~Chapter 19~
“Is that butt… could it be Knox?”
The murmuring voices of the knights below reached him, but he paid no mind.
Twenty-four years of walking a single path.
Knox, as a monster enthusiast and as an aide of the Crost duchy,
had never once bent his beliefs because of people’s gazes.
Climbing all the way up the wall, he carefully peeked into Aisha’s bedroom window.
And to see more clearly, he took out another monocle and put it over his remaining eye.
His eyes widened at the small child’s back inside the bedroom.
“What are you doing right now!”
“Hi, hiiik!”
Caught.
He had already caught something.
“…If I do this, Knox will show interest, right?”
One hour ago.
After returning directly to the bedroom, I began my full operation.
Since I was possessing Aisha, I had to follow the original story to prevent my future death.
But in the end, I had become the adopted daughter of Calips.
Of course, even though they accepted me knowing I might be a spy, I couldn’t feel at ease.
I had to somehow gain their trust.
‘For that, I need people’s help.’
The problem was that there was no one who could help me.
Calips expected nothing from me, and Knox was rather wary of me.
“Then there’s only one way.”
Among many dresses, I picked the simplest one and spread it on the floor.
Then I started drawing something on it with crayons.
Just like a Pose family spy writing a report.
“Acting suspiciously like this, there’s no way he wouldn’t get curious.”
The head maid, Mai, said that Knox was currently in his private office.
“…But do you think I’ll believe that?”
In the absence of Calips, he would be even more likely to monitor me.
So the claim that he was in the office was obviously a lie.
He would be watching to see what I did when I was alone.
When I acted suspiciously like this, he would catch me in a show of force…
“Just what are you doing!”
At that moment.
As expected, right after I started drawing something, a fierce shout came from the window.
‘Starting now.’
“Hi, hiiik!”
First place in the Pose Duchy acting exam.
Flutter—
When I raised my head looking suspicious like anyone would, hiding the dress behind me—
“Good day, fake young lady.”
Knox was watching me with two monocles, smiling ominously.
Seriously, why does he look so scary?
Anyway…
‘You took the bait!’
“…You climbed the wall?”
I asked carefully, pretending to be frightened.
Taking the monocle from his pocket, he climbed through the window calmly.
“I was conducting surveillance. To find out how the fake young lady, who looks perfectly ordinary, could win His Excellency’s heart.”
“So you entered my room without permission? And climbed the window too!”
“Yes.”
The monocle that hid his inner thoughts shimmered.
“When His Excellency is away, I must play the role of your father.”
“……”
“Of course, it’s annoying.”
He looked down at me with a bored gaze.
“But since it has come to this, I became curious about why His Excellency adopted Aisha in the first place.”
“……”
He had been secretly monitoring me but acted as if it meant nothing. Rather, he even looked proud.
“However, to commit such a cute crime. What were you writing on your clothes?”
What do you mean? It’s suspicious information that you should investigate.
“Cl—othes?”
Feigning ignorance, I shrugged my shoulders and slowly pushed the dress I hid backward with my butt.
And the sharp monocle that wouldn’t miss it glinted brightly.
“What did you draw?!”
“Nothing?”
“You didn’t draw anything, yet you hide it so suspiciously?”
“A five-year-old deserves privacy.”
“But a ‘former’ spy five-year-old is different. Reveal the identity of the clothes!”
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, Knox lowered his upper body and stretched his arm behind me.
I tried to block him in panic, but unfortunately his arm was much longer than mine.
“Fufu… What exactly did you learn during spy training?”
He showed no mercy even though I was five years old.
In the end, Knox, who seized the dress first, looked down at me triumphantly.
What did I learn? Thanks to that, I’m performing this wonderful act of pretending to miss it.
And Knox spread the back of the dress wide.
“…Ahilie Circus Grounds. 12 o’clock. Staff storage room.”
His voice, reciting the fake report, froze ominously.
Anyone could tell this was a spy rendezvous message.
“…What are you planning to do in this place?”
The atmosphere around us sank like a heavy drop of lead.
“Are you going to brag that you succeeded in deceiving the Crost Duke and became his daughter?”
“……”
Th-this is scarier than I expected.
“I’m curious about what the fake young lady is trying to do. I’ll go there with you.”
“Eek?!”
As I froze, he let out a dry laugh and tossed the dress onto the bed. Then he grabbed the back of my neck like he was picking up a kitten.
Without time to react, I was led onto a carriage.
“Get down.”
He said to get down, but his large hand still grabbed the back of my neck.
Knox had stopped giving me the ‘princess treatment’ after reading the fake report I wrote.
It was according to the plan.
Knox seemed to be convinced that I was colluding with Pose.
‘It’s a little scary, but… well, I’m glad I came this far.’
Following his surveillance, I entered the circus grounds.
The air clung to me like I was inside a freezer.
Then a strong spotlight shone on the stage and illuminated the host.
“Welcome to the world’s greatest monster show that you’ve all been waiting for—Ahilie Circus!”
“Waaah!”
“Waa—!”
The host’s voice echoed loudly, and excited spectators stood up one after another.
“…Monsters? They came to watch monsters?”
Knox muttered in a puzzled voice, surprised by the unexpected situation.
That was natural.
This was a circus that illegally displayed imported monsters.
But people who entered the circus for the first time, like Knox, would inevitably feel confused.
Monsters cannot communicate, are violent, and are difficult to hunt. So a monster show was strange.
Especially for Knox, who knew monsters well.
Then how were monsters brought and managed here?
The answer was ice ability.
The second son of the Crost duchy.
Lucas, whom I would save in the future, was trapped here, having his ability exploited.
Meanwhile, beyond the end of the world.
“We exterminated the winter wolf pack lingering near the ice wall.”
“And the orcs?”
Black hair fluttered in the snowstorm that struck relentlessly.
Blood stains stood out on the white world.
Blood was flowing from the palm of his hand, but Calips wiped it away as if it were nothing and roughly wrapped a bandage around the wound.
It was natural to bleed during monster subjugation.
“The orcs were confirmed to be wandering near the border line, about 10 of them.”
“Troop strength?”
“Three are incapacitated in combat. The rest are capable.”
“Then at dawn today…”
Calips stopped speaking.
A tiny child, soft as cotton, suddenly came to mind.
Aisha.
The child waiting for him in the duchy castle.
Of course, she would live bravely even without him.
But he was a little uneasy about leaving Aisha with Knox.
‘Is he still nagging an innocent child?’
Thinking for a moment, Calips changed his words.
“Finish as quickly as possible. Prepare immediately.”
“Yes, understood.”
After tying the bandage, he drank alcohol.
To endure the cold exceeding –30°C, strong alcohol was essential.
His crimson eyes, hot like magma, were already looking toward the distant northern region where orcs were.
‘If I finish quickly, I can return tonight.’
Someone was waiting for him.
There was someone who would hug him when he went home.
“……”
When the faint warmth of someone waiting after a long time raised the corner of his usually indifferent lips—
“Your Excellency. This is Knox’s emergency message.”
The child’s face, white like flour, disappeared from the knight’s hand holding the message.
‘Emergency message?’
Impossible.
The only threat to the Crost duchy was monsters.
And since he was personally exterminating the monsters now, there should be no danger.
“……”
But—
[We discovered that Aisha was secretly writing a report. Currently heading to the rendezvous location written in the report.
PS. I told you so.]
“Your Excellency? The subjugation preparations are complete…”
“Return.”
“Huh?”
“Make a portal. I have somewhere to go immediately.”
Calips crumpled the letter, feeling his blood turn cold.
