**Chapter 21**
While Edel was lost in thought, Laszlo stared at her, contemplating something, and then spoke.
“You made it too obvious.”
A young man, who seemed to be his colleague, frowned at the half-hearted response. However, Laszlo, still fixated on Edel, asked.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was on my way to collect laundry from the Count’s room. If it’s bothersome, I’ll take a different route next time.”
Edel responded without any sign of nervousness or trembling. Although she thought it might seem suspicious, she had learned how to handle such situations from a young age, making it hard to pretend to be surprised.
Laszlo scrutinized Edel carefully before giving a slight nod.
“Well… there’s no need for that. You may go.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
After a brief bow, Edel pushed the cart towards Laszlo’s bedroom, relieved that she seemed to have avoided any undue suspicion.
As Laszlo watched Edel walk away, his right-hand man, Nathan, frowned and asked.
“Who is she?”
“Didn’t you hear? She said she’s a laundry maid.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, boss. My eyes are still working fine.”
Although Laszlo replied curtly, Nathan continued to look at him suspiciously.
“She’s obviously of noble birth. And not from a minor house either… wait.”
Quick-witted and perceptive, Nathan soon recalled someone.
“Is she the woman we received from the Emperor?”
“The woman, who?”
“Are you playing games with me? Edel Lancaster, of course!”
Without responding, Laszlo re-entered his office.
But Nathan remained standing at the door, watching the direction in which Edel had disappeared.
“I must be getting old. I can’t believe I forgot about her.”
“You had no reason to remember her.”
“Well, that depends on how you plan to use her, boss.”
He closed the office door tightly with a cold expression.
“A woman who was once a duchess working as a laundry maid? Has she ever even touched water before?”
“Are your eyes really working fine? If you had seen her hands earlier, you wouldn’t ask that.”
Laszlo’s remark made Nathan pause. Earlier, he had been too preoccupied with the odd atmosphere surrounding the woman lingering outside the door to notice her hands.
However, Laszlo had noticed not just Edel’s face but also her roughened hands.
Unlike before, her hands were red, swollen, and had peeling skin, making them appear pitiable.
“When she got here, she might have thought she’d end up as a night attendant, but she seemed grateful just to be a laundry maid.”
“That can’t be true. Noble women would rather become seamstress slaves than get their hands wet.”
“How many times have I told you not to be blinded by such prejudices? If you only see what you want to see, you should get a job at a newspaper.”
Nathan fell silent, feeling a bit pricked.
In truth, Laszlo was silently mocking himself. He had initially thought the same as Nathan.
Of course, it hadn’t been long enough to make an accurate judgment.
However, seeing her hands, which likely had never washed clothes before, Laszlo sensed a bit of Edel’s desperation.
‘So, she doesn’t plan on dying anymore? That’s something to acknowledge.’
Edel, who had decided to continue fighting her difficult life, seemed somewhat admirable.
While Laszlo was thinking this, Nathan scratched the back of his head, letting out a groan.
“Why did she have to be outside when we were talking about the Canyon Count family? It’s unsettling. Do you think she really didn’t hear anything?”
“Only a very few know that the ‘Red Rat’ refers to the Canyon Count family. If she knew that, well… we’d have to hire her as our guild’s codebreaker.”
Laszlo chuckled, trying to reassure the worried Nathan.
However, the unexpected encounter with Edel made Laszlo delve deeper into thoughts about the Canyon Count family.
‘Yes. The Canyon Count will be more cautious than before, but he will never abandon his greed.’
He had sent his promising daughter off to marry an old man without hesitation and then handed her over to save his own life.
After taking Edel in, he had secretly hoped for a discreet contact from the Canyon Count family, but so far, not a single letter had arrived.
‘Even the Marchioness Celestine, who isn’t even family, sent a letter asking me to treat her well, but her own parents and siblings haven’t even shown the slightest concern for her fate.’
Reflecting on this, Laszlo couldn’t help but feel pity for Edel’s life.
She might have been deceived by her father into marrying the Duke of Lancaster. And perhaps, she wasn’t even happy before marrying the Duke of Lancaster.
‘In any case, Edel should be able to abandon her family.’
Laszlo, believing that the Canyon Count family would eventually disappear from the noble registry, hoped that Edel had completely severed ties with her past as he turned back to their work discussion.
“As I was saying earlier, keep a close watch on the Red Rat. If the Yellow Fox moves, the Red Rat will certainly behave differently.”
“Understood. I’ll trust your instincts this time, boss.”
Nathan nodded. Laszlo’s instincts had always been spot on, so this time would be no different.
However, Nathan couldn’t shake off the lingering unease.
‘My instincts are pretty sharp too, boss. And that woman really bothered me.’
A beautiful woman, a former duchess, working as a laundry maid in this den of ruffians.
Every word in that explanation felt contradictory.
‘Well, at most, she might end up as the boss’s mistress. What more could a socially disgraced woman do?’
Nathan tried to lighten his mood by handing Laszlo a document summarizing the various tidbits of information about the mercenary band.
—
There were two main armed forces protecting the imperial family.
One was the Imperial Guard, which closely guarded the Emperor, and the other was the Royal Knights, who protected the palace and went on expeditions under the Emperor’s orders.
Although the Royal Knights were much larger in scale, the Imperial Guard was considered a more prestigious position because they served directly under the Emperor. It was considered a promotion when someone from the Royal Knights caught the Emperor’s eye and was transferred to the Imperial Guard.
“So it’s a shame for the Deputy Commander. If Count Crises hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, you would probably be the commander of the Imperial Guard by now.”
“Stop talking nonsense! Everyone has a place that suits them. For me, being the Deputy Commander of the Royal Knights is already a great honor.”
“You’re too modest, Deputy Commander.”
In the Royal Knights’ training ground, two men, who had just finished training, exchanged friendly banter.
One was the commander of the 1st Regiment, and the other was Edmund Milton, the Deputy Commander of the Royal Knights.
His platinum blond hair and gray eyes were strikingly beautiful, but his body, hidden beneath a sweat-soaked shirt, was strong enough to befit the title of the youngest Deputy Commander.
“Hey, Sir Milton! Just finished your training?”
“Ah, Commander! I just finished. Is there anything you need help with?”
“I just wanted to say well done. People might think I work you to the bone every day.”
The Commander laughed heartily, and the Regiment Commander beside him teased, “Isn’t that the truth?”
The Commander pretended to glare menacingly at him before turning back to pat Edmund on the shoulder.
“You don’t have to match the training regimen of the Imperial Guard. You already have plenty of other duties.”
“I didn’t mean to compete with the Guard. But ever since the suppression of the Lancaster Duke’s rebellion, things have been unsettled. We need to be prepared for any potential uprisings.”
“Ha! Truly an exemplary answer, Sir!”
The Regiment Commander applauded Edmund’s textbook response, his praise tinged with flattery.
Edmund, hailing from a high-ranking noble family and having followed an elite path, always remained humble and approachable, earning everyone’s favor. His handsome appearance certainly didn’t hurt either.
“Good work, everyone! See you tomorrow!”
Wiping his sweat, Edmund called out cheerfully to the others, who responded warmly, waving back.
But as Edmund turned away, his expression changed dramatically from the one he had just shown.
