HMC 05

~Chapter 5~

The moment the golden arrow pierced Lukas’s heart—

“……?”

Rosedale blinked.

What was that? Just now… it felt like Lukas and I made eye contact… That’s impossible. I haven’t fully appeared yet.

Still, the feeling had been too vivid. She started to worry. If Lukas had seen her first, he’d fall in love with her—and that would ruin everything.

Sweating nervously, Rosedale stepped aside.

But Lukas’s gaze didn’t follow her. He just kept staring blankly at the place she had been standing.

“Oh, thank goodness. I must’ve been imagining it.”

Relieved, Rosedale stored the bow and arrow back into her pocket dimension.

But then—

“……Huh?”

She suddenly noticed strands of her pink hair falling over her chest.

What the…? And my wings are out too?!

Somehow, she had accidentally returned to her fairy form. Eyes wide, she shouted,

“What’s going on?!”

Panicking, she quickly erased her fairy aura and turned back into her human disguise.

Please don’t let Elpis show up just because I couldn’t hide for a few seconds.

“I need to find a human woman quickly and leave this place.”

All she had to do now was go out, bring back a suitable woman, and make Lukas see her first. It had to be someone well-dressed, not a maid, and ideally a noble.

But where would she find such a woman?

And until then, Lukas shouldn’t see anyone else. Should she knock him unconscious?

She had heard hitting the back of the neck could make humans faint. Maybe now was the time to test it…

Just as her thoughts began to spiral—

“Your Majesty!”

BANG! The door flew open, and Cain entered the room.

Everyone froze: Rosedale, Lukas, and even Cain.

Rosedale stared at him with a look that said, “Why would you walk in now of all times?!”

Lukas looked at him like, “You didn’t even knock?”

Cain blinked rapidly, his face going pale.

“Who said you could enter without permission?”

Lukas’s cold voice cut through the air.

If Cain had been anyone else, his head might have rolled.

Cain immediately knelt down and bowed.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I had something left to say, but when I called several times and got no response, I feared something had happened…”

It seemed Rosedale had been lost in thought, and Lukas had been zoned out—so neither of them heard Cain calling.

“Oh no. This is a disaster.”

Rosedale collapsed onto the floor in shock.

“The first person Lukas saw… is Cain.”

“But Cain’s a man!!”

Normally, same-sex love wasn’t an issue—but for an emperor without an heir, it was a serious problem.

“What if I just ended the royal bloodline?”

After all, this mission had one goal: make Lukas fall in love so the empire could produce an heir.

Rosedale turned pale, completely losing her focus.

Meanwhile, Cain kept talking, guilt in his voice.

“You’ve barely slept these last few days. I was worried you had collapsed… Please forgive me.”

“Sigh…”

Lukas let out a long breath.

He had been staring into space and hadn’t heard Cain’s knock. He couldn’t really scold him too harshly.

“What did you want to say?”

His voice sounded more annoyed than angry. He was clearly tired.

“Chancellor Dorius asked for an audience with you, Your Majesty.”

“Tell him to come this evening. I’m busy now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Cain bowed and left, shoulders slumped.

Rosedale watched him go, blinking.

Then she turned toward Lukas again.

“Hah… I must really be tired.”

Lukas let out a dry laugh, shaking his head.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he went back to reviewing documents.

“Why… doesn’t he look like he’s in love?”

When struck by the golden arrow, people fell madly in love with the first person they saw. They became obsessed, overly emotional, and completely devoted.

But Lukas didn’t act like that at all. He hadn’t shown any signs of affection toward Cain. In fact, he had seemed annoyed and pushed him away.

“So… did he not fall in love?”

That made no sense. She saw the arrow pierce his heart.

Rosedale stood and cautiously approached Lukas.

But staring at him didn’t tell her anything.

“Should I go ask Lord Eros?”

But she didn’t want to show up looking like a failure—not on her first mission. She had worked so hard, training at night and reading books about humans.

“I can’t let Lord Eros be disappointed.”

She had to find another way. There had to be a solution.

To fix this, she needed to understand what went wrong. And to do that, she needed to understand Lukas’s heart.

But how?

“Ah!”

Suddenly, she remembered someone—Cain, the man who had just left.

“When Lukas was with Cain, he acted a little more human… Maybe because they’re friends?”

“If I became Lukas’s friend too, I could learn his thoughts… and maybe make a friend of my own.”

It felt like a selfish goal, but it didn’t seem like a bad plan.

“Yeah. That could work.”

Rosedale narrowed her eyes, watching Lukas like a scheming fox.

Lukas, unaware of anything, simply kept working. He had no idea he was about to gain a very determined fairy friend.

The Next Day

At the back gate of the imperial palace, Rosedale’s heart pounded loudly.

She was secretly following Lukas.

“Are human organs always this loud?”

She placed a hand on her chest. Her heart was racing.

Since turning into human form, everything she felt had become stronger—especially her emotions and senses.

She didn’t have time to be amazed. Lukas started moving again.

“This undercover trip is to check out the new merchant group that appeared in the capital.”

Lukas explained to his group.

“We need to find out what they’re really selling and who the owner is. So we’ll pretend to be buyers.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Cain was walking beside him, wearing the same kind of hooded robe.

“Uh… Your Majesty?”

A large man next to Cain raised his hand—Sir Burnet, a low-ranked knight.

“Is it really okay for someone like me to come on such an important mission?”

“That’s exactly why we brought you.”

Lukas replied.

“You’re the kind of person no one notices if you disappear.”

Cain smiled brightly, delivering the brutal truth.

Burnet just nodded like it was normal.

“Besides, His Majesty is stronger than a hundred knights. Bringing more people would just slow us down.”

“Let’s move.”

Lukas cut Cain off and got on his horse.

Cain and Burnet followed him, and Rosedale chased after them.

After a short ride, they arrived at a quiet street.

It was very different from the lively areas Rosedale had seen before. The atmosphere felt…

“Creepy. It’s quiet, but also kind of dark…”

Rosedale looked around.

The men tied their horses and entered a store. Their hoods covered their faces well, and the area was shady enough that no one noticed anything strange.

Even Lukas wore a mask under his hood—probably because he didn’t want to be recognized as emperor.