A dark room where you can't even see the shadow of the moon.
The thick glass window opened silently.
Soon a man wearing a tight black suit that clung to his body entered the room as lightly as a butterfly.
It was Quaid.
Quaid returned to Duke Leopold's mansion under Daimon's orders and investigated Chernosser.
Is he really alive, and if so, how did he come back?
And he thoroughly investigated what the current status is, where it is, etc.
As a result, it was discovered that Adele was the one who brought Chernossor back from the basement.
They say that anyone who is not of the Duke's bloodline will never be able to escape once they enter the basement, but it seems that was just an empty boast.
...or they lied.
He can check for himself which one it is.
There are a few spies that Daimon has planted in the Duke's mansion, but they cannot be trusted.
If he was really alive, he should kill him on the spot to avoid any later consequences, so Quaid went directly to the bedroom where Chernosser was.
Quaid looked around the dark bedroom.
'There are two inside the room and four outside.'
Those outside don't need to worry.
The other person in the room was annoyed.
Because it meant that there was someone else in the bedroom besides the one who was presumed to be Chernosser, lying on the bed as if dead.
He must be one of the knights of the Duke Leopold's family.
“...”
While thinking like that, Quaid, who was sharply alert about his surroundings, let his guard down when he found a servant crouching in a corner and dozing off.
First, he has to deal with Chernosser, and then he has to kill that servant.
There was no malicious intent.
It was all the fault of that servant here.
...Yeah, it’s his fault.
Power entered Quaid's eyes.
He took a deep breath in silence and then approached the bed where the person presumed to be Chernosser was lying.
The first thing that caught his eye was a gorgeous blonde hair.
Is this really Chernosser?
At that moment, Quaid, standing at the bedside, tried to check the other person's face.
“...!”
A pure white hand suddenly popped out from under the blanket.
As Quaid stepped back in surprise, a sharp dagger flew through the pitch-black darkness.
Quaid dodged the dagger by almost flying, then looked in the direction it had come from.
“Wow, you’re as fast as a squirrel.”
Then a servant appeared, juggling daggers and laughing.
No, he was someone he thought was a servant.
Is he a knight?
He doesn't think that's the case, since knights don't usually use daggers.
By the way, whose pure white hands are those that just got out of bed?
Isn't that Chernosser?
“I told you not to come out and do useless things, Leo.”
Could this voice be...?
Quaid's eyes grew as big as lanterns as he confirmed the owner of the pure white hands.
It was Adele Leopold.
After that, Perdes stood up, straightening his messy blond hair.
So, was Perdes pretending to be Chernosser?
Quaid, who had just realized this fact, laughed in vain.
He thought it might be a trap from the beginning so that part was okay.
The problem was that until Adele Leopold revealed herself, there was no sign of her.
It was well known that Adele Leopold had outstanding swordsmanship skills, to the point that she graduated early from the Knight Academy.
The thick glass window opened silently.
Soon a man wearing a tight black suit that clung to his body entered the room as lightly as a butterfly.
It was Quaid.
Quaid returned to Duke Leopold's mansion under Daimon's orders and investigated Chernosser.
Is he really alive, and if so, how did he come back?
And he thoroughly investigated what the current status is, where it is, etc.
As a result, it was discovered that Adele was the one who brought Chernossor back from the basement.
They say that anyone who is not of the Duke's bloodline will never be able to escape once they enter the basement, but it seems that was just an empty boast.
...or they lied.
He can check for himself which one it is.
There are a few spies that Daimon has planted in the Duke's mansion, but they cannot be trusted.
If he was really alive, he should kill him on the spot to avoid any later consequences, so Quaid went directly to the bedroom where Chernosser was.
Quaid looked around the dark bedroom.
'There are two inside the room and four outside.'
Those outside don't need to worry.
The other person in the room was annoyed.
Because it meant that there was someone else in the bedroom besides the one who was presumed to be Chernosser, lying on the bed as if dead.
He must be one of the knights of the Duke Leopold's family.
“...”
While thinking like that, Quaid, who was sharply alert about his surroundings, let his guard down when he found a servant crouching in a corner and dozing off.
First, he has to deal with Chernosser, and then he has to kill that servant.
There was no malicious intent.
It was all the fault of that servant here.
...Yeah, it’s his fault.
Power entered Quaid's eyes.
He took a deep breath in silence and then approached the bed where the person presumed to be Chernosser was lying.
The first thing that caught his eye was a gorgeous blonde hair.
Is this really Chernosser?
At that moment, Quaid, standing at the bedside, tried to check the other person's face.
“...!”
A pure white hand suddenly popped out from under the blanket.
As Quaid stepped back in surprise, a sharp dagger flew through the pitch-black darkness.
Quaid dodged the dagger by almost flying, then looked in the direction it had come from.
“Wow, you’re as fast as a squirrel.”
Then a servant appeared, juggling daggers and laughing.
No, he was someone he thought was a servant.
Is he a knight?
He doesn't think that's the case, since knights don't usually use daggers.
By the way, whose pure white hands are those that just got out of bed?
Isn't that Chernosser?
“I told you not to come out and do useless things, Leo.”
Could this voice be...?
Quaid's eyes grew as big as lanterns as he confirmed the owner of the pure white hands.
It was Adele Leopold.
After that, Perdes stood up, straightening his messy blond hair.
So, was Perdes pretending to be Chernosser?
Quaid, who had just realized this fact, laughed in vain.
He thought it might be a trap from the beginning so that part was okay.
The problem was that until Adele Leopold revealed herself, there was no sign of her.
It was well known that Adele Leopold had outstanding swordsmanship skills, to the point that she graduated early from the Knight Academy.
He thought it was just a sunflower.
He thought he would be able to easily subdue her if he ever got into a fight with her, but he was very flustered when she completely hid her presence.
Of course, he didn't show it at all on the outside but kept a sharp eye on Adele, Perdes, and Leo.
Adele leisurely met Quaid's gaze and took out the sword she had hidden under the blanket.
It was a real sword that she had previously received from Count Martina.
As Adele pulled out her sword, Quaid's gaze became sharper.
“Do you plan on fighting yourself, Young Lady?”
"Of course."
“You’ll regret it.”
"Well."
As soon as Adele finished speaking, the bedroom door opened and the knights of Duke Leopold's family, including Aldor, came in.
They surrounded Quaid in an instant.
Adele, standing behind him, looked at Quaid, who was frowning, and smiled leisurely.
“Who would regret it now?”
Often, the protagonists in novels and plays defeat the villains 'alone' and in a cool way, but this was reality.
I didn't do it because I thought I would get treated badly if I tried to be the main character for no reason.
I also knew through my second and third lives that my swordsmanship was not strong enough to reliably defeat the Anatome Guard.
If there was a sure way to win, it was right to use that method.
So I ordered the Duke's knights to stand by in advance and come in when I gave them the signal.
Even though they were knights, there were only three of them, including Sir Aldor.
There was nothing I could do because if I made too much of a fuss, rumors might spread.
One of the reasons was that only the most trustworthy people were selected.
Of course, since there was only one opponent, this was enough to subdue him.
“Huh!”
See, he's subdued.
I bent my knees to the eye level of the man lying on the floor with a gag in his mouth to prevent him from killing himself.
The man looked up at me with eyes full of rebellion and murder.
I asked without avoiding his gaze, facing him head-on.
“Anatome Guard, right?”
“...”
“Nod your head if I am right, shake your head left or right if I am wrong.”
Naturally, the man shook his head from side to side.
If he admits that he is part of the Anatome Guard, it would be the same as admitting that the Emperor is involved in this matter, so he denies it.
“Hmm, how long can you deny it?”
Aldor, who knew what I wanted like a ghost, said.
“I will interrogate this man myself.”
"Is it so."
Originally I was going to do it myself, but Sir Aldor is more of an expert in this area than I am, so I thought it would be better to leave it to him.
“Oh, by the way, we have to keep him alive.”
"All right."
Sir Aldor and his knights dragged the man away.
I watched them until they were out of sight, then put my sword back in its sheath.
Perdes finally felt relieved and sat down on the sofa, letting out a deep breath.
Leo glanced at them as they walked away, then came closer to me and whispered in my ear.
“Is that guy... Ugh.”
"Stay away."
Leo had to back away before he could finish what he wanted to say because Perdes grabbed him by the back of the neck.
Perdes didn't just leave him alone, he threw him out of the bedroom.
And then he slammed the door shut so hard it made a loud noise and looked back at me.
“What is that kid?”
The glaring eyes were a little scary.
“Calling you darling is like that... Who is that kid, acting like he’s close to Young Lady? Surely he’s not really your lover?”
“Is he my lover?”
“Yes. Rumors spread throughout the Duke’s residence that that man was Young Lady's secret lover.”
Has the rumor already spread?
It's unnecessarily fast.
“What, why aren’t you answering?”
Anxiety flashed across Perdes' eyes.
“He's not really your lover, is he?”
“No way. That can’t be true. He's just pretending to be my lover because I have some special circumstances.”
“What’s the matter?”
I couldn't say anything about that part, so I laughed instead of answering.
“...”
Perdes, who was quick-witted, noticed this immediately and did not ask any further questions, but instead, a look of discontent appeared on his face.
He may have grown in size, but he still thinks and expresses himself like a child.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I smiled faintly and gently held Perdes' hand.
“Thanks to your advice, Mr. Perdes, I was able to catch that guy easily. Thank you so much.”
And when I expressed my sincere gratitude, the grievances on Perdes' face suddenly fell away.
He blushed a little embarrassed and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, what are you doing with something like this? If you need my help again, just let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help you.”
"Thank you."
Peaceful atmosphere.
The atmosphere was so calm that it made all the tension and alertness I had felt seem insignificant, but my mind was still complicated.
Anatome Guard, it was because of that man.
Why didn't the man run away?
If he had run away immediately after confirming that the target was Perdes and not Chernosser or when he saw the knights coming, he could have easily run away, so why did he fight them?
'Could it be that Perdes is also included in the target that the Emperor has instructed?'
I bit my lip as a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
If so, it meant that the Emperor had decided to abandon Perdes.
Or maybe he knows that Perdes betrayed him.
Whether it was the former or the latter, it was a big problem.
Because the Emperor, born with the nature of a persistent hunter, never gives up until he catches his chosen prey.
The Emperor will try to kill Perdes somehow.
It's like he was trying to kill me.
“Your expression is dark.”
Perdes asked me with concern, carefully examining my expression.
“What's going on now?”
“It’s not that anything happened, I’m just worried about the future.”
If I tried to brush it off as nothing, Perdes would think it was strange, so I made up an excuse.
“I was thinking about how I should deal with the Emperor’s penchant for nagging at me about this.”
“What should we do? Like I said before, we should put all the blame on that man.”
Perdes answered as if asking such an obvious question.
“I’m not passing the buck. It’s all his fault. We’re just stating the truth. And...”
Perdes explained this and that, but none of it made sense.
Rather, I feel emotional and my throat tightens at the thought that someone who cares for me like this might die because of me.
As expected, my connection with you is...
“If you do this, no matter how great the Emperor is...”
“Shall we end it here?”
Perdes, who had been chattering like a lark, suddenly stopped talking.
I looked into his eyes which were shaking like aspen trees and said.
“I will give you freedom as I promised, so let’s stop here, Lord Perdes.”
Of course, he didn't show it at all on the outside but kept a sharp eye on Adele, Perdes, and Leo.
Adele leisurely met Quaid's gaze and took out the sword she had hidden under the blanket.
It was a real sword that she had previously received from Count Martina.
As Adele pulled out her sword, Quaid's gaze became sharper.
“Do you plan on fighting yourself, Young Lady?”
"Of course."
“You’ll regret it.”
"Well."
As soon as Adele finished speaking, the bedroom door opened and the knights of Duke Leopold's family, including Aldor, came in.
They surrounded Quaid in an instant.
Adele, standing behind him, looked at Quaid, who was frowning, and smiled leisurely.
“Who would regret it now?”
***
Often, the protagonists in novels and plays defeat the villains 'alone' and in a cool way, but this was reality.
I didn't do it because I thought I would get treated badly if I tried to be the main character for no reason.
I also knew through my second and third lives that my swordsmanship was not strong enough to reliably defeat the Anatome Guard.
If there was a sure way to win, it was right to use that method.
So I ordered the Duke's knights to stand by in advance and come in when I gave them the signal.
Even though they were knights, there were only three of them, including Sir Aldor.
There was nothing I could do because if I made too much of a fuss, rumors might spread.
One of the reasons was that only the most trustworthy people were selected.
Of course, since there was only one opponent, this was enough to subdue him.
“Huh!”
See, he's subdued.
I bent my knees to the eye level of the man lying on the floor with a gag in his mouth to prevent him from killing himself.
The man looked up at me with eyes full of rebellion and murder.
I asked without avoiding his gaze, facing him head-on.
“Anatome Guard, right?”
“...”
“Nod your head if I am right, shake your head left or right if I am wrong.”
Naturally, the man shook his head from side to side.
If he admits that he is part of the Anatome Guard, it would be the same as admitting that the Emperor is involved in this matter, so he denies it.
“Hmm, how long can you deny it?”
Aldor, who knew what I wanted like a ghost, said.
“I will interrogate this man myself.”
"Is it so."
Originally I was going to do it myself, but Sir Aldor is more of an expert in this area than I am, so I thought it would be better to leave it to him.
“Oh, by the way, we have to keep him alive.”
"All right."
Sir Aldor and his knights dragged the man away.
I watched them until they were out of sight, then put my sword back in its sheath.
Perdes finally felt relieved and sat down on the sofa, letting out a deep breath.
Leo glanced at them as they walked away, then came closer to me and whispered in my ear.
“Is that guy... Ugh.”
"Stay away."
Leo had to back away before he could finish what he wanted to say because Perdes grabbed him by the back of the neck.
Perdes didn't just leave him alone, he threw him out of the bedroom.
And then he slammed the door shut so hard it made a loud noise and looked back at me.
“What is that kid?”
The glaring eyes were a little scary.
“Calling you darling is like that... Who is that kid, acting like he’s close to Young Lady? Surely he’s not really your lover?”
“Is he my lover?”
“Yes. Rumors spread throughout the Duke’s residence that that man was Young Lady's secret lover.”
Has the rumor already spread?
It's unnecessarily fast.
“What, why aren’t you answering?”
Anxiety flashed across Perdes' eyes.
“He's not really your lover, is he?”
“No way. That can’t be true. He's just pretending to be my lover because I have some special circumstances.”
“What’s the matter?”
I couldn't say anything about that part, so I laughed instead of answering.
“...”
Perdes, who was quick-witted, noticed this immediately and did not ask any further questions, but instead, a look of discontent appeared on his face.
He may have grown in size, but he still thinks and expresses himself like a child.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
I smiled faintly and gently held Perdes' hand.
“Thanks to your advice, Mr. Perdes, I was able to catch that guy easily. Thank you so much.”
And when I expressed my sincere gratitude, the grievances on Perdes' face suddenly fell away.
He blushed a little embarrassed and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, what are you doing with something like this? If you need my help again, just let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help you.”
"Thank you."
Peaceful atmosphere.
The atmosphere was so calm that it made all the tension and alertness I had felt seem insignificant, but my mind was still complicated.
Anatome Guard, it was because of that man.
Why didn't the man run away?
If he had run away immediately after confirming that the target was Perdes and not Chernosser or when he saw the knights coming, he could have easily run away, so why did he fight them?
'Could it be that Perdes is also included in the target that the Emperor has instructed?'
I bit my lip as a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
If so, it meant that the Emperor had decided to abandon Perdes.
Or maybe he knows that Perdes betrayed him.
Whether it was the former or the latter, it was a big problem.
Because the Emperor, born with the nature of a persistent hunter, never gives up until he catches his chosen prey.
The Emperor will try to kill Perdes somehow.
It's like he was trying to kill me.
“Your expression is dark.”
Perdes asked me with concern, carefully examining my expression.
“What's going on now?”
“It’s not that anything happened, I’m just worried about the future.”
If I tried to brush it off as nothing, Perdes would think it was strange, so I made up an excuse.
“I was thinking about how I should deal with the Emperor’s penchant for nagging at me about this.”
“What should we do? Like I said before, we should put all the blame on that man.”
Perdes answered as if asking such an obvious question.
“I’m not passing the buck. It’s all his fault. We’re just stating the truth. And...”
Perdes explained this and that, but none of it made sense.
Rather, I feel emotional and my throat tightens at the thought that someone who cares for me like this might die because of me.
As expected, my connection with you is...
“If you do this, no matter how great the Emperor is...”
“Shall we end it here?”
Perdes, who had been chattering like a lark, suddenly stopped talking.
I looked into his eyes which were shaking like aspen trees and said.
“I will give you freedom as I promised, so let’s stop here, Lord Perdes.”
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