CHAPTER 52…………
“You’re saying you’ll change your approach?”
“Yes. Instead of planting spies inside, I’ll meet someone who already sees through everything happening in the imperial palace.”
“Someone like that… exists?”
“You’ve heard of him too, Alf. The tarot master, Naz.”
“What? You mean that fortune-teller in a tavern in Kuna?”
“That’s right.”
“Sir Kyle, how could a mere fortune-teller possibly know anything about palace affairs? Isn’t that just false rumor?”
Alfred looked utterly unconvinced.
“Haven’t you heard the saying?”
“What saying…?”
“All information in the capital eventually flows to Naz.”
“I know you’ve long been interested in that fortune-teller. Didn’t you already have Sir Yankeller investigate him?”
“I did. And Yan said he was just another common fortune-teller, not worth attention.”
“Then why do you want to meet him now?”
A chill flickered in Kyle’s eyes.
“Because not everyone agreed with Yan’s assessment. Others rated him very differently.”
Alfred’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Who said that?”
At that moment—
“That would be me, brother.”
The library door opened, and a bright female voice rang out.
Startled, Alfred whipped his head around.
“You?”
A middle-aged woman with plump, smiling cheeks walked in radiantly.
Kyle stood to greet her warmly.
“Lady Charlotte, it’s been far too long. I’m hurt that you only now thought to call for me. And also…”
She turned to Alfred, who still sat frozen in shock.
“Brother, you’ve been in the capital all this time, and not once did you send me word?”
“A-ah… Sir Kiyor has been far too busy frequenting Ice Kuna to have time for that.”
Kyle covered his mouth with his hand, whispering like a tattletale.
Lady Charlotte narrowed her eyes and glared at Alfred.
“Hmph, just as I thought.”
Watching Alfred squirm, Kyle burst out laughing.
“Please, sit. We’ve been waiting for you, Baroness Charlotte Enty.”
She was both the famed social butterfly who managed Naz’s salon and the only person Alfred Kiyor, the mighty knight, could never defy—his younger sister.
At the same time, she was Kyle’s ally, feeding him news from the capital.
“Do you know how long I waited for you to visit me, brother? I worried you’d been gravely injured while slaying monsters!”
Charlotte unleashed a flood of pent-up scolding.
“I—I was just… very busy. In the north, and now here in the capital, there’s been so much to do.”
Alfred Kiyor, legendary knight of the enemy order. The man who could cleave a giant beast in two. To the world he seemed fearless—but Lady Charlotte was the one person he dreaded.
Kyle smiled faintly at the siblings’ familiar bickering.
“In any case! Brother, we’ll talk later. Right now, I need to speak with Sir Kyle.”
Alfred, overwhelmed, rose awkwardly from his seat.
“Alf, aren’t you going to listen too? Where are you going?”
Kyle caught him with a crooked smile, but Alfred mumbled about work and slipped away in an instant.
Charlotte sighed as she watched him retreat.
“See? He’s running because he’s afraid I’ll scold him again.”
“Well, your scolding is rather formidable.”
“Oh my, Sir Kyle? Surely not. I’m the gentlest person you know.”
“I remember being scolded a few times myself when I was younger. I understand Alfred’s feelings better than anyone.”
Charlotte hid her laughter behind a fan.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
She smiled and began recounting events in the capital and the palace.
Most of it centered around the so-called Saintess.
As the incarnation of the goddess Anish, she was shrouded in endless rumors.
“But nothing you’ve discovered leads to a clear conclusion?” Kyle asked.
“Exactly. From what I’ve found, she’s just the daughter of a middling family. And that line in front of the temple…”
“You mean the commoners waiting to see her.”
“Yes. Outside, hundreds wait in line, yet inside, only a handful of nobles have been admitted.”
“And none of those waiting outside actually met her?”
“Not one. They just kept standing in line.”
Kyle gave a dry, derisive laugh.
“A spectacle for rumors, then.”
Charlotte snapped her fan shut with a sharp clap.
“Precisely. As expected, you see through it instantly.”
“Are they still waiting now?”
“No. One day they all vanished without a trace.”
“I see. So the chance to verify is gone.”
“But before they disappeared, something peculiar happened.”
“Peculiar?”
“A young noble lady approached those in line, saying she wanted to buy their place so she could see the Saintess.”
“Buy… their place?”
“Yes. There was some commotion about who would sell, and she vanished along with a gypsy woman. The next day, that gypsy never appeared again.”
“Were you able to identify the young lady?”
“No, I couldn’t. But if I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
Kyle nodded.
“That aside… you said you could arrange a meeting with this fortune-teller Naz?”
Charlotte tilted her chin proudly.
“I am the one who manages Naz’s salon.”
“Naz’s salon?”
She leaned in and lowered her voice.
“It’s a secret known only to a few noble ladies. You must keep it to yourself.”
Then she relayed to Kyle even the finest details of capital gossip. He stifled a laugh at her conspiratorial tone and agreed to her request.
“Naz’s salon is like a secret club for noble ladies and young misses.”
“There are many such clubs, aren’t there?”
“The important part is which families they belong to. Nearly all of them are from the most powerful houses in the empire.”
“Ha!”
Kyle gave a low exclamation.
“There must be a flood of stories shared there.”
Charlotte winked playfully.
“Now you see why people say all information in the capital flows to Lord Naz.”
Kyle began to understand why such rumors existed.
“Naz must be quite remarkable. Does he demand information from them?”
“Of course not. These are the proudest families in the empire—they know the value of secrets better than anyone. In fact…”
Charlotte chuckled.
“They compete to give him the best information first.”
“Impressive.”
“Once, I was the most connected informant in the capital. Now, even I can’t keep up with Lord Naz.”
“Do you think he sells the information he gathers?”
“Not so far.”
“Or leaks it to others during those meetings?”
“Never. His lips are sealed. He only listens. Occasionally, if someone asks for advice, he takes them up to his tarot shop.”
“Just the two of them?”
“Yes. He says personal matters can’t be discussed before others.”
“Mmm, I see.”
Kyle thought: a shrewd man indeed. He understood people’s minds and treated them with sincerity.
“I once tried asking him to confirm a rumor. Even when I pressed him bluntly, he never spoke. I was honestly moved. Maybe that’s why people end up confiding their hearts to him.”
I like that, Kyle thought, the corners of his lips curving upward.
“He doesn’t seem to serve anyone else?”
“No, I’m certain. I’ve seen him since his days in the tavern, and he was never affiliated with any group.”
Kyle frowned in thought.
“Then why collect so much information?”
Charlotte tapped her temple lightly as if thinking.
“My impression is… he doesn’t intentionally collect it.”
“The capital’s foremost informant, unintentional?”
“When he gives tarot readings, he offers helpful tidbits he’s heard. Those spread and spread until the name stuck.”
“So the information comes to him, without effort?”
“Exactly. Either way, he’s undeniably clever and exceptional.”
Charlotte had never lied to him.
But Kyle couldn’t dismiss all suspicion about Naz.
For Kyle, no act was ever truly without purpose.
There must be something others haven’t noticed.
Kyle raised his head.
“Lady Charlotte, when can I meet the fortune-teller?”
“I thought you’d ask, so I’ve already arranged it.”
She always understood him quicker than anyone else.
On the day Alfred brought young Kyle into their estate, she had wordlessly welcomed him with a warm meal.
If Alfred thought of Kyle as a son, Charlotte saw him as her youngest brother.
Her rise as the quickest source of news in the capital was, in a way, for Kyle’s sake.
“As expected of you, my lady…”
Kyle gave her a meaningful smile and raised his thumb in approval.
“Two nights from now, in the evening. At the tarot shop. You’ll come with me.”
“In two days?”
“Yes. Unless you already have an engagement?”
