Chapter 103

Translator: Yonnee

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“I’ll go out for a walk with Maxwell for a little while.”

After returning to the barracks, I said this to Alicia.

“Huh? Oh, let me come with you, Sister.”

“No, Alicia. You stay here. Your complexion is a bit pale and you look tired, so just stay here and rest. I’ll be right back.”

Alicia was about to stand up from the sofa she was sitting on when she offered to come with me, but I lightly pressed her shoulder to stop her.

I knew that Alicia would sulk, but there was no choice.

Of course, I wasn’t just going out for a walk.

She hesitated for a moment, but she eventually leaned back on the sofa again, nodding.

Truthfully, it wasn’t a lie when I said that her complexion wasn’t very good.

Perhaps because she was still not used to crowded places, but Alicia’s complexion was paler than usual.

“Diana.”

After gently patting Alicia’s shoulder to make her lean back on the sofa, I called Diana, who was standing behind that sofa.

“Yes, Milady.”

Diana escorted Evelyn to the carriage earlier but had now returned. She politely bowed to me.

“Take care of Alicia. You can do that, right?”

“Yes, of course. Please don’t worry while you’re on your walk.”

On the outside, the conversation between us sounded normal, but the gazes we exchanged at that moment were sharp.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

While nodding, I reiterated again.

And as if saying that I had nothing to worry about, Diana smiled back.

‘Yeah. I’m sure everything will be okay until I return.’

Diana would protect Alicia.

Turning my gaze downwards once more, I looked at Alicia as she was sitting on the sofa.

Her round eyes were half-lidded now, as if she was right about to drift off into sleep.

When Alicia made eye contact with me, she raised one hand weakly and waved.

“Come back soon, Sister.”

It was adorable how she did her best to smile even though she was already so sleepy.

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”

And after the short goodbye, I nodded to Cassion.

At the brief signal, Cassion followed behind me.

We left the barracks like that.

I was wearing a cloak of my own now so that we wouldn’t draw any attention.

As we moved, we gradually headed away from any crowded places.

It was good that no particular gazes followed our cloaks.

Walking in silence, it was only when there was no sign of other people around that we talked again.

“Didn’t it seem strange earlier?”

“Yes. He was trying to probe.”

I asked an ambiguous question, but the answer that came back was astute.

Even if I didn’t mention ‘that person’, there was just one man in both our minds right now.

A scorching red gaze flashed through my thoughts.

“Did he recognize me?”

This time, Cassion was the one who asked.

A slight hint of concern could be heard from his voice, and he seemed to be worried that his identity had been found out.

I answered with a shrug.

“It doesn’t matter. It’ll be a little troublesome if he catches on, but… That’s all.”

Again, regardless of whether Leo was suspecting Maxwell, he wouldn’t act hastily.

Leo was also tied up by his family’s affairs.

It’s true that he was set to be the next duke, but he was still just the successor known as ‘young duke’ that had yet to come of age.

As the young duke, would he be able to attack the escort knight of an esteemed duke’s daughter?

Doing so was tantamount to eliciting a spark of war.

He would not be able to forcefully take this mask off, or force myself to spit out the truth.

‘Besides, he’d be more cautious since the funeral just happened.’

Suspecting that Maxwell was Cassion would just encourage the possibility of Cassion’s survival.

He wouldn’t dare to do so fearlessly. After all, he hurriedly held a funeral for his older brother despite the lack of a corpse.

In the novel, he was a rational man.

A cunning man.

His mother was no different, so the duchess would surely block Leo from doing anything forward.

“In the first place, we came here today with some resolve to draw suspicion.”

“Well, that’s right.”

Additionally, this suspicion was already part of the plan for today.

In ‘the incident’ that would take place a few hours later, Cassion was scheduled to perform a spell.

At first glance, it would look like aura, but both Duchess Carter and Leo wouldn’t mistake mana for aura.

‘It’s to let them know that the suspicious escort knight of Rosetta Valentine knows how to wield magic.’

Maxwell’s eye and hair color would be distinctly different from Cassion, but any suspicion that’s raised once wouldn’t be easy to erase.

Those two were Cassion’s persistent tormentors. And ironically, those two knew Cassion more than anyone else.

Still, well.

The result would be the same.

They would keep their mouths shut, and they would approach ever so cautiously.

Thinking to myself so far, I stopped walking. The man walking beside me also stopped.

A questioning glance turned to me.

The eyes behind that mask were very dark.

So dark that they looked clear.

I looked him in the eye and nodded.

“The coming-of-age ball is fast approaching anyway. It’s alright as long as you aren’t caught by then. So until that time, can’t I…”

Can’t I just be the one who’ll protect you?

As I whispered the rest, beyond the lower half of the mask, his lips burst into a smile.

He was so stiff with tension just now, but he soon relaxed once more.

He smiled in silence, then he nodded slowly.

“Yes. I was worried for nothing.”

“Mm-hmm. So put aside those futile worries. Let’s just… go and see what kind of pet animal Leo had released.”

Right, that guy was being suspicious right now, but worrying about him wouldn’t make a difference.

We just had to stick to what we’re meant to do right now.

That’s why we came here under the guise of a ‘walk’.

To go and see Leo’s pet.

No, rather, to hunt.

“You mentioned a white-yellow deer, right?”

When I mentioned the pet animal, Cassion asked back.

“Yeah. The pet that Young Duke Carter had been raising ever since he was a cute child.”

After answering, I briefly recalled the description of the ‘white-yellow deer’ in the novel.

It was five times the size of a regular deer, with horns that were as upright and as hard as a tree.

It couldn’t care less about any boulder as it could pierce anything with its antlers…

“Well, rather than calling it a pet animal, it might be better to call it a pet monster.”

Calling that thing an ‘animal’ would make real animals feel heartbroken.

And the moment ‘monster’ was mentioned, Cassion’s expression grew serious.

“I never thought that Leo was keeping one.”

He spoke grimly. Then, he immediately murmured to himself with a small laugh.

“Meanwhile, I couldn’t even protect my own self.”

It was a slightly self-deprecating, bitter voice.

With his head dropping as he looked at the ground, his dark blue hair shook slightly.

Like a drooping willow branch.

I stared at Cassion like this, but in a flash, I swung my hand.

I aimed straight for his neck, but he quickly grabbed my wrist.

Averting his eyes from the ground, he suddenly turned to me.

Beneath that mask, his surprised face was apparent.

“Suddenly, what?”

Instead of answering the question he asked in surprise, I just shrugged.

Then when his grip loosened on my wrist, I opened my lips to speak.

“I mean, you looked discouraged, so.”

“If this is your way of cheering me up, isn’t it a little too rough?”

“Really? I consider this to be my gentle method though.”

I hummed as I answered, but no reply came back.

As if he was absolutely at a loss for words.

With a smile now, I continued.

“Well, whatever the past held, you eventually survived and got to know more along the way. Leo wouldn’t even be able to imagine that you now know about his pet, right?”

“……”

“How about it? Right now, it feels a little fairer, yes?”

There was a brief stretch of silence between them.

Questions were asked but no answers were given, so the silence was inevitable.

However, the silence was not empty. His gaze was clear.

“I wonder if it’s just ‘fair’.”

Soon, a small, belated reply came back.

“Then?” I asked.

“Even when you’re next to me, it sometimes feels like you’re so far ahead.”

Cassion grinned.

Not bad, that confidence he had in me.

No, it was more than satisfactory.

Nodding once, I then turned away and glanced towards the steep slope in front of us. It was the base of the mountain.

This was the mountain range surrounding the hunting grounds.

However, the designated hunting ground was mainly just the forest, which had a relatively shallow slope. No one would come this way.

Considering that they were just meant to remain in the peaceful forest, there’s no one who would wander into the wild mountains.

“This much is fine with you, right?”

I asked, glancing sideways at Cassion.

He nodded slightly.

As he turned swiftly to the side, I watched his form. Even his ankle looked relaxed.

‘You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you.’

I felt like a proud guardian watching her newly grown-up child.

It was only a few months ago when I found him getting beaten up by gangsters on the street.

But he could catch my wrist like this now, and he wasn’t even nervous about the rugged mountain path ahead.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. It’s just, gosh, you’re all grown up.”

“What are you…”

“Now then, let’s go.”

Without being able to ask me further, Cassion just nodded perplexedly.

As my eyes curved into arcs, I could almost see that the forehead beneath his mask had gotten wrinkled.

I was the first to take a step forward.

Ha. And with a short sigh, Cassion followed.

In no time, we set foot into the mountain’s green terrain.

Dense trees and bushes soon obscured our figures.

And so, there was something that I didn’t notice either.

There were people observing us.

Kururuk.

The small bird’s eyes rolled around.

The world that those spinning black eyes could see was round.

Even as it looked at the thicket under which Rosetta and Cassion hid.

Flapping its stiff wings, the blue bird soared across the sky.

“Ku… Kuruk…”

Along with its strange squawking, it repeatedly tilted in the air.

Soon, after a few more lopsided attempts, it began to flap its wings like an ordinary bird.

“Kururuk.”

Its black eyes spun once more.

And at the end of that gaze, it continued to observe the base of the mountain.