Black cushions clustered together on the right side of the large, rounded wooden floor. Someone who tidied up must have arranged them that way. 

Right next to the cushions sat a low bookshelf filled with well-worn books. On the left, a large window stretched wide with a sill broad enough to sit on.

‘I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere….’

Evolaine approached the window in a daze. Through the large window, the sunset glowed vividly. The beauty resembled viewing a famous painter’s work through the glass. She could see the distant forest and the nearby training grounds.

“Training grounds?”

She recognized them instantly. The training grounds visible directly below the study were where Evolaine first trained with Leopold. 

The place where she received special training while correcting her clumsy posture. If she could see that spot from here, it meant Cardel had watched her from this space back then.

‘He was watching me.’

Watching me sweat. Watching me collapse from exhaustion. …Watching me clench my teeth to hold back tears. Did he see it all?

While Evolaine was lost in sentiment, someone approached from behind, concealing their presence. The person who casually removed their shoes, crept up quietly, and grabbed Evolaine’s shoulders was…

“Evolaine, did you come looking for me?”

“Aaaah!!”

It was Elisa, the very purpose of her visit to the study. When Evolaine let out a shrill scream, Elisa laughed heartily.

“Ahaha! I didn’t think you’d be this startled, sorry about that.”

“…It’s fine.”

Evolaine muttered while calming her racing heart.

“I thought you’d come into the study and look for me right away, but I saw you just looking around. I played a little prank as punishment for making me wait.”

“You knew I’d come?”

“Of course. After hearing what you said at the banquet hall that time, there’s no way you’d just sit still, right?”

Evolaine nodded slowly. Just like Elisa said, she had been researching gypsies constantly since then.

“Follow me. Let’s sit and talk.”

When they moved deeper into the study, a desk and chairs were set up. Once Evolaine sat down, Elisa got straight to questioning.

“So what are you curious about?”

“I’d like to hear more details about Avilliaka Island that you mentioned before.”

Avilliaka Island. The homeland of different races and the gypsies’ home. Elisa had said the final destination of the last expedition was Avilliaka Island. Organizing an expedition meant they did so to accomplish some objective.

“If there’s a give, there must be a take. If I provide you information about Avilliaka Island, what can you give me?”

Elisa’s eyes curved into crescents. Wanting compensation meant she viewed Evolaine as a partner in a transaction. From this moment on, this place wasn’t simply for questions and answers, but for deals.

Evolaine opened her mouth, feeling her heart pound.

“I’ll tell you about what happened yesterday.”

“Something special happened yesterday?”

“…Yes.”

“Good, then let’s deal with that. Phil, bring me some documents.”

When Elisa gestured at the air, someone popped out from behind. Evolaine, startled enough to hiccup, covered her mouth in embarrassment.

“Say hello. This is one of the Lacrel Knights’ elite, part of Marchi.”

Marchi—weren’t they the knights deployed together when infiltrating the Duke of Arpi’s estate that time?

‘To use elite knights like servants…’

Evolaine had heard from Leopold that Elisa had stepped down from the position of knight commander some time ago. But seeing Marchi follow her made it seem she hadn’t completely let go.

‘The uniform colors and attached decorations are slightly different too.’

Somehow, her sunken spirits felt like they were igniting.

“Hello, Sir Knight. I’m Evolaine.”

“…Phil. I’m part of Marchi.”

Elisa chuckled inwardly at Evolaine’s eyes sparkling as she looked at Phil.

‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen such a transparent reaction.’

She had three children, but they were all so distinctly individualistic that they lived for their own satisfaction. That’s why they’d lost their cute sides long ago.

‘This is going to get more and more interesting.’

The taciturn Phil seemed burdened by Evolaine, but unfortunately, Evolaine was too busy observing Phil to notice. Phil sent signals asking for help, but Elisa simply smiled lightly and ignored them.

‘That’s your punishment for skipping training last time.’

Phil’s shoulders drooped after understanding the sentence Elisa conveyed silently. Phil, who brought the documents, left the study shortly after. Evolaine had so many things she wanted to ask him, but she swallowed her disappointment and promised herself there’d be a next time.

“If this deal is satisfactory, I’ll let you meet all of Marchi.”

“The Marchi Knights?!”

“Yes, if it’s satisfactory.”

At Elisa’s words, her determination blazed anew.

‘If I meet the Marchi Knights, I can ask them properly.’

If they were selected as elite knights even among the Lacrel Knights, the swordsmanship they practiced must be something different. For Evolaine, who had recently been troubled by Kelic not listening well again, this was the optimal reward.

However, there was something Evolaine didn’t know. Only a very small number within the Lacrel Knights had received this proposal in the first place. In other words, Elisa preselected talented children and gave them hints.

“I’ll work hard.”

“Good attitude.”

Once the scattered atmosphere returned, Elisa explained the rules of the deal.

“The deal I’ll make with you is an information exchange. To make a deal, you need to see the goods. But information doesn’t have a fixed form, so it’s ambiguous. What should we do in this case?”

“Um… shouldn’t we leave out the important parts when talking? Or I think it’d be good to give hints.”

“Good opinion. What you mentioned is actually one of the methods used in real information trading. But this method requires intuition.”

“Intuition?”

What’s important in information trading is how much you can entice the other party with minimal information. Naturally, this was a realm you could only feel instinctively after much experience. 

Subtle changes in expression. The appearance of minor habits. Peculiarities shown when psychology wavers.

“Starting today, once a month, you’ll practice information trading with me. Through this opportunity, sharpen your intuition.”

How much experience you gain depends on effort. Even experiencing something once yields different results depending on the person. 

While differences in talent exist, the biggest factor is effort. The will to do it. Practicing consistently. That’s more valuable than anything and brings double the results in any situation.

“Understood.”

“I’ll tell you the location and date right before.”

“We’re not doing it in the study?”

Elisa tucked Evolaine’s hair behind her ear as she tilted her head and explained.

“The first few times will be with me, but after that, you’ll go to actual trading sites. Real experience is most important.”

“I see…”

“Shall we start then?”

When Elisa’s eyes sharpened, Evolaine involuntarily gulped.

‘Can I do this well…?’

That night, Evolaine could only return to the dormitory after becoming completely exhausted.

* * *

The next morning… no, afternoon. Evolaine didn’t open her eyes until the sun was high in the sky.

“Ugh…”

Her whole body ached like someone had beaten her. She never imagined staying up just one night would make her this tired. Even after sleeping over twelve hours, her body felt limp. 

She barely managed to sit up with her eyes half-closed and pulled back the curtains, filling the room with hot sunlight.

Blink blink—

While lifting her heavy eyelids, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“…It’s me.”

A low voice. He didn’t state his name, but Evolaine instinctively recognized it was Cardel. She hurriedly washed her face roughly with water and opened the door to find Cardel, just as expected.

“Young Master? What brings you here so early in the morning…”

“Morning, what morning? It’s 1 PM right now.”

Evolaine froze solid like stone at Cardel casually stating the facts.

“One o’clock… already…?”

Leaving behind Evolaine, shocked at oversleeping, Cardel naturally entered the room.

“…”

The small but cozy interior. The only furniture was a bed, desk, and small wardrobe, but it was filled with Evolaine’s belongings in its own way.

“Did you sleep late yesterday?”

“No, I went to bed early but… I’m tired.”

“Well, of course you’d be tired after staying out all night.”

At Cardel’s blunt words, Evolaine awkwardly smiled and scratched her cheek.

“Wash up and get ready.”

“Do we have plans today?”

“Yeah. I’ll wait outside, so come out when you’re ready.”

With those words, Cardel left. 

‘Did I have something to do today?’

She didn’t think there was anything…

“…Let’s just wash up.”

Evolaine let out a deep sigh at the dark future ahead. After putting on her daily uniform and coming out, she saw Cardel waiting at the dormitory entrance.

“…Follow me.”

“Yes.”

Cardel headed to the main building. Evolaine, who had expected they’d be going out since he said they had plans, was slightly flustered. But she didn’t have the courage to ask him why, so she kept her mouth shut.

They arrived at the office during the continued silence, and Heron, with dark circles hanging heavily under his eyes, greeted them.

“He, Heron?!”

“It’s been a while, Dame Evolaine…”

‘I don’t think greetings are what’s important right now…’

His staggering appearance looked precarious, like he might collapse at any moment. Heron only greeted them before returning to sit at his desk. 

…And began frantically filling out documents and stamping them.

“…”

Evolaine couldn’t close her mouth at the indescribable scene.

“You sit here.”

“Hic! Hic…”

“…Just sit.”

Evolaine covered her hiccuping mouth and quickly sat at the desk. The desk positioned right next to Cardel’s was painted a deep green, giving off an antique atmosphere.

‘The chair is soft too.’

On the desk lay blank paper, a book, and an ink pen.

“Imperial… uh, Complete Mastery of… Emblems and… Letters…?”

What… is this?

“You read it correctly. Your skills must have improved a lot.”

When a shadow fell over the book, Evolaine creaked like rusted metal as she lifted her head. Cardel, holding steaming tea with the chandelier behind him, wore a bright smile.

“This is the book you’ll be studying from now on.”

“Studying… you mean?”

No way. The book is this thick?

“Until you’ve mastered it all, you won’t have any free time. Work hard.”