‘Don’t trust Vanessa too much?’

Ailexia, who had thrown out such an absurd statement without any reason, disappeared without a trace. Iella belatedly went out of the alley to look for her, but she had already vanished from sight as if she had evaporated. Unable to tell which of the many alleyways she had gone down, Iella had to give up the pursuit.

All that remained was bewilderment.

‘Is she joking?’

But her expression had been far too solemn for that—so much so that Iella was surprised she could even make such a face. That’s why she couldn’t dismiss the nonsensical statement outright and was now pondering it.

‘No. Whose words am I believing here?’

But that didn’t last long. Iella lightly slapped both her cheeks to regain her senses. There was no need to consider who she trusted more. She had spent more time with Vanessa and Seon-i than Ailexia had been with Vanessa.

She knew Vanessa better than anyone else.

Shaking off her thoughts, Iella immediately left the alley. She hadn’t realized when she was blindly chasing Ailexia, but now she saw that the alley she was in was deeper than expected. The atmosphere was the complete opposite of the city streets—very dark and eerie, giving her the chills.

Iella shuddered once and quickened her steps.

The problem appeared not long after.

“……”

It seemed she had lost her way.

‘……Which way should I go?’

The alleys were more complex than she had thought. They all looked exactly the same. This was especially true because she had been blindly following Ailexia without paying attention to her surroundings.

Suppressing a sigh at her own carelessness, Iella first examined the ground around her. The poorly maintained path had many stones that could trip her. She picked up one of a suitable size and drew a mark on the wall. Fortunately, it left a clear trace.

It was then.

“Hahaha! At that time, I was like, huh? And went all-in with my chips!”

“You crazy bastard, buy us a round!”

“Are you insane? Today, this big brother is going to enjoy everything alone.”

“Look at this little one talking big when he has no stamina.”

“F*ck. That’s not true!”

From somewhere came boisterous voices along with the footsteps of several people. Startled, Iella cautiously peeked her head out toward the direction of the sound and saw a group of large men coming in a bunch at the far end of the alley that bent to the right.

Iella immediately straightened her posture.

‘They’re coming this way?’

She couldn’t know exactly which direction they would go. There were several paths besides their alley and the one Iella was in. However, one thing was certain: to go in any direction, they would have to pass by the entrance of the alley where she was.

‘Should I go back?’

But the alley she was in was quite long for that. Moreover, even if she managed to avoid them, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t come to where she had hidden. Then she would have to keep going back or change direction to another path, and if she got more lost in the process, it would be a big problem.

Meanwhile, the men’s voices grew closer and closer. The content of their conversations, now more audible, was full of vulgar remarks about women. If nothing else, she strongly felt that if caught, she would certainly be seized by them.

Just as Iella was about to turn back as quietly but quickly as possible, the boisterous voices of the men suddenly disappeared.

‘……What’s going on?’

Confused by the sudden silence, Iella turned her head. She worried that perhaps they had noticed someone was there and had gone quiet. If so, escaping was already impossible.

Biting her lip tightly, she hurriedly looked around. She was searching for a weapon that could at least momentarily make them hesitate. Fortunately, there was a wooden club nearby. It wasn’t in great condition, but there was no time to be picky. Iella quickly grabbed the club. Then, hiding in the darkness as much as possible, she held her breath and waited.

However, no one appeared no matter how long she waited. She realized there wasn’t even a sense of presence anymore.

‘Did they turn back?’

Only then feeling something strange, Iella slowly lowered the club. She stayed like that a bit longer, but nothing changed. After a moment’s hesitation, she readjusted her grip on the club and moved quietly out of the alley. She intended to take a quick look.

But as she leaned forward to peek, her forehead collided with something solid.

“Ah!”

“……What are you doing here?”

Startled, Iella stepped back. As she checked what was in front of her with an expression close to tears, holding her forehead, a familiar voice reached her ears. Relief washed over her immediately.

It was Aster.

“Why are you in an alley like this…? Huh. And what is that?”

Contrary to Iella’s face brightening with joy, Aster frowned and scrutinized her thoroughly. Then, seeing the menacing club in her hand, he let out a laugh of disbelief.

Only then did Iella check the club in her hand and hastily hid it behind her back. She didn’t forget to drop it slightly to the ground.

The problem was that the surroundings were so quiet that the sound of the dropped club hitting the ground echoed unmistakably clear.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence passed between them.

Iella lowered her gaze diagonally out of embarrassment. She couldn’t shake the feeling that a similar situation had occurred before.

Aster stared at her for a moment, then ran a dry hand over his face once before speaking first.

“Let’s go to the street for now.”

Then he turned around and walked away, and Iella couldn’t help but see his back as exceptionally broad. She was filled with joy at finally being able to escape this alley.

Iella quickly followed after Aster with trusting steps.

* * *

Following someone who knew the way, she was able to reach the city streets quickly, unlike her long wandering before.

Iella looked up at the sky with a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, not much time had passed, as it was still daylight. The sunlight was so bright it almost hurt her eyes.

“So you snuck out of the secondary palace again.”

At that moment, Aster, who had already removed his robe, asked again. Iella considered how to answer, but thinking there was no need to hide it since many people had already seen her with Chase, she spoke honestly.

“I came out with the Grand Duke. He had something to do and left first.”

“His Grace left you alone?”

He asked with an expression of surprise. She wondered if it was that questionable for the Grand Duke to leave Ailexia alone. Apparently, he had been quite obvious about it normally.

‘Or maybe Aster knows because he’s the head of the ducal family.’

Although they were close friends, Aster was the head of the Calver ducal family, the guardians of the north. And the Calver ducal family was a high-ranking noble family of the Empire.

The intelligence network of high-ranking nobles couldn’t be underestimated. While Iella didn’t know exactly what level it reached, she was confident they would easily know that Chase was Ailexia’s patron. Aster’s reaction suggested he knew even more than that.

“I sent him away.”

At Iella’s answer, Aster made an expression that seemed to say, “Well, of course.” That wasn’t very surprising. Ailexia wasn’t the type to hide her feelings toward Chase. Since that wasn’t something that applied only to Chase, it wasn’t particularly special.

Iella looked at Aster for a moment, then turned her head. Regrettably, now that they had reached a bright place, it was time to part ways with him. This combination wasn’t particularly good in a situation where she couldn’t reveal her true identity.

‘I was planning to tell Nix about meeting Ailexia anyway. I should be satisfied with having seen him after so long.’

However, as Iella was about to bid farewell, Aster suddenly grabbed her hand.

Surprised by the unexpected contact, Iella could only stare with wide eyes at her hand being lifted up, unable to take any action.

“……”

Slightly frowning, he examined her hand carefully, then briefly checked her other hand as well. Then, with a deep sigh, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it on her palm.

Immediately after, as if he too was surprised by his own action, he hesitated for a moment and seemed about to remove the handkerchief, but upon seeing the exposed wound, he moved again as if nothing had happened.

She felt the pressure of his hand pressing down on her palm, as if to stop the bleeding.

“For someone who values their body so much, you sure handled something like that.”

“What……”

At his words, which were an odd mix of concern and sarcasm, Iella made a confused expression. Aster then removed the handkerchief to show her palm. Her hand was a mess with small thorns embedded here and there and wounds oozing blood.

Iella stared at it blankly, then naturally raised her other hand to check. While not as severe, this hand wasn’t completely clean either.

‘When did this happen….’

The answer came immediately. Among the things she had held today, only the wooden club could have caused such injuries. Unlike the stone she had briefly used to mark the wall, she had gripped the club tightly with both hands. The thorns embedded in her hands could only have come from there.

‘I didn’t even know it hurt.’

Iella glanced at Aster. She felt grateful to him for noticing so attentively that she was injured, when she herself had been so distracted that she hadn’t even realized she was hurt, let alone feeling pain. At the same time, she realized what similar situation she had been reminded of when caught with the club earlier.

‘It was like this when we first met too.’

Back then, she had approached him with a wooden stick for self-defense due to a misunderstanding. She had hidden it behind her back just the same, and it had been pointless as he had caught her anyway.

‘And he was the first to notice my injured hands then too.’

It was right after he had helped find a child’s parents. Just like now, he had taken out a handkerchief to stop the bleeding. Even though the wound wasn’t as severe as now. She remembered refusing because the blood had already dried and it didn’t hurt much.

‘I must have forgotten because the lost child incident and exchanging names at the end were more intense memories.’

Iella suppressed a smile that was trying to form as she watched Aster now examining her other hand as well. He hadn’t changed at all since then. He was still the same kind and warm person.

As she was thinking this, Aster suddenly grabbed her arm and turned around.