Chapter 29
The moment I stepped outside, the pitch-black darkness and the chill of the night air washed over me.
When clouds veiled the moonlight, even silhouettes became impossible to discern in the deep gloom.
That darkness, however, concealed my movements far better than I had expected.
Taking advantage of the moment when the knights were distracted by their shift change chatter, I began moving quickly.
My heart pounded as though it might explode—this was my first time experiencing such a thrilling escapade.
But just as I was passing the gallery and about to enter the path leading to Liben Village…
As I was about to step onto the wide-open road, the clouds that had been hiding the moonlight suddenly parted.
At that same instant, the late-night moon illuminated me with startling clarity.
The moment my figure was revealed—
“Who goes there?”
A knight’s voice called out. I turned around. He was approaching me slowly.
When I hesitated to answer, his wary voice grew sharper.
“Who’s there? Answer me.”
“…Ah.”
As I stood there flustered, unsure of what to do, the man drew closer.
“Lady Hwidrian?”
He recognized me as he came near. Upon closer inspection, he was a sentry of the lowest rank.
Though I was the one who had discovered Arwin, I was still legally the Duchess. To him, I was the wife of his supreme commander—which meant I would be a difficult person for him to handle.
I should be able to talk my way out of this. Straightening my back, I met his gaze.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a short stroll nearby.”
“…Ah.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s just… the hour is quite late, and it seems rather dangerous for you to be walking alone.”
Naturally, he found it suspicious that I—someone who was supposed to be under the knights’ surveillance—was standing alone outside at midnight.
His eyes narrowed as he studied me, and then he noticed the basket in my hand.
“What’s in that basket?”
“This is…”
“Please open it. I apologize for the rudeness, but I’ll need to inspect it.”
He was a thoroughly trained knight, and I felt almost sorry for having underestimated him.
With a resolute expression, he stared at me, determined to search my basket.
What should I do?
Left with no choice, I slowly opened the basket while my mind raced frantically.
It seemed the night shift had reduced the manpower—there was no one else nearby at the moment.
If I turned and ran now, could I somehow escape?
Just as I was showing him the basket while scanning my surroundings with panicked eyes—
“Let me ask you something.”
Both the sentry and I jumped at the unfamiliar voice from beside us.
An elderly woman, hunched over and leaning on a cane, stood there watching us, cloaked in black.
“Where’s Liben Village?”
“Pardon?”
The sentry asked. I looked at her as she continued.
“I’ve come all this way to see my grandchild, but it’s so late at night I can’t see a thing. Would you take me to Liben Village? Let me see, what was the address again…”
The sentry looked flustered. That was only natural—he was a knight from the imperial palace. He knew only how to guard his post; he had no real knowledge of Lorencia’s geography or village names.
“Ma’am, I’ll guide you there.”
To me, the old woman looked like a savior. As I carefully took her shoulder and spoke, the sentry stepped in front of me.
“But it’s dangerous, my lady. Please leave this to us and return home to rest.”
“Liben Village is just across this main road. Since I can’t sleep anyway, wouldn’t it be fine if I escorted her?”
“But… very well. Then I’ll accompany you. We can go together and come back.”
I wasn’t keen on the idea, but escaping this place was my top priority, so I accepted his offer.
Thanks to that, I was able to walk openly toward Liben Village with the strange old woman and the sentry.
We hadn’t walked long before we entered Liben Village, and the sentry was about to ask the old woman a question.
“What number house are you looking for…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence. The old woman’s hunched back was slowly straightening.
I, too, stared at her transformation with wide eyes.
Then she turned around. Her face was no longer that of the elderly woman I had seen moments ago.
“…Arwin?”
His beautiful hair, gleaming even whiter in the moonlight, was revealed.
The moment I breathed his name like a whisper, the sentry’s eyes went round—
Arwin sprayed something toward his face. A liquid resembling perfume.
Before the sentry could utter a word, he inhaled the mysterious substance and his expression grew dazed.
With a thud, he collapsed.
Startled, I rushed to the sentry to check his condition, but he was fast asleep.
“He’s just sleeping. When he wakes, he won’t even remember meeting us.”
I stared at Arwin, who explained the situation with an utterly composed expression.
He chuckled at my dumbfounded face and extended his hand toward me.
“I’ll explain the details as we go. Shall we move together?”
Arwin’s secret, private space was about to be revealed before me.
—
* * *
“Magic?”
As we walked toward number 77—the address Arwin had mentioned in his note—we exchanged a few words.
I learned that Arwin had been able to disguise himself as an old woman using magical items that allowed transformation. The same went for how he had secretly left the note in my house without being detected, and how the sentry had just fallen into a deep sleep—all effects of magical artifacts.
“I never knew you possessed so many magical items, Arwin.”
“I spent quite a fortune on them. I sought out the continent’s most famous mage and purchased them directly.”
“…Thanks to that, I’ve been able to move around undetected for a long time,” he added in a murmur.
As I looked at Arwin, a sudden thought made me chuckle. He turned to me.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how you looked earlier… transformed into that old woman.”
“…”
“Your acting was remarkable, Arwin.”
Imagining him, disguised as an elderly grandmother, leaning on a cane and performing so earnestly in front of the sentry, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I worked hard on that. Was it amusing?”
“It’s just… when I think back on how diligently you acted, it was endearing. And I’m grateful too.”
“…”
“Thank you. If you hadn’t appeared in that situation, I might have been dragged back home.”
“Isn’t it only proper that I help you escape safely, since you came all this way for me?”
Arwin watched me speaking with a smile, then let out a small chuckle himself.
The late night was quiet.
We walked for some time before houses with numbers near 77 began to appear before us. But as I looked at them, I soon realized something.
“There’s no number 77.”
“Ordinary people can’t see it.”
“Pardon?”
Just as I turned to him, not understanding what he meant, he pointed toward an empty corner.
Beneath a tree, in a vacant space at the edge of the village where only the ground existed.
He gestured for me to look, and I turned my gaze toward it.
“…Wow.”
A single streak of brilliant light emerged before me, and slowly—as if it had been hidden all along—a tent materialized in front of my eyes.
I watched, dumbfounded, as the tent fully revealed itself. The light that had started small expanded its area, unveiling the tent’s shape, and once it was completely visible, the light vanished.
Before I knew it, a tent stood tall in the darkness.
“This is also magic. It’s enchanted with a concealment spell, so ordinary people can’t see it. It’s been my home all this time.”
I stared at it with my mouth hanging open. Even this was magic.
Arwin chuckled softly, pulled open the tent’s entrance, and looked at me.
“Welcome, Kasia.”
To Liben Village number 77—to my precious space.
—
* * *
Late at night, Nick was heading to Kasia’s house.
Ever since the Duke of Hwidrian had come down to Lorencia to find the Third Prince and decided to stay, Nick had temporarily moved out of Kasia’s house to stay by the Duke’s side.
Nick had been provisionally appointed as the next head of the Hwidrian House, and accordingly, he needed to learn about his father’s work.
Though the mission concerning the Third Prince was closer to a personal request from the current Emperor, who particularly favored the Duke of Hwidrian.
In truth, Nick saw this as a good opportunity to distance himself from Kasia’s house.
Lately, Nick had wanted to maintain some distance from his mother.
At any rate, having left Kasia’s house to stay with his father, Nick had been organizing his thoughts in solitude.
Then he remembered he’d left some belongings at Kasia’s house and stopped by late at night.
“The lady is resting.”
“I’ll go in quietly and come out. I just left something behind.”
“Understood.”
The two knights stationed at the door let Nick in. He opened the door and entered.
After retrieving his belongings from the table, Nick turned to leave—
But then he paused. Something felt off. The house was unusually quiet. Nick tilted his head and looked back.
Even though he knew his mother was supposedly asleep, the house was too silent.
No sound of shifting, not even the whisper of breathing—it was strange.
Nick tried to leave again, turning his back. But he stopped in his tracks.
As he was about to go, his mother’s face from earlier that day lingered in his mind. The image of her coming to the shop and making demands of his father with such confidence was utterly unfamiliar.
He also sensed that she was under a great deal of stress.
For some reason, Nick found himself worrying about her. He couldn’t just leave.
…So, I’ll just check on her. Just to see if she’s sleeping well.
Nick slowly approached the door to his mother’s bedroom.
“…Mother?”
He cracked the door open slightly. Through the gap, Nick’s eyes widened.
He flung the door open.
“……!”
Kasia was gone.
Only an empty bed, a slightly open window, and fluttering curtains met Nick’s eyes.
