#33.
“Your Highness?”
“Stop!”
Merriott suddenly halted, and Shane, finding it strange, called out to him.
Since Shane couldn’t see what was going on beyond the corner, he had no choice but to stop at Merriott’s command.
Without turning around, Merriott gave Shane an order in a voice as if he were entranced.
“I’m going back to my room. You stay near the hall and wait.”
“But I need to stop by the aide’s office as well.”
“Take a different route!”
“…Understood.”
Shane pouted.
To get to the aide’s office from here, he’d have to walk twice the distance they had already come.
But since Merriott didn’t seem like he was going to explain himself, Shane turned around.
‘Good thing I thought of a disguise.’
When Hera heard someone’s footsteps approaching, she quickly used the power of the prophecy book.
Her experience from the secret auction had come in handy.
However, she didn’t have enough time to get rid of the glowing bulb above her head.
“You’re the thief I met at Count Anthony’s estate, right? Blue Rose.”
Merriott walked slowly toward Hera, step by step.
In his hand was the <Winter Kingfisher>—the item Hera was supposed to have stolen.
‘He knows who I am?’
What shocked her most was that he knew the name “Blue Rose.”
How did he find out? Was he tracking her?
“You’re here to steal something, aren’t you?”
Merriott put the emerald ring into his pocket and approached her.
He then noticed the drunk man lying behind her.
It was the young heir of the Baron Buell family.
He’d come to the mansion early in the evening and had been drinking nonstop—now, here he was, passed out.
“Did you kill him?”
“No!”
As Merriott brushed past her, Hera held her breath like someone drowning.
She had been only thinking about how to escape, but his unexpected question made her blurt out an answer without realizing it.
“He just passed out from drinking.”
Merriott pretended to check for breath under the young man’s nose.
He already knew the man wasn’t dead, but he couldn’t resist teasing the black-haired thief.
Seemingly pleased by their reunion, Merriott smiled.
“Good. We almost reunited beside a corpse. That would’ve killed the mood.”
A charming smile.
Hera’s heart wavered for a moment.
Was this really the same man who had just treated her coldly when she was Emilia Torlin?
“Looks like you’re done with your business. How about a drink?”
Standing in front of her, Merriott pulled the emerald ring from his pocket.
He swung it lightly, as if using it as bait.
‘I have to refuse!’
Of course she should. She had to.
Like last time, she should drug him and escape this place.
‘Hera Wintail! Refuse him!’
Merriott watched her hesitate and smiled even more brightly.
Though her face was hidden behind a mask, her thoughts were somehow written all over her.
His playful smile spread wide across his face.
“…Just the weakest drink, then.”
Merriott led Hera to a small room.
It was a liquor storage room with a small table.
There was a bar-style counter where they could sit in a row, allowing some distance between them.
Merriott looked over the various drinks and eventually pulled out one with a beautiful color.
“I mixed it with juice to weaken it. You’re okay with sweet drinks, right?”
“…Yes.”
‘Strong Emilia. Please be good at drinking too.’
Even diluted, it was likely stronger than wine.
Hera had never had high-proof alcohol before, so she stared seriously at the glass in front of her.
She took a large sip—and her eyes widened at how surprisingly good it tasted.
Watching her reaction, Merriott asked,
“How is it?”
“…It’s delicious.”
“Good to hear.”
Merriott grinned and sat down.
Resting his chin on one hand, he spoke casually.
“For someone in a dangerous line of work, you sure accept drinks from strangers easily. What if I had slipped something in it?”
“…!”
She hadn’t even considered that.
Startled, Hera quickly pulled her hand away from the glass.
Merriott burst into laughter.
Such a clumsy thief.
Really, it was strange.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t do anything.”
Still smiling, Merriott pulled out the ring from his pocket.
It looked like a cheap emerald ring—nothing about it seemed valuable.
“Hmm… looks like a plain old emerald ring to me. Is it really worth stealing?”
His voice was gentle.
“Will you satisfy my curiosity?”
Merriott glanced sideways at her, his expression soft as spring.
Hera suddenly felt embarrassed and her voice trembled.
“I don’t really know…”
“You don’t? Did someone hire you for this job?”
If she worked on commission, that was actually good news for Merriott—because he could become her client too.
“How much do you get paid? I’ll pay double. Want to work for me?”
“It’s not like that. None of it is like that.”
As Merriott leaned in excitedly, Hera shook her head furiously.
Seeing that, he pulled back with a sheepish smile.
“Sorry. I apologize. I pushed too hard.”
He downed a strong liquor in one shot.
Tonight, no matter how much he drank, it wasn’t enough.
It was one of those nights when he didn’t want to be in his right mind.
His stomach burned like fire.
In a hazy voice, Merriott recalled Blue Rose.
“When I first saw you at Duke Anthony’s, I thought you were such a sloppy thief. But when even the great Julian Torlin and his city guards couldn’t find a single clue about you, I got intrigued.”
Hera hadn’t known he had been looking for her.
She also remembered their first meeting.
The button with a wolf crest that she had torn from his clothes was still tucked safely in the nightstand drawer beside her bed.
“I’m recruiting talent right now.”
At some point, Hera turned her head toward Merriott.
He looked back at her.
Their gazes locked intensely.
“You need me?”
“Desperately.”
His attitude toward Blue Rose stirred something in Hera’s heart.
If she met him like this, maybe she wouldn’t get hurt?
For a moment, that greedy thought crossed her mind.
“For someone in your line of work, it’s good to have someone influential backing you, right?”
Merriott added, trying to win her over.
Hera just stared at him in silence.
There was something in her eyes that Merriott couldn’t quite read, and he raised his brows.
“…….”
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
“…You’re too kind.”
A strange thing to say.
As if kindness were a bad thing.
Merriott suddenly thought of Emilia Torlin.
The way she had looked like she would cry, asking him to be kinder.
He let out a soft laugh at the memory.
Too many people had questioned his kindness today.
“Then should I be a little mean?”
Perhaps that’s why his voice came out twisted without him realizing it.
Hera watched him for a moment, then slowly turned her head forward.
“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline.”
A disappointed sigh escaped.
Merriott tapped his glass a few times, then took another drink.
“Ah, too bad. I do need your skills, Blue Rose. But honestly…”
Then he said the rest.
“I just want to see that black hair more often.”
Hera’s gaze naturally dropped.
She looked down at the black strands swaying near her chest.
“They remind me of someone I’ve long missed.”
She immediately knew who he meant.
Hera Wintail—the person standing right in front of him.
“A sad… connection, is it?”
Hera cleared her dry throat and asked.
When he was with Emilia Torlin, he spoke about Hera with nothing but hostility.
But maybe, in front of Blue Rose, he could express his true feelings more honestly.
“A sad connection…”
Merriott murmured.
From his expression, it was unclear if he liked her phrasing or not.
“You’re more sentimental than I thought, Blue Rose.”
He no longer showed his emotions in front of her.
In a deliberately light tone, he brought their conversation to a close.
Flustered, Hera took a sip of her drink.
Did she really think he would open up to her just because he was kind to Blue Rose?
She felt embarrassed at her own naivety.
