Chapter 36
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36.
"The Magicians are being more cunning than last time, so it's proving difficult."
Cassian Artez turned his body, his back now to the sink as he regarded me.
Light streamed through the kitchen window at an unfortunate angle, making his expression difficult to read.
"It must be serious enough to interrupt the vacation I'd given Roselita."
"Not that."
As I squinted, Cassian Artez approached me leisurely from the kitchen.
"Then?"
His smile was so composed it made me wonder if I'd misread him entirely.
But after eighteen months of watching him, the likelihood that I was wrong was far too low.
Even the memory of him as a child surfaced now—how his posture had grown rigid as his condition improved.
Rather than play twenty questions with him, I—
—grabbed Roselita.
I seized the hem of his shirt and yanked it upward in one sharp motion.
"The seduction of a beloved fiancée is certainly appreciated, but now is hardly the time—"
"How badly are you hurt?"
I ignored his evasive nonsense and asked directly.
Yesterday I'd been too flustered to notice, turning my eyes away too quickly, but now I could see it clearly.
The faint suture marks characteristic of magical first-aid kits, barely visible along his ribs.
A low sigh escaped him.
"I'm fine, Roselita."
"If you were truly fine, you would have told me."
Though Cassian Artez rarely sustained injuries, he would deliberately mention minor wounds to tease me—that was the kind of man he was.
'Look at this—I blocked wrong during sparring and my side turned red. You should stamp the Second Prince's seal on it for me, Roselita.'
I still remember how he pushed his opponent to the brink of exhaustion, then handed over the imperial seal without so much as touching a barely-visible scratch on himself.
"You seem upset."
Why are you smiling when you say that?
Truly infuriating, and yet I remained concerned.
Cassian Artez observed my pouting expression, pulled his chair closer, and spoke.
"I'm not sure whether to be pleased that my expectations were wrong."
"Did you perhaps wager that I wouldn't see through you?"
"You make me sound like a demon."
"Everyone in the Empire thinks exactly that."
The infamous demon of the Winter Palace, after all.
Judging by his eloquence, at least his voice was perfectly intact.
His recovery was almost monstrous—the rough edge I'd heard in his voice yesterday had vanished entirely.
It was smooth and low as always, yet somehow irritatingly beautiful to my ears.
"You haven't shown yourself to a physician at all, have you?"
"No."
Apparently deciding there was no point in hiding further, he answered readily.
What could possibly make him smile so contentedly?
When I narrowed my eyes, he actually laughed aloud.
"I simply didn't want to show Roselita Salice anything unsightly."
"My constitution isn't that delicate."
"I wasn't concerned about you."
Then who were you concerned about?
As I regarded him with suspicion, Cassian Artez spoke as though it were nothing.
"There's no real difficulty in moving. You know how long I've spent on the battlefield."
So you're capable of judging whether the wound is truly dangerous or not?
Then what's the purpose of having a physician?
"...When we reach the Capital City, will you please summon the Imperial Palace physician?"
"I will."
Even as I thought this, I found myself turning a blind eye once more.
He had endured so much even at eleven years old—I could only trust his word.
*
"This cottage is a place I rented just in case, isn't it?"
"As expected of Roselita."
Cassian's usual lodging was probably one of the well-maintained accommodations in the heart of Ilium.
"Last night, there was apparently a burglary at the most famous inn building in Ilium."
It was something a maid had mentioned worriedly when I visited Duke Lopez's Villa.
"They'll want to secure that cube you solved yesterday by any means necessary."
"I told them at Duke Lopez's Villa that I'd be returning to the Capital City."
"With me?"
I nodded.
Before coming to the cottage, I'd deliberately stopped by the Train Station and purchased first-class tickets to the Capital City in advance.
I even showed Cassian the receipt I'd issued for future security verification purposes.
"So some of them will definitely follow us to the Train Station."
"An empty carriage would be spotted immediately."
"Of course, I requested cooperation from Your Highness's knights."
I'd long since learned how to summon the hidden knights.
It was proof of Cassian's trust in me—or rather, proof that he intended to exploit me thoroughly.
I'd instructed knights of appropriate build to disguise themselves as Cassian and me, go on a date around Ilium, and then board the train.
'I've also spread word among the villa's servants, so the information will definitely be muddled.'
Since they were knights, they'd skillfully evade pursuit while executing my plan meticulously, making it difficult for the Magicians to discern whether they were following us or the knights.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Cassian had no subordinates in administrative positions, but the situation was different with the knights.
Having rolled through battlefields together and with Second Prince Cassian himself being the one who saved their lives more than once, it was only natural.
The First Empress wanted to control the entire Imperial Knight Order, but those who had fought on the battlefield with Cassian were renowned for their integrity.
'In the original story, not a single traitor emerged from the knight order under Cassian's command.'
Well, of course, I couldn't entirely trust the original story content that I've thoroughly mangled.
'If they tried to trap Wilhelmina and me in a snare, then they should maintain at least that standard, even the original story.'
If they had any conscience, they should forgive the original story content I've been destroying left and right, considering they've already burdened our household with that enormous debt.
They tried to abandon the protagonist position they claimed to lack the ability for, and now they're trying to reclaim it arbitrarily.
I vented my grievances inwardly toward a god whose existence I couldn't even verify, and recounted to him one by one the measures I'd taken while he slept.
"I really don't know how I'd manage without Roselita."
After my report concluded, Cassian exhaled deeply and spoke in a murmuring tone.
"You haven't said a single word about submitting a resignation letter."
I still have many debts to repay, Your Highness.
My nerve is too small to start a business recklessly.
As a matter of safety first, I'll definitely start with a side business.
"So you're saying you'll pay me back eventually."
Then you're telling me to spend my entire life working myself to exhaustion at Your Highness's side?
What a dreadful thing to say.
As I gazed at him with reluctance, Cassian exhaled a shallow sigh and rose from his seat.
"I need to make good use of this opportunity I've prepared, if only to keep you by my side longer."
At the same time, Cassian's face and hair color changed.
It was time to apprehend the Magicians who had ventured into illegal drug trafficking.
*
"That's Wilhelmina's pleasure yacht...."
Unlike the dock where Cassian and I had boarded days ago, this one bustled with crowds and gleamed with ornate decorations.
True to a gift from Duke Lopez, the yacht's splendor and scale surpassed the one we'd taken before.
"Does this suit your taste better?"
"I'd like to speak generously of a friend's yacht, but..."
Truthfully, it didn't.
Having left it to a proxy manager and abandoned it, Wilhelmina's refined taste was nowhere to be found aboard.
As I frowned, Cassian spoke with a note of regret.
"It seems Roselita is quite fond of Wilhelmina Lopez."
"That's true, but why the sudden comment?"
At my words, Cassian's expression visibly twisted into bitterness.
He was acting again.
"I heard that after the proxy took over five years ago, the interior was replaced multiple times on a whim."
"Then there must have been embezzlement as well."
"Likely."
Without even checking the ledgers, I could see how sloppy it all was.
Since this yacht had belonged to the late Duchess Lopez, the Duke and his younger sons wouldn't have paid it any attention.
'The proxy must have gleefully sold off all the expensive furniture and filled it with flashy replacements.'
They'd certainly pocketed the difference and skimmed considerable operating costs as well.
"We could prepare gifts for the ladies in the Capital City."
"Since we're here anyway, might as well."
Cassian descended from the carriage with a pleased expression.
He'd disguised himself with reddish-brown hair and a relatively ordinary face, dressed in formal attire that emphasized decoration over the practicality footmen typically wore.
Yet his inherent bearing remained, making him look decidedly unlike a servant—a slight flaw.
I was wearing my embarrassing dress, which I'd hastily packed among my luggage.
It was a garish, superficially glittering dress I'd been pressured into buying at a Dressing Room when I first arrived in the Capital City, naive and unsuspecting.
A faded red fabric adorned with an oversized green satin ribbon—what a monstrosity.
They'd essentially unloaded unsold inventory onto innocent, fragile me.
Of course, that Dressing Room later closed down for tax evasion.
'I really didn't want to wear this.'
This forgotten dress was now proving unexpectedly useful.
Today, anyone looking at me would see a nouveau riche businesswoman or her daughter.
Poor taste combined with an expensive appearance—that was all that mattered.
With my hair dyed golden and heavy makeup applied, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to deduce that we were Cassian and his aide.
Yet the thought of venturing out like this truly saddened me.
"You can't even manage a proper escort—when will you finally get it right!"
The characterization of a vulgar upstart lady is, well.
"I sincerely apologize, Miss! Please, I beg you—allow me to escort you."
That's not so bad, is it?
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