chapter_0170

169 – Time to Pay the Price for Choosing the Wrong Line

169 – Time to Pay the Price for Choosing the Wrong Line

While Daniel Steiner was receiving the oath of allegiance from Otto, Lucy was engrossed in making coffee in the pantry.

Holding the kettle, Lucy poured hot water little by little onto the coffee grounds in the filter.

Each time, a savory yet subtle caramel scent filled the room.

It meant the filtration was going well.

Repeating the same action twice more, Lucy divided the extracted coffee into cups, adding sugar and milk only to Daniel’s cup.

It was tailored to Daniel’s sweet tooth.

Afterward, she placed the cups on a coffee tray, found suitable snacks, and placed them together.

After double-checking that she hadn’t missed anything, Lucy picked up the tray and left the pantry.

As she walked towards Daniel’s office, Lucy suddenly stopped.

Emergency Security General Otto Whitmore had just opened the office door and come out.

“Ah, are you the Emergency Security General’s aide?”

Otto, noticing Lucy, gave a faint smile.

However, the relaxed demeanor he had when he first entered the office was nowhere to be seen.

He looked somehow exhausted.

“I’m sorry, you must have gone to the trouble of making coffee. I felt suffocated being in there, so I came out to escape.”

“Was there something wrong?”

“There was something. It’s hard to explain in detail, but I’ve met many people while rising to the position of Emergency Security General, but Colonel Daniel, how should I put it…”

Otto paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.

“He seems like someone who genuinely cares about the Empire. In my opinion, Colonel Daniel seems to think of power not as an end, but merely as a means.”

Lucy nodded slightly, as she felt it wasn’t far from the truth.

“He’s a good person.”

“And a scary one too.”

“Is that so?”

Lucy blinked blankly at Otto’s playful remark.

She had never thought of Daniel as a scary person.

Watching Lucy’s reaction, Otto coughed as if he had said something unnecessary.

“Ah, more than that…”

Otto, worried that he might seem to be speaking ill of Daniel after expressing his honest feelings, quickly changed the subject.

“It smells good. I’m not a coffee connoisseur, but I can tell it’s high-quality. If I could have had such good coffee, I would have stayed a little longer.”

He was half-serious.

Currently, with the war dragging on, the Empire had extremely limited imports of luxury goods like coffee.

Even the luxury goods that did enter the Empire were being sent to the officers and soldiers suffering on the front lines, so it was not easy to drink high-quality coffee in the Imperial City.

As a result, instant coffee or substitute coffee made from chicory roots was in vogue in the Imperial City.

“The Central Security Agency must have a high welfare budget? It must cost quite a bit to stock such high-quality goods…”

“I bought it with my own money.”

Otto blinked blankly at Lucy’s words.

That’s because in the current situation, it would cost a considerable amount of money to regularly drink real coffee instead of substitute coffee.

To afford coffee grounds with a mere lieutenant’s salary, one would have to spend every penny they earned.

“…With your own money?”

As Lucy nodded, Otto gave her a sympathetic look.

‘Am I in a similar situation?’

He suspected that Lucy might have become Daniel’s confidante after being threatened in some way.

Of course, Lucy was only spending more than half of her salary on buying coffee because she wanted to.

Daniel liked coffee, and Lucy didn’t dislike drinking it either.

Otto, unaware of the inside story, gave a slightly sad smile.

“Let’s cheer each other on.”

Otto placed his hand on his chest and bowed to Lucy like a gentleman.

“Then, I’ll be on my way. I have a lot of work to do.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Lucy, not particularly wanting to stop him, stepped aside.

Lucy, watching Otto pass by with a strange look, shook her head and opened the office door.

There, she saw Daniel holding the receiver and talking on the phone.

“…Bring them in order. Yes. We’ll decide after confirming that. As for the reorganization of the Central Security Agency, an official document will be issued. Act then. Yes. The sooner, the better.”

Daniel, having finished his call with someone, put down the receiver.

He sighed softly and looked around with a tired expression before spotting Lucy.

“Aide? Don’t just stand there, come in here.”

Lucy nodded and approached Daniel, placing the coffee tray on the desk.

A slight smile returned to Daniel’s lips as he smelled the coffee.

“It smells good. If you don’t mind, have a cup too, Aide.”

“Now, you mean?”

“Yes. It’s not bad to take a break from time to time to improve work efficiency.”

“Understood.”

Lucy, accepting Daniel’s invitation, sat down in a chair.

Daniel, looking at Lucy, picked up his cup, took a sip, and slowly opened his mouth.

“You asked me earlier. About what you are to me.”

Lucy, not expecting an answer, looked slightly surprised.

“Aide. To be honest, our relationship is a bit awkward. We’re hiding things from each other. We vaguely sense it, but we don’t tell each other our secrets. Why? Because we know that the moment it becomes a confirmed fact, it becomes irreversible.”

Warm steam rose above the cup of coffee.

“So, I won’t ask about your secrets in the future either. Unless you reveal them yourself.”

“I…”

“I’m not forcing you. Everyone has their own circumstances. And no matter how deep and dark your secrets are, I won’t care. If you want to be my aide.”

In the quiet office, the two people’s gazes met.

“Aide. I don’t know what you heard from Johannes, but…”

Daniel paused for a moment before continuing.

“You are precious to me.”

Lucy’s eyes widened at Daniel’s completely unexpected words.

As the flustered Lucy didn’t say anything, Daniel smiled and picked up his coffee cup.

Unbeknownst to Lucy, Daniel’s hand was trembling slightly.

‘I have to win Lucy’s heart somehow. Now that I’ve risen to the position of Emergency Security General, the Allied Nations will be desperate to kill me. If Lucy turns on me, I’m a dead man.’

He wanted to trust Lucy, but there were too many variables to relax.

As Lucy was a test subject, he didn’t know what kind of device Count Caledra might have planted.

Of course, there was no such device.

While Daniel, unaware of this, was fidgeting, Lucy’s mind was in turmoil.

‘He definitely said I was precious…’

For Lucy, who liked Daniel from the bottom of her heart, those words sounded like a confession.

‘But…’

She might be mistaken.

Wanting to get confirmation, Lucy clenched her hands on her lap and said.

“How precious am I to you? Compared to Kelly…”

It was a desperate move for Lucy.

She was mentioning the woman Daniel hadn’t forgotten.

On the other hand, Daniel was simply flustered.

‘Why is she asking me to compare her to a dog?’

Kelly was a good friend from childhood and a dog he still missed, but she couldn’t be compared to a person.

Daniel answered without much hesitation.

“Of course, you are more precious.”

Lucy’s face turned red at Daniel’s words.

Lucy, inhaling sharply, felt her thoughts become paralyzed.

That’s how shocking Daniel’s words were to her.

She would have been happy just to hear that they were both precious, but the words “you are more precious” had far exceeded her expectations.

However, Daniel couldn’t understand why Lucy had frozen.

“…Aide?”

Lucy, finally regaining her senses, stood up.

She had regained her impassive expression, but her flushed skin and reddened ears were prominently visible.

“I’ll go to the pantry. I left something behind…”

In fact, she hadn’t left anything behind, but she felt that if she stayed here any longer, she might say something unnecessary.

Daniel nodded at Lucy’s excuse, thinking that she needed to calm her mind.

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

As Lucy hurriedly left the office, Daniel was left alone.

‘Why is she acting like that…’

Just as Daniel, not understanding, picked up his cup to take another sip of coffee, there was a knock.

Knock, knock─

Daniel, putting down his cup at the sound of the knock, opened his mouth.

“Come in.”

He wondered if Lucy had already returned, but it was Intelligence Staff Officer Pelf who appeared as the door opened.

He was carrying a stack of Imperial Daily newspapers.

Daniel had ordered him to bring them by date earlier on the phone.

“Colonel Daniel.”

Pelf, greeting him lightly, approached Daniel and placed the newspapers on the desk.

“As you requested, I have brought all the newspapers published by the Imperial Daily from the time of the retreat from the Eastern Front until now.”

“You’ve worked hard. Let’s take a look.”

Daniel picked up the newspapers and unfolded them in chronological order.

【Is the War Hero a Thing of the Past? Colonel Daniel Steiner Retreats from the Eastern Front!】

【Traitor Daniel Steiner Finally Reveals His True Colors! According to the Intelligence Agency, He is Currently Leading the 7th Armored Division in a Return to the Imperial City!】

【We Denounce the Traitor Daniel Steiner, Who is No Different from a Hyena!】

【The Guards Division Armored Regiment of the Defense Command Steps Forward to Deliver His Imperial Majesty’s Order! Brave Warriors! Execute the Traitor Daniel Steiner!】

【The Guards Division Armored Regiment Joins Daniel Steiner’s Side! Is He the Fox of the Battlefield? How Did Daniel Steiner Persuade Them?】

【The Renowned General Daniel Steiner Will Arrive in the Imperial City Within the Next Three Days! There is a Growing Opinion Among the People That There Must Be a Reason for the Return!】

【Colonel Daniel Steiner, the Empire’s Only Hope and a Loyal Subject of His Imperial Majesty, Sweeps Away the Collaborators Lurking in the Imperial City!】

The last newspaper was an article that had come out just three days ago.

Daniel couldn’t help but smile at the obvious ulterior motive.

“They’re begging for their lives. Aren’t they?”

Pelf nodded at Daniel’s question.

“They seem terrified. What are you planning to do with them?”

“It would have been difficult if they had resisted, but if they come out like this, it’s an easy task. Major Pelf. Select twenty soldiers with good physiques.”

“Does that mean…”

“Yes.”

Daniel, getting up from his seat, picked up his uniform cap placed on the desk and put it on his head.

Black eyes flashed coldly beneath the brim of the uniform cap.

“I will make them pay the price for attacking me so relentlessly.”Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

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