Three days later, Lou and Peleus finally arrived at the Osric Lord.
"I found out that the 'item' sent by Black Anchor had already been delivered three days ago."
Lou unfolded a map of parchment paper folded on the table.
"The surveillance was so strict that I only identified the approximate area. Still, it's better than nothing. As the guild leader said, the items are presumed to be underground."
Les nodded.
"There are only two routes of penetration."
Lou pointed to the bottom of the map.
"The west loading dock, where banquet food is delivered, or the main gate, where nobles come and go."
"Isn't it okay to climb over the wall?"
Nathan made a knightly suggestion. But Lou shook his head firmly.
"Security has been strengthened several times over. It's no longer the permanent castle I knew. Lord Osric has closed all but these two passages."
"You don't mean to deal with the entire castle with a couple of knights by force, do you?"
Eric added sarcastically.
Silence flowed.
Nathan tightened his mouth, and Lou raised his hand on the map.
"Don't worry. I have an idea."
***
The day of Lord Osric's birthday banquet had dawned.
In front of the west gate of the Lord Castle, supply carts to be delivered to the banquet were lined up.
"Where are you from?"
"It's the Sky Cow Chamber of Commerce. This is the honey wine ordered by the lord."
The gatekeeper scanned the cart with a sinister look.
He flipped through the list in one hand. He poked the long checkpoint spear in his other hand between the straw paddies.
"Oh. They said we needed 7 barrels here, but why did we get 8 barrels?"
Lou was waiting for his turn at the bottom of the honey liquor cart.
'The inspection is more difficult than I thought.'
"Stop for a moment. Open the box. I'll have to check what's inside."
When the gatekeeper approached to check the object, Lou's eyes trembled.
'We might get caught too if we're not careful.'
Les's hand, which was sitting in the food wagon right next to him, also invisibly moved to his waist.
Lou shook his head. Then, he made eye contact with Eric, who was hiding under the smuggled cart on the other side.
Eric nodded slightly and kicked the wedge he had put on the axle with his foot.
Dunk-dung! Kugung!
"Oh, oh! Why is this happening? Get out of the way! I can't control it!"
Eric's cart stumbled and crashed into the honey wine wagon ahead.
The barrels rolled to the floor and were stuck in the mud. The food carts were entangled in a chain, and the front of the gate quickly became a mess.
"Oh my goodness! My precious mead! Sir, this is not our fault!"
"Do you have the presence of mind to calculate things like that in a situation like this?! Pull yourself together!"
Taking advantage of the moment when the guards' eyes were drawn to the spilled barrels, Lou slipped out from under the carriage without a sound.
Eric and Maya, too, had long since skillfully moved onto the front cart, where the inspection had already been completed, while pretending to quell the confusion.
Meanwhile, Lou and Peleus moved like shadows and launched themselves onto the noble detour.
Inside the western gate, supply wagons are immediately distributed to the warehouse and kitchen areas.
To reach the inner fortress where the banquet hall was located, one had to take the noble detour.
A carriage that had been arranged in advance was just pulling into the fairly well-organized street.
"I apologize for the delay. Something came up briefly on the way."
Nathan jumped out of the carriage and wiped the sweat from his temples.
As Peleus raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, Nathan continued speaking with a perplexed expression.
"I intended to just sneakily take the invitation as ordered, but unfortunately, the escort came over. I got caught, so... I had no choice but to knock out the owner as well.
“Knock him out?”
"Yes, I have given them sleeping pills and locked them in an inn room, so they won't wake up until tomorrow afternoon. I have left their clothes in the carriage."
Lou sighed and opened the box inside the carriage. Brilliant ivory lace touched his fingertips.
Lou's eyes narrowed.
"Nathan, was the owner a woman?"
"That... is indeed the case. She is the only daughter of the Northern Finance Officer, but there is a misunderstanding because she is the heir and her name is androgynous."
Fortunately, the only daughter had stayed indoors due to illness until recently, so no one knew her face publicly.
Actually, that is why this misunderstanding arose.
The problem was 'who' would take on that role.
Lou looked back and forth between the dress inside the carriage and the neatly standing dress.
To squeeze Les into that dress, you would have to cut off a third of his lanky legs. Those excessively broad shoulders are no exception.
"..."
Nathan's situation was no different.
There was only one option left.
“...I’m sorry.”
Les opened his mouth with a troubled expression. It was because he realized that, even in his opinion, there was no alternative other than Lou, who was excessively small for a man and had delicate features.
"Ha."
Lou let out a short sigh.
Since he's a woman, there is nothing to despair about, but the thought of having to imitate a noble lady on such a full scale already gave him a headache.
“Wait a moment.”
Lou looked down troubledly at his share of the dress box, then threw away Peleus's knight's uniform first and disappeared into the carriage.
The door slammed shut, leaving only two huge men outside.
Peleus put on the Gospel of the Knights that he had been handed and gave Nathan some instructions.
"When the work is finished, pay that child triple the allowance."
"Huh? Oh, yes, of course. Of course it should be."
Nathan nodded enthusiastically.
No matter how clever Lou is, isn't he a sensitive adolescent boy at the height of his puberty?
The two men were in complete agreement that the misery of having to drag the train of a dress and pretend to be a woman in front of their colleagues should be washed away, even if only with gold coins.
"What is the retreat after the gate?"
Peleus asked. Nathan nodded.
"Yes, as soon as you exit the city gate, turn onto the side path next to the old waterway at Haesang to the east. I will have a horse waiting between the water supply there."
"Not bad, Nathan. Manage the horses in advance so they don't get tired."
“Yes, I'll keep that in mind.”
Just then, the door opened again. Lou, having changed into a dress in an instant, appeared.
"Here, please help me with this."
Peleus couldn't believe his eyes.
The scruffy boy who had been covered in dust and carrying a cart just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.
The sunlight poured down on Lou's skin.
The chestnut hair flowed down the slender shoulders as if to tempt.
The ivory silk dress clung smoothly to her as if it were her skin.
Nathan rubbed his eyes, too. Was the cheap wig he had hastily grabbed and stuffed in on the way here really causing such a reaction?
"You really are a master of disguise. I knew it from the moment you put on the hunchback disguise."
Nathan was impressed, but instead of answering, Lou turned his back to them.
"Please help me with this on the back..."
The ribbon on the dress Lou was wearing was dangling from her lower back.
He would have done it on his own if it weren't for that annoyingly complicated pearl hanging there.
“Oh, then I...”
Just as Nathan was about to nod, Peleus took the first step. Les's green eyes fell over Lou's head.
'I'm not going to get caught that I'm a woman, am I?'
Lou bit his lip with his back turned. He seemed even more nervous now that Les was standing there. He just hoped to avoid his keen senses.
"Les? Hurry. We have to hurry. They've already started letting people in."
"...Yes."
Peleus's hand hesitated for a moment.
He lowered his gaze so as not to unnecessarily look at the white nape of the neck.
He also tried not to notice the soft line extending from the nape of the neck to the shoulder that appeared when Lou stuck out his back.
Gentle? Is that an appropriate adjective for a boy in his prime?
Wait, was I missing something?
The boy dressed as a woman now evoked the image of a complete woman, much like his sister Medea.
In contrast to the halted thought, Peleus's hand mechanically pulled and tied the ribbon on Lou's dress.
'I must be out of my mind.'
Peleus swallowed a sigh as he discovered his hand, his fingertips trembling.
Peleus could not believe that he, who had never once glanced at countless women until now, was so agitated by a mere boy's disguise and ruminating on its meaning.
To think that the man called the Emperor would be distracted by something like this at such a critical time when he should be dealing with Karkan's forces.
Peleis roughly ran his hand across his gaunt face as if to hide his shame.
Then, as if running away, he slammed his fist against the carriage wall.
“Let’s go.”
Previous Next
Comments
Post a Comment