“Mother, you have the jewelry you ordered from abroad and the interest money ready, right? If it’s past the deadline, you’ll be contacted by your brother’s Knights, is that okay?”
“Oops! When was it?”
Heitine Hazel began calculating the date with her fingers. If he contacted his son Kellyard, the Knights would be furious that he had humiliated him.
Soon, the two avoided their seats with pale faces. Now, it was more important to deal with what they had done than to get angry.
“Hey, what are you doing? Are you threatening me?”
“Letty.”
“I can’t stop you, but what are you doing with your parents’ weaknesses?”
She looked at me disapprovingly with her arms crossed.
“What are you doing?”
“What? I don’t have anything to threaten you with.”
I looked puzzled with a confident look. With a slight tilt of one’s head and a genuine curiosity.
“I think rumors of my breakup will spread soon, so do you mind if I don’t go to my fiance?”
“…?”
“Indeed, your fiance will be engaged even if you find out about Count Hazel’s financial situation. Didn’t Hector and I stay engaged because of the news of my marriage?”
Heitine bit her lips as well.
“Hurry up and go. Before it’s too late.”
She flicked her lips as if she had a lot to say, but eventually disappeared with a frown. Only Tepine remained.
“Miss Amelia, are you all right?”
I nodded.
“There’s nothing that wouldn’t be okay.”
I laughed bitterly when I received the invitations Tepine handed me.
As for the breakup of Hector, the male protagonist of the novel, I didn’t care for him. I thought I had stopped the problem by being by his side for a long time. But it wasn’t that he intentionally caused this.
Because I knew that my family would come out like this if they broke up as in the original story. Even in order to prevent unwanted marriage, I have researched everything in advance.
‘I’ve just moved on!’
The future is a problem. I’m sure the family will do their job.
“I have to go out.”
I murmured softly, looking down at the thickly stacked invitations.
I put on a black robe and left quietly.
Only moonlight was shining on a narrow alley without streetlights and a path that did not let in any other sources of light.
I walked silently through the winding alleys. I can get to where I want to go only when I pass the road that leads to several branches without making a mistake.
I approached the bar table and knocked.
“… You’re here again.”
It wasn’t long before the voice of a drowsy man on the other side of the bars could be heard
I heard it. As the lights turned on with a sound, I saw a man with a black robe over his head, just like me.
“There’s no place as fast and accurate as this.”
“I’m pretty good.”
Ronen grinned at my words, raising one corner of his mouth.
This is a place to buy and sell information, and money was not the only means of payment. If I provided him with corresponding information, I could also get the information I wanted.
It was much more certain to get proper information from Ronen here than from most guilds.
He had a cigarette in his mouth. Given the unique scent, it may not be an ordinary cigarette. Maybe it’s a stabilizer…
“So what about today’s item?”
“Here.”
With Ronen’s words, he put a small note on the bar table.
A pale hand comes out and takes a note through the hole made to take the item.
“Oh, it’s an affair between the Minister and the Empress. If this information is true, there’s going to be a huge scandal.”
“I don’t think my information has ever been wrong. It’s real.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The man crumpled the note, put it in his pocket, and stared at me with his chin resting. His face is invisible because he is wearing a robe and a connected hood.
It was just an occasional glimpse of his eyes that indicated that his pupils were red.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I don’t feel comfortable watching without saying anything.
“Just, I was wondering how on earth am I the only one getting this kind of high-end information?”
“That’s all I’ll say. What about my request?
“Here.”
Ronen just moved his hand without looking away from me. Soon, a thick bundle of paper was placed on the bar table.
The information I commissioned.
Plan B. Hector and the future husband candidate who will lock me up so I can get away from my family.
I felt the heavy weight of the paper in my hand and skimmed it over with the intention of going back and checking slowly.
Ronen’s information was quite expensive, but the results were more satisfactory than anywhere else. Besides, it was easy for me to find information that Ronen, the master, would be pleased with.
I took the paper and put it in the whole bag. Not only Ronen but also the guild has been commissioned, and they are also looking for banquets where aristocratic children gather.
‘You need information so that you can use it even if you go to the banquet!’
In the novel, only the main development and the narratives of the main characters were shown, but there was no information I needed now, so it was useless.
“Tsk!”
I could feel his eyes on me as I closed the bag.
As I looked up, I made eye contact with Ronen. I couldn’t see his face properly because of the robe, but he was looking strangely at me.
“Do you have anything to say?”
“Just.”
I asked, raising my eyebrows curled up. Ronen won’t be able to see my face because of the robe, but I habitually make facial expressions.
“…?”
“I wonder why you need their information. Do you happen to be…”
No wonder Ronen looked at the bag I put the paper in a while ago.
“Are you going to get married?”
I laughed with a smirk. He’s had an unexpected reaction so far, not being too curious about my identity.
“No way. This is the information my client asked for!”
“Aha.”
Ronen’s hat shook as if he were nodding.
“What’s the next request?”
“Not yet. I’ll come back when I need it again.”
Coming here didn’t always mean meeting Ronen. Today, we were able to meet because we set a separate time while putting out the request before.
If we were unlucky, we could keep missing each other. But I don’t have anything else to request…
‘I’d find Ronen no matter what to get what I’m looking for!’
As far as I know, there was no better informant than him.
“You mean the client’s information?”
“Yeah. You seem to have a lot of questions today, Ronen?”
Most of the time, we left after exchanging only what we needed. Sometimes we chat when we’re free.
I touched the bar table with my left hand and touched the bars with my right hand. It was roughly where his eyes were located.
“You must be bored today”
As soon as my playful question was over, I felt Ronen grinning for some reason.
“Mel, if you’re going to get married.”
“Mel” was an alias I used to come to Ronen or use the guild. Another hand touched the back of my left hand that was holding the bar table.
“Add one more person to that list.”
“… What?”
Ronen’s hand, which came up on the back of my hand, soon grabbed my wrist lightly.
“I’m a decent person, too.”
Looking at Ronen’s grinning mouth, I let out a smile.
I think he’s really bored today. He’s telling jokes that he doesn’t usually do well.
“It’s right that this information is a client, not me, and if you want to marry me,”
I smiled as if I were copying him, too. Slipping down my arm from my shoulder, it soon shows my head out of my sleeve.
“Sssssssssssssssss.”
“You have to get their permission, is that okay?”
It was a finger-thick snake that came out on the tip of my sleeve. The snake, which came out with its two-pronged tongue, hissed and hit Ronen’s hand with its head. As if I didn’t like him holding my hand.
They also pretended to bite the back of his hand with their sharp protruding fangs.
“Oh, my God.”
The appearance of the snake drew back Ronen’s hand.
“Sorry, Ronen. These guys are jealous.”
These guys. Ronen shrugs, knowing that I have a few snakes.
“You carry dangerous children.”
He spoke sadly, but there was no sign of regret in his voice. It must have been a joke from the start.
“They’re my guards.”
I raised my left hand and kissed the head lightly over the head of the serpent.
“Good job, Jjorongi.”
“Sss, sss.”
[Feeling good. Mel!]
The other snake and Jjorongi shook their heads as if they were in a good mood, and soon climbed back up my arms toward my shoulders. At first, it was very difficult to get used to, but now it’s nothing.
“You have a unique taste in taming snakes, Mel.”
“I’ll just smoke your cigarettes.”
He smiled silently at the smoke with an unusual scent.
Ronen smiles lightly as if he liked me, who never loses a word. He immediately taps the cigarette he was holding crookedly with his mouth and spits it on the floor.
‘Cigarette butts should be thoroughly rubbed out!’
Above all, you shouldn’t leave it on the street, and my manners in my previous life came to mind.
“Well, there’s nothing there to burn anyway, and that space is where Ronen lives, so it doesn’t matter!”
I didn’t mean to interfere by throwing it away in my room.
“Do you like all snakes?”
Ronen seemed to be interested in the snake I was handling this time.
“In general.”
Rather than liking it, I was able to interact with snakes.
Although they did not communicate with their voices like humans, they interact by looking at their actions or eyes. Moreover, the snakes’ thoughts can be conveyed in their heads.
