Chapter : 4 – Is This a Scam? A Scam?
What happened last night—Cielie knew nothing about it.
Cielie kept pouring alcohol into her glass without stopping. Her teammates, who were worried while watching her gloomy expression, tried to cheer her up in their own ways, but she didn’t respond and only kept drinking.
‘Ha. So annoying.’
Saha, who was half-squinting and hiding his suspicious expression, was about to say something directly—
“Commander! Where are you going?”
Leonard, who had been sitting at the head seat drinking, stood up. When the superior got up, the other knights naturally had to stand as well. Cielie, who had just been about to drink again, put down her glass and stood up too.
She turned her head after feeling a sharp gaze on her cheek—and when her eyes met Leonard’s, she froze on the spot.
“What? Did you do something wrong?”
“No?”
Cielie’s face was already red and her eyes unfocused, but Saha didn’t notice. She usually held her alcohol well, so no one expected her to get drunk from just a few drinks. But her mind, already weakened from stress and exhaustion, had long been overtaken by alcohol.
“Why is the Commander staring at you like that?”
“…It’s not just me who feels that, right?”
“It looks like that to me too.”
At Lante’s confirmation, it became clear. Cielie rolled her eyes around before turning her head away, pretending not to care. Leonard’s gaze felt sharp on her cheek, but she endured it.
“Knight Cielie.”
At his call, she had no choice but to turn back. Saha’s hand, which had been resting on her shoulder, slowly dropped.
“Commander.”
Leonard, who had been staring at Saha lowering his arm, shifted his gaze again when Cielie spoke. Her expression looked worse as she urged him to respond.
‘You called me but why aren’t you saying anything?’
She wanted to complain that he was ruining the mood, but she held it in tightly and kept a polite expression.
Leonard took a pen from his pocket and handed it to her.
“You can keep it.”
“I’m not shameless enough to do that.”
‘What’s wrong with just taking a pen?’
Was he saying he didn’t want something from her or what?
She almost said it out loud but forced herself to endure it ten times over. Cielie returned the pen, and Leonard walked away, leaving her staring blankly at his back.
“What was that? What was that about?”
“That pen from earlier.”
“Why are you returning it here?”
“How would I know!”
Cielie didn’t want to add more thoughts to her already complicated mind.
“Drink!”
At times like this, alcohol was best. She raised her glass again. Saha and Lante also lifted theirs immediately. The three of them drank it all in one go and continued drinking heavily.
By the end of the gathering, Cielie staggered out of the tavern. Someone quietly stood up to follow her, but the heavily drunk knights didn’t notice.
Even while stumbling, Cielie managed not to fall. Suddenly, she stopped. She had been feeling someone behind her for a while. She thought it was just her imagination—but it wasn’t. She turned around irritably.
“Ha, seriously. Why do you keep following me!”
“Knight, my house is this way.”
Cielie’s hand lit up with light.
“Is that arrow meant to shoot me?”
Then she realized the voice sounded familiar.
She immediately dismissed her magic bow and squinted to see clearly.
“Oh? Commander!”
“Leonard.”
“Ah, Commander is Commander.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“This is your way home?”
Leonard nodded.
Cielie stepped aside politely.
“Then please go ahead.”
“Very well.”
As she watched Leonard walk away, she tilted her head again and headed home.
When she entered her dark room, she reached toward the table—but there was nothing there.
‘It’s always supposed to be here… water?’
The table itself didn’t even feel right.
But too drunk to think properly, she immediately collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.
The next morning
“Why are you here?”
Leonard frowned in disbelief.
Cielie was speechless.
‘That’s what I want to ask!’
But Leonard continued calmly.
“This is my house.”
“This is our house.”
Cielie looked around in confusion.
‘What is this?’
All her belongings were gone, replaced with luxurious furniture she had never owned. The desk, the decorations—none of it belonged to her.
She touched the bed.
“Wait… this isn’t my blanket?”
“I told you before. This is my house.”
At his uncomfortable tone, Cielie suddenly stood up.
“I’m not only drunk, I even fell asleep in my superior’s bed?!”
“Knight, do you have more to say?”
“N-no!”
She quickly ran out of the room.
Walking through the hallway, she felt something familiar. The window view, the empty hallway with no plants—everything felt like her house.
Even the arrow mark stuck in the window frame—it was from when she had accidentally fired a magic arrow while training at home. She had even hidden it with a small tapestry, which was now gone.
‘This is definitely my house…’
Even though her belongings were missing, the structure was exactly the same.
She rushed downstairs and checked the front door.
It was her house.
Confirming this, she quickly ran back upstairs and burst into the bedroom without knocking.
And froze.
Leonard was there, half-naked.
“Com—!”
“….”
Leonard didn’t move. He only turned his face to look at her.
Cielie couldn’t move at all.
His sharp black eyes locked onto hers. His toned upper body, visible abs, and the defined lines below made her eyes instinctively drift downward.
After a moment, he spoke slowly.
“You are rude, Knight.”
“Ah, sorry… no, that’s not it.”
She bowed instinctively, then snapped out of it.
“This is our house!”
“What are you talking about? I clearly said this is my house.”
His tone was clearly irritated.
But Cielie didn’t back down.
“No! This is the house I’ve been living in—”
“Oh. You must be the tenant.”
“T-tenant?”
“Yes. The tenant who refused to leave even after being asked to move out a week ago.”
“A week?! It’s only been two days!”
Cielie raised her voice.
“I only found out yesterday that this house was sold!”
At her shout, Leonard’s eyebrow twitched.
“Knight.”
His voice filled the room.
Cielie’s anger cleared slightly. Her belongings were gone, and a half-naked man was standing in front of her.
‘Wait… half-naked man?’
“Could you step out so I can change?”
“My belongings—where are they?”
“The storage room on the first floor.”
“Thank you!”
She rushed out but immediately regretted it.
‘I should’ve asked for time…’
But Leonard’s gaze was too intense.
She shook her head to forget his bare upper body and went downstairs again.
She opened the storage room.
‘Unbelievable.’
Her belongings were carelessly dumped inside like trash.
Her inheritance meant nothing if she couldn’t use it. The money was locked in the bank, requiring approval from both her and her uncle, the head of the family. If she went to the bank, her uncle would take everything.
So she avoided it entirely.
For three years, she survived on a knight’s salary, saving every bit of money just to escape renting. She was supposed to buy her own house in two months.
“My deposit!”
This house had a low rent but a high deposit. What would happen to it now? Where did the previous owner go?
Before she could think further, she turned around.
“Deposit? You didn’t get it? The previous owner left the country.”
“What?”
“They sold the house quickly and left. I bought it from them.”
Cielie’s mind went blank.
‘Then what happens to my deposit?’
Her brain couldn’t process it.
Leonard sighed.
At that sound, Cielie came back to her senses slightly.
The person in front of her was her superior… and now her landlord.
‘My boss is my landlord?!’
Tears almost formed in her eyes, but she pressed her hand against them.
Then Leonard spoke calmly.
“It seems… you’ve been scammed.”
