At that time, the imperial knights and the knights of Callius were fighting in the inn.
The knights of Callius attempted to search the floor where the Princess was, but the imperial knights were angered, believing this was an invasion of their territory.
“They say that no one has ever come up to the fourth floor except for Her Highness the Princess’s maids.”
“Please help me check just in case.”
"We checked everything when we came in. Are you distrusting us now?"
The imperial knights arrogantly treated the knights of Callius with contempt. It was an act of blatant disrespect.
Even Chloe's maids joined in and sided with the royal knights.
“Her Highness the Princess is asleep, so stop making a fuss and go back. We just finished looking around Her Highness’s room.”
Alex felt frustrated by the maids' words.
Because even though he knew that the real Princess was hiding in another room, he couldn't tell the truth.
Chloe wanted to keep it a secret that she had personally told the truth about her sighting of the suspicious person.
'What on earth were you looking at? You didn't even know that the Princess lying in her room was a fake Princess.'
The real Princess was behind the door guarded by Alex.
Due to the secret she had asked of them, Callius's men were unable to corner the royal knights, even with the solid and strong evidence that "the Princess had seen a suspicious person and asked us to search for him."
The only excuse was that one of Callius's men had seen someone suspicious, and it would be a good idea to check it out.
The imperial knights raised their voices.
"We were watching with our eyes wide open! If anyone had come up to the fourth floor, they wouldn't have been able to avoid our eyes!"
Since they were making such boasts, there were two possibilities.
Either the royal knights were bribed by someone, or Chloe lied.
Alex heard his colleagues whispering in the same hallway.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? We were on the third floor, and none of us saw anyone go up.”
“I was standing guard outside, so if someone had entered the building from outside, I would have known right away.”
One of them spoke in an even lower voice.
"Isn't that a little strange? If the Princess's words were true, why did she keep it a secret from her maids and knights and come to us secretly?"
Alex remembered what Chloe had said.
“Do you think I’m crazy, too?”
He also said why she had to keep the fact that she saw a suspicious person a secret.
“If you told them, none of my attendants would believe you. So, keep it a secret.”
His colleagues were gossiping beside him.
"Isn't it some kind of mental breakdown? Didn't anyone hear people whispering that the Princess seemed crazy when they went to the palace? I've heard it a few times."
“I heard that too.”
“Is that so?”
Chloe asked Callius's men for help, as her own entourage would not believe her, but Callius's men were also suspicious of her.
Andrew grumbled, saying that he had overheard the Princess's conversation with the maid in the carriage.
“The Princess may have gone mad and seen things, or she may have simply been plotting to create conflict between the royal attendants and us.”
"Wherefore?"
“Do you know? I guess I’m getting something out of it.”
“Well, Southerners do plan out schemes.”
Public opinion was not good.
Callius's men became increasingly suspicious of Chloe.
Alex scratched his head in confusion.
'It doesn't seem crazy to me, nor does it seem like a scheme...!'
Am I being naively deceived?
'Really? Is that so?'
But.
'I don't know, but it seemed like she was genuinely concerned about my lord.'
Chloe's urgent and pitiful eyes flickered.
'I wonder if there's something she can't tell me?'
While Alex was in disarray, Callius arrived at the inn.
Hawick quickly reported the whole story.
“...So, I haven’t found him yet. I’m sorry.”
This was something that had to be done secretly and quickly.
Making a fuss like this and running around in confusion was just giving the person hiding time to escape.
Hawick lowered his head as if he were ashamed.
Callius patted Hawick on the shoulder.
“As long as Her Highness is safe, that’s enough.”
The innkeeper, who discovered Callius late, ran over and appealed.
"Marquis Rodrian, the people who work at our inn are people of reliable identities. They've been working there for a very long time. You know this, as you often visit our inn."
“I’m sorry for causing a commotion.”
"Oh, no. Your Excellency, we must be on high alert, of course. But please understand that we have absolutely nothing to do with this..."
The innkeeper had a sad look on his face.
Callius noticed that the innkeeper was fidgeting and realized that something was wrong with him.
“I won’t make a fuss about anything, so just tell me.”
"Really? I just heard the guys talking, and they just discovered that one of their uniforms is missing..."
Hawick shouted with a stern face.
“Why are you telling me that now!”
"Oh, just now! I just found out too. We really don't know what happened."
Callius instructed Hawick.
"Inform the royal knights of this and push on. I will see Her Highness the Princess."
"Yes!"
Encouraged by the disappearance of one of their servants' uniforms and the appearance of their lord, Callius's men broke through the line of imperial knights and ascended to the fourth floor.
Alex watched the scene with relief.
'It wasn't a lie.'
The colleagues who had been chattering about whether the Princess was crazy and talking nonsense or whether she was plotting something just shrugged their shoulders and went up to the fourth floor together.
They had expressions of nonchalance, saying, "Or not, whatever."
Alex feels emotional for no reason.
The knights of Callius attempted to search the floor where the Princess was, but the imperial knights were angered, believing this was an invasion of their territory.
“They say that no one has ever come up to the fourth floor except for Her Highness the Princess’s maids.”
“Please help me check just in case.”
"We checked everything when we came in. Are you distrusting us now?"
The imperial knights arrogantly treated the knights of Callius with contempt. It was an act of blatant disrespect.
Even Chloe's maids joined in and sided with the royal knights.
“Her Highness the Princess is asleep, so stop making a fuss and go back. We just finished looking around Her Highness’s room.”
Alex felt frustrated by the maids' words.
Because even though he knew that the real Princess was hiding in another room, he couldn't tell the truth.
Chloe wanted to keep it a secret that she had personally told the truth about her sighting of the suspicious person.
'What on earth were you looking at? You didn't even know that the Princess lying in her room was a fake Princess.'
The real Princess was behind the door guarded by Alex.
Due to the secret she had asked of them, Callius's men were unable to corner the royal knights, even with the solid and strong evidence that "the Princess had seen a suspicious person and asked us to search for him."
The only excuse was that one of Callius's men had seen someone suspicious, and it would be a good idea to check it out.
The imperial knights raised their voices.
"We were watching with our eyes wide open! If anyone had come up to the fourth floor, they wouldn't have been able to avoid our eyes!"
Since they were making such boasts, there were two possibilities.
Either the royal knights were bribed by someone, or Chloe lied.
Alex heard his colleagues whispering in the same hallway.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? We were on the third floor, and none of us saw anyone go up.”
“I was standing guard outside, so if someone had entered the building from outside, I would have known right away.”
One of them spoke in an even lower voice.
"Isn't that a little strange? If the Princess's words were true, why did she keep it a secret from her maids and knights and come to us secretly?"
Alex remembered what Chloe had said.
“Do you think I’m crazy, too?”
He also said why she had to keep the fact that she saw a suspicious person a secret.
“If you told them, none of my attendants would believe you. So, keep it a secret.”
His colleagues were gossiping beside him.
"Isn't it some kind of mental breakdown? Didn't anyone hear people whispering that the Princess seemed crazy when they went to the palace? I've heard it a few times."
“I heard that too.”
“Is that so?”
Chloe asked Callius's men for help, as her own entourage would not believe her, but Callius's men were also suspicious of her.
Andrew grumbled, saying that he had overheard the Princess's conversation with the maid in the carriage.
“The Princess may have gone mad and seen things, or she may have simply been plotting to create conflict between the royal attendants and us.”
"Wherefore?"
“Do you know? I guess I’m getting something out of it.”
“Well, Southerners do plan out schemes.”
Public opinion was not good.
Callius's men became increasingly suspicious of Chloe.
Alex scratched his head in confusion.
'It doesn't seem crazy to me, nor does it seem like a scheme...!'
Am I being naively deceived?
'Really? Is that so?'
But.
'I don't know, but it seemed like she was genuinely concerned about my lord.'
Chloe's urgent and pitiful eyes flickered.
'I wonder if there's something she can't tell me?'
***
While Alex was in disarray, Callius arrived at the inn.
Hawick quickly reported the whole story.
“...So, I haven’t found him yet. I’m sorry.”
This was something that had to be done secretly and quickly.
Making a fuss like this and running around in confusion was just giving the person hiding time to escape.
Hawick lowered his head as if he were ashamed.
Callius patted Hawick on the shoulder.
“As long as Her Highness is safe, that’s enough.”
The innkeeper, who discovered Callius late, ran over and appealed.
"Marquis Rodrian, the people who work at our inn are people of reliable identities. They've been working there for a very long time. You know this, as you often visit our inn."
“I’m sorry for causing a commotion.”
"Oh, no. Your Excellency, we must be on high alert, of course. But please understand that we have absolutely nothing to do with this..."
The innkeeper had a sad look on his face.
Callius noticed that the innkeeper was fidgeting and realized that something was wrong with him.
“I won’t make a fuss about anything, so just tell me.”
"Really? I just heard the guys talking, and they just discovered that one of their uniforms is missing..."
Hawick shouted with a stern face.
“Why are you telling me that now!”
"Oh, just now! I just found out too. We really don't know what happened."
Callius instructed Hawick.
"Inform the royal knights of this and push on. I will see Her Highness the Princess."
"Yes!"
***
Encouraged by the disappearance of one of their servants' uniforms and the appearance of their lord, Callius's men broke through the line of imperial knights and ascended to the fourth floor.
Alex watched the scene with relief.
'It wasn't a lie.'
The colleagues who had been chattering about whether the Princess was crazy and talking nonsense or whether she was plotting something just shrugged their shoulders and went up to the fourth floor together.
They had expressions of nonchalance, saying, "Or not, whatever."
Alex feels emotional for no reason.
'You were just talking nonsense!'
Clearly, they were precious colleagues and Chloe was the daughter of the enemy, but hr couldn't understand why he felt empathy for Chloe and felt aggrieved and angry.
It was right to be wary of Chloe, as she was from the Idelian royal family, a long-time enemy, but it didn't seem right to unconditionally suspect and criticize her out of ill will.
It seemed like everyone was so in love with Callius that their judgment was clouded.
'The lord has more than one wet nurse.'
Alex didn't realize that he was a frog who couldn't think like a tadpole.
***
Callius headed straight for Chloe.
Chloe was pacing anxiously in the room where she was hiding, and then beamed at the sight of Callius.
“Marquis! You are safe!”
One of Callius' eyebrows rose at the sight of her smiling brightly in relief.
“Were you worried about me?”
"I heard you went out alone. Did anything strange happen? Did it feel like some suspicious people were following you?"
Callius remembered being attacked by assassins, but shook his head.
“There was nothing to worry about.”
There's no need to worry about such sloppy assassins.
He even added a leisurely joke, finding it amusing that Chloe, who trembled and believed hr was a cannibal, was worried about him.
“It’s a shame. If only there were people like that, we could have filled our bellies to our hearts’ content.”
“...!”
Chloe's eyes widened.
“Well, now that I think about it, that could have been the case... It could have been a good opportunity for the Marquis...”
Chloe muttered softly, barely audible.
“Ah, so that’s why everyone was at peace!”
"Yes?"
Callius tilted his head, not understanding what she was saying.
But Chloe changed the subject as if it wasn't important, so he couldn't ask her in detail.
"Marquis, I saw a suspicious person. I know who he is. He is..."
It was then that a shrill scream was heard from the fourth floor. It was a woman's voice.
Chloe's face turned pale.
“Lamia!”
***
Callius's men had just pushed past the imperial knights and maids and entered the fourth floor when they heard screams.
“This is Her Highness the Princess’s room!”
Everyone rushed to the door, but the door was locked.
Callius's men took full advantage of their large size to easily break down the door and enter.
In the middle of the room, only Lamia stood there, covered in blood, and no one else was visible.
She decided to use magic to pretend to be Chloe, but she was so excited that she reverted to her original form.
One of the knights asked urgently.
“Where did he go?”
Lamia pointed to the broken window with a very excited face.
“He jumped out the window!”
Hawick, who had pushed his men aside and entered, looked out the window.
At the same time, someone shouted from below.
“Got it!”
The men who were searching outside were waving their hands while trampling down a man.
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
Lamia also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that.
“That son of a bitch... Ugh!”
She sat down with a thud as she swore.
Blood flowed down her hand and soaked the carpet.
Blood was already scattered all around.
Hawick ran towards Lamia and shouted to his men.
“Call a doctor! There are injured people!”
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