling on the ground, fearing he might track her with this hat.

“Where, where to…”

A trembling breath escaped. No matter how much she looked around the wide square, there was nowhere to hide. Her heart was pounding with anxiety. She turned pale as if all the blood had drained from her body.

“Oh my, Ansi!”

At that moment, a carriage stopped in front of her. As the door opened, Lady Roma poked her head out from inside.

“My lady…”

Ansi’s eyes trembled. It felt like meeting a god.

“Please, please help me.”

Ansi blurted out without even thinking.

Roma, who had raised her eyebrows for a moment, lowered her gaze and her face became serious. She had seen the gun in Ansi’s hand.

Ansi tried to hide the tightly held gun under the hem of her skirt. Even though she knew it was useless.

“Get in for now.”

Roma held out her hand to Ansi. There was no time to think. Ansi hurriedly got into the carriage. As soon as she did, the door closed and the carriage started running somewhere.

Roma glanced back out the window. She saw a gray-haired man bursting out of the alley. The man was frantically searching the square. Roma narrowed her eyes and shut the window with a snap.

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t know you got in here. He thinks you went into some shop now.”

“…Thank goodness.”

Only then did the strength leave Ansi’s body.

She tried to calm herself down, swallowing her breath. Her trembling breathing subsided. Roma, who had been watching this scene seriously, sighed deeply and took off Ansi’s hat.

“Oh my, what a state this is in?”

Roma patted the hat to dust it off. It must have gotten dirty when it fell to the ground. At her upset tone, Ansi lowered her head. While smoothing her disheveled hair.

“It’s nothing.”

Although her racing heart had slowed, her expression was not the same as usual. However, Ansi tried her best to maintain composure.