CHAPTER 20……………………………………..

Translation

Irene had to admit: Laseil was a good friend.
At least, he definitely had been at the beginning.

‘How did I even end up liking him?’

She couldn’t remember properly.

It wasn’t like one of those novels where you fall in love at first sight.

One day, out of nowhere, she imagined Laseil getting married—
and the thought made her heart drop with a thud.
That’s when she realized.

‘Well, that incident was definitely the trigger.’

The day Laseil dealt with that ghost.

It wasn’t as if she got hit in the face and suddenly fell for him, like people liked to assume.

‘…Or did I?’

She’d only been startled because, even after being hit, she didn’t feel bad.
Even knowing he’d done it to help her, she had expected she’d be upset.

But more than that, she found herself drawn to the look in Laseil’s eyes when he looked at her.

She had never seen him look like that before.

‘So… did I want to see that expression he shows only to me?’

Still, her feelings had been building long before that moment.

If someone asked her when she fell for him, she wouldn’t be able to choose a single moment—
it had accumulated thinly, subtly, over time.

During that time, she’d learned little bits of what he liked.

At some point, she even started trying desperately to learn his preferences.

He likes sweets—especially chocolate.

He accepts most kinds of accessories, but the only one he actually wears is a brooch.

He’s not used to dresses and rarely wears them, and sometimes forgets she even has a viscountcy.

When he laughs, he hides his mouth a little,
and he uses a sword style that awkwardly mixes court fencing and classical swordsmanship.

And when he smiles so broadly that his teal-colored eyes curve completely—
he’s truly beautiful…

‘No—stop!’

A thought that began light had become unbearably heavy.

Irene jolted up from her bed to clear her head.

At this rate, she’d end up writing Laseil yet another letter confessing her feelings.

It was what she did every sleepless night.

‘…Not that I’ve ever actually sent one.’

The first reason: her writing was terrible.
Her old tutor had literally refused payment and quit in despair.

The other reason: the letters would be interrupted or lost anyway.

Back when she’d been hunting for the right moment to confess,
every single letter she tried to send somehow went missing.

‘Well, I’m not getting back to sleep.’

With a sigh, Irene started stretching.

Moving around would at least keep her from sitting at her desk and writing more letters.

The box that held her unsent letters was already full, anyway.

‘And writing here would be even worse. No place to hide them.’

This wasn’t her house—it was an inn.
Anyone could stumble on them.

If Laseil ever found them, she would jump straight out the window that very day.

Not off a cliff—she still needed to live to see his face the next morning.

‘Will I ever even get the chance to confess…?’

Feeling a little down from her past failures, Irene finished stretching
and let out another long sigh as she stepped outside the inn.

Her head was a mess, her body was warmed up, and now she was wide awake.

‘A short walk should be fine… right?’

She didn’t particularly want to walk around this territory at night,
but the moon was bright tonight.

As long as it was only for a bit, nothing should happen.

‘…Bringing a sword feels like too much.’

Just in case, she took only a dagger.

Stepping cautiously outside, she looked around.

Nothing strange had happened so far.

A few others were out for a walk like her.

‘Having people around is a bit reassuring.’

There weren’t many buildings near the inn, so it was a good place to walk.

Irene slowed her pace—and then froze completely.

‘Sir Jaen?’

She’d been thinking about him just moments ago, so for a second she wondered
if she was hallucinating.

But even when she looked away and back again, he didn’t disappear.

‘What is he doing out here at this hour?’

The Laseil Irene knew always fell asleep around sunset
and woke around sunrise—
unless tomorrow was a holiday, there was an evening banquet,
or he had something to take care of in the dark.

‘…Something to take care of?’

A sudden sense of dread washed over her.

When Laseil worked in the dark, it was usually something involving ghosts or curses.

“Sir Sieren! Do you have a moment?”

“Yes. I have absolutely nothing to do.”

She knew the safe answer was to say she didn’t have time.

But as always, Irene’s brain stopped working properly the moment she faced Laseil.

“Do you… need help with something?”

“I’m on my way to a jeweler’s. Would you come with me?”

Thankfully, her brain did produce a reasonable thought this time.

Unfortunately, she followed it with her usual inability to refuse him.

If it were a haunted shack, maybe she’d hesitate—but a normal jewelry shop run by normal people?
Probably fine.

“Sure. Where is it?”

“Over there.”

And the moment she saw the place he pointed at, she regretted everything.

She had momentarily forgotten that jewelers do not operate at night.

“That one?”

It looked perfectly normal in the daytime,
but at night it looked instantly ominous.

She didn’t even want to ask why there were handprints on the window.

“The owner said strange things keep happening there.”

“…….”

The people of this territory already had skewed common sense.
If even they were calling something ‘strange,’
what on earth had happened?

“Is it very strange?”

“Not too dangerous. I think it’s a jewel they recently acquired.”

‘That’s the only thing wrong?’

Regret thickened as Irene followed behind him.

The jeweler wasn’t far from the inn—they arrived quickly.

“The door seems locked.”

“Just a moment, I have the key…”

Laseil rummaged in his pocket and took out a large keyring.

It was the bundle everyone had handed him on his first day here—
half from people he used to know, half from new acquaintances.

But all for the same reason:

‘To work as a knight in this territory, you often need to enter empty houses.’

And it was true.

Whenever people fled somewhere temporarily to avoid strange occurrences,
Laseil would go in to deal with the problem.

“Let’s go in. Do you have a lamp?”

“Hold on.”

Irene hesitated briefly, then snapped her fingers.

A violet aura flared quietly in the air.

“Will this do?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Laseil’s aura tended to burn things around him,
but Irene’s didn’t—
which made it useful for things like this.

She wrapped the aura around her dagger for a makeshift lantern
and stepped inside.

“Looks normal so far.”

It didn’t look obviously cursed, like the abandoned house or that tree they’d visited before.

“Which jewel is the problem?”

“Probably this one?”

A single gem caught her eye—
shining in a way no jewel should, glowing with a blood-like red light
that was clearly coming from itself.

If that wasn’t cursed, then what jewel ever would be?

“It doesn’t look too dangerous…”

Without hesitation, Laseil picked it up and examined it suspiciously.

Irene froze in pure shock at the sudden action.

‘He’s touching it just like that…?’

Sure, he was wearing gloves,
but they were practically decorative—far too thin for cursed objects.

‘…Why… did I agree to come…?’

Feeling her soul leave her body, Irene sank into despair.

If this had been a problem that required force,
it would’ve actually been better—
she had the skill,
she could’ve charged ahead without worrying.

But if courage was required…
that was a different story.

“Sir Sieren? Are you all right?”

“Yes! Perfectly fine!”

The moment she heard his voice, Irene snapped back to herself
and answered firmly.

Ghosts or no ghosts—
none of that mattered when she was standing in front of Laseil.