episode_0014

“Understood….”

In the end, Tollyso bowed his head even to the maid.

At that moment, mud coated his sweaty forehead.

Only then did I release him.

The merchant couldn’t lift his head as he did when we first met.

But I know.

His face wasn’t showing remorse; it was filled with anger.

Tollyso had always been that way.

“….”

After the apology, he left with his carriage through the alleyway.

As he departed, he glared angrily at the mercenaries he had hired.

However, they could only lower their heads helplessly.

Who would want to provoke friction with the Empire’s official knights?

That would lead to a nationwide wanted order and pursuit.

It would be better to deal with the princess’s escort in such cases.

At least they would only be pursued by one noble’s army.

Ironically, being an undercover knight helped at this moment.

Thanks to that, the alleyway quieted down again, and I could finally face the issue of the log and the princess.

“Thank you….”

Irina with golden hair.

She expressed her gratitude while fiddling with her fingers.

“You’re welcome.”

I observed her curiously.

“She looks somewhat like Princess Leia.”

Of course, the atmosphere was much more innocent.

“It’s nothing. If an incident occurs in my jurisdiction, I would be in trouble too.”

“I’m sorry for causing concern….”

She bit her lip as if resigned.

Her earlier stern expression towards Tollyso had long vanished.

I smiled and gently patted her head.

As a disguised commoner now, there wouldn’t be many opportunities like this.

It was a small revenge for almost getting caught in my territory.

Leaving the broken Irina behind, I turned my head.

I looked at the maid who was avoiding my gaze, seemingly stung by many things.

“And you, Miss Maid.”

“Yes, yes…?”

She hesitated at my call.

I approached her decisively.

“About our sector?”

“Well, I… my memory has been poor lately….”

I whispered firmly into her ear as she rambled.

“Follow me in a moment. I have many questions to ask.”

Dasha swallowed deeply.

Glancing at Irina, she followed me into the dim shadows.

“W-what’s going on…?”

She tried to sound brave.

Ignoring her attempt, I asked directly.

“Who is behind you?”

“M-me…?”

Not understanding, I pushed her against the wall.

With my palm, I sharply slapped her cheek.

“Is your comprehension as poor as the merchant’s?”

More enraged than when facing Tollyso, Dasha broke out in a cold sweat.

She realized my seriousness and earnestly muttered.

“There really isn’t…. It was just my own decision.”

Placing a hand on her chest, she fidgeted with her collar.

“Just your decision?”

“Yes, actually….”

Dasha raised her violet eyes to meet mine.

With a face so beautiful, one wouldn’t think she was a spy.

“I was curious if you were qualified to be Lady Irina’s captain….”

‘Captain…?’

My eyebrows furrowed at the unexpected answer.

Quickly, Dasha seemed to try to persuade me.

“As you can see… I am trying to establish an independent knight order for the princess.”

I know.

So, you must have attempted this unreasonable deal.

“So when I asked who would be appointed as the leader, they said it would be you.”

The maid glanced at me, assessing my appearance.

“To be honest… You’re just a newly recruited knight, and you belong to the defense knights.”

“So?”

When I pressed firmly, the maid avoided my gaze again.

Then, with her maid’s uniform buttons almost bursting from her heavy breathing, she exclaimed, “I couldn’t believe it…!”

At her words, the corners of my mouth twitched involuntarily.

“You couldn’t believe it?”

“Yes… I was told by His Majesty to serve you for life. But suddenly you’re interested in joining the knight order, and as the leader, no less!”

The maid muttered with a deeply unjust expression.

“If I were to report all this to His Majesty, I needed accurate information about you.”

That makes sense.

If there were any issues with the noble family I was responsible for, it would fall entirely on the maid or secretary.

“So I checked it out myself. Your skills…”

Dasha lowered her head.

And took a deep breath as if the ground was disappearing.

“I’m sorry… I wanted to tell you as soon as I was caught, but being a royal spy made it difficult to speak up immediately.”

The spy disguised as a maid raised her head.

And with shimmering purple eyes, she poured out her sincerity to me.

“Sigh…”

Only after hearing her sincere confession could I relax my expression.

Now that my suspicions about the person named Dasha had been somewhat dispelled.

She had entered as a substitute because I had refused the princess’s protection.

Moreover, she was in a position where she had to report everything about me to the emperor…

Her own existence had been anxious.

But…

“Still, last night was quite intense, wasn’t it?”

I cornered Dasha, who was trying to slip away.

In response, she avoided my gaze and apologized, “Yes, I’m sorry…”

“Forget about what happened yesterday and today.”

“Really…?”

The maid’s lips parted in surprise at my easy forgiveness.

I replied to her with a sardonic smile, “Yes, as a true Black Moon, I’ll repay debts ‘heavily’ someday if I incur them.”

Dasha’s spine momentarily chilled at my words.

“Understood… How should I repay it?”

“That’s for you to figure out. Should I also teach you how to repay it?”

I chuckled and let her off the hook.

Unbeknownst to us, the princess became suspicious as we engaged in a close conversation in the corner.

“What are you two doing there?”

A blonde, disguised maiden against the wall.

She looked at the two of us with a cold, expressionless face.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Miss!”

“Yes, we were just exchanging information about the incident that happened today.”

With a gaze reminiscent of Leia, the empress, she sent our way.

We both turned to face her.

“Is that so? It seemed to take quite a while for just that…”

Irina approached leisurely with her arms crossed.

And then, she smiled broadly and said to me, “Could it be that even the Veil family is interested in a maid of the lady?”

“How absurd!”

I quickly distanced myself from the intense questioning of Dasha.

“I don’t like such dim-witted looking fellows at all.”

To avoid the princess’s suspicion, I instinctively denied.

Upon hearing our vehement denials, Irina softened her demeanor.

And smiling slyly, she clasped her hands together.

“Well, it’s fortunate that you both clearly don’t match at all!”

The princess failed to conceal herself to the extent that her disguise lost its meaning.

And soon, realizing she had shown too much emotion, she smoothed her voice.

“Ahem, yes. Sir Veil? Anyway, thank you very much for today.”

Irina returned to her dignified voice.

“We should leave now. It seems we’ve taken up too much of your time.”

She lightly bowed her head in gratitude to me.

“Yes, please take care as you enter, Miss.”

Acknowledging the greeting, Irina headed towards the bustling market with her maid.

I kept my head bowed until they disappeared from view.

The footsteps of the princess and her maid gradually faded away.

Only when their sounds had completely vanished could I finally raise my head.

“Sigh…”

Could it be that I was caught up in too significant an event since morning?

I involuntarily felt tired.

Nevertheless, my heart was considerably at ease.

Irina had started to stand on her own, with a reliable aide by her side…

No, she even had a maid now.

Thanks to this, I could now let go of some worries about her.

—

Disguised Yeong-ae and her maid parted ways with the knight.

Yeong-ae turned a corner, hiding her body in the dim shadows.

As she did so, the disguise magic covering her eyes unraveled.

Thanks to this, her emerald eyes gleamed once again in the darkness.

Yeong-ae looked back at her maid with those eyes.

“Dasha.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You weren’t exposed to Veil, were you?”

Irina looked at her reflection in the hand mirror.

She carefully examined her shining golden hair and sharper-than-usual gaze.

“Our espionage unit’s disguise magic is flawless.”

“Ugh…”

The Second Princess pursed her lips as if embarrassed by her mistake being discovered by Veil.

Welcoming Veil with the splendid knights.

Her plan to recruit him, looking down at him with a merciful expression, shattered completely.

“Annoying…”

The princess swiftly removed the wig she was wearing.

Handing it to Dasha, she said, “Everything that happened today is a secret, understood?”

“Of course. I will keep it in mind.”

The princess and her maid quietly slipped away into the alley.

Irina couldn’t shake off what had happened today.

So, as she left, she scanned her surroundings, but fortunately, there was no suspicious person in sight.

However…

It wasn’t just suspicious ‘people’ who were absent.

Perched atop a building they passed by, there sat a highly suspicious raven.

Black eyes that had witnessed all the events of the day.

Within those eyes, faint blue mana flowed.

The raven soon began flapping its wings.

And cutting through the sky, it returned to the palace.