chapter_0100

99 – Count Khaled is Unfathomable

99 – Count Khaled is Unfathomable

Daniel wordlessly embraced Lucy, who was crying like a heartbroken child.

He let her vent all the pent-up emotions inside.

It was only after crying for a long time that Lucy was able to calm down.

Daniel, confirming that the light had returned to Lucy’s eyes, lightly raised his hand.

Daniel, hugging Lucy gently with as little strength as possible, said.

He suggested that she calm down for now and take a bath to clear her head.

Only then did Lucy realize that she must look terrible, and she nodded slightly.

Lucy, uttering an apology with difficulty, turned around.

After grabbing a few pieces of clothing from her room, Lucy expressed her gratitude for Daniel’s consideration and entered the bathroom.

Thanks to that, Daniel, left alone, was cooking in the kitchen.

Judging by her appearance, she didn’t seem to have eaten properly, so he was going to make her something simple.

Daniel, using a kitchen knife to cut carrots into large pieces, suddenly touched his neck.

‘I was terrified because the tie was choking me…’

He was so flustered when she suddenly came up and pulled on his tie.

Daniel thought she was finally revealing her true colors, but after hearing Lucy’s sobs, he had no choice but to change his mind.

Lucy was crying.

And she was crying so sadly.

No matter how he looked at it, that wasn’t the behavior one would show in front of an assassination target.

‘What the hell was that? Was she so happy to see me back?’

No. There was quite a disconnect between that and tears shed out of simple joy.

‘It was like…’

Tears closer to resolving past injustices.

Daniel, recalling Lucy’s uncharacteristic behavior and finishing cutting the carrots, put down the kitchen knife.

Gathering the carrots in one place, Daniel dumped them into a large boiling pot.

Inside the pot were various ingredients along with chicken.

Thinking he was ready, Daniel turned down the gas stove.

‘Okay. Now all I have to do is keep boiling it until it’s done.’

Satisfied with his cooking, Daniel looked around and paused.

He had discovered that Lucy’s room door was open.

‘If I look around Lucy’s room…’

He might be able to obtain useful information.

Judging by the lack of movement in the bathroom, he had plenty of time.

Taking a deep breath, Daniel carefully moved his feet and entered Lucy’s room.

Even though he was a spy, he was still entering a lady’s room, so he was a little nervous, but when he actually went inside, he felt a sense of futility.

“It’s seriously clean…”

Bed, desk, closet, curtains.

It was such a simple composition that he couldn’t find anything else.

Thanks to that, Daniel felt an unknown sense of alienation.

Usually, a room is one of the spaces that expresses an individual’s personality.

But in Lucy’s room, he couldn’t find even a trace of personality.

There wasn’t even a common doll or poster, and the empty room didn’t feel like it had any human warmth.

It was such an empty space that he could have believed that no one lived there.

‘…Does she not have any hobbies?’

Or did she not even have the opportunity to have hobbies?

Daniel, feeling sympathy for Lucy without realizing it, glanced at the desk and was startled.

‘What is it?’

There was a book on the desk.

‘Yeah. There could be a book.’

But the problem was the title.

【Become a Fox to Seduce a Wolf-like Man!】

【Love is Like War! How to Win on the Battlefield of Love!】

【34 Ways to Steal a Man’s Heart!】

There were as many as three books that taught how to seduce the opposite sex.

Moreover, they were placed alone in a room that had nothing but basic necessities.

These were books that Lucy had bought when she was ordered to seduce Daniel Steiner in the past, but they looked like new books because they were neatly preserved.

Daniel was momentarily embarrassed, but he soon regained his composure.

‘…Does Lucy have a man she’s seeing?’

As far as Daniel knew, she didn’t.

In the first place, Lucy doesn’t easily open her heart to the opposite sex, let alone the same sex.

‘Then, could it be that she’s trying to seduce me?’

It was a reasonable inference.

The derived result leads to another inference.

‘…Is it a honey trap?’

The honey trap was one of the methods frequently used by spies of this era who were confident in their faces.

Lucy also boasted objectively beautiful looks, so it wasn’t impossible.

‘Then the behavior she showed at the front door…’

Daniel, who had been suspecting Lucy, shook his head.

‘No way. It can’t be.’

If that was acting, Lucy should quit being a spy and debut as an actress right away.

Lucy’s appearance of crying sadly like a child was something he could never think of as acting.

Then what was the meaning of that crying?

It was the moment he vaguely thought it might be related to Lucy’s past.

Swish─

The sound of water flowing from the showerhead and hitting the ground is heard.

Daniel, realizing that Lucy had finished bathing and was washing her body, quickly left the room.

Daniel naturally entered the kitchen and prepared tea, and Lucy came out of the bathroom a while after the sound of the shower stopped.

Turning his gaze, he sees Lucy walking out wrapped in a bathrobe.

Her silver-white hair, wet with moisture, was shining whiter than usual.

As Lucy approached, Daniel poured tea into a mug and handed it to her.

“It’s chamomile tea. It looks like you haven’t been sleeping well, and chamomile tea has the effect of relieving insomnia and stress, so it will be helpful.”

Lucy, staring blankly at Daniel, received the mug with both hands.

“…Thank you.”

Daniel nodded and pointed behind her.

“What’s boiling in the pot behind you is Chicken Broth Soup. I can make other dishes, but you look like you haven’t eaten for days, so I prepared soup. You need to take care of your nutrition without irritating your stomach.”

Lucy felt the warmth from the mug and turned her gaze to the pot.

Steam was rising from the pot.

“Turn off the heat and eat it in about two hours. It may be bland, so you can add pepper and salt to eat it.”

Daniel’s calm explanation came as a warm comfort.

After hesitating for a moment, Lucy nodded, and Daniel sighed lowly.

“There’s a limit to empathy. A subordinate using her superior like this. My reputation is ruined.”

Lucy, feeling sorry, lowered her gaze.

Daniel lightly grabbed Lucy’s shoulder.

Just when she thought she was going to be scolded, Daniel lowered his voice and said.

“If you’re thinking about my reputation, don’t go around starving yourself from now on. And don’t get sick. Got it?”

Lucy’s eyes widened slightly, not expecting to receive comfort.

Daniel patted Lucy’s shoulder and withdrew his hand.

“Try to recover your energy before Christmas. I don’t want to go to a crowded store full of couples alone.”

“…Christmas, you say?”

“Didn’t I say we should go eat Stollen together?”

Stollen.

With a single meaningless word, Lucy once again realized that this situation was not a dream.

Christmas, which she thought would never come again.

Lucy’s time had begun to flow.

“I will keep that in mind.”

Daniel, confirming that a faint smile was forming on Lucy’s lips, nodded.

He thought that she seemed to have recovered some energy, so he could go back now.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Daniel, holding the peaked cap he had placed on the kitchen table, put it on his head.

It was the moment he passed by Lucy as he was.

“Lieutenant Colonel Daniel.”

Her voice was still cracked, but the tone was clear.

After a brief silence, Lucy mustered up the courage to continue speaking.

“I will definitely repay this kindness.”

At those words, Daniel chuckled lowly.

“Kindness. A doctor I saved once said the same thing. It’s a strange feeling.”

Daniel, clearing his laughter, speaks in a playful voice.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Daniel, giving a faint smile, moved his feet and left the accommodation.

Inside the accommodation where Daniel had disappeared, Lucy hugged the mug tightly with a strangely reddened face.

‘I guess I should get a pretty dress before Christmas…’

That’s what she thought.

*

Edria, a permanent member of the Allied Nations.

Count Caledra’s office.

『Report on Bellanos Trends No. 3746052 – 1502831927』

Caledra, reading the report from the Intelligence Agency’s intelligence department, frowned.

The report stated that Daniel Steiner had pressured Bellanos’s Prime Minister to successfully hold talks in a direction favorable to the Empire.

“Is this true?”

Beck, the Deputy Director of the Intelligence Agency, nodded.

“Yes. The report has been cross-validated.”

Thanks to that, Caledra closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.

‘It’s absurd that he survived the sinking of the ship…’

Daniel went even further and used his death as a weapon to subdue Bellanos’s Prime Minister.

Thanks to that, the Empire is now safe from attacks from the sea.

Since they have allowed the Empire’s army to be stationed there, Bellanos will act as the Empire’s breakwater and vanguard, blocking enemy attacks.

‘This is a headache.’

Originally, the Empire’s demise was certain.

Everything was going according to plan, and no minor flaws were found.

‘The Allied Nations’ victory was coming within reach…’

Suddenly, a man named Daniel Steiner appeared and began to disrupt the plan one by one.

Like a hero in a story resisting his impending fate.

Caledra, groaning and grinding his teeth, slowly opened his eyes.

‘No matter how outstanding you are…’

A single human being could not reverse the direction of the raging waves.

The Empire will be destroyed, and the Allied Nations will prosper.

‘I will definitely make it so.’

The war situation was also favorable to the Allied Nations, so there was no need to worry unnecessarily.

‘However…’

It was impossible to know what decision Lucy would make due to Daniel’s survival.

Recently, there had even been reports from the Palentia branch in the Imperial City that Lucy might have changed her mind.

In the midst of all this, Daniel had returned alive, so it was a headache.

From Caledra’s point of view, who had originally planned for Lucy to absorb Daniel’s vacancy, it was like a bolt from the blue.

‘Lucy’s change of heart must not become a fait accompli.’

He could give up anything else, but he could not hand over Lucy Emilia.

Feeling a sense of crisis, Caledra glared at Beck and said.

“Issue a recall order to Lucy. Right now!”

Beck, realizing that the situation was serious, nodded without complaint.

As Beck turned around and left the office, Caledra raised his hand and touched his forehead.

His flushed forehead was as hot as if he had a fever.

The source of this stress was, of course, Daniel Steiner.

‘Emperor of the Empire. Why are you just watching him!’

From Caledra’s point of view, he couldn’t understand it at all.

Because all the judgment indicators were telling him.

‘That guy is…’

A monster that will devour the Empire in the future.

Author’s Note

Hello, readers!

It’s really cold today!!

It’s so cold that I have to put two exclamation marks…!

The heinous cold that makes my hands freeze while writing…!

So everyone, be careful not to catch a cold and dress warmly!

Then I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Thank you for always watching!