Thinking it was the play of my imagination, I wanted to look away, however, it wasn’t. The place where Ludger’s gaze was directed without any doubt was me, and that was how our eyes met.
I wanted to pretend not to know him. However, I was on duty, and since we had already seen each other, it’d be strange to ignore him. Pondering over all the options, I compromised by giving him a light nod of acknowledgement.
‘Well, since it’s such a huge gathering of nobles, Ludger would probably attend.’
However, other nobles were well aware of Ludger’s little fondness towards gatherings. His figure attending gatherings could be seen once in a while only.
No wonder the ladies around were showing such an excited expression, as if they had just made a fortune.
While I was thinking so, Ludger strode towards me. He whispered quietly standing before me so that only I could hear.
“Pleased to be your acquaintance again, Sir Clara.”
“…Yes, I’m also glad to meet you, Young Duke Kassen.”
“Apologies, but wait a moment.”
“…?”
When I showed a bewildered look, Ludger’s elegant, long fingers came near my shoulder. As the distance grew closer, the scent of his body brushed my nose.
The scent was as fresh as his mint, green eyes. Like a cool breeze brushing my nose.
“The cloak has become unfastened.”
“Ah.”
The cloak of a knight was designed to be worn around the shoulders, with the insignia located where the adjoining fabrics were held together by two strings.
Perhaps because I was in a hurry while dragging Sir Sein, I just draped the cloak over my shoulders casually and didn’t bother to fasten it properly.
“I’ll fasten it….”
“Your vision won’t reach here, so I’ll do it.”
Without giving me any time to refuse, his fingers on my shoulders moved. The sound of the cloth brushing as he pulled the strings together to fasten the cloak was strangely clear in my ears.
“Hmm, I believe it looks better now.”
Satisfied with the outcome, Ludger pulled away and smiled. The sound of people gasping with a ‘Ahh!’ was heard all around at that time.
Although it seemed like they were overreacting, I could understand the reason for their surprised reaction. The smile on Ludger’s handsome face was mesmerizing enough to make even me forget to breathe for a moment. I even forgot that I was on duty as I could hear my heart pounding loudly in my ears.
“Then, I’ll take my leave.”
“…Yes. Th, thank you…Thank you for helping me.”
Despite my awkward gratitude, Ludger smiled and turned away without saying anything more.
What just happened was so unrealistic that it felt like a mirage.
‘This… this must be what made him a sub-male lead as well as a villain.’
His charm was too heavy for the heart.
I let out a sigh and focused my mind to think of something else on purpose to push away the aftereffects of Ludger.
‘There must be a reason why he attended the gathering, right?’
For example, some high-ranking noble who could become a strong backer for the First Prince’s faction, must have attended the gathering.
Usually, showing up in a gathering that he holds no likeness for is always related to a political reason.
The current royal succession for the throne had two factions, the First Prince and the Second Prince. The Second Prince was the male lead who would be married to the female lead whom I had mentioned earlier.
Well, the story was as ordinary as the overall plot.
The First Prince was birthed by a Consort, for which he lacked legitimacy. However, he had a solid background instead, almost comparable to the Second Prince. And the Second Prince was the child of the Empress who had passed away early. Therefore, he had no power to protect him and was often looked down on. However, his legitimacy was enough to support his footings in the succession war.
The Emperor hadn’t announced who would be the Crown Prince so far. It seemed as if he was enjoying the tension between the two factions like tasting the water. A war of nerves and wits were already happening behind the scene.
‘Ludger is on the side of the First Prince. He and the First Prince are childhood friends.’
The Second Prince, as is often the case in romance novels, was using his maid, the female protagonist, to gather allies. With her natural talent of wit and her serendipitous connections with important figures, she was gaining strong backers for the Second Prince’s faction.
‘It was perhaps around this time in the original when she unwittingly seduced her Master, the Second Prince, right?’
In this way, she would gather enough people who could be of assistance to her Master, the Second Prince. And by the end of this year, she would assist the Second Prince to push the First Prince out of his position and declare the Second Prince as the Crown Prince. Becoming the Crown Princess later would be an extra reward for her hard work.
Nevertheless, I was just an ordinary citizen and a civil servant. It doesn’t matter to me who becomes the Emperor in the future. Either way, I would have to follow my superiors so it doesn’t matter whether my superiors change or not.
Looking at Ludger’s back that had moved far away, I decided to go and check the women’s lounge as requested.
***
After briefly greeting the Sir Sein whom I met on my way to the women’s lounge, I reached the lounge but stood guard near the entrance.
I stood guard around the perimeter, keeping a little distance from the young ladies who were wandering around the lounge. In case they feel bothered by my presence, I decided to keep my distance.
The gathering was still in its early stage, so there were very few people arriving at the lounge.
Perhaps because the celebration was reaching its peak, there was no reason for people to leave unless they were sick or something.
‘The security difficulty is really low.’
It was annoying that Gustav called me to guard today. At least he didn’t seem like trapping me in a way.
Well, if something unexpected occurred, his position would be in jeopardy as well. I didn’t believe he was the kind of person who would cut his own flesh just to make trouble for me.
The background music coming from far away was faint. It seemed people were still engrossed in socializing, and no one started to dance.
Focusing my sensitive senses sharpened by the Spirit, I looked around my surroundings while assessing the progress.
As time for the gathering flowed by, the background music changed several times and the atmosphere became more relaxed. Young ladies, who were tired from dancing, stopped by the lounge one by one.
‘Debutante parties are the time where young ladies twisting their legs in nervousness occur always. But it seems like nothing like that happened today and the atmosphere seems peaceful.’
As my mind was filled with such peaceful thoughts, a young lady walked over from somewhere.
‘Um, she’s the same young lady who was looking for the lavatory during short break earlier.’
Lavatory… is just a fancy word, but it usually means toilet.
It took quite a while for her to use the toilet. Thinking she must be tired, I decided to watch over…….
‘Huh?’
A strange sense of unease suddenly rose inside me and I frowned.
She seemed like the same young lady in a pink ruffled dress earlier.
However… my sensitive senses, amplified by the Spirit, screamed in danger.
Something was different.
Something was wrong.
Before she could step into the lounge, I stopped her.
“Pardon me. I must conduct a body search for a moment. Rest assured, it’ll be over soon.”
“What, what did you say…?”
“We’re doing body searches on random people for security reasons. Relax…”
“….”
At my sincere request, she rolled her eyes and looked around. Then, all of a sudden, she turned around and took on sprinting.
I clicked my tongue at her vain attempt to escape and soon started chasing after the young lady, no, the unidentified suspicious person.
‘She doesn’t have shoes on!’
The speed she was running wasn’t something that could be done by an ordinary young lady with hills on.
“This is Clara Weyburn from Area 1-4! A suspicious person has been sighted and currently on a sprint toward Area 1-5! I’m in pursuit but please be on the lookout for other suspicious people in each area!”
[What did you say!]
“In addition, there is a possibility that one young lady who attended the gathering should be missing and taken somewhere. Conduct a thorough search please. The appearance is….”
Quickly reporting the situation to other knights through the communications stone, I continued chasing the suspicious person, pushing strength in my legs.
‘That girl, completely hiding your Spirit is no ordinary feat!’
Furthermore, the fact that she was also able to alter the young lady’s face, which was ordinary earlier, must have been either with the assistance of magic or a magic tool.
Since the opponent was a Spirit holder, there was no need to show any more mercy. As soon as she left the threshold of the building, I swung my sword.
“Agh!”
The person was hit directly with my sword. Stumbling a bit, she only groaned a little but continued running without stopping. She seemed to be from an organization that trains their members to endure pain.
‘Tsk, annoying.’
If she managed to escape today, it would be difficult to catch her in many ways. Predicting the direction she was running, I put strength in my legs and jumped.
It was a technique to move quickly using Spirit as a propulsion.
My body moved forward as if an arrow was shooting through the air. Moving speedily, I landed in front of the fugitive. I kicked the fugitive’s forehead while calming the ringing sound in my head with Spirit.
“Keuk!”
“It would have hurt less if you surrendered obediently. Why are you making such a fuss now?”
I used the binding magic tool I always carry with me and tied her up completely, taking away the chance of escape and forcefully stood her up.
Now all I have to do is hand her over. to Gustav, from where the Sapphire Knights will take care of the rest.
‘It didn’t go as smoothly as I expected….’
Perhaps Gustav deliberately concealed the information of danger today.
I could understand that many situations arise when you have to deliberately keep their mouths shut to maintain confidentiality, however, his lukewarm attitude still didn’t fail to anger me.
To relieve my stress, I dragged the unidentified organization member back to the temple building.
“Captain Clara!”
Oh.
As soon as I returned to the building, the first one to greet me was Ludger.
He was giving urgent instructions at the entrance, but when his eyes landed on me, he quickly walked over.
“Young Duke? If His Highness is here then what about the other knights….”
“They’re conducting a search and security operation as you instructed. I came here to clean up the scene thinking people might have been frightened and caused a riot in the area.”
“I see…Thank you for your cooperation.”
“No, I just did what I had to do.”
That aspect of his was quite typical of a high-ranking noble.
‘In that case, there won’t be any twisted rumours like he actually ordered today’s incident, right?’
“Is that the suspicious person you mentioned?”
“Yes. Have Young Duke seen Vice Captain Gustav? I think we should hand the person over to him.”
“He’s leading the way from the Captain’s side. It’s better to go inside for now.”
“Understood.”
Ludger’s eyes moved to the girl I just caught. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered.
“The young lady’s complexion… doesn’t look good.”
