I couldn’t understand why that child suddenly came to mind.
Yet, a strange sense of déjà vu prompted me to recall the boy’s appearance.
His hair had been dull, as if coated in ash. It was long enough to obscure his eyes.
It was uneven and messy, making me occasionally wish to trim it with scissors.
But his blue eyes, visible through the tangled hair, were as clear and pure as the ocean.
“Yes, they were blue. Just like Erich’s eyes.”
I unconsciously overlapped the boy’s eyes with Erich’s and flinched.
‘…Could it be?’
At that moment, Erich lowered his head.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
“Oh, right.”
I answered somewhat absentmindedly as Erich turned to Sardin.
“Follow me.”
Hearing his authoritative tone made me chuckle.
‘That’s ridiculous. There’s no way the noble Erich Lennon Blant could be connected to a child from the slums.’
Erich’s background was well-known and undeniably solid.
I had heard enough about his upbringing to be well aware of it.
‘What on earth am I thinking? There’s no way he’s related to a street child.’
As I sighed while watching the two of them walk away—
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
My baby’s whimpering made me smile.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Um… Mille-feuille and Mont Blanc!”
Mont Blanc was considered a luxury dessert because the main ingredient, chestnuts, was hard to come by.
“I’m not sure if we can get Mont Blanc. I’ll talk to Landon about it.”
“Okay! And for the mille-feuille, I want lots of cream and strawberries!”
I was taken aback by the picky order.
‘Such a little Emperor with a refined taste.’
While parents usually want to give their children everything, I felt it was necessary to set some limits.
‘Maybe I should cut back on the sweets soon to help with his habits.’
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Sardin had followed the Duke to a remote location, but instead of speaking, the Duke jumped over the wall.
“Your Grace, if you have something to say, you can say it here…”
Sardin, confused, tried to ask for clarification, but Erich’s response was simple.
“Follow me.”
Sardin glared at Erich’s back as he chased after him.
‘What’s going on?’
With the recent messages from Reinhardt’s aide and the worry that the missing Xenon might appear as an assassin, he was already on edge.
Now, with Erich calling him out of the blue, his nerves were even more heightened.
‘Is there some serious problem?’
Just as he thought that, he furrowed his brow.
‘We’re already outside the mansion; where is he trying to go?’
“Your Grace!”
He called out to Erich, filled with suspicion, but Erich only picked up speed, not slowing down at all.
For a moment, Sardin felt a surge of competitiveness as Erich continued to distance himself.
‘So, this is the great sword master, huh?’
For the past few years, Sardin had been by Cornelia and Demian’s side, ready to betray his own country if necessary. Yet now he didn’t want to lose to the man claiming to be her husband.
‘I’ll do everything I can to catch up.’
How long had he been following Erich? Suddenly, Erich stopped.
Sardin, barely catching up, took a moment to catch his breath, puzzled.
‘This is the bell tower? Why are we here… wait a minute?’
As he looked around, he saw the Oneflower Workshop.
“Your Grace, why are we—”
He wanted to ask, but Erich simply raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
After about ten minutes, Sardin’s eyes widened as he spotted something.
‘Those people…’
He wasn’t mistaken. Masked individuals, clearly skilled, surrounded the Oneflower Workshop.
“Are you here to prevent a surprise attack?”
He asked in a low voice, but Erich neither confirmed nor denied.
Just then, Sardin felt a surge of frustration. Erich spoke again.
“It seems they’ll be entering the workshop soon. I’ll take care of them; you rescue the alchemist.”
Before Sardin could respond, someone raised an arm, revealing a blood-red scorpion tattoo on the forearm.
‘That tattoo… It belonged to one of Reinhardt’s subordinates.’
It was clear.
When Sardin first infiltrated the empire, the same tattoo adorned the person who assisted him.
‘If that’s the case, he’ll surely recognize me…’
But he wasn’t the only one who could identify him. Many mercenaries from the guild who had interacted with Sardin over the past few days would remember him.
What if the duke discovered he was a spy?
As he struggled with these thoughts, the man with the scorpion tattoo lowered his arm.
Watching the figures approaching, Sardin clenched his fist.
‘This place is vital to my master. I can’t let it fall!’
He didn’t even have time to cover his face. Sardin drew his sword and charged into enemy territory.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The masked individuals entered the quiet workshop, feeling confident about their easy task. Yet they remained vigilant, carefully navigating the dark space.
As they stepped into a small room behind the counter, they heard someone’s breathing.
‘Is this the assistant?’
Just as one of them prepared to strike the woman sleeping on the cot—
Clang!
They were suddenly confronted by someone who had appeared out of nowhere and deflected their sword.
Gray hair, grayish-brown eyes.
One of them recognized him and spoke quickly.
“You’re the Krithan spy who was by the princess—”
Before he could finish, Sardin’s sword sliced his throat.
Splash!
As blood sprayed, the masked individuals, furious, lunged at Sardin.
“Kill him!”
At the commotion, the assistant jolted awake.
“What?! What’s going on?”
After cutting down the masked men, Sardin quickly searched their bodies.
Sure enough, one of them had a bomb hidden away.
‘So they really planned to burn this workshop down.’
Sardin urgently asked the assistant, “Where’s the alchemist?”
“He’s probably in the laboratory.”
And since the entrance there was always a locked door, he probably wasn’t harmed yet.
“Wait here. There might be enemies below.”
“Got it.”
Sardin wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand.
‘It’s okay. For now, at least.’
He descended the stairs into the deep recesses of the small room.
Eventually, he reached a solid iron door.
Bang! Bang!
“Parakel! Are you in there? It’s me, Sardin.”
As he knocked, the disheveled alchemist yawned and opened the door.
“What’s going on at this hour?”
“It’s an attack. They have a bomb.”
With the quick explanation, Parakel’s expression turned serious.
“Damn it, there’s no choice now.”
Sardin nodded at Parakel and said, “I’ll guard you. Let’s head outside.”
As they returned to the side room, the assistant looked relieved. “You’re back! That was really scary.”
With a sigh at the assistant’s casual complaint, Sardin instructed, “Both of you, from now on, don’t say anything and just follow me.”
Instead of answering, they kept their mouths shut and nodded.
“This way.”
Sardin led them out through the back door. But soon after stepping outside, he felt a chilling presence above him.
Quickly, he raised his sword.
Clang!
As expected, there was an ambush from above. Several enemies were lying in wait on the roof.
“I thought something was off; it turns out we had some rats here.”
Recognizing the familiar face and the distinct scorpion tattoo, Sardin swung his sword without hesitation.
‘I have to kill them quickly!’
The opponents were also top-tier aura users.
In terms of skill, Sardin was slightly above them, but the problem was that there was more than one.
“Are you okay, brother?”
There were two more aura users.
‘Damn it.’
In a situation already burdened with two people, he had to subdue the enemies while keeping them safe. Just thinking about it felt overwhelming.
At that moment, the man with the scorpion tattoo spoke.
“It seems I wasn’t mistaken. The spy placed beside the princess is attacking us. Wouldn’t you call this a betrayal?”
Sardin gritted his teeth at the revelation of his identity.
‘Those two must have heard that.’
A moment of conflict arose.
If he didn’t protect them, it would be much easier to defeat the enemies, and he could keep the secret he wanted to hide.
However, Sardin didn’t lower his sword.
‘Still, I must protect the alchemist. If I keep him safe, it will help my master.’
He no longer wanted to see Cornelia suffer.
That’s why he was willing to sacrifice his life to protect her weapon.
“Yeah, it seems I can no longer work with your disgusting master.”
At Sardin’s reply, the man with the scorpion tattoo laughed mockingly.
“Sure, if you wish to die, I’ll gladly send you all to the other world…”
Bang!
In that instant, the scorpion-tattooed man quickly turned his body.
However, the shot was so fast and accurate that he couldn’t completely dodge it.
One of the scorpion-tattooed man’s ears was cleanly shot off.
“How dare you threaten to kill anyone?”
Parakel, having raised his gun, smirked viciously.
“Do you think I’ll just let you kill me? You bastards.”
oooh yeahhh!