ـــــــــCONTINUATIONـــﮩ٨ـﮩ٨ـ
The last of the bandits' frantic footsteps faded, leaving behind a silence thick with the scent of blood. G6 wiped her blades clean on a dead man's tunic with a craftsman's detachment, sheathed them with soft clicks, and walked to her horse without a glance at Edmund or Zen. The silence she left was heavier than any shout.
She urged Akira forward, stepping delicately over a body, and rode past the two motionless men as if they were scenery.
After twenty paces, her voice sliced through the quiet. "I hear a river. We're stopping to clean up. Don't fall behind."
It wasn't an invitation. It was an order, and in its mundane normalcy, more terrifying than any scream.
Zen and Edmund shared a single, wide-eyed look before scrambling for their horses. They followed the sound of water to a clearing where G6 knelt by the riverbank, scrubbing blood from her hands with methodical strokes.
Edmund approached, gravel crunching under his boots. "Lady Reise—"
"Are you not afraid anymore?" she asked without looking up.
The blunt question stunned him. "P-pardon?"
"I could smell the fear on you and Zero earlier." She stated it as a simple fact.
"Lady Reise, I—"
"I understand." She finally turned, her grey eyes sharp as glass. "For a noble like me to kill them so brutally… as if it were nothing. It is indeed terrifying." A flicker of something passed over her face, then vanished behind a cold, small smile. "For a wimp."
She turned back to the river, splashing water on her face. The word hung in the air—a precise, dismissive sting.
She is right, Edmund thought, shame coiling in his chest. I feared my anchor, and in doing so, I was useless.
"I was afraid of you," he admitted, his voice low and clear. "For a moment, I forgot the woman I pledged loyalty to and saw only the Reaper. In that fear, I failed."
G6 sat on the riverbank, folding her knees. "Tell me, Edmund. After all that, will you still be loyal to me?"
"Yes."
"Blindly?"
"No." His answer was firm. "I stopped trying to figure you out long ago. But I know you do not harm the innocent. And I have seen the… sharp-edged kindness you show to the weak." He recalled her fierce protection of Lilia and Tina, her brutal but effective justice for a beggar child. Her compassion was not soft, but it was real.
"Kindness, huh?" G6 stood, brushing sand from her pants. "You don't know who you're pledging your loyalty to. What you've seen is just the surface." She walked toward Akira.
Just the surface… The words settled like ice in his stomach.
"I am prepared," Edmund called to her back, his voice gaining strength. "I promise this is the last time I will falter. I trust you with my life."
She did not acknowledge him.
Zen stepped forward. "Edmund," he said, his tone measured. "We were both incompetent earlier. I will not judge her, but I am not pledging loyalty. I am here paying a debt to the Queen."
Edmund offered a weary, resolute smile. "She would not want your loyalty if you offered it. But know this: the moment you betray her, I will not think twice."
Zen met his determined gaze. "You have gathered your resolve. I will remember that." He glanced at G6, checking her saddle. "You serve a master who is ridiculously unpredictable."
"That," Edmund said quietly, "is precisely what makes her dangerous. And I am willing to walk into the storm."
「G6's OFFICE—BASTION」
Tina sat besieged by paperwork—Omnia's inventory, Sanctum's sales, Bastion's ledgers. Outwardly calm, her mind was a storm. Why would the young masters route this here? Why assign recruits' finance to this office? I'm just a servant. My boss has been strategically absent for days. I know you're up to something, Lady Reise, but I'm going to die of paperwork first.
She maintained a placid expression, her hand moving in steady scribbles. And why is Sir Keith here? He's just using my lady's room to slack off.
Lilia practiced her script and studied an herbology treatise on the floor, following G6's advice to sharpen her mind. On the settee, Keith lay asleep under a blanket.
The peace shattered as Brenda stormed in. "You useless, lazy wet bed!" She yanked the blanket away and threw it in his face.
Keith groaned. "Get a life, you vile woman."
"You have obligations! Why do you keep leaving Eliza with Earl?"
"Eliza's healing spells are median tier. And I'm not in the mood."
"Her Majesty assigned you to instruct her! She's hoarding all of Earl's attention!"
"Aren't you just being possessive? Zen isn't even here. You sound like a jealous girlfriend."
"How dare you? Earl can't ignore a charge placed under his care by Their Majesties. And besides," her voice sharpened, "I WILL TATTLE TO PRINCE DIO!"
Keith sat up, irritated. "You know he'll just lecture me endlessly. And… he's rather out of sorts himself."
"Why?"
"He went to Her Majesty at first light to say he was moving into the main building. But guess what?" Keith's grin turned wicked. "Aunt forbade it! Said Duke Worthon would disapprove since the engagement isn't introduced to the society yet. So he's furious—he can't fathom being barred while Zen has a suite there."
"Serves him right!" Brenda cackled. "Lady Reise must have known Her Majesty would never allow it."
Lilia watched their gleeful malice with wide-eyed confusion. Tina had long given up trying to understand their dynamics.
"Is it just me, or did it get chilly?" Keith said, fumbling for the blanket.
"You're right," Brenda agreed, shivering.
"Perhaps it is because you are idling here, rather than attending to your duties." A cold, precise voice cut through the air from the doorway.
Lilia and Tina immediately stood and bowed. "Greetings, Your Highness."
"Oh… D-Dio, I mean, Your Highness…" Keith stammered, slowly rising.
"It does not follow that because the owner is away, you may act as you please here," Dio said, leaning against the doorframe with cold displeasure.
"I'm here to retrieve this fool! I wasn't running from my duties!" Brenda retorted.
"Duties?" Dio stood straight. "The recruitment drive has ended. Your only obligation is to resume your training properly."
"We are aware! Don't be so cranky!" Keith protested.
"That's quite right!" Brenda added.
Brenda stalked out with an annoyed huff, followed by a pouting Keith. Before closing the door, Prince Dio's eyes lingered on the empty desk, as if seeing the cold aura G6 had left behind.
「SERTIZ MANOR」
"My Lord, why bring this matter up again?" Viscount Tesco asked the man behind the imposing desk.
"Have you not heard the recent intelligence from our men outside the capital?" Marquess Sertiz's gaze was grim. "Teleportation devices are failing in some regions. The Imperial Family and those damned Pillars have ignored this possibility for fourteen years. But if the irregularities continue, they will grasp at that small rope."
"You refer to the missing young master? Was it not accepted that he perished in the fire?"
"Instruct the men to locate the Head Maid who disappeared before the accident! If that child lives, we must possess him before any Pillar can. And we must silence that bitch who ran away. If word of her existence spreads, you know what the Upper House Court would do."
Tension thickened in the study. Marquess Sertiz glanced at the old family crest on the wall. "And I would be most gratified," he said, a malevolent grin spreading, "if my one and only nephew were alive."
—To Be Continued…—