Chapter 23
The head chef froze for a moment, completely dumbfounded.
‘…Excuse me?’
‘I’d appreciate it if you could hurry a little. It seems very hungry.’
‘The… squirrel?’
‘Yes. The squirrel.’
‘…Squirrels eat that much?’
‘According to my squirrel, it even eats ogres.’
‘…?’
With the Duke’s chef muttering “ogre” and “squirrel” in disbelief, Kaelen pestered him until a somewhat decent meal was finally prepared.
They were luxurious dishes that even Kaelen hadn’t eaten recently.
‘And after I went through the trouble to bring that…’
She’d already done something dangerous like climbing the roof, giving people a scare.
Tiny hands, feet, and face—and when climbing up, her back had touched—
“…”
“Your Grace?”
Jeremy called out as Kaelen suddenly turned grave.
He was worried his lord might actually be plotting to assassinate the tiny young lady.
“Are you really going to kill her? For real?”
“…I told you, I haven’t decided yet.”
Thanks to Jeremy’s question, Kaelen quickly pushed away the memory of that sensation.
Though, now a different image surfaced—Elaine licking his glove.
“…”
He thought she was small, but even her lips and tongue were tiny. That little thing had bitten down on his fingertips…
Kaelen, feeling slightly nauseous, shook his head lightly.
But the thoughts didn’t stop.
The last sensation he remembered was her puffed-up cheeks and the memory of her pressing her lips together.
Her hands were full of scars, yet her cheeks were as soft as pudding.
Those round eyes that glared up at him as if threatening him…
The swelling discomfort in his gut slowly intensified.
She was so insignificant and ridiculous, it made him want to poke, prod, and squish her.
‘…Is this murderous intent?’
A slight misunderstanding began to grow inside Kaelen, but it dispersed before it could fully take root.
Thanks to a very simple fact:
‘If it were really murderous intent…’
The moment he had even a sliver of it, she would’ve been dead already.
It wasn’t arrogance or pride—it was simply how he had lived.
Saint Portu was a place where internal unity was crucial. It was a region that strongly rallied around the Duke.
But people are the same everywhere. Even in a place like that, some tried to stab others in the back for personal gain.
Of course, they were easily caught by Kaelen’s keen instincts before they could even act.
‘Y-Your Grace! I was wrong! I—kuhheuk!’
Kaelen mercilessly eliminated those who could cause trouble.
That was both his duty and responsibility as the Duke of Saint Portu.
‘…Elaine is…’
She was strange in many ways, but not someone who would cause immediate harm. That was his instinct.
Moreover, Kaelen wasn’t blind to his own emotions.
He was well aware that he held a certain degree of interest in Elaine.
‘Otherwise…’
Why would he, who never spared a glance for things that didn’t interest him, keep seeking her out?
Even if it was just to tease her, he warned her not to hang around others. And when she did spend time with others, it subtly irritated him.
But he’d never been this interested in anyone before.
No one else had made him feel like he wanted to bite them every time they responded cheekily.
No one else had made him utter the word “chastity.”
And certainly not someone from the capital—someone sent by the Emperor, someone he should’ve been wary of.
‘For now…’
He decided to watch her a bit more closely.
He needed more time to define exactly what he was feeling.
‘If I talk to her more, touch her more, poke and nibble a little…’
Then he might find the answer.
Kaelen pointedly ignored the strange line that followed.
In any case, that’s why it was only natural for him to go see Elaine again today. He stood up.
“What if something happens while you’re away?”
Jeremy protested, though his voice lacked its usual force.
He no longer seemed intent on stopping him outright.
“You already know how to contact me.”
“…”
“And you know I can go anywhere within the Duke’s territory instantly if needed… Oh.”
Kaelen suddenly tilted his head and looked at Jeremy.
“Any recent changes in the underworld of Saint Portu?”
“Hmm… The criminals have been quiet lately… and we’ve been too busy monitoring other issues…”
“Hm.”
“You know—the mutant problem.”
“Then it’s worth digging into.”
The moment he clenched his fist, Kaelen’s eyes gleamed a vivid gold.
Swoosh.
His silhouette distorted as if being sucked into space.
“Your Grace…”
Jeremy’s sigh echoed in his ears, but Kaelen didn’t care.
The familiar sensation enveloped his body, instantly transporting him to his destination.
‘She probably planned to leave without me.’
He remembered Elaine’s face, listening intently to the pickpocket’s warning not to bring him while eating, then glancing up at him with those wide eyes—it made him smile.
‘She’s so easy to read…’
And yet, her unpredictability was also a kind of talent—it kept people on edge.
“I really don’t want to give her what she wants… What should I do?”
Wandering off alone again, probably going to get herself hurt.
Tap.
As soon as his foot touched the ground, Kaelen smoothly raised his head with a poker face.
A familiar marketplace alley came into view.
He slipped naturally into the crowd.
‘There she is.’
He spotted a familiar back of the head near the entrance.
Small, round, and for some reason, just begged to be touched.
“…”
But that back of the head was eagerly nodding at someone, engaging in lively conversation.
…He didn’t like it.
Kaelen—no, Karl—smiled coldly.
* * *
“How is it?”
I leaned close to the skewer shop owner, making sure no one else could hear.
The owner still looked at me with a dazed expression after hearing what I had to say.
“Well…”
“Well?”
“It’s not a bad offer—no, it’s so good, it’s suspicious.”
‘Well, yeah, I guess so.’
To me, the deal I proposed wasn’t anything major.
I actually had holy power.
I offered to purify small amounts of meat with it to reduce its toxicity, and in exchange, asked to be introduced to other merchants.
‘That’s all it was.’
To prove it, I even did a little “magic show” by secretly purifying a piece of meat with holy power.
‘I was ready to reveal I was a holy knight, but when he asked if I was a saintess, I just mumbled my way through.’
Since I was wearing a dress, claiming I had trained as a saintess-in-training sounded more convincing than calling myself a knight.
I peeked into the skewer container the owner had prepared.
‘This amount looks manageable for me in a day.’
It’d just take a bit of time.
But for the owner with his own goals, the weight of this deal would feel different.
Getting such an expensive purification service for free—and all I asked in return was to introduce a few people.
“Well…”
From his perspective, such a one-sided benefit felt suspicious—like I was scamming him.
But I had a reason for proposing this condition.
‘I want to read public sentiment and gather market information…’
But once word spread that I was from the capital, people stopped talking so easily.
So then…
‘I’ll use school ties, local ties, and blood ties.’
Local ties. In other words, I’d approach them through local introductions.
As for info outside the market, I could just ask the pickpocket kid.
“There’s nothing difficult here. And all you need to do is keep the holy power thing secret.”
“Hmm…”
After a bit more persuasion, the owner finally nodded.
“…Alright. We’ll sort out the details later.”
“Please choose the meeting place yourself. Just send word to the lodging on the hill.”
It felt refreshing to get one task done before meeting the pickpocket.
‘Of course, you seal a negotiation with a handshake.’
I cheerfully extended my hand, and the owner put on a solemn face.
He then roughly rubbed his thick hands on his apron and reached for mine.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Likewise.”
But just as our hands were about to touch—
“In the Duke’s territory…”
Smack.
“Polygamy is prohibited, as I recall.”
With a chilling voice, my hand was suddenly wrapped in a leather glove.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
“…”
“…”
The owner looked stunned, as if slapped in the face.
I, too, went blank for a second, stunned by the sudden glove assault, before turning my head.
Honestly, from the moment my hand was grabbed, I already knew who it was.
There was only one per—no, person—who would grab my hand so boldly.
I opened my mouth with half a sigh of resignation.
“…Karl.”
