Episode 16
The more I listened, the stranger it got.
“No, it’s… it’s because the engagement was broken off not too long ago! He is by no means a strange person! His name is Karl Relint, the admiral leading the Imperial Western Fleet.”
“I understand for now, but how did the engagement end up broken?”
“…I only understand that my master asked for it. I don’t know the reason, though.”
The maid answered in a creeping voice.
So he asked for the dissolution of the engagement first, and then was asking for help in finding the other party when they’d gone missing.
What the hell kind of psychology was behind that? Was he left with lingering attachments or something?
If it bothered him so much, why didn’t he come to make the request himself?
Clink.
The sound of the table and porcelain hitting each other stopped my thoughts, and I looked up.
Tea cups were placed in front of me and the maid.
Damon must have served it.
I turned my head to say thank you, but he was already gone.
The maid cared not for the tea and cookies; she just kept looking at my face.
“I heard about you from a friend who works as a maid in Viscount Grayden’s Household. She says you’re incredibly capable. Please, you must find our lady!”
“Didn’t you say that her engagement with your master has already been broken off? Why make such a request…”
Especially, she was even using the affectionate term ‘our lady.’
“That’s…”
The maid, with a sorrowful face, bowed her head.
“I’m just an employee, so I don’t know what happened between the two of them. But I’m sure the master is worried about Lady Elisa.”
New Request Received!
Upon acceptance, <How to Become the Spouse of a Hero> will be added to your library.
As soon as the maid finished speaking, a request acceptance window appeared.
I’d thought that the relationship seemed delicate, and it seemed it was a request from a regretful man.
‘A man searching for his ex-fiancée…’
I wanted to hear the full story properly, but since the person involved wasn’t here, there was a limit to what I could find out.
“Then I’ll be counting on you!”
In the end, without me obtaining any meaningful information, the maid left the office, leaving only the documents and a deposit.
Request Acceptance Complete!
<How to Become the Spouse of a Hero> has been added to the library.
Would you like to read it now?
>Read Now
>Close
The world has never been kind to extras, so there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’d just have to find out by reading the novel myself.
It was a bit concerning that the male lead was a soldier, but the request didn’t seem particularly dangerous, so it should be fine, right?
And since the deposit was quite generous, if I took this and fixed up the office…
“Should I put the tea away?”
I lifted my head at the voice that snapped me out of my thoughts.
Damon was staring at me with his usual calm expression.
I leaned back, making it easier for him to clear the tea.
“Ah, yes. Whenever you’re ready.”
Even though I had given him permission, he didn’t move an inch.
Instead, he stared at me even more intently than before. He’d been doing it for a while now.
What was wrong with him?
“…Why are you like that? Is there a problem?”
“This.”
He pushed a book towards me.
“It’s the book you were trying to take out earlier.”
“Huh?”
He must be talking about the book I roughly took out to make an excuse before I was caught off guard by the maid’s banging on the door.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly and picked up the book.
“Um… thank you.”
I absentmindedly read the title on the book cover.
<How To Seduce and Win Over a Younger Man For A Beginner In Romance / Author: R>
“?”
What was this?
What the hell was this insane book title?!
But before I could make any excuses, however, Damon simply picked up the teacups and headed into the kitchen.
No, that’s not it.
That’s not what I meant!
“Why is there such a crazy book……”
Who keeps putting these kinds of books in my library?!
This was ridiculous-
‘No, maybe this is a good opportunity.’
If the woman is already a clingy woman who sticks to you disgustingly closely, and she even has the weird trait of being a single woman who wants to abstain from love, wouldn’t she be your number one avoidance target?
Wouldn’t you want to leave even if you have no other place to go?
Of course.
But putting all that aside, it was still terribly embarrassing.
It was so embarrassing that I wanted to die.
‘I really want to run away.’
I felt like I’d be the one to bolt first instead of the male lead if it went on like this.
‘And what the hell is this anyway? How long has this been on the bookshelf?’
This garbage that I didn’t even want to remember the title of was a book I’d never seen in the months I’ve been living in the office.
Damon was in charge of the cleaning lately, and the books on the bookshelf weren’t ones I bought.
Still, why would someone put a book like this on the shelf?
Come to think of it…
“You told me to read it when I had time. It was very helpful.”
On the day I returned after solving Marquis Grayden’s commission, Damon showed me a book and said something like that.
The title was definitely <How to Become a Good Detective’s Assistant>, wasn’t it?
“The author of that book was also R……”
Who the hell was this guy?
Was he a professional at destroying the environment by printing trashy books?
Does he have some kind of grudge against a good atmosphere? Something against trees?
While I glared at the author’s name on the cover and felt a murderous intent towards someone I didn’t even know.
“Wait, I think I’ve seen this pen name somewhere else…”
I felt like the initial R felt familiar from somewhere.
I was sure I’d seen it before. When was that?
I tapped the desk lightly and slowly reflected on my memory.
‘Congratulations on the opening of Wolf’s Detective Agency. From R, who misses you…… Huh?’
That’s right, this was it!
The bouquet I found while rummaging through the office during my first mission!
The sender’s initial was written on the card attached to the bouquet
And that was an R, too!
“Where did I put that? Damon! Are you there?”
“Yes.”
When I called out for Damon, he appeared as if he had been waiting.
Woah. I got startled when he approached without making a sound.
I pretended to be nonchalant and cleared my throat before speaking.
“Do you remember the bouquet and card that were lying around about two months ago?”
I had been so busy with this and that that I kind of just left them there…
Since Damon did the cleaning, he probably threw them away or put them somewhere.
It’d been two months, so would he even remember something like that?
I looked at his face with concern.
“…”
I thought he might be trying to remember or look puzzled.
However, Damon seemed… unusual.
He had his usual expressionless face, but it gave off an atmosphere that was deep and sunken somehow.
“That bouquet…”
He said quietly after a brief moment of silence.
“Who was it from? What kind of person?”
His calm gaze turned to me.
Perhaps because there was no change in his expression, I couldn’t even guess what Damon was thinking.
It was as if he was determined not to reveal anything about himself.
“It is someone, I guess.”
The suspected tree killer.
“It should only have ‘R’ written on it. Did you throw it away, maybe?”
“…”
Only then did the gaze that persistently at my face finally drop away.
He shook his head quietly.
“I haven’t seen it. Perhaps you put it away in a place where I couldn’t touch it, Director.”
“Hmm, it’s not in my bedroom. Maybe the desk?”
I had told him in advance not to touch my bedroom and the desk used for work.
Ah, did I put it in the desk drawer at that time?
I quickly went to the desk drawer.
I was able to open the drawer which had gotten stuck on something and made several squeaking sounds with much difficulty.
“Found it!”
In the midst of the chaos, I managed to find and pull out the bouquet and card.
“The organization is……”
Damon, the cleaning expert, checked the inside of the drawer which had become a storm due to the long time it was kept like that, murmured.
“Impressive.”
….He was mocking me, wasn’t he?
“I remember where everything is. I did it this way on purpose so I could tell if someone touched it.”
“Of course.”
He nodded his head with no sincerity.
Judging by his expression, it seemed like he was saying, ‘You forgot where you put it, so what nonsense is this?’
I had no excuse.
I was being humiliated a lot today.
Fidgeting with my ears that were no doubt turning red, I took out the card from the bouquet.
I’m sorry for the irregular updates! I’m busy with uni T-T
