EPISODE 14
The day after the ring.
As expected, the capital was abuzz.
The newspapers and tabloids were all over Ines’s love affair.
Even the neighborhood dog knew she was in love with the master of the sword.
Today, a few days later.
The quill stopped writing on the blank page.
The sunlight streaming in through the window shone uncomfortably on the ring.
Ines put the quill down for a moment.
He looked at the ring on my left hand and smiled.
“Finally.
Ines never took the ring off, except to bathe.
This was to deceive others thoroughly.
She needed to pretend to be passionately in love with Kalad.
It was a preordained encounter from beginning to end.
If Kalad was taken to the temple in half a year, Ines would have an excuse.
She wouldn’t marry him because she couldn’t get over Kalad.
She would have an excuse to avoid marriage for at least a few years.
“Though the best thing would be to keep him around.
Still, it was only with Kalad that my powers returned.
I might be able to stop a flying rock or an assassin, but I doubted I had the power to stop the rampage I knew was coming.
Still, I needed to hold him off for as long as possible, so I thought I’d do some research on the wielders of magic swords throughout history.
Ines cupped her chin in her hand and pondered.
“Speaking of which, why didn’t the temple just take him away?
If they’re expecting a runaway, they should have taken him away as soon as they caught him.
Why would they give him a grace period?
Perhaps the temple knew something about the sword’s owner.
“Ms. Innes. I have an invitation from the Imperial Palace.”
Shamore entered the office and held out the invitation.
As it turned out, the Emperor’s birthday was this month.
Ines took the invitation from Shamor.
Her unhappiness showed as their hands touched.
[“You potato of a fist, how dare you try to take advantage of Ines?]
[The southern mines Ines invested in are failing……. If only these bastards hadn’t managed them!]
All the misfortunes were related to Innes.
‘Always extreme.
Ines smirked to herself.
Aside from Grandfather and Halo, Shamore was the only one who cared about me this much.
“I’ll have to withdraw my investment in the southern mines.”
“There’s been quite a bit of talk, are you sure you’re okay with that?”
“Because it’s going to be a bust.”
“What?”
“And I’m going out now.”
“……Yes!”
Ines smiled and got up from her seat.
She had to get ready to leave quickly so she wouldn’t be late.
She left the office and went straight to her dressing room.
She changed into her going-out clothes, finished her makeup, and came downstairs to the front door.
Ines went straight to her carriage.
She had a date with kalad.
To maintain her powers, she needed regular contact with him.
As well as to warn him of the misfortune that was to come.
“Only a few more days.
Three days until Kalad’s death.
In the meantime, Ines had made all the preparations.
“I’ll make sure he knows what happens if he touches my gold.
It will set a good example for anyone who tries to harm kalad in the future.
The carriage carrying Ines left the mansion and headed for the city center.
When they reached the city center, Ines dismounted from the carriage.
It wasn’t far from the meeting, so she decided to walk.
As she and Shamore walked down the street, she spotted Kalad walking in the distance.
“Kalad!”
Ines calad out to him.
He must have heard her because he stopped.
Ines stopped dead in her tracks, blinked, and asked.
“was it raining?”
kalad was soaking wet.
He swept a hand through his dripping hair and answered.
“I got drenched when I was walking by.”
If this happened often, kalad didn’t seem to mind.
Ines looked at her mangled clothes and said.
“We’ll have to change first.”
Since they weren’t going anywhere, they decided to visit a clothing store first.
The two walked side by side down the street.
Ines, standing close to kalad, spoke first.
“So, how have the last few days been?”
“Uneventful.”
On the day of the ring ceremony, Ines had told kalad some of the misfortunes that would happen to him before they parted ways.
He looked more cheerful than usual.
“I didn’t see you get waterboarded today. Should we see each other more often?
With several misfortunes a day, it was hard to keep track of them all.
Especially when the misfortunes were more life-threatening than trivial.
I was walking into the alley, thinking to myself.
“My way.”
Ines stretched out her arm, pulling Kalad toward her.
Kalad’s body tilted toward Ines.
Puck!
I heard the sound of something breaking behind my back.
Kalad looked down at Ines in his arms.
Then he slowly turned his head.
Shards of a shattered flowerpot littered the ground where he had just stood.
When he straightened up again, he locked eyes with Ines.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
Ines looked first at Kalad.
Kalad gave her an ethereal look, then nodded slowly.
“You almost killed me before you got here.
Ines glanced at the broken flowerpot.
For others, it was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
And exactly one hour later.
Ines thought.
They don’t call me the unhappiest man in the world for nothing.
A long time later, Ines and kalad arrived at the clothing store.
Ines looked around fiercely, her nerves on edge.
She didn’t see anything dangerous.
As long as the store didn’t catch on fire, they’d be fine.
Shamor was equally alert.
Seeing Ines and Shamore looking everywhere, Calad sighed.
“I think we’d better call it a day.”
“I’m afraid you’ll get run over by a carriage on the road if I let you go alone.”
That was true enough.
calad said nothing more.
I already knew that Kalad was a miserable man.
More than I’d ever imagined.
“If only I could pick the misfortune that was about to happen.
It would take a little more practice.
Ines led kalad into the shop.
“Welcome!”
Greetings from the clerks came from all directions.
Walking quickly forward, Ines picked out some clothes that she thought would suit kalad and held them out to him.
“I’ll keep an eye out for you outside, so you can get changed.”
As Kalad entered the dressing room, Ines crossed her arms and sighed.
“Took me an hour to get here.
I never thought it would be so hard to get to the store.
As she walked with kalad to the shop…….
a potted plant fell overhead.
The road was under construction.
A heavily loaded wagon almost fell over and crushed us.
Of course, my ability to see misfortune allowed me to narrowly avoid being run over.
As we reflected on what had happened, Shamore said quietly.
“I’d heard he was unhappy, but I didn’t realize he was that unhappy.”
Shamor rarely shows signs of struggle.
Shamor muttered, looking more tired than he had after an all-nighter.
“Doesn’t that put you in danger, Ines?”
In response to Shamor’s concern, the corners of Ines’s mouth twitched upward in silence.
Seeing the look on his face, Shamor fell silent.
At first, when the pot had fallen, she hadn’t thought much of it.
But when one misfortune was averted, another would follow.
In a way she never expected.
By this point, she was getting feverish.
“Why aren’t you coming out, anyway?
It had been some time since kalad had gone in to change his clothes.
He still hadn’t come out.
“kalad.”
Ines knocked on the dressing room door.
“What’s wrong?”
There was no answer.
Ines quickly grabbed the doorknob and turned it.
It creaked, but the door didn’t open.
“Did something happen to him? Did he fall because he was sick or……?
Ines held out her hand to Shamor, her expression grim.
“Shamore, bring me the hammer.”
Shamore turned around and heard Kalad sigh from inside.
“We’ve got a problem.”
His voice dropped low, and Ines paused, then asked calmly, “Is the door stuck?
“The door won’t open?”
“No, it won’t.”
“Then what is it?”
Ines asked impatiently, and the door opened silently.
kalad stuck his head through the crack in the door.
“A button popped off my shirt.”
Then there was a snap, the sound of something breaking.
The door slid open, revealing kalad clutching a doorknob.
The button had broken, and so had the doorknob.
Ines’s gaze dropped downward.
The button had come off in a delicate spot, exposing his pecs.
His trained muscles were like chiseled statues.
Like a piece of marble, smooth on the outside and hard on the inside.
“You look good.
Ines made a brief comment.
I could feel his eyes on me.
The clerks, who had been glancing this way and that, were now watching in fascination.
Ines reached for a coat hanging nearby.
“Kalad…….”
Ines said as she draped the coat over him.
“I told you not to look like this in front of me.”
For a moment, Kalad looked at Ines as if she were crazy.
Ines ignored his stare and glanced at the clerks.
The clerks quickly bowed their heads.
Ines pulled out another new robe and held it out to kalad.
“Put it on, and I’ll hold the door.”
Ines leaned against the door to keep it from opening.
He turned to the clerk and said
“I’d like to pay now.”
“Yes, yes!”
A nearby clerk stepped forward.
Ines wrote the amount in pen on the blank check Shamor handed her and handed it to the clerk.
The clerk’s eyes widened when he saw the amount.
“Including the door repair.”
Presumably, the door would have been fine if kalad hadn’t visited the store.
While the clerk panics over the excessive amount of money.
There was a knock on the door behind him.
“Are you all dressed?”
“Yes.”
Ines turned around slowly.
He studied calad as if admiring a masterpiece.
His brightly colored shirt looked better than his drab Templar uniform.
His tired complexion looked much better.
They say clothes are wings, and in kalad’s case, his face made them wings.
“The most handsome piece of gold in the world.
Ines smiled.
‘It would be nice to have the same golden nugget be beautiful and handsome.
Only the hair could be better.
There’s no rush, she thought, so I’ll take my time.
When she was done, she turned to walk away.
It was then.
A flash of light burst out of the window…….
Boom!
A loud bang, like a blow to the eardrums.
A scream echoed like tinnitus in her deafened ears.
“Fire!”
The entrance to the store was on fire.
