I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Are you kidding me right now? Is this really happening?

Looking closely, the nose even seemed a little similar.

But still, this can’t be!

“Huh? Why are you surprised?”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

I was so flustered that I put down my utensils and stared at him, he looked disappointed, his eyebrows drooping as he spoke.

“You never asked for my full name. That’s stingy of you, Rose.”

Is that supposed to be words or a fart?

I let out a hollow laugh and asked him.

“Then why do you work at the palace?”

At my question, he sighed deeply and then answered with a slightly serious face.

“Because I don’t want to be an informant! That’s so tiring. I hate managing people, and there’s so much to know. I like working alone. I’m going to save up money from the palace and go on an adventure!”

I just stood there, dumbfounded, quietly listening to his nonsense.

“I’ve got a good map, you see. It marks the location of the Red Dragon Lair. But I heard that about 10 years ago, the Gold Dragon and the Red Dragon fought, leaving the lair empty! If I go there, there will be a ton of mana stones. I’m going to sell them and start a business!”

His eyes sparkled.

He was so serious that I just nodded vaguely.

Aaron is involved with the informant business.

I was shocked, but I guessed it made sense.

He was quite of an oddball.

Anyway, it seems like things have worked out, so I dipped an asparagus into the sauce and put it in my mouth.

“But Rose, why did you give me Elgan sap?”

And I almost spat it out.

Aaron looked at me with a face full of pity and said,

“Rose, it’s dangerous to use medicine recklessly without knowing how to use it. You didn’t know!”

I covered my mouth to prevent any food from spilling out and stared at him.

It felt like I had just heard something incredibly shocking.

Was it my imagination?

He seemed unfazed.

Instead, he calmly shook his beer and continued speaking.

The beer in the glass swirled around, creating tiny bubbles.

“Elgan shouldn’t be used with alcohol. Look, the color has subtly changed. It still works, but there’s a high risk of getting caught.”

Aaron seriously offered me the beer, explaining as if he was imparting crucial information.

I glanced at the beer glass and broke out in a cold sweat.

What on earth is he saying so casually? Am I caught?

Then what happens to me now? As expected, I was too trusting of the diary and was careless.

I had a short thought.

Various bad scenarios passed through my mind.

“It turns from yellow to a deep orange, see, Rose? You saw it, right?”

My brain had been completely frozen just from the fact that I might have been caught, but his inexplicable attitude started to get my brain working again.

With trembling lips, I asked.

“Knowing that, why did you drink it?”

Aaron grinned sheepishly at my question, shrugged, and replied.

“Hmm, because it looked fun?”

Aaron’s eyes seemed to flash for a moment.

Chills ran down my arm.

Regardless, Aaron, acting as if he didn’t care, casually continued the conversation while transferring a grilled tomato onto my plate.

“But the Elgan sap, did you steal it from the secret storage from His Highness the Crown Prince’s bedroom, Rose?”

What? A storage?

I looked at Aaron with my mouth slightly open.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t grasp what kind of person he was.

Was there a storage in the male lead’s room?

And how did he know about it?

Aaron pointed to the bag I brought and continued.

“Didn’t you steal it?”

“No, I didn’t!”

“What’s that then?”

I stared at Aaron’s face for a long time at his words.

It seemed like he was subtly trying to change the subject.

Why?

I would be lucky if he didn’t slap me, so why did he just let it go with such an attitude? Is it just because Aaron is crazy?

Or did he know I was suspecting him and was trying to prove his innocence in advance?

It felt awkward, but there was nothing I could do in this situation, so I opened the bag and showed him what I had brought.

“Trash. I’m going to sell it.”

“Wow, Rose, you’re smart.”

Aaron quickly got up and started examining the trash I had stolen from the male lead.

And I kept an eye on him.

“But if it’s a royal item, you could get caught if you’re not careful…”

“I have to sell it secretly.”

“Rose, do you need money urgently?”

* * *

In the end, he led me to a secluded corner of the village market square.

It was a small jewelry store.

Aaron went inside as if he knew the place well.

The interior looked like an ordinary store, with modest accessories on display.

However, since the junk belonging to the male lead could be treated as stolen goods, the place Aaron brought me to was certainly not ordinary.

“Hello, Fred!”

“Oh! Long time no see, Aaron!”

Fred, with his shaggy brown beard, greeted Aaron as he polished a crystal glass.

He seemed to know Aaron too.

“Please buy this!”

Aaron placed the prince’s trash on Fred’s desk, and Fred, as if accustomed to Aaron’s behavior, nonchalantly took out a perfume bottle from the bag and said.

“Hmm, with this, you can at least get 3 silver each!”

3 silver?

I was surprised at the quite expensive price, but what Aaron said next was even more surprising.

“Wow! Give me 4 silver. If you don’t, I’ll go somewhere else.”

“…3 silver and 5 copper.”

“Wow, Rose, let’s go somewhere else!”

“4 silver!”

He was quite capable, befitting the grandson of an information broker who managed to secure not one, but three invitations from the third prince. I bit my lip.

Despite knowing his drink was spiked, why did he drink it? The answer to my question was simply “Because it looked fun.” He really acted like a male lead.

While I was seriously agonizing over his true identity, the carefree orange-haired guy seemed to have no thoughts at all.

“Rose! Look at this! I earned some money!”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

I accepted the money pouch Aaron handed me and bowed my head.

Now that my use of the drug was discovered, I couldn’t just let it slide.

Assuming the drug had its intended effect, the person who leaked the information was not the one with the orange hair.

If he really was the grandson of the information broker, it seemed not a bad idea to get along with him.

I had no allies here, and I had to survive somehow until before the original story began.

For that, I needed allies, so the information broker’s grandson was quite a useful connection.

So, I pretended to be sorry and grabbed his coat as he swaggered around cheerfully.

“Sorry.”

“Hm?”

I swallowed my breath and chose my words carefully.

“The, the drug in your drink.”

“Eh? Rose. What’s wrong!”

And I bit my lip harder, making a pitiful face, and gripped the hem of Aaron’s clothes tighter.

“I’m sorry. It was wrong of me, I shouldn’t have done that, I’m so sorry for spiking your drink.”

“Rose, are you okay?”

Aaron showed a rare expression of confusion at my words.

Then he stared at me intensely for a moment.

For some reason, at that moment, I felt a chill down my spine.

Is it just my imagination?

It seemed like his eye color changed from a deep brown to gold… Maybe it’s because of the light.

“Rose, want to go eat some fruit?”

Aaron said with a bright smile.

He held out his hand to me.

“Let’s go.”

I silently took Aaron’s hand.

Aaron led me into the center of the market, which was bustling with people.

“Look, Rose! This fruit comes from the Hedolt region!”

Aaron handed me a fluffy fruit that looked like ice cream, and I took it with a sniffle.

“Thank you, Aaron.”

I smiled brightly at him.

For a moment, his expression hardened, but soon he was smiling again and led me to the town square fountain.

“Rose, I’m fine, so from now on, make sure to learn how to use such things in advance. It could lead to trouble later.”

I nodded at Aaron’s advice.

But then, someone bumped into my shoulder as they passed by. A whiff of hazelnut scent brushed my nose, and due to the impact, the fruit I was holding loosely fell to the ground.

Of course, I turned my head to find the culprit, and our eyes met.

I felt a jolt of electricity run through my body.

Brown hair fluttering in the wind, and something instinctual.

The woman in the robe quickly passed through the crowd, and I had no choice but to follow Aaron and leave the spot.

My heart started pounding like crazy.

Who was that woman?