The manager, who had received advance notice, came out to greet Marquis Arzen when he arrived at the hotel.
“Is the Countess and all her guards in the room?”
“Not all of them. Just a moment ago, one maid and one of the guards left carrying a large bag, presumably to buy something.”
One of the few guards left. This meant that threats had been more effective.
Marquis Arzen smiled as he made his way to the top floor, where the Countess was.
Knock, knock, knock!
After having his subordinate knock on the door, it was soon opened.
“Who is it?”
Brown hair, a sword at his waist, and a knight’s uniform with the Herde family crest adorned the man who opened the door.
‘A knight of the Herde family? He looks somewhat familiar…’
At that moment, the knight repeated his question.
“I asked who you are.”
“I am Marquis Arzen. I came here upon hearing that the mistress of the Herde territory is here.”
“The Countess wishes to rest quietly right now.”
Seeing the knight’s intention to close the door, Marquis Arzen’s expression hardened.
‘How insolent, daring to treat me, a higher-ranking noble, like this?’
Despite his expulsion from the capital, he remained a high-ranking noble, while the Countess of Herde, despite her recent revitalization of her territory, remained merely a countryside noble.
‘Well, even if I touch a widow without backing, I won’t face any consequences.’
Marquis Arzen spoke to his subordinates.
“Open the door!”
At the same time, several of his subordinates pushed the door together.
However, contrary to their expectations, the door did not open wide.
‘What is this…?’
Just as the Marquis was feeling flustered, a voice spoke up.
“What kind of rudeness is this?”
With that, the Countess of Herde’s knight sent the Marquis’s subordinates flying.
Seeing this, Marquis Arzen’s mouth fell open in shock.
‘W-What is this…?’
After a moment, the Marquis raised his voice.
“What are you doing? Attack at once!”
In response, his subordinates drawn their swords. Then…
“How ridiculous.”
The knight began to knock down all of the Marquis’s subordinates. And he was doing it with his bare fist.
While the Marquis was stunned by this overwhelming display of strength, a woman’s voice came from inside.
“That’s enough. Tell the Marquis to come back tomorrow.”
Peeking through the door, he saw the Countess standing there in black mourning attire, her lips curled into a smile beneath her veil.
‘That woman…!’
But despite his frustration, he had no choice but to comply. He realized that he was currently outmatched in terms of power.
Marquiz Arzen clenched his fists and spoke.
“Withdraw.”
As the Marquis retreated, Sardin closed the door and spoke to the Countess.
“It was a good decision to follow the advice.”
“Yes, since this hotel is suspicious.”
As she replied, the Countess removed her hat.
What was revealed was Janet’s face, with her hair dyed blonde and her lips painted red.
“The footmen bringing the food and even the manager were keeping a close watch on our every move. And before the Marquis arrived, they personally brought desserts to check if the madam was in the room.”
Sardin was impressed by Janet’s keen observation.
‘Is it because she’s an assassin? She’s really sharp.’
At that moment, Janet narrowed her eyes and glared at Sardin.
“It would be wise not to have any foolish thoughts.”
“Pardon?”
“I saw it last time. You went to the backyard and sent a letter by carrier pigeon.”
It was probably in the backyard when Erich Lennon Blant visited.
‘Damn, I was caught off guard and let my guard down then.’
However, Sardin could not admit to it easily. After all…
<Let’s keep the fact that you’re a spy a secret for now.>
When he asked why, Demian replied with a smile.
<If you reveal it after you help us, Mom will be less angry!>
That’s why Sardin pretended not to know anything.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Are you going to play dumb? Where did you send it? Don’t tell me it’s to Krithan.”
“You’re also suspicious, aren’t you? You’re an assassin by origin, and your assassination skills and bird-handling techniques are clearly from the Molta family, a noble family of Krithan.”
Sardin then looked at Janet with piercing eyes and said,
“Don’t tell me you came here as a Krithan spy? Lady of the Molta family.”
Janet smirked and then shifted to a look of contempt.
“Don’t speak carelessly without knowing anything, Lord Ishaka.”
She also knew his true identity. Sardin frowned.
“So you really are a noble of the Molta family.”
Janet’s expression grew stern.
“Yes, but my situation is different from yours, who willingly left for the Empire. I came as a prisoner, as a result of the war your father lost.”
Only then did Sardin recall that the Molta family was near the front lines.
‘Could it be that she came here for revenge against my master?’
As Sardin suspected they might share similar motives, he remained wary of Janet.
“And the reason I’m here is that I owe a great debt of gratitude to the madam.”
“A great debt of gratitude?”
“Yeah, I owe her my life. And that was before you and the madam met.”
Janet’s eyes were clear and bright as she spoke.
However, since she admitted to being Krithan, Sardin found it hard to believe her words.
“If you do anything foolish, I won’t let it slide.”
Janet sneered and glared at Sardin.
“Who are you to say that? Just try to touch our Madam, and I’ll kill you.”
At her chilling response, Sardin furrowed his brow.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Erich’s suggestion was as follows:
<If you go out like that, you’ll stand out too much. How about disguising yourself?>
Janet also agreed with this suggestion.
<Yes, it would be better if you went out disguised as me.>
For that reason, I had returned my hair to black, changed my eye color to brown, and was now out and about.
‘I’m glad I wasn’t recognized.’
The hotel staff and manager, who seemed to be watching us, didn’t suspect much when I, dressed as a maid with a hood, went outside.
‘That means, without my violet eyes and fancy dress, I’m nothing at all.’
Just as I unknowingly made a bitter expression, I heard a voice.
“Mom! This is so delicious!”
Demian, holding cotton candy, was gleefully tearing into it and bouncing around.
‘Can he really be that excited?’
His tiny hand was dragging me from place to place.
“Mom, let’s go over there this time!”
‘Where is he trying to go now?’
In fact, before the cotton candy, Demian had already had sugar cookies and fruit juice.
However, as a child who enjoyed sweets, he found himself drawn to the attractive and varied street desserts.
‘If he eats any more, his teeth will rot quickly, so I need to make sure he stops now.’
With that thought, I followed Demian and widen my eyes.
“Huh?”
Demian brought me to a stand selling inexpensive accessories on the street.
With his small finger, he pointed to a ribbon on the stand.
“I’ll buy that for you! I have lots of money!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his words.
‘What money could this little guy possibly have?’
But when I saw Demian rummaging in his pocket, my eyes widened.
‘No way, that’s…’
I remembered that one of the crystal eyes from the owl statue I had left in the study had gone missing, and I searched for it.
However, I never found the eye, and since I didn’t want to reprimand the servants for it, I decided to let it go.
‘But who would have thought Demian would have it!’
That wasn’t the only problem. Thin pieces of gold, bent and crumpled, came out with it.
Along with that, there were cute little bite marks imprinted in the gold.
‘Somehow, the gold on one of the decorations was peeling off… It was this guy’s doing!’
I had found the culprit, but I couldn’t bring myself to scold him right there.
Instead, I collected everything the child had brought.
“Huh?”
Demian pouted, feeling wronged that his precious gold had been taken away.
“But they’re mine.”
I smiled and gently patted the child’s head.
“The things our Demi brought are too valuable, so they can’t give you any change. Instead, I’ll exchange it for money.”
As I handed him several coins, the child’s eyes sparkled with joy.
“Wow!”
After a moment, Demian hurried over to the stall and pointed at the ribbon, saying to the merchant,
“Over there, the purple one, please!”
Sometimes, when Demian was in a good mood, he would make cute, childish sounds appropriate for his age.
And right now, he seemed to be in a very good mood.
‘It’s not just because he’s my child; he’s really cute!’
Eventually, Demian firmly took the ribbon and handed it to me.
“Mom, a present!”
The purple ribbon with white lace was of surprisingly good quality for something sold at a stall.
‘It will definitely look nice with my blonde hair.’
Then the child said,
“Please tie it in your hair, quickly!”
I couldn’t help but stiffen at his words.
‘You want me to tie this ribbon in my dark hair? It’s bound to look strange…’
Maybe it was because I had dyed my hair blonde for quite a while?
Now that my hair color wasn’t fake, I thought the ribbon would look silly on me.
But since my child wanted it, I couldn’t refuse.
“Alright, just a moment.”
I pulled down my hood and removed my headscarf. Then I wrapped the ribbon around my head, like a headband, and showed it to him.
“Wow, it’s really pretty!”
At my child’s praise, I couldn’t help but smile.
That’s when I noticed people whispering and glancing at me.
“That hair is black, right?”
“Is she a barbarian?”
Normally, I would have shouted at the merchants, but I couldn’t do that now.
That was because I was currently wearing a maid’s outfit, not a dress.
‘I’m not even a princess right now; who would listen to me?’
As I stood there stiffly, a thug-like man sneered at me.
“Look at that hair color; it’s like a crow.”
At that moment, someone grabbed the man by the collar.
“Shut up, before I kill you.”
And the one who warned him fiercely was none other than Erich Lennon Blant.
