With the loss of her teacher, it was clear that it would have some kind of impact. Cloud's absence was also difficult for her.
Since he wasn't caught by the guards, he might be able to return safely.
Now that she knows Byron's true identity, shr planned to show him that her skills are improving so that she can enter the Duke's household as quickly as possible. However, things are going strangely due to an unexpected variable.
Her head was in a state of confusion, not knowing what would happen. Aila unconsciously drew random lines on the paper where she was writing notes. The ink marks crossed here and there, seemed to be just inside her head.
She carefully cleared away her writing instruments and papers, making sure not to spill ink on the table. She lay down on the bed and tried to sleep, but it was a night when it seemed like she would not fall asleep easily.
'Is this it?'
A man stood in front of an old inn building. The sign read, "The Poinsettia Inn."
“Excuse me.”
The inn was so quiet that it was doubtful whether it was even open for business, but the man knocked on the inn's door. He had business to attend to.
“...Are you there?”
But no matter how many times he knocked on the door, there was no response from inside the inn. He was starting to get annoyed. After a long time had passed.
“Who are you? What brings you here?”
A man who seemed to be on edge opened the door and came out. The man who had been upset for a moment about why he was speaking informally to him when they first met froze when he saw the man.
The tall man had a well-trained body and an imposing presence at first glance. He was wearing ordinary, if not shabby, clothes, but even those clothes could not hide his extraordinary aura.
'Damn. I thought it was a simple task, so I said I would do it right away.'
It was just a job of going to an inn and delivering a letter to a woman. The pay was quite good, so he thought it was a stroke of luck. But somehow, he should have thought it was strange from the beginning that they were giving him such a large sum of money for such a simple task.
“Th, uh... Is there a guest named Capella staying at the inn?”
The man opened his mouth with his shoulders tense, not wanting to show that he was intimidated by the large man. That was the best he could do. He didn't dare to respond to the man's informality with informality in return.
“...What is your business?”
When he mentioned Capella's name, the man's already fierce gaze became even sharper. Now, he couldn't even straighten his shoulders and pretend to be confident.
“He asked me to deliver a letter to that woman.”
As soon as he reached into his pocket and took out the letter, the man snatched it away.
"...who?"
“That, that old man outside the castle...”
The man's eyebrows rose at the word "old man." His expression was one of surprise.
“I told her, so you can go now.”
The handsome man spat out coldly. Of course, he thought he should tell her directly. He lost the courage to ask for it back, and even if he did get it back, he also lost the courage to go into the inn and meet the woman named Capella in person, so he started to run away.
Vince Midland, a knight under Byron who had been watching the man walk away, looked down at the letter the man had left with a puzzled expression.
It was true that a woman named Capella was staying at this inn, but who on earth knew and how she sent this letter?
At first, he thought it was sent by his boss, Cloud Air. It was a letter from someone who had been out of contact for several days and whose life or death was unknown.
But he's an old man.
He felt uneasy for no reason and wanted to check the contents. However, if he opened it without Capella’s permission and got caught by her... It would lead to an unpleasant situation.
Vince chewed the letter and went up to the third floor to find Capella, who was guarding the 'young lady's' room.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s it, a man came with a letter and asked me to deliver it to Capella.”
Was this the feeling of the man standing in front of him a moment ago? Vince, who was very intimidated, carefully handed her the letter.
Capella was that kind of being. She didn't have any special powers, but strangely, she became small when standing in front of him.
It may be because she was acting as hostess to their group in Byron's absence, but even putting that aside, there was a strange sense of intimidation that Capella had.
“This is... Cloud’s handwriting.”
Capella's face lit up as she opened the letter. She had been worried about her younger brother, whom she hadn't heard from in a few days, when she heard the news.
Vince's face, which had been stiff at her words, also brightened. He, too, was worried about Cloud.
But the joy was short-lived.
“I must see my lord.”
Capella's expression darkened as she read the letter. Then, she left to find Byron after asking them to look after the 'young lady' for a moment.
“...Lady Capella?”
Vince called out to Capella in a hurry, but she didn't even look back. As a result, he ended up taking on the unexpected role of babysitter without even knowing what was going on.
“You got a letter? From Cloud?”
“...Yes, my lord.”
Capella, who had urgently gone to Byron, hurriedly handed him Cloud's letter. Byron, who had been waiting anxiously for news from him, read the letter in a hurry.
“This is a disaster.”
Byron, who had just finished reading Cloud's letter, leaned back in his chair and sighed. It was truly an awkward situation.
The letter began with an apology to Byron, asking for forgiveness for not only failing to carry out his orders, but also for having his identity discovered by the knights accompanying the Prince.
But as Byron's thoughts continued to swirl, his head started to hurt. This headache couldn't just be the aftereffects of the alcohol he had consumed the day before.
“...What should we do, my lord?”
Even now, the Imperial Guard is searching the entire city like a swarm of lice to find him. Fortunately, the Poinsettia Inn is on the outskirts of the city, so the Guard has not yet raided it, but it was obvious that a search party would arrive soon.
The silver lining was that Cloud had escaped from the city early. Byron was relieved to hear that he was being treated for his wounds somewhere.
Still, the worst wasn't over. It was fortunate that Cloud was still alive.
Cloud was indispensable to Byron. He had told him to not come back unless he succeeded in his mission, but that couldn't have been sincere.
In reality, the few days he was away were like hell. Byron couldn't even sleep properly, anxious that Cloud might not return.
“We have to get out of the city first. Then Cloud will join us.”
He had to get out of here, out of Agrio Castle, as quickly as possible.
“...But, my lord.”
Capella opened her mouth with a worried voice.
The gate was already heavily guarded, but after Cloud failed to assassinate Winfred, the guard was tightened.
She was worried whether she would be able to escape despite all the security.
Even if he drank a magic potion to change his hair and eye color, Byron's overall facial features remained the same, so his identity could still be revealed.
If it were a routine security check, that would be one thing, but if it were a search for a specific person, it was a different story.
“This is driving me crazy, really.”
Byron must have realized the problem, too, as he pulled out his hair.
No. It'll be okay. Byron calmed himself down. He had been through worse situations before. He wasn't the type of person to break down over something like this.
Even when he failed to kill the Emperor and his father, and his hand was cut off and bleeding profusely, didn't he escape?
“First of all... Get ready right now. So that we can leave at any time.”
Byron, who had calmed down a little, opened his mouth in a cold voice. Capella nodded and left Byron’s room. There was a lot to prepare.
“...”
“...”
There was only silence in Aila's room.
Vince didn't have much of a connection with 'Miss'. Taking care of her was the job of Capella and her daughter, Laura, and teaching her was the job of Cloud.
Raised in complete isolation, Aila was not close to anyone except Byron and Cloud's family. In the first place, she had little to talk about.
However, since he was suddenly assigned to guard her in the room like this, an awkward silence fell over him.
“...”
Vince, sitting on the chair with his arms crossed, avoided Aila's gaze here and there out of embarrassment.
Laura, who had been by Ayla's side all night, was resting, and Capella had rushed to find Byron. Although she said it was inevitable since there was no one to watch the child.
It was truly heartbreaking to come face to face with a poor child who was 'being raised as an assassin'.
“Hey, your name is Vince.. right?”
“...Ah, yes, yes. That’s right, Miss.”
Aila broke the silence and opened her mouth. Vince, who had not expected the 'young lady' to remember his name, answered quickly with a surprised expression. He was also nervous because he did not know what she would say.
But the tension didn't last long. Aila melted his heart with her infinitely pure and bright smile.
“Do you know where Capella went?”
In fact, she already knew what was going on because she had overheard Vince and her conversation outside the door, but she was planning to grill Vince to get more information out of him.
It was quite funny to see Vince's frozen face half melt away when Aila, who had hidden her dark inner self, showed the bright smile of a child.
“Oh, she has gone out for a moment to report something urgent to the master. She will be back shortly.”
“Aha, I see. What’s going on?”
Aila opened her eyes wide again like an innocent child and asked, pretending to be innocently curious, without any hint of ulterior motives.
Since he wasn't caught by the guards, he might be able to return safely.
Now that she knows Byron's true identity, shr planned to show him that her skills are improving so that she can enter the Duke's household as quickly as possible. However, things are going strangely due to an unexpected variable.
Her head was in a state of confusion, not knowing what would happen. Aila unconsciously drew random lines on the paper where she was writing notes. The ink marks crossed here and there, seemed to be just inside her head.
She carefully cleared away her writing instruments and papers, making sure not to spill ink on the table. She lay down on the bed and tried to sleep, but it was a night when it seemed like she would not fall asleep easily.
***
'Is this it?'
A man stood in front of an old inn building. The sign read, "The Poinsettia Inn."
“Excuse me.”
The inn was so quiet that it was doubtful whether it was even open for business, but the man knocked on the inn's door. He had business to attend to.
“...Are you there?”
But no matter how many times he knocked on the door, there was no response from inside the inn. He was starting to get annoyed. After a long time had passed.
“Who are you? What brings you here?”
A man who seemed to be on edge opened the door and came out. The man who had been upset for a moment about why he was speaking informally to him when they first met froze when he saw the man.
The tall man had a well-trained body and an imposing presence at first glance. He was wearing ordinary, if not shabby, clothes, but even those clothes could not hide his extraordinary aura.
'Damn. I thought it was a simple task, so I said I would do it right away.'
It was just a job of going to an inn and delivering a letter to a woman. The pay was quite good, so he thought it was a stroke of luck. But somehow, he should have thought it was strange from the beginning that they were giving him such a large sum of money for such a simple task.
“Th, uh... Is there a guest named Capella staying at the inn?”
The man opened his mouth with his shoulders tense, not wanting to show that he was intimidated by the large man. That was the best he could do. He didn't dare to respond to the man's informality with informality in return.
“...What is your business?”
When he mentioned Capella's name, the man's already fierce gaze became even sharper. Now, he couldn't even straighten his shoulders and pretend to be confident.
“He asked me to deliver a letter to that woman.”
As soon as he reached into his pocket and took out the letter, the man snatched it away.
"...who?"
“That, that old man outside the castle...”
The man's eyebrows rose at the word "old man." His expression was one of surprise.
“I told her, so you can go now.”
The handsome man spat out coldly. Of course, he thought he should tell her directly. He lost the courage to ask for it back, and even if he did get it back, he also lost the courage to go into the inn and meet the woman named Capella in person, so he started to run away.
Vince Midland, a knight under Byron who had been watching the man walk away, looked down at the letter the man had left with a puzzled expression.
It was true that a woman named Capella was staying at this inn, but who on earth knew and how she sent this letter?
At first, he thought it was sent by his boss, Cloud Air. It was a letter from someone who had been out of contact for several days and whose life or death was unknown.
But he's an old man.
He felt uneasy for no reason and wanted to check the contents. However, if he opened it without Capella’s permission and got caught by her... It would lead to an unpleasant situation.
Vince chewed the letter and went up to the third floor to find Capella, who was guarding the 'young lady's' room.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s it, a man came with a letter and asked me to deliver it to Capella.”
Was this the feeling of the man standing in front of him a moment ago? Vince, who was very intimidated, carefully handed her the letter.
Capella was that kind of being. She didn't have any special powers, but strangely, she became small when standing in front of him.
It may be because she was acting as hostess to their group in Byron's absence, but even putting that aside, there was a strange sense of intimidation that Capella had.
“This is... Cloud’s handwriting.”
Capella's face lit up as she opened the letter. She had been worried about her younger brother, whom she hadn't heard from in a few days, when she heard the news.
Vince's face, which had been stiff at her words, also brightened. He, too, was worried about Cloud.
But the joy was short-lived.
“I must see my lord.”
Capella's expression darkened as she read the letter. Then, she left to find Byron after asking them to look after the 'young lady' for a moment.
“...Lady Capella?”
Vince called out to Capella in a hurry, but she didn't even look back. As a result, he ended up taking on the unexpected role of babysitter without even knowing what was going on.
“You got a letter? From Cloud?”
“...Yes, my lord.”
Capella, who had urgently gone to Byron, hurriedly handed him Cloud's letter. Byron, who had been waiting anxiously for news from him, read the letter in a hurry.
“This is a disaster.”
Byron, who had just finished reading Cloud's letter, leaned back in his chair and sighed. It was truly an awkward situation.
The letter began with an apology to Byron, asking for forgiveness for not only failing to carry out his orders, but also for having his identity discovered by the knights accompanying the Prince.
But as Byron's thoughts continued to swirl, his head started to hurt. This headache couldn't just be the aftereffects of the alcohol he had consumed the day before.
“...What should we do, my lord?”
Even now, the Imperial Guard is searching the entire city like a swarm of lice to find him. Fortunately, the Poinsettia Inn is on the outskirts of the city, so the Guard has not yet raided it, but it was obvious that a search party would arrive soon.
The silver lining was that Cloud had escaped from the city early. Byron was relieved to hear that he was being treated for his wounds somewhere.
Still, the worst wasn't over. It was fortunate that Cloud was still alive.
Cloud was indispensable to Byron. He had told him to not come back unless he succeeded in his mission, but that couldn't have been sincere.
In reality, the few days he was away were like hell. Byron couldn't even sleep properly, anxious that Cloud might not return.
“We have to get out of the city first. Then Cloud will join us.”
He had to get out of here, out of Agrio Castle, as quickly as possible.
“...But, my lord.”
Capella opened her mouth with a worried voice.
The gate was already heavily guarded, but after Cloud failed to assassinate Winfred, the guard was tightened.
She was worried whether she would be able to escape despite all the security.
Even if he drank a magic potion to change his hair and eye color, Byron's overall facial features remained the same, so his identity could still be revealed.
If it were a routine security check, that would be one thing, but if it were a search for a specific person, it was a different story.
“This is driving me crazy, really.”
Byron must have realized the problem, too, as he pulled out his hair.
No. It'll be okay. Byron calmed himself down. He had been through worse situations before. He wasn't the type of person to break down over something like this.
Even when he failed to kill the Emperor and his father, and his hand was cut off and bleeding profusely, didn't he escape?
“First of all... Get ready right now. So that we can leave at any time.”
Byron, who had calmed down a little, opened his mouth in a cold voice. Capella nodded and left Byron’s room. There was a lot to prepare.
***
“...”
“...”
There was only silence in Aila's room.
Vince didn't have much of a connection with 'Miss'. Taking care of her was the job of Capella and her daughter, Laura, and teaching her was the job of Cloud.
Raised in complete isolation, Aila was not close to anyone except Byron and Cloud's family. In the first place, she had little to talk about.
However, since he was suddenly assigned to guard her in the room like this, an awkward silence fell over him.
“...”
Vince, sitting on the chair with his arms crossed, avoided Aila's gaze here and there out of embarrassment.
Laura, who had been by Ayla's side all night, was resting, and Capella had rushed to find Byron. Although she said it was inevitable since there was no one to watch the child.
It was truly heartbreaking to come face to face with a poor child who was 'being raised as an assassin'.
“Hey, your name is Vince.. right?”
“...Ah, yes, yes. That’s right, Miss.”
Aila broke the silence and opened her mouth. Vince, who had not expected the 'young lady' to remember his name, answered quickly with a surprised expression. He was also nervous because he did not know what she would say.
But the tension didn't last long. Aila melted his heart with her infinitely pure and bright smile.
“Do you know where Capella went?”
In fact, she already knew what was going on because she had overheard Vince and her conversation outside the door, but she was planning to grill Vince to get more information out of him.
It was quite funny to see Vince's frozen face half melt away when Aila, who had hidden her dark inner self, showed the bright smile of a child.
“Oh, she has gone out for a moment to report something urgent to the master. She will be back shortly.”
“Aha, I see. What’s going on?”
Aila opened her eyes wide again like an innocent child and asked, pretending to be innocently curious, without any hint of ulterior motives.
Comments
Post a Comment