Captain! Where is the Battlefield?

 

  After stretching lightly on the training grounds, Rosalie summoned a dagger in her hand. Nathan also summoned an unusual hook-shaped sword in his hand.

 

  “Rosalie, you can attack first~.”

 

  “No problem.”

 

  Rosalie swiftly charged at Nathan, and he skillfully evaded Rosalie’s attacks. Rosalie, who had been pushing Nathan back, took a moment to catch her breath and then began to channel her auror throughout her body.

 

  Her movements were completely different than before, and her attacks were harder and sharper. The corners of Nathan’s eyes twitched slightly as he dodged and weaved in and out of the way of Rosalie’s skills.

 

  “Huh? Huh? You’re attacking this fiercely?”

 

  “I thought you said you were strong.”

 

  Just when Nathan thought he had perfectly dodged Rosalie’s dagger, he broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of his torn clothes.

 

  Strangely, he had thought he evaded with ease, but the edge of his clothes was ripped. 

 

  Nathan dodged Rosalie’s attacks once again, and as he focused on Rosalie’s dagger, he noticed that her auror was extending even longer than the dagger itself. This discovery left Nathan in shock as he shouted in amazement.

 

  “Rosalie, are you trying to use auror against me?!”

 

  Rosalie, now catching her breath, stopped her attacks and wiped the sweat from her chin with a light motion. Nathan had been right. She’d thought about attacking like that, but there were other reasons, too.

 

  “It’s not that. I just have a lot on my mind.”

 

  Nathan looked at Rosalie with a puzzled expression. At that moment, Erudit, who had just awakened from a nap, walked into the training ground.

 

  “What are you two doing?”

 

  “Erudit~.”

 

  Nathan eagerly called out to Erudit. Erudit casually approached them, noticing Rosalie’s sweaty face that hadn’t been completely wiped of sweat.

 

  “Are you having a sparring match?”

 

  “Rosalie tricked me!”

 

  Nathan pouted and walked towards Erudit. Rosalie shrugged her shoulders and made her dagger disappear.

 

  Erudit looked from one to the other. Unlike Rosalie’s white, sweaty face with her hair sticking to her face, Nathan’s face was immaculate. Feeling the stare, Rosalie smirked.

 

  “Nathan is too strong.”

 

  “Hmm, I see.”

 

  At Rosalie’s comment, Erudit sent a surprised glance to Nathan, who smirked.

 

  “Why? Do you want to join, too?”

 

  At Nathan’s smug demeanor, Erudit nodded coldly. With a mischievous smile, he gestured for Erudit to go for it.

 

  And just like Rosalie had taught him, Erudit swung his fist at Nathan, who had been completely off guard and took a direct hit to his upper abdomen. Nathan quickly realized that Erudit had learned to fight from Rosalie and, whining that it was unfair, asked for macarons as compensation.

 

  After enduring what seemed like an endless tantrum, Rosalie and Erudit eventually put off their work and left the mansion to buy some macarons.

 

  “You could go buy them yourself.”

 

  “You tricked me twice today, and now you’re doing this?”

 

  “In this day and age, the one deceived is at fault.”

 

  “You’re both evil.”

 

  Nathan didn’t even consider arguing further. As they entered the capital to make their way to their target macaron shop, the three of them grimaced at the dense crowds that filled the streets. Apparently, there was a big market today.

 

  “Nathan, let’s get someone else to buy them.”

 

  After a moment of contemplation, Nathan nodded. Unfortunately, the macaron shop they had in mind required them to navigate through the bustling crowd. Normally, he would endure the crowd, but this many people was a different story.

 

  “Uh, excuse me… Could you please buy a bag of candy from me? Please.”

 

  A girl grabbed Rosalie’s sleeve as she turned away. Nathan sighed; it was just as he expected. Amidst such a large crowd, it was hard to feel someone approaching them unless one was fully focused.

 

  When Nathan tried to remove the girl, Rosalie raised her hand to stop him. She then examined the small girl from head to toe.

 

  “Please… just one bag of candy…”

 

  As Rosalie stared at the girl, Erudit, who was standing nearby, tilted his head. After a moment, Rosalie smiled gently and leaned down to stroke the child’s head.

 

  “Who asked you to do this?”

 

  Rosalie’s question caused the child to squirm. The expressions of Nathan and Erudit, who had been listening, sharpened. Rosalie continued to soothe the girl and gently patted her head.

 

  “It’s alright. Just tell us who asked you to do it.”

 

  “Uh, they’re in the alley behind the fish market.”

 

  “Alright. After you give this to me, don’t look back and go.”

 

  Rosalie accepted the candy bag handed by the girl and gave her a gold coin from her pocket. The girl nodded gratefully and hurriedly ran away.

 

  Rosalie opened the small cloth pouch given by the girl and found pink candies and a note inside. Nathan sneakily glanced inside the pouch.

 

  “She never said anything; how did you sense something suspicious?”

 

  “For a candy seller, she was acting excessively nervous and seemed conscious of something.”

 

  Rosalie replied dryly, and Nathan found it amusing. Strangely, she was overly sensitive in situations like these.

 

  “Hmm, Rosalie is truly interesting.”

 

  “What’s that? Is it dangerous?”

 

  “It’s fine. Nathan, can you estimate how many people are behind the fish market?”

 

  In response to Rosalie’s question, Nathan slightly frowned and listened attentively.

 

  “It’s roughly about two people, but I can’t be sure.”

 

  “Nathan, go from the back.”

 

  Following Rosalie’s instructions, Nathan nodded and walked away from the fish market. Rosalie proceeded straight towards the fish market, and Erudit followed her with a slightly tense expression.

 

  As they reached the alley behind the fish market, they found two suspicious individuals, as Nathan and the girl had described, standing as if they were waiting for Rosalie to arrive.

 

  “If you have something to say, say it directly.”

 

  Rosalie shook the note in her hand. One of them moved his lips, and a deep male voice resonated.

 

  “We apologize. Someone is looking for the Duchess.”

 

  “Who?”

 

  “…You’ll find out if you come with us.”

 

  The man spoke in a low, murmuring voice, which appeared threatening.

 

  “I’m not so naive as to be swayed by candy.”

 

  As Rosalie summoned her dagger into her hand, the individuals on the other side shifted their bodies as if they were about to pounce at any moment. With the situation escalating, Erudit couldn’t hide his nervousness.

 

  “If you dare to approach those two, I won’t hesitate to kill you, no questions asked.”

 

  Suddenly, Nathan, who had come up behind them unnoticed, spoke. They flinched at his sudden appearance.

 

  “Now, tell us who called you.”

 

  However, the two remained silent, exchanging glances with each other. Even though Rosalie emitted a faint auror, they didn’t utter a word. However, judging by the cold sweat on their foreheads, they were clearly scared.

 

  “Rosalie, how about we just kill one of them and let the other go? Make him carry the message with the other’s severed head.”

 

  Nathan, who had been rolling his foot on the ground while waiting for an answer, suddenly adopted a lighter, yet sincere tone. His words, despite their gruesome nature, made Rosalie nod in agreement, and her auror intensified.

 

  “That sounds like a good idea. Since my arm strength isn’t great, you can do the cutting.”

 

  “E-empress! W-we’re Her Majesty the Empress’s people! You can’t harm us, even if you’re a Duchess!”

 

  Ultimately, the terrified individual broke down and confessed. The other one standing beside them tried to stop them, but the one who had confessed had already been panicking for a while under the intimidation emanating from Nathan and Rosalie.

 

  “As long as you’re not lying.”

 

  “Yes, it’s true!”

 

  As the trembling person nodded vigorously, Rosalie withdrew her auror. If that was the case, there was no need to deal with them further.

 

  ‘Calling me unofficially and expecting me to do something…’

 

  She had no intention of compliantly fulfilling Nine’s intentions, nor was she willing to risk a suspicious encounter.

 

  “Tell her to summon me officially at the palace if she has any business with me.”

 

  When Rosalie addressed them and then turned away without any hesitation, the individuals tried to grab Rosalie as she passed. But Nathan, who was following her, whispered softly.

 

  “Leave quietly while I’m still sparing your life.”

 

  At Nathan’s words, the two individuals stopped in their tracks and quickly fled. 

 

  Once they were out of the alley, Rosalie contemplated hailing a carriage but decided that it would be faster to walk through the crowds.

 

  As they walked through the crowd, Erudit occasionally glanced at Nathan and Rosalie.

 

  “Why?”

 

  Rosalie asked after sensing his stare, and after hesitating for a moment, Erudit replied.

 

  “I was surprised when you said you’d cut their throats. It seemed like you meant it.”

 

  “Really? I was just going along with Nathan’s words.”

 

  Rosalie responded with a wry smile, and Erudit smiled in disbelief. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the question itself was absurd. However, Nathan, who was beside them, tilted his head.

 

  “I was actually considering it.”

 

  At Nathan’s statement, both Rosalie and Erudit turned to him in unison. Erudit shoook his head.

 

  “Your Grace, why don’t we make him learn some basic character education again?”

 

  “Ah, it’s too late for that.”

 

  Rosalie sighed and threw up her hands. Nathan shamelessly complained that his manners were perfect and clung to Erudit, who, with a face that showed he was fed up, yelled at him to get off him. 

 

   ⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰ 

 

  The second palace where Nine resided was a place that exuded a quiet and solemn atmosphere to an excessive degree. And in front of the massive and imposing gates of the second palace stood the individuals who had encountered Rosalie, awkwardly fidgeting.

 

  Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a tall, middle-aged woman with dark chestnut hair came out and talked to them.

 

  “You may enter.”

 

  “Her Majesty…”

 

  “Hush. Be quiet and come in first.”

 

  Despite the stern scolding from Andree, the woman with dark brown hair, they couldn’t move their tense legs easily. However, they had no choice but to enter as the door had already been opened. With heavy steps, they reluctantly made their way inside, tears welling up in their eyes.

   

  

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