Chapter 18

“You’re not with the Capital Guard, are you?”

For the briefest moment, the man’s eyelids twitched.

“…Why would you think that?”

Emilia gestured toward the insignia on his knight’s uniform.

“Obviously because of that uniform you’re wearing.”

More specifically, it was the emblem attached to his uniform and the color of the embroidery on his shoulder insignia.

This wasn’t the current design of the Capital Guard uniform.

That’s an old model.

Now that they were standing this close together, she could examine it properly.

After all, I was the one who compiled the summary of the imperial regulations. I even included illustrations of the uniforms and insignias for the Capital Guard and the Imperial Knights.

Cedric had been hopeless at memorizing everything from text alone, so she’d painstakingly drawn them herself.

And according to the regulations, once a new uniform was introduced, the old and new versions could only be worn together for six months.

But it had already been well over a year since the Capital Guard changed its uniforms.

Whether he used to be in the Guard… or stole the uniform and is impersonating one…

Either way, he definitely wasn’t a current member of the Capital Guard.

“Am I wrong?”

After hearing her explanation, the man rubbed his forehead as if he’d been thoroughly outplayed.

“You’re unbelievable. Just how do you even know something like that?”

He let out an incredulous laugh before straightening up.

Naturally, Emilia looked up at him as well.

“Well… we’re both suspicious people, so why don’t we just call it even?”

He shrugged casually.

Then he extended a hand toward her.

“Here.”

But Emilia merely narrowed her eyes, watching him warily.

The man curled his fingers impatiently.

“Come on. We still have to get back up.”

After a brief hesitation, Emilia finally unclenched the fist she’d been hiding and took his hand.

“Hm?”

The instant their hands met, Lucas let out a puzzled sound.

He had expected her hand to be soft and delicate.

Instead, it felt rough… dry… almost gritty.

After pulling her to her feet, he glanced down at his own palm.

It was covered in dirt.

His gaze naturally shifted to the ground where she’d been sitting.

“…Wait a second.”

Soon, he noticed the two shallow grooves she’d scraped into the dirt with her hands.

The realization hit him immediately.

“—Pfft! Hahaha!”

Unable to hold it in any longer, Lucas burst into laughter.

“Don’t tell me… you were actually planning to attack me with that dirt?”

Emilia’s face flushed bright red.

Biting her lip, she quickly scuffed the dirt flat with her foot, erasing the evidence.

Lucas only laughed harder.

“Stop laughing!”

“I mean, come on. That’s just too pathetic.”

“Pathetic? If dirt gets into someone’s eyes the wrong way, they could go blind.”

“Oh, right. Terrifying.”

Still chuckling, he finally stopped clutching his stomach and pulled a handkerchief from inside his coat.

He reached for her hand to wipe it clean.

“That’s not necessary. Don’t act like you’re fixing a problem you caused.”

“Even so… look at the state of your hands.”

“…I’m not some delicate young lady, so it’s fine.”

Instead, Emilia simply wiped her hands against her clothes.

Lucas watched her thoughtfully before asking,

“Then what should I call you instead of ‘young lady’?”

She answered coldly.

“We’re never going to meet again anyway. There’s no point.”

“Ouch. That’s harsh.”

He sounded genuinely wounded.

“I already told you my name.”

“You told me because you wanted to.”

“Hmm… then should I just call you ‘the penniless girl with no family and no money,’ like you introduced yourself?”

“…”

She shot him a glare.

Lucas merely smiled back with infuriating satisfaction.

“…Emilia.”

In the end, she gave in.

If she didn’t, he really would keep calling her that ridiculous nickname.

“That’s a cute name.”

“It’s perfectly ordinary.”

Despite her blunt reply, he simply smiled.

“Well then, now that we’ve properly introduced ourselves…”

He grinned.

“I’ll really take you back up this time.”

Thankfully, the man named Lucas didn’t try anything strange after that and carried her safely out of the mana sinkhole.

Although he did tuck me under one arm like a sack of potatoes…

Later, as they rode back toward the open field behind the plaza, the only annoying part was that he kept trying to interrogate her.

“So where do you live?”

“The place we were at earlier.”

“…Now that’s an interesting lie.”

“It’s the truth. My house was in that collapsed building, so that’s where I live now.”

“Oh.”

Lucas let out a quiet sound of understanding before laughing to himself.

It was true that she’d moved somewhere else only a few hours ago.

But there was no reason to tell someone as suspicious as him.

“Well, I’ve got work to get back to.”

“Work? I thought you weren’t with the Capital Guard.”

“I’m not.”

He smiled lazily.

“But I am still a knight. Believe it or not, I even have a curfew.”

Seeing the disbelief on Emilia’s face, Lucas sounded almost offended.

“I’m serious. I’ll make sure the information you gave me gets passed along, so try trusting me a little.”

“Sure.”

Emilia answered absentmindedly.

I’ll just come back later and find Mr. Duncan instead.

Lucas quietly watched the woman who clearly couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

Then he reached out.

“Well then, take care.”

“I should be saying tha—”

Suddenly, she felt the slightest tug on her hair.

Turning around, she saw a single strand slowly slipping through Lucas’s fingers.

His hand was raised near his mouth.

“…What did you just do?”

“Just saying goodbye.”

Lucas answered with a smile that gave nothing away.

After Lucas left, Emilia headed toward the street to catch a public carriage.

The sun had already begun to set.

She wanted nothing more than to return to the mansion and collapse onto a soft bed.

As she trudged along with exhausted steps—

“Where have you been?”

A low, ominous voice echoed from somewhere nearby.

Huh?

Emilia turned.

Her eyes widened.

The owner of the voice was none other than Kaiden.

“Why are you here?”

she asked in surprise.

At her question, Kaiden’s expression immediately darkened.

Why?

Because the woman who had promised—with her own mouth—to wait quietly at the mansion had completely disappeared.

He had returned earlier than expected.

Yet instead of finding her waiting as promised, he had been greeted by an empty mansion.

The sheer absurdity of it still irritated him.

Thinking she might have gone back to that miserable tent, he’d headed there as well.

But she wasn’t there either.

Instead, all he’d found were several terrifying-looking women glaring at him.

“Oh…”

While Kaiden was recalling the ordeal, Emilia reached a completely different conclusion.

“So you had business somewhere around here.”

She nodded to herself as though everything made perfect sense.

Meanwhile, her eyes drifted to the jacket hanging over his arm and the damp strands of hair clinging to his forehead.

He really must have been incredibly busy.

Even this late…

“I had something to take care of too,” she explained.

“Did you finish what you needed to do?”

“Yes.”

“Then…”

Kaiden looked at her steadily.

“We should return to my mansion now, shouldn’t we?”