Chapter 27
That voice might have gone unnoticed by others, but it rang crystal clear in the ears of the man standing close by. His smooth, nonchalant expression first flickered with surprise, then quickly shifted to shock.
“Wait a minute. There’s only one person I know who would call me that.”
“Please help me. Lady Cordelia might be in danger.”
Instead of explaining further, she added urgently, and the man didn’t ask another question. He pulled Noah behind him. Drawing his sword with a confident air, he barked,
“Well? Do you want to see more blood?”
A few of the men looked as though they might surge forward, but the one who appeared to be their leader stopped them. At some point, he had drawn a dagger, and blood was dripping heavily from the hand that gripped it. He clenched his teeth.
“No, let’s leave it at this.”
There were too many onlookers, and he had orders to prioritize his subordinates’ safety if things got messy. Glancing sidelong at the bodyguards regrouping behind him, the leader spoke again.
“Young lady, if you ever need to find us, come to [Dios Apatero] in the center of Lite.”
Leaving behind those cryptic words, he withdrew with his men, clutching his injured hand.
Only then did Noah turn to face the man—Tyraine—and hold her breath. He was smiling warmly, but his sharp gaze seemed to pierce straight through her.
“By the way, where’s the rest of your group?”
“T-they went that way!”
Remembering the situation, Noah quickly started forward to find Cordelia. But after just a few steps, she stopped—someone was approaching from the distance.
“Oh, Noah?”
It was Cordelia in Noah’s body, strolling toward her at an unhurried pace. Like a child caught by their mother, she looked awkward, as if scrambling for an excuse before being scolded, then halted.
“Sorry, I was too reckless. Are you okay—”
Before she could finish, Noah threw herself into Cordelia’s arms, hugging her tightly. Cordelia froze stiff, startled—Noah had never embraced her like this before.
“Uh…”
You’re not mad at me, right? She was about to ask, but seeing Noah’s expression, she wisely shut her mouth. Now wasn’t the time to spoil the moment.
“You’re safe, right? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
Cordelia felt the icy emotions she’d carried earlier melt away under the weight of those worry-filled eyes.
See? She really likes me.
“Yeah. Oh, you were worried? Looks like they meant to take me hostage to lure you—uh, me—out. You’re not hurt either, right?”
“I’m fine. But… please don’t do this again.”
“Ugh… okay…”
Even in a gentle tone, Noah’s words left no room for argument. Cordelia could only lower her tail. It wasn’t her own body she’d risked—it was someone else’s—so she really had no excuse. For a fleeting moment, she envied her brothers’ calm temperaments.
Of course, Noah was only being lenient because Cordelia was in her body, but Cordelia herself had no way of knowing that.
“A touching reunion, I see.”
The clapping came from behind Noah. Tyraine, having finished greeting his guards, strode toward them.
“Maybe I should’ve caught one of them. Judging by their accent, they seemed like foreigners—could’ve been a useful diplomatic excuse.”
Hearing his voice, Cordelia froze mid-thought, then her eyes went wide.
“Wait—what are you doing here?!”
Tyraine May.
The king’s closest aide and high society’s most infamous reprobate.
If there were competitions for such a title, he’d win hands down. Cordelia, who generally got along with her family, could never understand his behavior—but that was fine, since he had nothing to do with her.
Well… until now.
“What, you didn’t hear?”
Seeing him scratch his cheek so casually left her speechless. She glanced quickly at Noah, but her expression seemed perfectly normal.
Realizing she was still holding Noah, Cordelia quickly released her, stepping back—her flustered retreat was so cute it made Cordelia want to hug her again. But that wasn’t the problem right now.
Pressing her fingers to her temples, she asked,
“What are you talking about… wait, don’t tell me the ‘ally’ they said they’d send us is—”
“That would be me.”
“Out of all the people in the world, you? You’re the one who—”
You ruined Noah’s family!
Once known as Tyraine Bauderrois, he was the marquis’ eldest grandson and heir, until he threw away his title and became the crown prince’s right-hand man—forcing the marquis into the king’s clutches. He was the one who handed his entire family over to the monarch.
Cordelia’s voice sharpened at the sight of the man who had played a decisive role in the Bauderrois family’s downfall. Sure, he was a national hero in the royal court, but in society, the gossip about him was so thick it could form a forest.
Tyraine only shrugged as if used to it.
“My role is to protect Lord Ian.”
“Oh, protect my—!”
Cordelia pointed at him accusingly, but Tyraine drooped his eyes like a rain-soaked puppy.
“I know the young lady’s temper is no joke, but hearing that from Ian’s face… even knowing you’re not him, it hurts my heart. Can’t you point a little more gently?”
Despite his pitiful tone, he was smirking. Cordelia grabbed him by the collar and growled, eyes blazing.
“You picking a fight with me?”
“Of course not. That’s Lord Ian’s body, remember?”
So if it weren’t, he would fight her? Did he even know what chivalry meant?
Her grip loosened in disbelief, and Tyraine used the chance to gently push her back, turning instead to the fidgeting Noah.
“His Majesty has told me the situation. If you need anything, just say the word.”
Unlike with her, he went down on one knee before Noah, speaking respectfully. Cordelia was dumbfounded.
What’s with this blatant favoritism?!
“Uh… please, get up first.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Tyraine rose slowly, eyeing them both curiously. There were too many prying eyes to talk further, so they returned to the inn where Noah was staying.
Once in Noah’s room, with the door locked, the three exchanged wary glances—Cordelia dropping into a chair, Noah on the bed, and Tyraine leaning against the door.
It was Noah who spoke first.
“You didn’t hear that our bodies were switched?”
“His Majesty’s quite tight-lipped. He just said I’d find out when I arrived… I didn’t expect this.”
He sighed, glancing between them. Without his usual smile, there was something faintly Ian-like about him—his sharp eyes, perhaps, or his healthy complexion.
“In any case, since Lady Cordelia is the leader of this group, I’ll be following her orders.”
“That was my plan anyway. She’s just too fun to tease—I couldn’t help myself…”
The room was small enough that Cordelia heard every muttered word. So that’s why he kept provoking her at parties. And to think, this man was still popular even after marriage—life was unfair.
Even knowing she was taking the bait, Cordelia couldn’t stop herself from shouting.
“Why can’t you be serious at your age?!”
Like a handsome split-personality case!
Tyraine acted wounded.
“And you still act before you think, don’t you?”
He never lost a verbal spar.
“So, what—you got a problem with that?”
“Not at all. I’d rather have someone lively than a block of wood—like a freshly caught fish, all wriggly and… alive.”
Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?
“My uncle just likes to joke around. Please understand. He’s capable, despite appearances…”
Noah stepped in to calm things down. Tyraine nodded in satisfaction.
“Right. So, what do you need?”
Cordelia answered bluntly.
“We’re looking for a foreign magician who can fix this situation—without the temple knowing. And in three days, we need to secretly meet Riness Sandria when she arrives at this temple’s diocese. Can you do it?”
“For that, the quickest way is to request it through a guild. Might be risky, but the <Soleil> or <Auroté> guilds could arrange it. Usually it’s hard to find someone without connections, but… if we hurry, we could meet one today.”
His eyes curved pleasantly as he spoke, as if he’d already prepared for this.
“As for the inspection team, they’ll probably visit the almshouses. If we focus on the larger ones run by the temple, we can narrow it down quickly.”
Switching smoothly to polite speech, he smiled at Cordelia. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing for her to nitpick.
“…And how do you know all this?”
“When you work under someone like His Majesty, you learn these things by default.”
Was that serious or sarcastic?
His wistful gaze almost suggested years of hardship. True, he was known as the aide most often sent outside the palace—unlike Irens Vins, who supposedly spent more time in the treasury than at home.
“Isn’t that disrespectful to His Majesty?”
“I’m worse than this to his face.”
“Guess you’ve got a death wish.”
“You’ve clearly never met someone who really has one.”
Cordelia could only shake her head. Her sister had once offhandedly said that everyone working under the king was eccentric—apparently it wasn’t a joke.
“In any case, I’ll go find the contact you need.”
“What? I’m coming too.”
