Episode 22
After leaving the Spell Bureau, Laria headed straight to the information broker’s office.
Solike wasn’t there — maybe he had stepped out for a while.
Laria looked around the empty room, then collapsed into the armchair in front of the fireplace.
She was completely exhausted and didn’t want to move.
“Phew…”
A deep sigh escaped her lips.
Meeting Siena hadn’t been a coincidence.
Solike had already told her about the job and deliberately chose her for it.
Luckily, Siena didn’t recognize her at all.
Laria had taken a voice-changing potion beforehand, so Siena probably had no idea.
“Please find out everything about Laria Rohan.”
In the end, Laria accepted Siena’s request.
The money was tempting, but she also figured that if she turned it down, Siena would just hire someone else.
Laria didn’t want to be spied on, so she decided to take part in this ridiculous situation herself.
If Siena ever learned the truth, she wouldn’t let Laria off easily — so she had to stay completely hidden.
“I’ll just leak some random info and then drop it.”
She laughed bitterly at the idea of spying on herself.
But why had Siena wanted someone to follow her?
“Did I upset her?”
It was probably because of the foxfolk meeting.
They didn’t fight or anything, but maybe Siena found her annoying.
“Well, at least I didn’t have to pay for the broken barrier.”
Siena had confidently claimed the barrier would never break, so Laria had used a basic attack spell.
Who knew it would shatter instantly?
Even the so-called best spellcasters at the Bureau weren’t perfect, it seemed.
Laria remembered Siena’s reaction.
She had acted arrogant at first, but changed completely after Laria used her spell.
The others who came after hearing the explosion had been shocked too.
“They looked so surprised when they saw the barrier was broken.”
Either the Bureau’s spellcasters weren’t as strong as they claimed, or…
“…Am I just that good?”
Laria didn’t know how strong she really was since she had trained alone without anyone watching.
She just guessed she was doing okay.
She looked down at her palm.
It must be the fox marble’s power.
It had appeared in an unusual way, after all.
Just then, a voice came from behind her.
“When did you get here?”
Laria turned her head.
Solike was standing at the door with his arms crossed.
“Just a little while ago.”
Solike walked inside and threw some logs into the fireplace.
Then he asked casually, “How did it go?”
“…Would’ve been nice if you told me about the request in advance.”
If he had included the details in the note he sent via crow, she wouldn’t have been caught off guard.
But Solike only smiled slightly at her complaint.
There was something odd about that smile.
Normally, he would’ve told her. This didn’t feel like a mistake — more like he had done it on purpose.
“Are you mad at me or something?”
“What reason would I have to be mad at you?”
Still smiling, Solike added:
“I just… lost quite a bit.”
Lost? Like, in gambling?
Laria blinked, trying to figure it out.
Then she remembered the last time she saw Solike — the day she had her matchmaking meeting with Zenox.
She had sold information about the meeting to Solike.
“The meeting? It was a disaster.”
“Chances of us ending up together? A mouse is more likely to eat a lion.”
Back then, she truly believed she’d never get involved with Zenox again.
But soon after, the Emperor sent an official letter to everyone, congratulating them on their engagement…
Realizing her mistake, Laria quietly closed her mouth.
Honestly, she felt wronged too.
Who could’ve expected the Emperor to announce their marriage without even asking them?
She wanted to explain but couldn’t reveal the details — it was a secret, even from her own family.
“You denied any interest in the Grand Duke Zenox… and then boom, you’re getting married. Funny, right?”
Solike’s shiny green eyes narrowed slightly.
It was stupid to provoke someone who’d suffered a loss, so Laria quickly apologized.
“Yeah… I really have nothing to say. I’m sorry.”
Solike looked at her for a moment in silence, then pulled up a wooden chair and sat down across from her.
“So what happened?”
He asked casually how she ended up engaged to Zenox.
“Don’t worry, I won’t sell your story to anyone. Just tell me.”
“I fell for his good looks.”
She was used to people asking, so the reply came easily now.
“His looks?”
He clearly didn’t buy it.
“You’re getting engaged to Zenox… just because of that?”
“Yeah. Turns out I really like handsome guys.”
“Are you serious?”
“He’s rich too.”
Solike looked like he was about to scold her — but paused.
“…Well. That’s a pretty good reason.”
He nodded, then looked conflicted.
Is this really okay? — was written all over his face.
“Well, uh… congrats on the wedding?”
“We’re not even engaged yet. And who knows if we’ll ever actually get married.”
Of course, Laria planned to break off the engagement before any wedding happened.
Zenox would agree, too.
“You two get along, though, right?”
“Why are you so curious? Gonna sell that info?”
“I told you I won’t. Don’t you trust me?”
Laria gave him a suspicious look.
Solike might be money-obsessed, but he kept his promises.
Trying to shake off the weird feeling, Laria shrugged.
“We’re getting engaged, so… yeah, I guess we get along.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Solike gave her a strange smile.
“What’s with that look?”
No matter how much she studied his face, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
She was about to ask when he suddenly changed the topic.
“So, you took Siena Hashir’s request?”
“Oh—right.”
They had gotten off track.
Laria nodded.
“I figured if I said no, she’d just hire someone else.”
“How much are you getting paid?”
“…Ten times the original fee.”
Solike’s face lit up.
He looked genuinely thrilled.
Laria thought to herself:
“Looks like Siena’s his new piggy bank.”
Now that money was involved, Solike would drain her dry.
Well, that wasn’t Laria’s business.
While calculating his cut of the job, Solike suddenly remembered something and said, “Ah!”
“There’s another request for you.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing hard. Just a bodyguard job.”
Laria usually didn’t take multiple jobs at once.
But Siena’s job didn’t really require any work, and she still felt a little guilty toward Solike — so she nodded.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
Bodyguard jobs were easy enough.
Solike knew her situation and never gave her unreasonable requests, so this one probably wasn’t difficult either.
Standing up from the armchair, Laria apologized again.
“Sorry about your loss.”
“It’s fine. I’ll recover it my own way.”
He was being unusually forgiving.
Laria had expected him to nag her for a while or demand favors.
It was strange — but she just thought it was better not to question it.
She should’ve realized then — how exactly Solike planned to recover his loss…
A few days later…
It was the day of her second job.
Laria pulled her robe hood low and headed toward the meeting spot.
The street looked oddly familiar.
She glanced around, then spotted a tea shop sign and her eyes went wide.
“Wait… this is where I had that matchmaking date.”
No wonder the name sounded familiar.
Shaking off the weird feeling, she pushed open the door and walked in.
The shop was quiet — not a single customer.
Dim lighting filled the space, with only some sunlight pouring in through the windows.
She spotted the client sitting in a corner and walked over.
Of course, he was sitting in the exact same spot where she had met Zenox.
“Couldn’t they put in more lights?”
The sunlight didn’t reach that far inside, so she could only see the silhouette of someone with their legs crossed.
Once she got close enough, she spoke in a cheerful voice:
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
The man slowly looked up.
When Laria saw his face, her eyes nearly popped out.
He smiled at her calmly.
“Not that long…”
His lips curled up — but the smile was oddly crooked.
“…Only about ten days?”
The client was Zenox Craseum.
