Chapter 31
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Chapter 31
"Do you happen to know anyone who looks like me?"
"Samuel Lockhart.... Yes, there is."
I hadn't meant to say it quite like that.
Dale must have an excellent memory—the way he immediately recalled Samuel's name proved it.
He pulled me into the shadows of an alley and peered outside, quickly draping his robe over himself.
'Why is Dale doing this?'
I was puzzled, but in that moment, Dale crouched low.
"It seems like someone is just passing through. We should be fine if we wait a moment before leaving."
Then warm, encompassing arms drew me close. Though he seemed unaware of what he was doing, being held against his broad, heated chest stirred something strange within me.
His firm arms and surprisingly soft embrace, combined with his pleasant scent, set my heart racing.
I watched Dale intently scanning the street, then leaned my head against him and nestled deeper into his embrace.
"...!"
"Tell me when they pass. My legs are aching, so I'll just lean on you for a moment."
"...Yes."
Dale cleared his throat awkwardly and nodded.
* * *
"Commander, did you discover something?"
"Have you seen my sister recently?"
"You mean Adeline, sir?"
A silver-haired young man with blue eyes spoke from about five meters away.
The commander leading the 2nd Knight Order at the forefront.
The man who was said to be the spitting image of Duke Lockhart in his active years was none other than Samuel Lockhart—the eldest son of the Lockhart Family.
Today was the day the 2nd Knight Order patrolled the heart of the Capital. But he had spotted someone who looked familiar.
"There was a woman who resembled my sister."
Samuel couldn't have been seeing a phantom of Enya. It wasn't as though he thought of her every day.
He walked with long strides in his knight's uniform, covering ground with each step.
"All of you wait here."
"Commander? Where are you going!"
"I couldn't have been mistaken."
Conviction blazed in Samuel's eyes. He immediately bolted toward the alley.
"She was definitely there. Enya Lockhart."
Three years had passed, but we had lived together for over a decade—I could recognize her. If she wasn't a ghost, that was unmistakably Enya's face.
Samuel headed toward the place he had been watching with certainty.
"This girl..."
His pace quickened.
My troublesome younger sister who had abandoned the entire family and vanished overnight.
Even a calf that had burned its rump wouldn't thrash about as much as my sister did.
The disappearance of Adeline was a major incident.
The only certainty was that it wasn't a kidnapping—she had left of her own volition. There was no way to know how long this running away would last, or if she would ever return.
"She was in the Capital?"
Samuel's brow furrowed.
"Enya Lockhart!"
Snap!
When he rounded the corner of the building, Samuel's eyes widened.
At the place he had approached with such certainty, there was no one.
"...That's strange."
He looked around.
Apart from ordinary people and an odd couple embracing in the alley, there was no one else.
'Could it be...'
Samuel quietly observed the woman's back.
'That woman has brown hair.'
Enya had the same bright silver hair as I did. The radiant silver hair that resembled our father in his youth.
That woman was definitely not Enya.
To the conservative knight's eyes, the couple's behavior came as quite a shock. But she wasn't his sister, and it wasn't his place to interfere.
Samuel looked at the man of the couple. He had a rather large build—a physique that stood out among the men he had seen.
For a moment, he wondered if the man might be a knight, or if it would be good to recruit him into the Knights Order.
"Captain!"
"Mulder."
"You must return to the Imperial Palace now. Even if we depart immediately, we'll barely make it in time for evening roll call."
"...All right."
Samuel Lockhart gazed at the man's retreating figure with reluctant eyes before turning to leave.
"There's no help for it."
* * *
"That was really dangerous just now. You were startled too, weren't you, Dale?"
Why is Samuel Lockhart still in the Capital?
A man who holds the rank of Captain of the 2nd Knight Order, no less.
"Ah. I suppose he was dismissed."
"He was wearing a knight's uniform. He doesn't seem like the type to be dismissed."
"Dale speaks well of my brother?"
It seems he's investigated my brother quite thoroughly. I hadn't noticed since he didn't show it.
"Surely The Emperor isn't in the Capital, is he?"
"...That's unlikely."
"Right? That's what I thought too. The Emperor has never changed his training schedule."
At least not until now. I've watched my brother leave for training every year.
He used to complain that The Emperor departed earlier than the knights.
Now that I think about it, my brother wasn't alone back then. He was with others wearing identical uniforms.
I fell into thought, then suddenly looked at Dale.
"...Is there something on my face?"
"No. I was just thinking that a knight's uniform would suit you well."
Dale's eyes widened. It seemed like an assumption he'd never considered before.
"There's something about your bearing that suggests it."
"What do you mean by bearing?"
"It's a feeling or atmosphere that comes to mind when looking at someone's face."
I reached out and lightly touched his cheek.
As my hand made contact, Dale's eyes widened with a start.
"You'd look good in formal attire, Dale. Like someone suited for official work..."
"...."
"You'd look perfect wielding a sword. Well, as an S-rank Mercenary you've certainly handled one before, but you'd suit a place with structure more than one of freedom."
"...Is it possible you already know something, Enya?"
"Know what?"
Dale avoided my gaze and wiped his face.
"It's nothing."
He continued walking, looking to the side. Was there something over there?
I craned my neck toward the same direction Dale was looking and spotted a small shop.
"Ah. Were you looking at that?"
"...?"
"The Fortune Teller's Shop."
A small Fortune Teller's Shop sat nestled along an ordinary Shopping District street.
The sign promised readings of today's fortune, monthly forecasts, romantic prospects—everything under the sun.
"Were you curious about it?"
I looked up at Dale.
His expression grew flustered, as though I'd caught him in some private thought.
"No, not at all. I was simply staring blankly and happened to notice it by chance."
"But Dale always says that, doesn't he?"
He was kind—perhaps too kind.
He bent to my every whim and refused anything I asked him to avoid. In short, he was a man who rarely asserted his own desires.
"Is there nothing you'd like to do? You mentioned you rarely explore the Shopping District."
"Something I'd like to do...."
Dale responded as though hearing such a question for the first time. He deliberated over something so simple for an unusually long time.
His contemplation stretched on—the silence of someone who had never once considered what they truly wanted.
I tapped my folded arms against him playfully.
"Want to get a reading? People do it for fun sometimes—about the past or what lies ahead, that sort of thing."
"...."
Dale pondered before meeting my gaze.
"I would prefer if only Enya were read."
"They also do compatibility readings."
"...."
In that moment, a golden gleam flickered across Dale's eyes.
He seized my hand and strode forward with purpose.
"D-Dale?"
"There is no time, Enya. Let us hurry."
* * *
"Let me see~ let me see. You're newlyweds, aren't you? Am I right?"
I smiled broadly at the Fortune Teller's guess.
"We already told you that the moment we walked in, didn't we? Let's go, Dale. This doesn't seem like the right place."
"No, wait! Why are you in such a hurry, miss? I was just asking whether you remember or not."
The Fortune Teller hastily grabbed us back.
But something felt off.
As I studied the Fortune Teller carefully, cold sweat began pouring down her face.
"Now then, let me try again. Your name is... An? Enya?"
"It's Enya."
"Revealing one's true name isn't advisable, is it?"
Dale whispered so only I could hear.
"But we can't pay money and receive an incorrect reading. There's no risk of information leaking here, so it's fine."
"And this handsome bachelor's name is? Yes, Dale, that's right! Let me see~ let me divine your name~."
Watching the Fortune Teller write out Dale's name letter by letter on paper, my confidence in her plummeted.
"This doesn't seem like the right place. Goodbye."
"You two aren't actually a married couple!"
Just as we were turning to leave, the Fortune Teller cried out.
Dale's reaction was faster than mine.
He remained vigilant against the suspicious Fortune Teller while protecting me.
"You have a long way to go before becoming a true married couple~ you're just fledglings. It looks like you've only known each other for about three months, not even a year? But it doesn't seem like you're meeting for the first time either."
"!"
"I see it, I see it~ I see it~ I've seen it!"
The Fortune Teller's eyes snapped wide open as she stopped waving her hands through the air with her eyes closed.
"Are you a couple who broke up on bad terms and met again?"
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org