Episode 108

Upon hearing about Logan, I was told that he spent most of his time working.

Of course, it was true that he had a lot of work, but it seemed that even when given time off, he had nowhere to go, as he had no hometown to return to.

As for going out, unless it was to accompany the Duke on official duties, he rarely left the estate.

Because he had built the image of someone who lived only for his work, others never had much reason to suspect him of being a spy.

“…But why are you asking about Logan, my lady?”

Tara, who had just informed me of Logan’s sudden departure, looked at me curiously.

I quickly made up an excuse.

“Uhh, just ‘cause! I wanna get closer to Logan too!”

“Oh, no! My lady, you should never get close to someone like him.”

Tara immediately shook her head in disapproval at my words.

That was surprising.

According to the butler, Logan might have some eccentric tendencies, but overall, he was well-liked in the duke’s household.

A prime example of a social butterfly.

Tilting my head, I asked,

“Why not?”

“He acts all smiley in front of people, but when he’s alone, he swears and yells like crazy!”

Tara whispered, sharing something she had accidentally witnessed.

It sounded like a typical office worker trait, so it wasn’t particularly useful information to me.

“His eyes feel off too… Ugh, I just can’t stand two-faced people like that.”

“Hehe. Actually, I don’t like them either!”

“Oh my! Really? Our princess truly is a genius—just one lesson, and she understands ten things…!”

As usual, Tara launched into her exaggerated flattery, before suddenly gasping in horror.

“Oh no! My goodness, where is my mind?! I was in such a rush to tell you that I left the laundry with Kona and just ran off!”

In a panic, she hurriedly left the room.

That was good news for me.

One hour.

The temple was twenty minutes away by carriage from the duke’s estate.

Taking into account Magnus being controlled by Ismail, a likely pointless conversation, and Logan returning, I estimated at least an hour before he would be back.

If I was lucky, their conversation might last longer—but I had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Meaning, I didn’t have all the time in the world.

As soon as Tara left, I also hurried out of the room.

Logan’s quarters were tucked away at the very end of the corridor, past the duke’s office.

The first floor was quiet.

It was lunchtime, and due to security measures, few servants were allowed near the duke’s office corridor.

Thanks to that, I made it to Logan’s room without being spotted.

Click.

As expected, his door was locked.

But I didn’t panic.

Calmly, I reached into my inner pocket and pulled out a key.

The Master Key for the first-floor servants’ rooms, something only Head Butler Anderson should possess.

How did I get it?

 

“Teddy-teddy bear. Can you do thief mode too?”

“That’s as easy as feasting on a dead man’s intestines!”

“Sigh…”

Recalling my late-night conversation with teddy bear, I let out a small sigh.

As a trade-off for learning about the teddy bear’s bizarre dietary habits, I had managed to obtain the Master Key with ease.

‘It wasn’t a bad trade… was it?’

Pushing aside my absurd thoughts, I inserted the Master Key into the lock and turned it forcefully.

Click.

With a satisfying sound, the lock released.

After pocketing the key, I grasped the doorknob and finally—

Creak…

The spy’s door opened.

“…Huh. There’s nothing special here.”

All the tension I had built up felt pointless. Logan’s room was incredibly plain.

A single wardrobe, a bed, bookshelves packed tightly with books, and a desk buried under mountains of paperwork.

Leaving the door slightly ajar, I stepped inside.

That’s when I noticed a large painting hanging beside the bookshelf.

It was a common sight.

A fantasy painting depicting the Goddess and her angels defeating demons.

In the Holy Nation of Erea, Holy Wars were categorized into two types:

The real religious war fought centuries ago by humans.
The mythological Celestial War, where the Goddess descended to purge the world of demons and evil spirits, saving humanity.
A stale story found in every religion.

‘Was he trying to present himself as a devout believer?’

I quickly lost interest in the painting and turned my head—only to gasp sharply.

“Gasp!”

Next to the painting, lined neatly on a bookshelf, was a row of glass jars.

‘…What the hell? So this is why people call him a weirdo?’

Inside the jars were preserved scorpions, bats, lizards, and other small creatures.

There were also brains and eyeballs, presumably from animals.

“…Urgh.”

Was it because of my past trauma?

Or because it was genuinely disgusting?

Either way, staring at it made my stomach churn.

‘The Second Prince collects weird stuff too… Do all bad guys share this hobby?’

But at least this confirmed my suspicions.

Logan was a spy for the temple.

My razor-sharp instincts told me so.

Tearing my gaze away from the glass jars, I walked straight to the window, unlocked it, and pushed it open.

The fresh breeze cooled my queasy stomach.

The window was my escape route if I got caught—and also my alibi.

With my preparations complete, I turned my attention to his desk.

Piles of documents, nearly as tall as me, were stacked haphazardly.

Poor Logan—he had to work himself to the bone both as a spy and as a duke’s aide.

‘Will I actually find anything here?’

I sighed and began rifling through the desk.

I wasn’t expecting to uncover anything groundbreaking.

I just needed proof that Logan was a spy.

That’s why I had decided to search his room myself rather than using teddy bear.

After all, it was difficult to give precise orders for this kind of task…

And if teddy bear got caught, there was a good chance the teddy bear would just kill Logan on the spot.

‘I still don’t know who the real masterminds are. Killing him outright isn’t an option… yet.’

For now, I just needed something small—something I could bring to the Duke as evidence.

But after thoroughly checking his desk and all five drawers, I found nothing suspicious.

The last drawer contained a locked safe, but of course, it was sealed shut.

“Sigh…”

I let out a frustrated sigh.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected much.

A spy who had survived in the duke’s estate for over five years wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave evidence lying around.

But I still had over thirty minutes before Logan returned, so it was too early to give up.

‘Next, the wardrobe.’

Since I was already here, I decided to search every possible place.

I straightened up from where I had been crouching under the desk—

And then.

Step, step.

I heard faint footsteps in the distance.

I had left the door slightly ajar on purpose—to listen for any approaching sounds.

‘There’s no way he’s back already… Maybe it’s just someone passing by?’

But the footsteps didn’t stop.

They were heading straight for Logan’s room.

So the only person who would come this far was either the owner of the room or someone with business with him.

Step, step.

The approaching footsteps stopped right in front of the door.

I froze, staring at the entrance, before immediately ducking under the desk and crawling inside.

At the same moment—

Click.

I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock—just as I had done earlier.

The unmistakable noise of the door unlocking sent a wave of dread through me.

If it wasn’t Logan, they would have knocked first.

‘Why… Why is he back already?!’

Regret crashed into me.

If I had known this would happen, I would have run for the window immediately.

I had waited until the carriage left before moving—so I hadn’t expected Logan to return so soon.

‘Did he forget something? But turning the carriage around just to come back wouldn’t have been easy…’

A cold sweat trickled down my neck from sheer tension.

As I bit my lips anxiously—

Creeeak…

The door opened.

Since I hadn’t relocked it, the owner of the room must have realized it right away.

That there was an intruder inside.

‘It’s fine.’

I forced myself to stay calm, trying to steady my racing heart.

Even if I got caught, it wouldn’t be a huge problem.

…A ridiculous thing to say, considering I had sneaked into someone’s room and rummaged through their belongings.

‘I’m just a five-year-old.’

I kept repeating it in my head, as if self-hypnotizing.

No one would ever suspect that a five-year-old had secretly broken into someone’s room to search for evidence.

‘I’ll just say I came in because the window was open.’

Sure, sneaking into someone’s room was wrong, but I hadn’t committed a crime.

Other than the Duke’s personal space, there were no restricted areas in this mansion for me.

Of course, Logan would definitely be suspicious.

But just as I had broken into his room looking for evidence—

He couldn’t do anything to me without proof.

And unlike him, I could pull off the perfect crime.

After all, no one would ever believe that I had regressed to five years old.

‘I’ve mastered acting like a child by now.’

As I held my breath, preparing for the worst-case scenario—

Step, step.

Whoever had entered walked straight toward the desk.

The approaching presence made it difficult to swallow the scream rising in my throat.

Thud, thud, thud.

Even though I had no heart condition, it felt like my heartbeat was pounding violently in my ears.

Step, step.

The person rounded the desk and stood right in front of me.

And then—

“Hair.”

“……”

“You didn’t hide properly, Belze.”

With a quiet sigh, someone suddenly peeked under the desk.

The person standing there was none other than—

“W-what…? Edwin?!”

 

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