“That’s why I’m being honest with you now. Though countless different masks exist within me, I want to be just one person for you.”

His hand caressed Debbie’s cheek.

“I am Blake L. Barnabas, an illegitimate child who doesn’t know his parents but carries Clarence’s bloodline, a thief who climbs over walls, a president, an editor-in-chief, and a freelance reporter. But for you, I want to remain just one.”

His thumb traced across Debbie’s lips.

Become mine.

Those words he wanted to speak aloud but feared to voice, dreading rejection.

Debbie gazed at his pink eyes in fascination. Those tender pink eyes that seemed too ethereal to exist in this world were trembling.

He might regret this. It was contradictory.

How could someone who claimed he’d gladly die while risking his life to uncover others’ secrets by precariously climbing over walls promise eternity to someone?

But now he knew. He wanted this spirited woman more than anything in the world. He wanted to possess her, even if it meant stealing her.

Moments of repeated hesitation.

“Be honest with me.”

Debbie gave him a chance.

“Say you want to date me.”

Debbie suddenly kissed his lips. Blake, caught off guard, jerked his head back in surprise.

But thinking about it, there was no reason to avoid it. He made excuses to himself that he couldn’t escape because Debbie’s arms had pulled his neck toward her.

Even a small excuse was fine. The world slowed down and only Debbie came into sharp focus.

“Mmph!”

Debbie’s lips stole his. Her brave kiss pressed firmly against his lips like stamping a seal.

Just when he wondered if this reckless approach could even be called a kiss, she pulled away and huffed indignantly.

“Stop confusing me by going back and forth!”

The same woman who had first declared that kissing lips harbored impure intentions now shamelessly shouted.

“Because you hesitated, I got confused thinking you were different people! Is it fun teasing me? Well, it’s not fun for me being the victim!”

Blake couldn’t determine whether she was angry or asking him out.

Reading her thoughts was the most difficult thing in the world.

She got angry at things he did to please her and was moved by things he did carelessly.

“If we’re going to date, make your attitude clear!”

Irritation tinged her voice. Her voice, words, and expression were all at odds with each other.

This probably doesn’t mean she dislikes it.

Blake looked into Debbie’s eyes with a bewildered expression.

She said dates would end the moment I kissed her lips, but what happens when she kisses first?

“If you had been upfront from the beginning, I would have been in the same boat as you.”

She furrowed her brow.

“This is punishment for revealing the truth so late.”

Debbie kissed Blake’s lips again.

Smooch.

It was still an awkward kiss. Why was her body trembling while she kissed with an angry expression? Like coveting forbidden fruit.

Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

She was the one being dishonest. Blake chuckled softly, then tilted his head slightly to give her a proper kiss.

Tsk.

Their lips briefly overlapped with a light touch before separating momentarily.

Before she could pull further away, he drew her soft lips fully into his mouth, and when she tried to jerk her head back in surprise, he reached out to support the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.

Her eyes widened and his tongue slipped through the gap of her defenseless lips.

Light resistance arose but soon she obediently allowed his approach, and strength drained from her body. After lightly exploring inside her mouth, their breaths mingled thickly.

Now it finally felt like a first kiss.

Though he had tasted these lips before, previously he hadn’t been certain she would become his, and afterward she had kept her distance, making them two people who couldn’t blend together.

But at this moment, the two were one.

“Hah, hah!”

She pushed him away, gasping for breath. Her face was completely flushed red with disheveled hair tangled around it, but her bewildered expression of not knowing what to do was endearing.

Now confident that it was okay to make her this disheveled, he wanted to trouble her even more. So he pressed their lips together again.

Smooch.

She quickly inhaled, perhaps expecting a long kiss, but this time he gave her one slow, lingering kiss, licking her lips with his tongue before releasing her.

The wistful look that crossed her face made the corners of his mouth turn up. His hand wrapped around her back while his other hand caught her skirt hem.

The desires he had forcibly suppressed all this time were released at once, and he couldn’t control his unconsciously reaching hands.

Flash, flash.

The crystal orb signaled when something urgent arose.

Only then realizing there was no time for this, Blake reluctantly smacked his lips and straightened the steering wheel.

* * *

“Save me. I’m wanted.”

Eli approached like a beggar with both hands raised in surrender.

“Eli, I was in danger too because of the information you gave me. I’m thinking you and Marquis Clarence conspired together to leak false information. How can you shamelessly appear before me?”

Blake glared at Eli with displeasure.

“Look, I didn’t know either. They must have leaked that information because they suspected me. Just trust me one more time. If I get caught, I won’t avoid Henrietta’s fate either.”

Eli gave a servile smile while keeping his hands raised and even kneeling.

“I’m a penniless beggar now. They took my business, and if I lose my life too, I’ll have nothing left.”

When Blake continued watching him with wary eyes, Eli smiled bitterly.

“If I was going to snitch, I would have specifically called you out. They only have suspicions without proof, so they set a trap, right?”

“But there’s no evidence that you didn’t collude with Marquis Clarence either.”

At Blake’s cold words, Eli prostrated himself.

“I don’t want to die! I really didn’t! Actually, I’m not the son of Nigel, who is Marquis Clarence. I’m the son of Ernst, the eldest son who competed for succession in that generation. Do you think I helped you dig into Marquis Clarence’s background for nothing?”

At those words, Blake snorted.

“Wasn’t your mother Marquis Clarence’s mistress? Say something that makes sense.”

Eli strongly protested at those words.

“It was the opposite! Right after my father died from Nigel’s scheme, my mother deliberately approached him to get revenge and pretended to be his mistress. But I was already in her womb then.”

“How can you prove that? The person who gave birth to you is already dead.”

When Blake continued speaking disbelievingly, Eli’s face contorted with frustration.

“Do you think my mother was crazy enough to seduce Marquis Clarence at night and plead with me for revenge during the day? I want Marquis Clarence to fall just as much as you do from the start! And consider my contributions. Do you think I leaked useful information all this time just for my own interests?”

Blake crossed his arms and silently rubbed his chin with his hand. At this sight, Eli grew desperate.

“Should I use the imperial elixir Fidelis Objet to prove my bloodline? You think I can’t?”

“Then prove it.”

At Blake’s words, Eli grabbed the back of his neck.

“I’m just saying. That’s how confident I am. I’ll disappear by smuggling myself out once the surveillance dies down, so just for now. I’ll spill everything I know while we’re at it.”

“What do you know?”

“For example, Nigel is from illegitimate origins but won the favor of the previous marquis’s wife and was entered into the family register like a real son…”

Eli spoke nonchalantly, treating it like nothing special.

“Isn’t it ridiculous? The behavior of that previous marquis’s wife who pitied a mere illegitimate child she didn’t even bear herself and put him in the family register when the eldest son was perfectly alive. Not knowing that bastard would push all her real children out of the nest like a cuckoo.”

“How many people know about this?”

Blake asked, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.

“Not many. It’s the part Marquis Clarence works hardest to whitewash. My mother said, ‘Eli, you must avenge your father.’ Blah blah…”

“So what’s the conclusion?”

At Blake’s cold words, Eli’s expression turned serious.

“I know the people who helped manipulate the family register. The previous marquis’s wife who was involved is dead, but if we investigate the people Count Shambali bribed, we can probably find their weaknesses. So guarantee my life.”

“What do I gain by helping you?”

“Viscount Heiler’s whereabouts. You’re looking for a woman named Blanche, right?”

Blake’s eyes changed at those words, and he immediately grabbed Eli’s collar.

“Why are you only telling me something so important now?”

Eli struggled to remove his hands, gasping for breath.

“Promise to grant my request first!”

Eli widened his eyes and pursed his lips tightly, making an expression that said he wouldn’t say another word.

When Blake released his grip on the collar, Eli took a deep breath and brushed off his wrinkled shirt.

“They say all traces were erased, but nobles have one obligation. Every ten years, they must report the scale of assets within their territory, main businesses, status of retainers, population changes, and such.”

“Isn’t that just a formality? You only record and submit changes from what was initially reported.”

“Right. You’ve done it too, so you know. You report changes based on the records the former lord of Terium territory submitted, plus any changes since you became lord. But no matter how much they erased all records after becoming traitors, the original records left by the regional lord are stored somewhere.”

“So?”

“Find someone who was completely erased around the time you were born. Someone who existed in previous records but disappeared afterward. Since they’re from within the marquis family’s territory, wouldn’t they have erased traces before you could find them? If they were outsiders, could they have erased them so thoroughly?”

“They’re not in the marquis family’s archives. I know they’re not in the imperial record archive list either.”

“But the emperor has the right to receive reports on all developments. You know the emperor sees different content. The emperor has a secret inspection unit he can use like his hands and feet.”

“Are you telling me to raid the emperor’s library? Just lurking around would be considered intent to assassinate the emperor.”

Blake’s brow furrowed.

Eli grinned.

“Think simply.”

* * *

Debbie opened the newspaper she bought on her way to work.

Henrietta’s death remained shrouded in mystery.

For all the commotion about catching the culprit at the scene, they didn’t allocate much space to it in the paper, and no detailed content was written.

‘They said she acted as a procurer, supplying singers to entertain nobles, right?’

Debbie hoped to gain new information from the newspaper article and examined it thoroughly, but even the facts she knew weren’t properly mentioned, and it was clumsily concluded with just saying the security officers were investigating.

This was the complete opposite of when Lorraine’s death was front-page news.

The event hall was on the first floor.

The fact that Henrietta, who sang there, specifically lured Gray to the top floor was suspicious, but the article contained no mention of Henrietta attending the charity bazaar and singing.

‘These are scary people…’

Debbie recalled the young lord of the Marquis Clarence family she had seen that day.

‘To think the boss is investigating the background of such people…’

The thought alone was dizzying. While she was turning newspaper pages, Gray came to work.

When he arrived early today instead of his usual lunchtime arrival, Team Leader Louis, who had been goofing off, quickly put away what he was doing and clapped his hands while feigning innocence.

“Alright, let’s get to work!”

Debbie folded the newspaper and quickly put it in her drawer.

Now she could distinguish whether it was Blake or Fret just by their footsteps. Today it was Fret.