Chapter 5
“You fool!”
An interview with the Commissioner of the Patent Office was no easy feat. Even this time, it was a fortunate opportunity that arose only because the previous interview had been cancelled. If she went home like this, she couldn’t guarantee when her next appointment would be.
Although the elevator was approaching, Hamiel quickly turned around and headed back to the Commissioner’s office. Perhaps she could still coordinate the date for her next meeting with Rosen.
“Excuse me, Mr. Hazel…”
But, throwing aside propriety, when she opened the door to the secretary’s office, there was no one inside.
Hamiel tilted her head. She was certain she had been the only one to leave, and she hadn’t heard any sign of Rosen exiting the secretary’s office either.
The mystery of Rosen’s sudden disappearance was soon solved. The door leading to the Commissioner’s office was slightly ajar.
Approaching the door, she could see inside the Commissioner’s office.
It was an enormous, magnificent office, incomparable to the secretary’s office. Through the large windows flooded with sunlight, the city of Belforst could be seen at a glance.
In the center stood a desk so large that two men could lie down on it. A plush chair, seemingly custom-made to match the desk, had its back to the door.
At first glance, Rosen was nowhere to be seen, but Hamiel soon noticed the chair was subtly shaking. A voice could be heard speaking on the telepin from the chair.
“…The postmark on the letter and the patent date are real. I just checked. Did the Price Guild say anything?”
It seemed like they were talking about Hamiel.
“Is that so… Alright. Send a telepin to the Guild Master. Tell them I have urgent business to discuss, so we need to meet right away. Oh, and also tell them to come empty-handed.”
While Hamiel stood silently peering through the door, the voice grew more excited, its pace quickening slightly.
“This is a big one. The naive young lady from Count Walter’s estate came to file for patent invalidation. And against the Price Guild. We can squeeze a pretty good sum out of either side. …What? You’re asking who’s the real one?”
As if asking such a thing was pointless, the energy in the voice slightly deflated.
“Cedric, how long have you been working under me? …Right, three years. Don’t you think it’s about time you started catching on?”
A strange chill settled into the previously excited voice.
“Whether it’s real or not doesn’t matter.”
The chair spun around. A face filled with bored annoyance was revealed.
“What matters is cashing in big on thi…”
The voice stopped. The Commissioner’s office, which had been vibrant just moments ago, suddenly fell into a dead silence.
Hamiel clicked her tongue softly, arms crossed. Rosen, who had been sitting in the Commissioner’s chair, blinked in confusion.
“…Why?”
“I forgot to mention something about the date for my next visit.”
“…Since when?”
“Since the part where you said the letter and date were real.”
Hamiel answered calmly, without a hint of panic.
She had known it was Rosen from the moment she heard the voice inside the Commissioner’s office. This wasn’t the first time she had faced the truth in front of a door that hadn’t been properly closed, so there was nothing to be surprised about.
Rosen swallowed dryly, then soon gave an awkward laugh.
“Uh… You’ve unintentionally seen an ugly side of me. Please, would you keep this a secret?”
“It doesn’t matter as long as you handle the task I requested properly.”
“No, no. Lady Hamiel. What I mean is…”
Rosen jumped up from the chair and strode quickly towards Hamiel. Hamiel stepped back a few paces and held up her palm to stop him.
“Stop right there, Mr. Hazel.”
Rosen stopped, a few steps away. His face looked like he had a great deal he wanted to say.
She would have liked to hear him out, but that would come after she had said her piece first.
“What I want is simply to reclaim my rights. And I know that you are perfectly capable of helping me. I won’t tell anyone about your true identity, so I’m asking you to handle the matter I mentioned.”
“My true identity?”
Rosen smiled awkwardly and showed his palms. His slightly drooping eyebrows and woeful eyes made him look exactly like a puppy caught in the rain.
“I’m just a secretary, Lady Hamiel. As you saw, the most I can do is sneak in here and sit in the chair when the Commissioner is away. What on earth could I possibly do? I can certainly put in a good word for you, but the Commissioner isn’t an easy person.”
“The Commissioner’s telepin is in your ear.”
Rosen flinched as if burned and quickly pulled the telepin out of his ear. Then he gave an embarrassed laugh.
“This is just for show, just for show. Look at this, it’s much better than my telepin. The sound quality is incredibly clear too. Oh dear, it seems I’ve added one more thing to keep secret. Please keep the fact that I used the telepin without permission a secret as well.”
Rosen clasped his hands together and looked at Hamiel. His face was pitiful enough to move anyone who saw it, but Hamiel simply shook her head.
“I don’t know why you’re lying, Mr. Hazel. But I won’t ask about the lies. Because to me, the fact that you are the Commissioner of the Patent Office is more important.”
“Me?!”
Rosen looked startled, placing a hand on his chest and widening his eyes. His reaction was as if he had never even imagined such a thing.
“What are you talking about? Me, the Commissioner? If you’re misunderstanding just because I sat in the Commissioner’s chair once…”
“A nice scent. What fragrance is it?”
Hamiel abruptly cut Rosen off. Rosen looked down at her with a puzzled face.
“Ah… yes. It must be the diffuser on the desk.”
As Hamiel stared intently at Rosen, he answered with a face that showed he had no idea what was going on. Regardless of his intention, if it could change the subject, Rosen was grateful for it.
“It doesn’t seem like a common fragrance.”
“No, it’s Aranthian water lily. It’s a scent you’d be hard-pressed to find around here. It’s only been ten days since it went into product development…”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“?”
At Hamiel’s confident words, Rosen tilted his head. Hamiel gestured with her chin towards the diffuser on the desk.
“Who else around here would be walking around with the scent of Aranthian water lily on them, if not the Commissioner?”
“Well, Lady Hamiel. I am the Commissioner’s secretary, so coming and going from the Commissioner’s office…”
“Is it really possible for the scent to cling to you enough to be noticeable all the way in Kyrgyz, just from briefly coming and going from the Commissioner’s office?”
“…”
Rosen’s pupils shook noticeably. Hamiel quietly watched Rosen’s face harden.
The scent wafting through the door was unmistakably the same scent as the man she had met in Kyrgyz. Since he himself said it was a scent hard to find nearby, he couldn’t make the excuse that it was someone else.
Hamiel raised her hand and covered her eyes and nose. Rosen flinched when he saw her slightly exposed chin.
“Yesterday, in Kyrgyz. Do you remember?”
“…”
“I was grateful then. But I hope you understand that was then, and this is now.”
Rosen was silent. Intense conflict flickered in his blue eyes as he quietly gazed at Hamiel.
Hamiel took another step back.
“Then think it over and contact me, Commissioner.”
Hamiel turned her back and walked towards the secretary’s office door. Rosen still said nothing, but Hamiel had said all she needed to, so there was no more to hear.
Just as Hamiel reached the secretary’s office door and was about to turn the handle.
Bang!
The door, which was just about to open, was pushed shut by a hand reaching out from behind her. Startled by the sound, Hamiel turned around, and at that moment, a large hand gently covered her mouth.
“…?!”
“Shh.”
Pushed against the door in an instant, Hamiel’s eyes widened.
Rosen’s face was right in front of hers.
His narrowed eyes, slightly furrowed brow, and twisted lips were still handsome, but there was no goodwill whatsoever. His blue eyes were tinged with a faint irritation, like a predator that had spotted an annoying enemy.
“It would have been better if you had just pretended not to know.”
“…”
The voice, stripped of its gentle and polite tone, was chilling. Hamiel quietly swallowed dryly.
It wasn’t that she was tied up, but she couldn’t move her body. An inexplicable darkness flickered in the blue eyes staring straight at her.
“I only thought you were a naive young lady who didn’t know the world, but I suppose that won’t do.”
Rosen smirked. It was a horrifically bright smile.
“Well then, let’s…”
Hamiel closed her eyes. Seeing her face, seemingly resigned to everything, Rosen’s smile deepened.
“Ow!”
Suddenly, Rosen flinched back as if burned, startled. As Rosen’s hand fell away, Hamiel let out a long breath and opened her eyes.
Rosen was glaring at her, holding the hand that had just covered her mouth. His palm was turning red.
“You, what did you…”
“It’s a dangerous world for a woman to travel alone.”
Hamiel opened her clenched fist. A short, rod-shaped Melteor crystal lay in her palm.
“It’s a self-defense magical tool I made myself. It forcibly draws in surrounding magical waves to generate heat. But I haven’t finished clinical trials yet, so it might be a bit dangerous.”
“What?”
“Judging by the swelling speed, it seems a little strong. Or no, maybe this is just right?”
While Hamiel tilted her head, lost in thought, Rosen let out a hollow laugh of disbelief.
“You used a person as a test subject…?”
“And.”
Hamiel added calmly.
“I’ve been meaning to say this, but killing me isn’t a very good choice, Commissioner.”
“…What?”
“The one who stole my patent is my own older brother. He wants to marry me off to the Marquis Restvin family using me, and if I suddenly disappear, my brother will do whatever it takes to find me. If he finds out I’ve disappeared from Kiphrich, who knows what demands he might make of you using that as leverage.”
“…”
“The Count Walter estate may not be a powerful family, but they have money to burn, so you’ll probably find yourself in a lot of trouble too. And all because I simply disappeared from here.”
Hamiel calmly explained to Rosen. Rosen, who had been quietly watching her, answered with a face that looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Who said anything about killing you?”
“…Yes?”
