IDED | Chapter 120

Episode 120

Jack let out a series of sighs as he observed Azaid, whose face was clouded as if a storm had settled over his head.

He had no idea why Azaid looked so utterly miserable, but with a mountain of tasks to handle, he couldn’t just leave him like that.

“Did someone die? What’s with that face?”

“…Serena left.”

“Left? Where?”

“Home.”

“She took a vacation, didn’t she? Of course, she’d go home. Why are you acting like it’s the end of the world?”

Jack frowned in confusion, but Lily, standing beside him, chimed in.

“Obviously, he didn’t want her to go home.”

“Then go bring her back. What’s the problem? Just tell her to return.”

“Jack, not everyone thinks as simply as you do. Try using your brain before you speak.”

“Hey! Are you picking a fight with me? Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Instead of whining about being single all the time, why don’t you try fixing that empty head of yours? Maybe then you’d find someone.”

“You little—!”

Jack shot Lily a glare at her sharp remark.

As the two bickered, Azaid let out a deep sigh.

He didn’t care whether they fought or not.

His thoughts were consumed entirely by Serena.

— Wait for me. I’ll come back once things are settled.

It had been three days since she said that.

He had sent Marie to her, but not being able to see Serena himself was driving him insane.

‘If I go to her, she’ll hate it, won’t she?’

But if he didn’t go, he’d miss her too much.

The moment Serena said she was leaving the palace, his heart had dropped.

For a brief, terrifying moment, he thought she was leaving him for good.

Fortunately, she had promised to return.

That promise was the only thing keeping him sane as he waited for her.

Still, being apart from someone he had spent every day with left him feeling empty, restless, and aching with longing.

‘I miss her.’

Was this what it felt like to wither away day by day?

While Azaid struggled in silence, Jack and Lily had launched into another round of arguing.

“You act all high and mighty just because you know how to wield a sword. That’s all you’ve got in your head, isn’t it?”

“At least I have something in my head. Unlike you. Or are you just mad because you keep losing to me?”

“I don’t lose! I go easy on you!”

“Oh really? Then why do you always wave that little handkerchief and surrender?”

“Fine! Let’s go again, right now!”

“Can you both shut up?”

Unable to take any more, Azaid finally cut in, pressing his temples.

The two, who had seemed ready to come to blows, immediately fell silent.

With cold, unreadable eyes, Azaid dismissed them.

“If you’re going to fight, do it outside. No one’s stopping you.”

“Why should I leave? This is my merchant guild.”

“And I’m the guild’s biggest investor. That couch you’re sitting on? I bought it for you.”

“…Tch. We weren’t actually fighting. We always mess around like this, right, Lily?”

“That’s right. We were just talking. Don’t be mad, Your Majesty.”

Azaid was dumbfounded by how in sync they were at times like this.

Jack quickly changed the subject—without realizing he was about to push Azaid’s buttons even further.

“Anyway, how long is Serena’s vacation? We’re all working our butts off, and she’s just off relaxing? That’s not fair.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t even think about making Serena do anything. If someone has to do it, make me do it. I’ll take care of everything.”

Azaid snapped irritably.

Jack pouted, knowing full well that Azaid couldn’t actually take on Serina’s work—she was the only one capable of it as a physician.

“That’s exactly the problem. You can’t do what she does. When we get the lab samples, we’ll need someone to analyze them. Nocturne’s gone too, remember?”

“So, do you even have the samples yet?”

“Well… Security’s tight, so it’s been tricky.”

“Sounds like incompetence to me. You don’t even have the samples, and yet you’re already whining about Serena?”

At Azaid’s cold remark, Jack scratched the back of his head.

“Well, anyway. They’re supposed to start internal testing soon, so we’ll probably have them this week.”

“If this keeps dragging on, I’ll go in myself. Or maybe you should go instead.”

“Why am I suddenly being dragged into this?! Stop taking your anger out on me!”

“You piss me off. All you care about is dumping more work on someone who’s already suffering because of me.”

“Because of you? What, did you do something to Serena?”

Jack finally asked what had been on his mind, his eyes narrowing.

Ajade quickly averted his gaze.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Then stop acting so obvious. Either keep it to yourself or spit it out.”

Jack wasn’t about to back down.

Just then, Leonard entered the office, wearing a mask.

Despite his disguised face, everyone already knew who he was and greeted him casually.

“Where’s Pie?”

At Lily’s question, Leonard shook his head.

Jack scoffed.

“Came back empty-handed again? I told you, just let me steal it.”

Ignoring Jack, Lily turned to Leonard.

“Forget him. Just explain.”

“Well, I managed to make contact, but….”

Leonard rubbed his face, recalling the earlier situation.

— You’re saying you’re Dorothy’s rightful owner?

— Yes. it’s always been free-spirited, so I assumed she was just on a long outing.

— I see.

— So, I’ll be taking her ba—

— Wait a moment. Then tell me—what color was the bell Dorothy was wearing?

— Pardon?

—You claim to be her owner. Don’t you know?

He never expected to be asked about the bell’s color.

Since Pie had a real owner, Leonard had no way of knowing what color the bell was.

In fact, he hadn’t even known Pie wore a bell at all.

“I tried to pretend I was the owner, but I failed. They asked me about the color of the bell Pie was wearing.”

“Pie had a bell? Doesn’t it hate wearing things?”

Jack scratched his head in confusion, while Azaid’s expression grew troubled.

“Nocturne used to put bells on Pie whenever he needed to leave a mark. There’s probably some sort of clue hidden inside it.”

“So, the bell might be more important than Pie himself.”

At Leonard’s tired remark, Lily suddenly clapped her hands.

“Ah! So that’s why!”

“Why what?”

“When we were tracking Nocturne, we kept picking up traces of him in multiple places. At first, I thought it was because of Pie, but now I realize it was the bell messing with the location readings.”

Lily’s search magic worked by following traces of mana. It seemed that Nocturne’s bell had interfered with her tracking. Azaid, after a brief moment of thought, spoke.

“Then we need to secure the bell first.”

“Lady Greenwood surely has it, but wouldn’t infiltrating the duke’s castle be difficult?”

“No need to take a long detour—I know someone who can steal it.”

“Who might that be?”

“Lydia Vincent.”

“Ah.”

“I’ve put off dealing with her for now.”

Azaid smirked coldly at the thought of Lydia. Ever since she had shown up that day, she had been locked up in the underground prison of the Gordon Trading Company.

He had detained her out of concern that she might go to the duke and reveal Serena’s secret.

In truth, he had wanted to tear her apart immediately, but he left her fate to Serena’s decision. Azaid continued.

“She used to be Ophelia Greenwood’s lady-in-waiting, so she should know its location. And even if she doesn’t, she can just steal it.”

“But will she cooperate with us? What if she pretends to steal it and instead goes to the duke? That would be troublesome.”

“That’s why you need to follow and keep an eye on her. If you disguise yourself as someone coming to collect a debt, she won’t suspect anything.”

“With this face?”

When Leonard asked, somewhat displeased, Azaid blinked at him.

“Why? You don’t like that face?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Leonard hesitated for a moment. Ophelia acted differently when she met Leo compared to when she encountered Leonard.

When she was with Leo, she was so gentle that she seemed like a different person. But with Leonard, she was always stiff and guarded.

‘Well, I was always the one blocking her from meeting His Majesty, so it’s no surprise she dislikes me.’

Leonard suddenly realized he had only ever seen one side of Ophelia.

At the same time, the thought of her finding out he was a loan shark and treating Leo coldly as well made him even more reluctant to accept the mission. But he couldn’t voice such concerns to Azaid.

“Understood. I’ll retrieve it as soon as possible.”

“Good. In the meantime, we’ll think of a way to extract Nocturne. You’ve got the hardest job, Leonard.”

When Lily encouraged Leonard, Jack interjected.

“Lily, why are you only nice to Leonard? Be a little friendlier to me too.”

“You need to have something pretty about you for me to be friendly.”

Lily dismissed him without hesitation, making Jack’s face crumple.

Azaid, unfazed by their exchange, gazed out the window. The autumn leaves turning bright red somehow felt lonely.

‘Should I go see her? Even if it’s from a distance, just seeing her face might make me feel better.’

If he remained still, thoughts of Serena would never leave his mind. In the end, he couldn’t suppress his feelings and decided he had to at least catch a glimpse of her.

Bzzz—

The sound of the communication stone vibrating made Azade glance down absentmindedly.

And then—

[Rena]

When he saw that the caller was Serena—

Crash, clatter, bang!

Azaid shot up noisily, answered the call, and then suddenly rushed out of the room.

Jack, startled, blinked rapidly. The Azaid who had looked utterly miserable just moments ago now had a face brimming with joy.

And just from that, Jack immediately guessed who the caller was, furrowing his brows.

“Damn it. I hope all couples just break up.”

Lily, watching the scene, clicked her tongue as if Jack were utterly pathetic.