“Cancel the order — what do you mean by that…”
Grace faltered, startled.
For one thing, she had never in her life been told to cancel her own order.
Outside of formal objections raised in council, refusing a member of the royal family’s command was a serious crime.
But Calypse, having just committed exactly that crime, was not looking at her.
He was looking at the window. His gaze fixed on something outside, and there was nothing casual about it.
“…Aisha definitely went with Kail…”
And then he was talking to himself.
“Calypse.”
Grace briefly wondered if he had lost his mind.
“If Kail knows what’s happening right now…”
“Calypse.”
“The Creatures moving on their own — it might be because of Kail…”
“Duke Calypse! What are you saying?”
She raised her voice, finally past the point of patience —
“Your Majesty. Regardless — please evacuate the nobles as planned, but cancel the order to attack the Creatures. I will take full responsibility for everything.”
And again, he cut her off — then ran.
Down the corridor, as though he already knew where he was going.
Grace stared after him.
“…My.”
That man.
She stood there, honestly baffled. But the fact that he was saying things like I’ll take full responsibility suggested he hadn’t lost his mind at all.
There was a reason behind it.
But what? This is a man who would draw his sword against a Creature without blinking. So why…?
The knight who had been watching the whole exchange spoke up carefully.
“Your Majesty. Shall I proceed with eliminating the Creatu—”
“Didn’t you hear? Duke Calypse himself said he’d take responsibility for all of it.”
“Pardon?”
“Focus on protecting the people. And put a lockdown on the city. No one gets out until we find who’s behind this. Not a single person.”
Grace changed her orders with a flat expression and was already moving — heading toward the banquet hall at a run.
“Yes — yes, Your Majesty!”
The last wavering knight chased after her.
“…….”
What remained in the corridor was only King Arjen.
“Damn it. What on earth is happening all of a sudden…”
He pressed a hand to his hip and ground his teeth, then kicked the nearest pillar out of sheer frustration.
“The Creatures have been perfectly docile for years — why today of all days, why now?!”
And that wasn’t the only thing.
Not long ago, he’d been bitten by that strange beast that turned into a person. Then the knight who had been reporting to him had suddenly started following Grace’s orders instead.
Every last thing was going wrong in ways he couldn’t explain.
“If the Foss matter falls apart on top of all this…”
Crack. Crack.
He was gnawing at his own thumbnail without noticing, pacing in small, anxious circles.
If it came to that, there would be no way out for him either.
I’d better find myself a way out first.
His decision made, Arjen turned and sprinted toward the banquet hall.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
“What? The Creatures escaped on their own?”
“Yes. Apparently in the three years they’ve been kept here, nothing like this has ever happened. It is a little strange…”
“Of all the days for bad luck to strike — and on a day this important. Tsk.”
Duke Foss sat in his carriage and clicked his tongue. But the truly bad luck was still coming.
Creak —
The smoothly moving carriage jerked to a halt. A polite knock, and the door swung open.
The coachman.
“Your Grace. We have a problem. Every road leading out of the city has been sealed.”
“What?”
“A Creature appeared inside the royal palace grounds. They’re saying the lockdown won’t be lifted until the person responsible for bringing the Creatures is found.”
Good lord.
“Damn it!”
Duke Foss swore — involuntarily, and without elegance.
He couldn’t help it. Every part of him wanted to be back behind his own walls as quickly as possible.
With Aisha in his hands, Calypse would come for the girl no matter where that took him.
Duke Foss had wanted it to happen at House Foss’s estate.
I’ve been waiting a long time to watch that man die inside my own walls.
Calypse Krost was his oldest and most enduring enemy.
It had started during the territorial war. In the middle of the fighting, a sudden Creature threat had emerged — and it was House Krost of the Kingdom of Frozen that had stepped in to stop it. Because of them, the Kingdom of Doctia had been forced to declare a ceasefire.
And more than that — Doctia had been made to send regular payments to the Kingdom of Frozen afterward.
As payment to Calypse, in exchange for his continued suppression of the Creatures.
If Doctia had been the one to hold the north… those payments would have come to House Foss.
That was simply the truth of it.
The reason House Krost could suppress Creatures was the Ice Affinity.
But House Foss had an Affinity too, didn’t they.
Damn it. I should have ground that self-righteous face of his into the dirt long ago…
An unruly tangle of thoughts. He pressed a hand to his forehead and forced himself to stop.
He had to be calm. Losing his temper because the situation wasn’t going his way wouldn’t move anything forward.
Either way — if I can kill Duke Calypse and have House Foss take over the Creature suppression work, both kingdoms can be unified under one rule.
He ran through his options quickly and gave the order.
“No choice then. Head straight to Litaisha’s Jewel House.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Litaisha’s Jewel House was one of House Foss’s secret bases in the capital.
The same sort of place as Fergus’s Bookshop in the north.
Clatter.
At the Duke’s command, the carriage reversed course and turned back into the city.
They passed through a wide plaza and turned down a side street. Lined along it were luxury shops carrying the kind of goods that only high-end clientele would browse.
“Ariena.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Go inside the jewel shop first and tell the staff to close up. If there are customers inside when we bring Aisha in — still unconscious — it might attract attention.”
“Understood.”
When the carriage came to a stop, Ariena gave a brief bow and slipped inside. A few moments passed.
“The shop is clear. With the formal banquet underway, none of the noble customers are in — I don’t foresee any trouble.”
She returned precisely as quickly as he had expected.
“Good work. Then let’s go.”
There had been a moment of turbulence — but he allowed himself a quiet, satisfied smile.
Calypse’s grave would be built here.
________________________________________
When I lost consciousness, I dreamed.
“You went to the estate and came back with something rather interesting, didn’t you.”
It was the dream that had tormented me ever since I woke up in the Ahili Circus. The one I could never quite hold onto.
Before, I had only caught fragments — a conversation barely audible through the dark. But this time was different.
When I opened my eyes inside the dream, I was in the private study of Foss estate. Duke Foss sat on a sofa, chin resting on his laced fingers, watching a golden-haired woman with the expression of someone who had just found something genuinely amusing.
“The assignment was only two things. One seemed a little thin, but two — two felt like it would be enough to bring Duke Calypse down.”
“…….”
“So what is this infant?”
“I apologize.”
She didn’t add anything more. She was admitting to a mistake.
“Shall I dispose of it immediately?”
The question was delivered without any particular emotion. But the infant cradled against the woman’s chest was grinning at the ceiling, entirely unbothered.
“Kyahahah!”
Tiny fingers curling and uncurling, a toothless grin — the baby burst into laughter.
Golden hair. Red eyes.
The eyes were different — but that baby was me. It was Aisha.
“Don’t dispose of it.”
“Pardon?”
“This one will be quite entertaining later.”
Duke Foss shook his head and sank back against the sofa.
“Four years of hard work. You’ve earned the rest. I’ll give you another assignment in a few years — until then, take your time recovering.”
“Thank you.”
“Good.”
Duke Foss waved a hand toward the door and turned his eyes back to the documents on his desk.
Ariena had finished her bow — but for some reason, she didn’t leave.
“What is it?”
“Forgive the impertinence…”
She trailed off for a moment before allowing herself to speak.
“What will you do with this child?”
Her voice carried its usual professional neutrality — and beneath it, just barely, a tremor.
Duke Foss looked at her and thought to himself:
She hasn’t let go of the role yet.
He could see it at a glance.
Among long-term operatives who came back from years-long assignments, there were occasionally those who had grown so immersed in their cover that they quietly missed who they had pretended to be.
Those agents were usually terminated.
Should I terminate Ariena as well.
He considered it briefly, then let it go.
Calypse loved Ariena. At this point, with Ariena gone and a daughter to show for it, Calypse would be in ruins. Ariena still had uses.
So Duke Foss smiled the smile of a reasonable, personable man, and opened his mouth.
________________________________________
