Chapter 55
I buried my face in my hands.
The embarrassment still hadn’t faded.
But I couldn’t stay like that for long—
a voice beside me announced that drinks and food had arrived.
I wanted nothing more than to keep my head down a bit longer,
but I had no choice except to look up.
“Fiona… oh, wait?”
I had naturally started to call out for Fiona, then stopped short.
The person bringing the food wasn’t her—
it was a server I’d never seen before.
When I hesitated, the server shrugged.
“Miss Fiona wanted to bring it to you herself, but something came up. Over there—some drunk started causing a scene.”
I turned to where the server was pointing.
Sure enough, a red-faced drunk had stood up and was shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Oh no… what on earth happened?”
Of all places, why would someone cause trouble at Fiona’s tavern?
I couldn’t help but feel bad—
not for Fiona, but for the poor drunk.
Then I froze.
“Wait a second… that drunk looks familiar.”
I squinted to get a better look at his face.
A scar near the eye, a patchy, unkempt beard.
The dim lighting and flush from drink made it hard to see,
but I was sure I knew that face.
Oh my god! Why is he here?!
The moment I recognized him, I nearly leapt to my feet.
“Do you know who I am!” the drunk shouted.
Know him? Of course I did.
That patchy beard, like circular bald spots on a lawn—
I was the one who had ripped out those clumps myself,
using greasy tongs.
It was Cesare.
Why in the world is Cesare here, drunk out of his mind—and at Fiona’s bar of all places?!
After I’d ripped out his beard and explained everything to Fiona,
she’d actually gone to confront Cesare herself.
She’d destroyed his hideout and given him a brutal warning.
And yet he’s still acting out like this?
What kind of reckless courage was that?
If I were Cesare, I’d be keeping my head down—
or at least trying to stay on Fiona’s good side.
Then again, I’m not Cesare, which is why I’m hiding right now.
Last time, I’d been out of my mind enough to fight him head-on,
but that wasn’t an option now—
especially not against someone so drunk he could barely stand.
Panicking, I ducked down, crouching behind the partition to hide.
The last thing I wanted was to catch Cesare’s eye and start a fight.
Still, Fiona went over there herself. She’ll take care of it soon enough, right?
Even if she’d retired due to injury, Fiona was once a famous mercenary.
For someone like her, a thug like that would be nothing—one hit, done.
I carefully peeked my head out to check on things—
and froze.
“…”
“…”
“…Ha… haha…”
I laughed awkwardly.
Across the table, Claude was looking straight at me—
with a face that seemed to ask, What on earth are you doing?
“Uh, there’s… a reason for this,” I stammered.
“A reason?”
“Yes. That drunk and I, um, have a bit of a history, you see… hahaha…”
There was no way I could admit that I’d ripped out his beard.
But I couldn’t just ignore Claude’s question either.
So I looked away and mumbled vaguely.
Unfortunately, my awkward tone only seemed to make Claude more curious.
As soon as I finished talking, he turned his head toward the drunk—
toward Cesare.
“…”
His expression looked the same as usual—calm, unreadable—
but I could tell from his tightly set lips and the glint in his eyes.
He recognized the man.
Claude’s face had hardened.
Don’t tell me he got a report about that incident?
That had to be it.
There was no other reason a duke’s son like him would know some street thug’s face.
Wow… that’s actually kind of scary.
I knew in theory that Claude had become the youngest ever Captain of the Imperial Knights purely by skill.
But since he’d always seemed a bit stoic yet quietly kind,
it never really sank in.
Now, though—
the look in his eyes said he could cut Cesare’s throat at any moment.
This needs to end fast.
If this dragged on even a little longer, Claude might actually step in himself.
If that happens, he might really kill Cesare—and then someone will report it, and the military police will come, and they’ll realize who Claude really is—and his identity will be exposed!
Then rumors would spread in no time.
All that reputation the House of Genofesia had built—
of being strict but fair, a bit intimidating but incorruptible—
would start to crumble.
Even if Cesare was a thug,
the idea of the Imperial Knight Commander killing a civilian in a bar would spread like wildfire.
And this is a tavern—there must be guests from all sorts of cities here. If the story gets twisted around… that’d be disastrous!
Absolutely not!
I reached out and gently wrapped my hands around Claude’s,
which were resting on the table.
When he looked at me, I whispered,
“Please, just stay still. Fiona will handle it.”
I shook my head firmly—don’t move, don’t get involved.
And sure enough, Fiona strode up to Cesare with her arms crossed.
“On such a busy night, really…”
Thud!
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Fiona sounded furious.
She kicked him in the back the instant she reached him.
“Ugh—!”
“And in my bar, of all places?”
That wasn’t all.
She pinned Cesare’s back to the floor with the heel of her right foot.
I knew she liked wearing high heels, but…
that heel was terrifyingly sharp.
And she pressed down, mercilessly grinding it into him
as he writhed in pain.
Yup—this was the Fiona I knew. Her aura was fierce.
“Where did you store the warning I gave you last time, huh?”
“Guh—!”
Resting one arm on her bent leg, Fiona leaned forward.
Then she hummed softly and suddenly grabbed Cesare’s head,
bending it backward.
“Gk—!”
He gasped, choking. His airway must’ve been cut off.
Fiona’s face didn’t even flicker.
She didn’t care whether he could breathe or not—
he simply wasn’t worth caring about.
Then she brought her lips close to his ear
and whispered something too quiet for me to hear.
“—Hhk!”
Whatever she said made Cesare’s face go pale.
Fiona looked down at him coldly,
then let go of his head—and kicked him in the temple.
“—!”
He didn’t even scream.
Just collapsed, eyes open, unconscious.
“tsk. I hope he can still breathe. I hate cleaning up corpses,” she muttered.
The server beside her shook his head and muttered, “What a mess,”
then told us to enjoy our meal and walked away.
“…”
A bar where a knight commander sat watching and the staff still talked like that—
was this really okay?
I bit my lip.
And at the same time, thought—
Thank goodness I’m friends with Fiona.
…Yeah.
A bit later, once the brawny server had dragged Cesare’s limp body outside,
the situation finally settled down.
Claude, who’d stayed silent only because I’d stopped him, murmured quietly,
“The owner’s combat skill is impressive. This isn’t an ordinary tavern.”
“Haha…”
I could only give an awkward laugh.
There was no way I could tell him that the place was run by an ex-mercenary information broker—and that said broker was Fiona herself.
Then again… he might already know.
Even if I’d held him back,
he could have brushed me aside easily if he wanted to.
And rumors wouldn’t trouble someone in his position anyway.
I glanced sideways, wondering how much he actually knew.
“You said earlier that you thought you wouldn’t like this kind of place, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. I did.”
“In truth, I’m quite used to taverns. They’re part of a knight’s daily life.
…Though, I’ve never been to one with a proprietor like that before.”
Claude nodded subtly toward Fiona,
then lifted the cup in front of him and took a sip.
“…It’s sweet.”
He frowned slightly and set the cup down.
Unlock soon!~