Chapter 20
I almost said, “Dear God,” even though I don’t even believe in God.
‘How does he always say such risky things so casually?’
While I held back a sigh, Karl spoke again, his expression more relaxed than ever.
It was the softest and least mean look I’d seen on his face.
“Don’t worry. His Grace the Duke is also very pure.”
“…You do know that just made things even worse, right?”
“That’s why you should both try to protect each other’s purity. After all, polygamy is banned in the Duke’s territory…”
“It’s not like that!”
Things were quickly spiraling out of control.
I looked around frantically, searching for a way to change the subject.
Just then, a smell of food tickled my nose.
Yes—food. Let’s change the topic to food!
“At this rate, the food’s going to get cold—or worse, that kid’s going to eat it all first.”
“Huh? What do you—ahh!”
Before Beth could finish her sentence, she screamed.
Karl quickly reached out and grabbed the back of someone’s neck just as they were about to stick their face into the table.
Dangling in Karl’s hand was the pickpocket we caught earlier.
Still half-asleep, he must’ve wandered in, lured by the smell of food.
“Mm…?”
Hanging midair, the boy slowly came to his senses and lifted his head.
The moment he saw me, he screamed.
“Eek!”
“Please don’t faint again.”
If you faint again, it’s going to get awkward all over again.
“W-where am I…?”
“You’re at an inn. And you’re a pickpocket.”
He was about to say the usual “Who am I…?” line, so I cut him off.
Then I pointed straight at him and got to the point.
There was a reason I brought him here. I had just remembered it.
“Your boss.”
“Huh?”
“Who’s your boss?”
“M-My boss?”
“Yeah.”
‘Like the middleman who manages kids like this.’
It wasn’t like I had solid proof or anything.
It was kind of like checking out the market—an inspection.
In the novel I read, street pickpockets and small-time criminals were often used as good sources of information.
By whom?
‘Like, a crime lord for example.’
Beth had also told me about stuff like this from her own pickpocket days.
If you keep tracking the little criminals up the chain, you eventually reach someone big.
‘In the capital, there was even a ban on that drug, but it still showed up among soldiers from Saint Porto.’
That stuff likely spread from the back alleys—full of smugglers and illegal traders.
If we dug into that, we might find out how the drugs got out in the first place.
“Miss, are you planning to follow the chain upward?”
Beth understood what I was thinking, and I nodded.
“We won’t catch the top boss right away. Probably just a middleman…”
“That’s good enough.”
I wasn’t expecting to get lucky anyway.
‘As the Duke’s wife, maybe I should look into the crime rates here.’
That was all I really wanted to do.
Besides, judging from how the merchants acted, the regular people of the land weren’t going to accept me anytime soon.
‘So I’ll investigate the criminals’ boss instead.’
And if I was lucky, I might even help clean up the place. Even if I didn’t, I could say I was just checking on the public.
Karl must’ve figured out what Beth and I were talking about, because he raised an eyebrow like, go ahead and try.
That smug look annoyed me a little.
Meanwhile, the confused pickpocket finally spoke.
“Who are you? And why do you want to know that…?”
“Who do you think? I’m the one you tried to rob from the capital.”
“…I’m sorry.”
When I mentioned the theft, his face turned pale.
I whispered teasingly at him.
“You sure were bold earlier. Now you’re all nervous?”
“M-my older friends told me… you have to be confident and provoke people sometimes…”
“This one’s a newbie.”
Beth clicked her tongue. I was also a bit surprised.
No wonder he was stuttering earlier.
“So you probably don’t even know who your boss is?”
Beth gave him a lazy glare, and the kid started trembling like a leaf.
“S-sorry…”
“It’s fine. We already got our money back.”
“P-please don’t hand me over to the guards…”
His tiny body shook so much that I felt like the bad guy here.
And looking closer, the boy really didn’t look good.
Small injuries, a thin face, filthy clothes…
“Sigh, alright.”
It’s not like I was expecting anything huge anyway.
I shook my head and spoke again.
“You.”
“…”
“Want to eat before you go?”
I smiled at him kindly, putting on my most generous face.
“Ahem, ahem.”
A few days later.
I stepped out of the inn, humming lightly.
Beth was still probably buried in her bed, as usual—she loved to sleep.
‘I hope today goes well.’
Today, I was supposed to meet that little pickpocket boy again.
‘…I can introduce you to the person just above me.’
That’s what the now well-fed boy had told me.
I didn’t expect much. I thought, How important could a person be if a newbie like him knows them?
‘That person manages our whole area.’
‘How big is that area?’
‘From the market street to the outer city wall…’
‘That sounds… kind of big, doesn’t it?’
Surprisingly, the boy knew more than expected.
Now that he had eaten and felt more relaxed, he was even confident enough to say he’d come find me himself.
‘You’re really going to come yourself?’
‘…I know how to be thankful too. I’m grateful you didn’t hand me over to the city guards…’
The boy had shyly touched the food I packed for him.
He asked if he could take the leftovers, and I said yes. He packed it up neatly and happily.
Karl, who had brought the food over, glanced at me—but he wasn’t the kind of person to take food away from a hungry child.
Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to get some useful info from the pickpocket.
It would’ve been a pretty nice day… if he hadn’t said one last thing.
‘But, noona, don’t bring your boyfriend.’
Cough!
‘He’s not my boyfriend!’
Beth looked even more shocked than I was as I choked.
The pickpocket boy just asked innocently:
‘But… he fed you. Isn’t he your boyfriend?’
“…”
I had nothing to say to that.
Because when we started eating, Karl did sit next to me and carefully cut the meat, onions, and grilled vegetables into small pieces and fed them to me.
He said I shouldn’t use my hands until a doctor checked them—just in case they were injured.
‘I couldn’t even say no because he kept mentioning the emperor’s orders.’
He wouldn’t let me eat before, but once he started, he was like a mother bird feeding her chick.
I couldn’t tell if he was being kind or just overly persistent.
‘Beth actually insisted that she’d help instead.’
But the meat pieces Beth cut were all too big and tough to chew.
Karl just laughed when the boy made that comment and calmly wiped my mouth with a handkerchief.
‘You got food on your lips again.’
…
He wiped so hard, I thought my lips would peel off.
I couldn’t tell if he was being caring, teasing me, or if he actually didn’t like me.
‘Even parents who keep switching between scolding and kindness mess up their kids emotionally.’
And now the duke’s people were doing the same thing to me.
While I squinted at Karl, trying to give him a look, the pickpocket whispered again with a serious face.
‘Anyway, noona, that guy can’t come with you.’
“Ughgrr…”
‘Everyone would run away just seeing his shadow.’
The kid didn’t even listen to my protests.
‘Starting that evening, the doctor Karl brought came in and caused a big fuss.’
Even from the carriage, I could tell he was an expensive one, with a stressed look on his face. He even tried to put a cast on me, causing chaos again.
‘That’s over-treatment if I’ve ever seen it.’
They must’ve been scared of rumors that the priestess sent by the emperor got injured.
‘Well, that’s their problem.’
Of course, I refused.
After spending a few chaotic days like that, the day I promised to meet the pickpocket finally came.
“Let’s get something useful today.”
I still had time before the meeting, but I left early on purpose.
I had decided not to take Karl with me this time, even though he usually came every morning to escort me.
‘Honestly… the kid was right. He does look scary sometimes.’
I couldn’t argue with that.
Of course, people who know Karl’s face would be shocked to hear this.
They’d say his face is holy, noble, and beautiful—not scary.
‘Yeah, he is good-looking.’
But it’s more like… inhumanly beautiful.
He looks like someone not of this world—so perfect that it’s almost scary, like how people fear divine beings or monsters.
‘When he’s expressionless, he gives off such pressure.’
It doesn’t bother me, but I doubt others feel the same.
‘He’s intimidating, hard to approach… and his body stands out way too much.’
…Thinking about it now, all these sound like compliments, even though I wasn’t trying to praise him.
It left me with a weird feeling.
