SWHWR 77

CHAPTER 77……………………………………..

“I should have come properly to speak with you in person. I’m sorry for contacting you so late.”

“No, it’s fine. Wow… more importantly, this looks incredibly delicious.”

I had said it to change the subject, but like they said about this popular café, everything really did look tasty.

“I hope it suits your taste.”

“I’ll enjoy it.”

I picked up my fork and immediately began cutting into the cheesecake at the front.

When I took a bite, it wasn’t overly sweet and melted softly in my mouth.

“No wonder this place is so famous.”

But then…

“You’re not going to eat?”

“Oh, I was just enjoying watching you eat for a moment. It looks so nice.”

Adrina said this and started eating the strawberry cake in front of her.

Even eating a single piece of cake, she carried herself with such grace.

Whenever our eyes met, she gave me a kind smile.

After a few exchanges of eye contact, a thought crossed my mind:

“By the way, Adrina should be Neutral Attribute, so why hasn’t she used her power?”

Adrina’s original attribute was Wind.

And combined with her Neutral Attribute, she should be able to manipulate wind more powerfully than usual, according to the original story.

“Oh, that’s right… this is still before the start of the original story, isn’t it?”

I remembered reading in passing that Adrina had hated gaining the Neutral Attribute later on.

“Still, I think she could use her existing wind attribute quite well.”

I decided to test the waters.

“But Lady, why did you go there without any guards?”

“Oh, I went to meet someone. Though it wasn’t an official meeting… could you keep it a secret?”

She whispered shyly.

If someone unfamiliar with her heard that, they might assume she went to see a secret lover, but knowing the situation as I did, it wasn’t strange at all.

“But I can’t show any suspicion.”

So I smiled lightly.

“Ah, of course! Naturally.”

I answered, but the uneasy feeling remained.

“Who could Adrina have gone to see?”

Even if it wasn’t a person, there must have been a reason.

At that moment, Blake’s words at the banquet suddenly came to mind:

“Ah, I was going to meet a client here briefly.”

“They were someone of high rank, so even as a commoner, I could attend the banquet as a guest.”

Huh?

“…Why did that suddenly come to mind?”

Looking back, it did seem suspicious.

No, not just a little—it was extremely suspicious!

“But is there really any connection between Adrina and Blake?”

All I had was a gut feeling.

“Hm.”

Should I ask?

Swallowing hard.

“Um, Lady Rizen.”

“Yes?”

“…Do you happen to know someone named Blake?”

Adrina lowered her gaze as if recalling, then answered:

“I don’t think so. The name’s unfamiliar.”

I was about to respond with, “I see,” but a sudden thought made me ask another question.

“Then… do you know someone named ‘Kan’?”

Even I didn’t know why I asked that.

Because they were completely different people.

But being part of the same Information Guild, perhaps there could be some connection.

The moment I said the name, Adrina flinched. But she shook her head slightly and said:

“…I don’t know. Are they famous people?”

Her reaction seemed extremely suspicious.

“Blake said he didn’t know Kan. But Adrina seems to know Kan.”

Who could be lying here?

“Since it’s probably not her, it must be him, right?”

But why?

“…If this conversation isn’t interesting to you, please feel free to say so.”

Adrina’s embarrassed question made my eyes widen.

“Excuse me?”

“You seemed lost in thought for a while…”

Her words carried a hint of disappointment, and I was genuinely flustered.

“Oh, no, it’s… just a personal worry of mine! Sorry if it seemed otherwise.”

Her face brightened immediately.

“Really? It’s not because of me, right?”

“Of course not!”

Technically, my worry was related to Adrina, but…

“Actually, I’ve never properly had a friend before. So… meeting someone my age like this for the first time, I’m not quite sure how to act.”

Adrina glanced at me shyly as she spoke.

Honestly, I was a little surprised—it mirrored what I had felt.

It really felt like meeting a friend, so I said excitedly:

“Me too!”

“You as well, Madam?”

“Yes. Though you may know my reputation… I don’t get to go out freely, so I don’t really know anyone well!”

It wasn’t a particularly proud thing to say, but I felt a sense of kinship and enjoyed sharing it.

“Oh, speaking of friends… that reminds me of that lady I met before.”

Her name… was Yvon, I think.

Pink hair soft like cotton candy—she was charming.

I thought I should meet her again sometime.

“Then, would you like to come visit our mansion next time?”

“Mansion…?”

I drew out my words in surprise at her unexpected invitation.

“Oh, I hope that’s not too sudden or burdensome…”

She smiled regretfully, and I quickly shook my head.

“Not at all! It’s an honor to be invited!”

An invitation—I hadn’t expected that at all.

“I was originally going to be the one to suggest it.”

Of course, the idea was to bring her to our mansion and let her encounter Cidheron.

But this wasn’t bad either.

If we became closer, that opportunity would eventually come.

“Hurrying could ruin things, though.”

If I could get Adrina to meet Cidheron, eventually he would like her.

Then my divorce would be easily resolved.

“Divorce, huh…”

The word, once entirely satisfying, now carried a hint of bitterness.

“But you know I can’t stay there forever.”

I wasn’t the protagonist.

No matter what I tried, I couldn’t become the main character.

“I’m relieved you said yes so readily. I’ll send an invitation to the mansion soon.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

The brief meeting with Adrina ended there.

But my tasks weren’t finished.

“From her reaction, she definitely knows Kan.”

I wanted to ask Blake why he had hidden information about Kan, but somehow, asking him directly felt awkward.

He was secretive, and even if I asked, he probably wouldn’t answer.

“Then should I try going through Adrina?”

I immediately shook my head. That seemed even harder. If I pushed too far, it might strain our relationship and put me in an awkward position.

“Besides, this is just suspicion based on intuition… maybe it’s a misunderstanding.”

Better to ask directly.

Someone who could answer my question, even if it wasn’t Blake or Adrina.

How?

By going directly to the Cassius Trading House.

“Luckily, it’s not far from here.”

Outside the café, Richard, waiting, approached.

“Uh, there’s somewhere we need to stop by.”

I told him we weren’t heading straight to the mansion. He seemed a little reluctant but nodded in agreement.

“I’ll follow you.”

I wanted to go straight there, but there was somewhere to stop first.

No need to go in my current outfit and start rumors that the Grand Duchess had visited the Cassius Trading House.

So I bought robes at a nearby store and handed one to Richard.

He took it with a conflicted look.

“…Are we going to an illegal auction?”

“No!”

What do you take me for!

…Though I did want to see what it looked like.

“Focus! Blake warned me that being involved in illegal matters could cause trouble.”

Ugh, always Blake.

I realized I relied on him too much.

“Why did I trust everything to such a suspicious guy?”

I decided to be more careful going forward and hurried toward the trading house.

Jingle.

As always, Cassius Trading House was crowded. Fortunately, no one paid much attention to me. I headed straight to the counter.

The clerk eyed me curiously and asked:

“Are you looking for something?”

“I’d like to purchase some information.”

This was a signal that I wanted access to the Cassius Information Guild.

The clerk’s eyes flickered with interest.

“You’re an esteemed client. Follow me.”

I followed the clerk to a back room.

Inside was a secret passageway.

Richard followed silently and whispered:

“So this is the illegal auction…”

“It’s not! Really…”

Maybe he actually wanted to go more than I did.

At the end of the passage was a door, and opening it revealed a fairly large room.

And directly ahead was a man.

He saw me and grinned, revealing his white teeth.

“What kind of voice do you need?”

“I want information on ‘Kan’.”

The man gave me a dubious look.

“‘Kan’…?”

What was that reaction? I nodded.

“If you know anything, tell me. In exchange… ah, here.”

I handed him an earring I had been wearing.

It was fairly valuable but easily obtainable, meaning no one could trace my identity through it.

Richard… he didn’t call me that, but I felt his eyes were silently scolding me.

Sorry, but I wanted this information more than the earring.

…Whether it was truly worth it, though, I wasn’t sure.