"You found the dark statue I was talking about? Already?"
Karina asked back in a surprised voice.
"Yes. It is said that among the dark thugs operating out of the capital, there was only one place where someone used the name 'Perso'."
"I see."
In fact, Karina had expected that it would take quite some time to find the Dark Statue. That is why she had rented an entire Inn in the capital where she could stay. If she declared her divorce at the New Year's Festival, it would be difficult to continue staying in the Grand Duke's mansion. However, she had no intention of returning to the Milliner Marquisate. All that was left was to go to the temple and ask for a place to stay or rent a place to stay.
'If it's one of the two, it's obviously the inn. I have no reason to go to the temple.'
The temple was a place that brought back only bad memories to Karina. She didn't want to go near it. She couldn't bring Selena and Hasten to the Grand Duke's private residence in the capital anyway. She had to find a place to stay for them, so renting an inn was the best way to do it. So Karina rented an inn and let Selena and Hasten use it freely.
'I guess my stay in the capital will be shorter than I thought?"
Karina smiled with satisfaction.
"Michael. Let's go right now."
Karina wanted to go to the Dark Market right away and find out about the wishing potion. And she wanted to quickly confirm whether the person called 'Perso' was the person she had met in the past.
"Yes, I'll contact the florist right away."
Mikhail nodded willingly. Immediately afterward, Karina stopped by the inn with Mikhail to find Selena and Hasten.
"Both of you had a hard time coming to the capital."
Karina, who greeted the two, carefully observed Selena's complexion. This was because she was worried that she had brought Selena to the capital, where she had bad memories.
"Aren't you tired?"
"I was able to get a good rest, as the Grand Duchess had prepared a place for me to stay in advance."
Selena smiled and answered Karina's question.
"Excuse me... I have something to tell you separately, Your Highness..."
"Huh? What is it?"
When Selena asked hesitantly, Karina also asked back slightly nervously.
"Is there another face here that we know?"
Mikhail, who had noticed this even before entering the room, closed the door and Aiden was standing behind it.
"Actually, I came too...!"
Aiden raised both hands as if embroidering and shouted.
"Aiden? Why are you here?"
Karina looked back at Aiden with surprised eyes.
"The little boy really wanted to see the capital."
Hasten blurted out a word with a calm expression.
"So you came together?"
Aiden chuckled when Karina asked.
"What about your younger siblings?"
Aiden shrugged when the topic of his siblings came up.
"Now, those guys need to learn to do without me. I can't take care of them all the time."
It was strange that a guy who cared so much for his younger siblings would do something like that. Karina raised one eyebrow diagonally.
"Ahem! Anyway, since everyone was going to the capital, I said I wanted to see the capital too, so I followed them. I was curious because they said there was a big festival going on there. I'll just be quiet."
Aiden waved his hands together as if asking for attention.
'Well, what can I do since he already followed me?'
Karina answered in a nonchalant voice.
"As long as it doesn't cause any problems, it'll be fine."
"Yes!"
Aiden smiled brightly as Karina gave her permission.
"First of all... I came today because of the work I entrusted to you last time."
Karina said indirectly that she had come to hear information about the Dark Statue. Selena nodded, understanding Karina's words, and motioned to Hasten. It meant for him to take Aiden out.
"Ha. From now on, I'll be in charge of looking after the child."
Hasten sat up, muttering to himself as if he was sighing.
"Let's go, kid."
"Where?"
"You said you wanted to see the capital. Let's go out now."
"Uh..."
Aiden looked at the rest of them with eyes that said it would be nice if they all went together. Mikhail noticed Aiden's feelings and spoke in an embarrassed voice.
"What should we do? It seems like it would be difficult to go out sightseeing together today."
"Then there's nothing we can do."
Aiden stood up with a regretful expression. Karina added a word to Aiden.
"Let's all go together next time."
A smile quickly appeared on Aiden's face when he heard those words.
"Yes!"
Aiden answered cheerfully and followed Hasten out. Selena opened her mouth after seeing him.
"That child expresses his emotions quite widely in front of the Grand Duchess."
"Come to think of it, that's true. At first, he wasn't a cute kid at all."
Karina chuckled as she recalled the first time she met Aiden.
"By the way."
Karina changed the subject.
"You said you found the dark statue I was talking about?"
"Yes."
Selena stood up, took out a thin piece of paper, and handed it to Karina.
"It seems to have been around for about 10 years, but not much is known about it given the time it has been around."
Selena briefly reported the information she had found out.
"It's probably because there haven't been any major incidents that would make their name known, but from what I've found out so far, it seems like they mainly buy and sell information to merchants and contractors."
"If you listen to it, it doesn't sound like a dark side, but rather an information side. Ten years is not that old for an industry that deals with information. It doesn't seem like the things they do are particularly noticeable."
Mikhail commented briefly. He was right. But Karina didn't care if they could just give her information about the wishing potion.
"Did you figure out how to request information here?"
"That's... Figuring out how to do that was a lot harder than I thought..."
"Yes?"
"There will be a map at the back of the document. It says to go to that bar and order a specific drink. But I haven't figured out what to order yet."
Selena confessed with an embarrassed look. But it didn't matter. Karina already knew what it was.
"This is enough."
Karina smiled contentedly.
***
"Your Highness, I heard that the Grand Duchess has gone out with her escort."
Ron reported to Jeremiah. Right after he came up to the capital. Jeremiah went to find Karina to enter the palace together and overheard her conversation with her escort in her room. And from that conversation, he learned that Karina was looking for a dark figure based in the capital.
'What on earth is this request that Karina is asking the Dark Lord to do?'
Jeremiah had a feeling that it might have something to do with something Karina was hiding from him. That's why he told Ron in advance to report Karina's movements separately.
Jeremiah stopped his deep thoughts and asked Ron.
"Where did she go?"
"It's said to be an inn located on the outskirts of the capital."
"Inn?"
Jeremiah's hands, who had been busy working even after arriving in the capital, suddenly stopped.
"Just now..m.. Are you saying that Karina went to the inn alone with her escort?"
Jeremiah raised his head, frowning slightly. He collected his expression for a moment and asked again.
"What's Karina doing there?"
"I couldn't figure out exactly what business you went for."
"Why?"
"That is..."
Ron said, watching Jeremiah's expression.
"I found out that the Grand Duchess rented the entire place before coming to the capital. So the innkeeper said he didn't know anything about it."
"..."
Jeremiah's mouth was set tightly. Ron hesitated slightly, seemingly faltering, before continuing.
"And the Grand Duchess has already moved the necessary daily necessities and clothes to the inn. She rented it for long-term stays so that she can use it freely whenever she wants..."
"What?"
Ron held his breath quietly. Even though it was an escort, the fact that an adult man and the Grand Duchess went to the inn alone was the perfect bait for gossip among the people. They even rented the entire inn so that no one could know what was going on inside, and even moved the clothes and daily necessities in advance. It was the kind of thing that would make anyone suspicious.
As expected, Jeremiah's expression, which seemed to be trying to remain calm, suddenly turned fierce. The fountain pen in his hand broke with a crack.
"OMG...!"
The servants who saw that sight were startled and froze like ice.
"I will go there right now."
Jeremiah immediately stood up.
***
"Please give me a teardrop full of the scent of violets, filled with blue moonlight."
Karina came to the bar Selena had told her about, accompanied by Mikhail, and told him the password she knew.
"Follow me."
Then the bartender took Karina and Mikhail inside the building. While being guided, Mikhail looked at Karina with a curious look.
"How do you know the password?"
Mikhail whispered softly.
"At a social gathering, I attended before, somehow... by chance... ?"
Karina mumbled, making excuses as they came to mind.
"You can just come in here."
The bartender opened a shabby wooden door and a long hallway appeared. Karina entered without hesitation. At the end of the hallway was a dark but cozy room. There, a thin man wearing a white mask greeted them.
"Welcome. Please have a seat."
The man offered Karina and Mikhail a seat.
"I came here because they said there was a 'Perso' here. Please let me meet him."
As soon as Karina sat down, she recalled the name of the person who had given her the wishing potion from her past memories.
The man wearing a black mask with a pattern covering his entire face except for the corners of his mouth clearly introduced himself as 'Perso'. Then the man in the white mask said that he understood and asked her to wait a moment before disappearing into the room. However, no one showed up even after waiting for a long time.
"Doesn't it seem like it's taking too long?"
Mikhail, who was next to her, also looked into the room where the man in the white mask had disappeared with a bored expression.
'Should I really go and call and see if anyone is there?'
As Karina was pondering, a noise was heard from inside the room. A man wearing a black mask identical to the one in her past memories came in.
"You were looking for me?"
The man named 'Perso' was dressed entirely in black. He wore a black robe, a black hood, black boots, and black gloves. The man covered himself up as much as possible, and it seemed like he was even using a voice modulator.
"You're lucky. You came to see me when I was there."
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment