Chapter 3 (Part 4)

According to the knights, Patrick had never shown any interest in women. That’s why words like workaholic or training fanatic suited him.

Since he never let go of his sword outside of work, it was natural to think he wouldn’t have a lover. But it turned out to be her own misconception….

Is that why he’s pretending nothing happened yesterday?

Maybe he wanted to act as if nothing inappropriate happened because he has a fiancée. How bizarre it must have been to have such an incident while being engaged.

Thinking of Patrick avoiding her gaze made her chest feel tight, as if it were filled with heavy stones.

It was empty and miserable, and she felt ashamed of being the only one who cared and begged in this situation when the other party had no feelings.

She felt a sense of emptiness and embarrassment. It was natural since she had even deluded herself into thinking Patrick might have feelings for her.

At the same time, she became curious about who Patrick’s fiancée was. Who could it be that he had kept it a secret all this time?

The more she thought about it, the more suspicious things seemed.

The fact that he had never revealed her existence, acted as if he had no fiancée, and hardly met her—all of it was strange.

Regardless of it being a union between families, it was customary to spend time together. So, Patrick should have spent time with his fiancée at least once a month, but he didn’t….

Considering that the first time he was seen alone with a woman was just recently, it was natural to question whether Patrick’s fiancée really existed.

Is she really his fiancée? Could Sir Walker be joking?

Among the knights, the only one who knew about the fiancée was Walker. It doesn’t make any sense.

Given that Sir Walker enjoyed joking around, it was possible he lied to tease the members.

When asked who the fiancée was, he didn’t answer and avoided it with a smile, which was proof.

Moreover, she hadn’t heard from Patrick himself that he had a fiancée, so it wasn’t certain. And there was still the possibility that the woman Knox saw was just a close friend.

He was a polite person, so he would treat women with respect.

She’s probably just a noble lady he’s friendly with.

Believing that, Reina called her maid Olive to her room.

Olive was a spy placed by the Duchess Lennox to keep an eye on Reina, but now she had been swayed by Reina and did whatever she asked.

“Could you find out about Patrick’s fiancée as soon as possible?”

She shook a prepared pouch in front of her. It was a signal not to inform anyone else about what she found out. At that moment, Olive’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“I’ll go find out right away.”

Olive left the room excitedly.

She didn’t know how long it would take, but Olive, who loved money, would find out somehow. So, all she had to do was sit and wait for the news.

Reina secretly hoped Olive would return with the answer that there was no fiancée. She thought the chance was only 1%, but she wanted to believe in that chance.

Please let Sir Walker be wrong!

* * *

Although she had asked Olive to investigate, there was no news by the next morning, and Reina’s heart remained heavy and unsettled.

Even as dawn training began, she still felt like a heavy stone was weighing on her chest.

Despite that, she forced herself to finish the dawn training and was drinking water when she overheard an intriguing conversation.

“Shall we follow the commander during break time? I heard he has some personal business this afternoon. Maybe he’s going to meet his fiancée again?”

“Can we do that? What if we get caught?”

“It’ll be fine if we’re careful.”

It was a conversation between Knox and Tom.

Noble-born knights had no intention of prying into others’ private lives to maintain their dignity. But commoner-born knights were different.

Both Knox and Tom were commoner-born, so they seemed to have no qualms about planning to follow Patrick. Knox made the suggestion, and Tom was hesitating.

Although they were whispering, Reina, whose nerves were on edge, could hear their conversation clearly.

“Got some free time, huh? Can I join you?”

Reina interjected in a low voice. Knox and Tom looked at her with surprised eyes at the unexpected words.

“Huh? Ah, we have, uh, afternoon duty today.”

Their voices were full of confusion.

“Why? Are you going to say no again? If you say no, I’ll just follow you two secretly.”

She pointed out that they always left her behind when going to the hot springs and simultaneously threatened them. She refrained from threatening to tell Patrick, fearing it might stop the plan altogether.

“N-no, of course not. You can come along.”

Fortunately, Knox allowed her to join this time. Although he still looked flustered and was sweating nervously.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“We know the commander’s schedule today. He’s supposed to go to Fortuna Square for a while, so we suspect he might meet his fiancée there.”

Just hearing the word ‘fiancée’ made her mouth dry. While swallowing hard, Tom called out to Toby.

“Toby, you come too.”

“Huh? Me too?”

Toby looked confused at being called suddenly, as if wondering why he had to go.

“Yes, you. Lady Reina is your partner, so you should take care of her.”

“Oh… okay.”

It seemed that Tom and Knox found it bothersome to take care of Reina and were trying to pass the duty onto Toby. She wasn’t entirely oblivious, so she could read their intentions.

Normally, she would have declined, saying she wouldn’t go if they were so blatant about it, but not today. She didn’t want to back down since it involved Patrick.

The four of them decided to arrive at Fortuna Square before Patrick and wait for him to appear.

“Ah, Lady Reina, your hair color stands out, so you should cover it.”

Following Tom’s advice, Reina braided her hair and put on a black cloak. The cloak was large enough to hide her hair color.

Since there was only one place to wait, taking a carriage might risk being caught by Patrick. So, the four of them decided to ride their horses separately to Fortuna Square.

As soon as they arrived, they saw Patrick walking into the square and blending in with the crowd. The timing was almost exactly as Knox and Tom had predicted.

“Lady Reina, you’ll have to keep up on your own. Even if you can’t, we’ll go ahead.”

“Got it.”

The four of them held their breath and quietly followed Patrick. Contrary to their expectations that he would go to a quaint shop or café to meet his fiancée, he entered a weapon shop.

“What? So he’s not meeting his fiancée?”

“He might meet her after finishing his business.”

“Is that so?”

Knox and Tom looked disappointed but still seemed determined to continue following Patrick. Their eyes were burning with the resolve to see his fiancée no matter what.

* * *

“What the heck? Where did he disappear to?”

Patrick’s pace was so fast that it was almost impossible to keep up with him. He disappeared in an instant after leaving the weapon shop, leaving Tom and Knox flustered.

“This isn’t working. We’ll go ahead. Lady Reina, follow slowly with Toby.”

“Got it.”

After Knox and Tom disappeared, Toby cautiously spoke to Reina, watching her reaction.

“Wouldn’t it be better to head back now?”

“Already?”

“At this pace, it’s impossible to follow him.”

“Well, that’s true.”

As Toby said, there was no point in wandering around if they couldn’t keep up. Just as they were about to head back to the Lennox estate together, they heard a young girl’s voice from a secluded alley.

“H-Help me!”

The voice was small but close enough to be heard clearly. Reina and Toby exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.

They immediately ran toward the direction of the voice. There, they found two thugs surrounding a terrified, trembling girl.

“Let the child go!”

Toby shouted at them, showing his Royal Knights badge.

“A Royal Knights trainee? Ha, what a fearless rookie.”

The man showed no reaction despite the Royal Knights badge. It was unclear whether he was fearless or willing to risk his life, but the situation was dangerous.

“If you won’t heed my warning, I have no choice.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Toby charged at the men with his sword.

Though he was a trainee, his swordsmanship skills were top-notch. No, he had grown much since Reina first saw him.

He swiftly subdued the men and resolved the situation.

“I’ll take these guys to the guards. Let’s meet at the fountain in the center of the square.”

“Okay.”

While Toby carried the two men to the guards, Reina approached the crying girl.

“Are you okay?”

“Thank you.”

The girl sniffled but managed to express her gratitude.

“Where’s your home? Can you get back by yourself?”

“…”

The girl couldn’t answer and hesitated. Having experienced a threatening situation, it would be hard for her to return alone.

“Where’s your home? I’ll take you there.”

Reina took the girl’s hand and walked her to her home. She wondered why they kept heading to less populated areas, only to find that the girl lived in a slum. No wonder her clothes were so shabby.

Could those men have been human traffickers?

At that moment, Reina thought the men who confronted the girl might be human traffickers.

Kidnappings occasionally occurred in the capital, often targeting poor children to sell to other empires.

Even with the guards and Royal Knights patrolling, it was difficult to completely control such incidents. Hence, these situations occasionally happened.

“You must have been very scared. I hope you feel better after eating something nice.”

Wanting to help the frightened girl, she handed her a gold coin.

“Thank you. You saved me and even gave me money… How can I ever repay this kindness?”

“You don’t need to repay me. Instead, help a friend in danger if you see one. That would make me happy.”

“I will.”

After confirming that the girl entered her home, Reina turned to leave.