Chapter 116

The Dinever Duchy was quickly regaining its usual routine. The servants of the Dinever household, who had felt uneasy for some time, turned their attention to the new guests as the mansion regained its vitality.  

Aitor and his guests were cheerful. The large dog and the three guests were not picky, and they devoured not only the meals but also the desserts, showering compliments all the while.  

Today, too, the head chef, who was kneading dough to make desserts for Vivian and her guests, spoke to his assistant.  

“It’s the first time I’ve seen so many mages, and up close too.”  

“Yes. I thought they were scary people, but maybe they’re not.”  

“Lately, even the Mage Tower has been quiet, hasn’t it?”  

“Ah, thank goodness. I was so worried there’d be a war or something. I even thought about quitting and going back to my hometown.”  

Relieved, they focused on making delicious desserts.  

Meanwhile, Vivian was frowning as she looked at the guests gathered in her mother’s old office.  

“Wow, such a pure mana stone!”  

“Indeed… It’s my first time seeing one too!”  

“I hear the ores from the Dinever Duchy are quite famous.”  

Aitor, Teresa, and Lucas were sitting on the sofa, examining a mana stone extracted from a small mine discovered last year.  

“Ah, I’d love to make a magic tool with this mana stone.”  

“What would you make?”  

“Trade secret.”  

While Vivian had been kidnapped and taken to Palterno, the work she needed to do had piled up like a mountain. Since Tia wouldn’t let her work late into the night, she had to finish as much as possible during the day.  

Moreover, Ian, who had been staying alone in Raspol, was due to return soon.  

She needed to focus and finish her tasks quickly, but their conversation kept distracting her, slowing her progress.  

“If I give you the mana stone, will you leave now?”  

As if waiting for those words, Teresa quickly thanked her and left the office. Lucas chased after her, asking for a share of the mana stone.  

“Aitor?”  

Vivian looked at Aitor, who was left alone, as if to ask why he wasn’t leaving. Aitor pouted.  

“You look quite annoyed.”  

For some reason, Ian’s face overlapped with Aitor’s. Smiling faintly at Aitor’s grumbling, Vivian shook her head.  

“Someone’s kidnapping caused me to fall behind on my work.”  

At Vivian’s words, Aitor jumped to his feet and quickly headed for the office door, telling her to work hard. As Aitor stood, Zero, who had recently been following him around, also got up.  

“Ah! I’m going out today!”  

Just as he was about to leave, Aitor turned and said. Vivian, who had been focused on her documents, lifted her head again.  

“Where to?”  

When Vivian asked worriedly where he was going, Aitor grinned mischievously like a child and replied.  

“Trade secret.”  

Vivian raised an eyebrow at his response, about to retort about what kind of “trade secret” it could be, but all she could do was gape at the quickly closed door.  

Aitor had his own private life, and since it had been a while since he’d come to the capital, he probably had reasons to go out. Thinking this, Vivian returned to her documents, but an inexplicable unease made her stand up.  

Pacing around the large walnut desk, Vivian suddenly turned sharply toward the office door, as if making a decision. But she stopped in her tracks and shook her head.  

“No. No, Vivian.”  

Letting out a deep sigh, she turned back to her desk. But soon, she found herself heading for the office door again.  

Even if she asked where he was going, he probably wouldn’t answer. So she decided to grab one of the pure mana stones and convince Teresa to follow Aitor with her. 

Just as she was about to leave the office, there was a knock at the door.  

“Miss, Lady Rosie has come to see you.”  

It was the butler.  

“I’ll meet her in the office.”  

In that moment, Vivian felt as if someone had poured cold water over her head. Her mind cleared, and her reason returned. She trudged over to the sofa and leaned against the backrest.  

“I’m crazy. Absolutely crazy.”  

Since that day, Vivian had found herself feeling uneasy whenever Aitor was around. The thought of him going out alone to an unknown destination made her so anxious that she’d even considered following him. Embarrassed by her own thoughts, Vivian buried her face in her hands.  

“Vivian?”  

Rosie, who had entered the room unnoticed, approached Vivian.  

“Are you unwell?”  

Vivian shook her head without lifting it.  

“I’m just embarrassed by myself.”  

Holding Vivian’s wrist and looking at her worriedly, Rosie nodded and patted her back.  

“I know that feeling well. These days, I feel like that every time I take my successor lessons.”  

Rosie, who was trying to comfort Vivian, clicked her tongue when she saw the pile of documents on the desk.  

“When you feel like this, you need to go out!”  

At Rosie’s cheerful voice, Vivian lifted her head and blinked rapidly. Seeing this, Rosie smirked and patted her chest.  

“Trust me, okay?”  

* * *

It was the third time. As they left the third boutique, Vivian thought to herself.  

I would never trust Rosie again.  

“Next is that place!”  

After loading the items they’d bought onto the carriage, Rosie pointed in the opposite direction from where they had come. Her finger was aimed at a fancy hat shop.  

“I want to go home.”  

“Ah! Spending money is the best way to relieve stress.”  

Rosie dragged Vivian along once more. As she was being pulled along, Vivian worried about how long they’d end up spending in that hat shop.  

Suddenly, Rosie stopped abruptly, causing Vivian to stumble.  

“Why did you stop so suddenly?”  

Barely regaining her balance, Vivian grumbled at Rosie.  

“Vivi! The most! No, the Empire’s most handsome—no! The Montfrey Continent’s most handsome mage, Aitor, is in the capital right now?”  

Vivian’s neat brown eyebrows rose at the string of grandiose titles attached to Aitor’s name.  

“Aitor? He’s in the capital… Why?”  

“To think I’d run into him by chance in the busy streets…”  

At Vivian’s response, Rosie covered her mouth with one hand and began walking in a direction other than the hat shop.  

“Did you see Aitor?”  

“Yes!”  

“When?”  

“Just now!”  

“I didn’t see him.”  

“He was wearing his hat pulled low, but I’m certain! It was him!”  

Even though they had been looking at the same place, Vivian hadn’t seen anyone who looked like Aitor. But Rosie’s confident expression made Vivian quicken her steps to follow her.  

“Are you sure he went this way?”  

As they entered deeper into an alley, Vivian asked uneasily.  

“Yes. He definitely went this way…”  

Now, there were no people around. In the empty, narrow alley, only a cat wandered lazily past, glancing at Vivian and Rosie as if they were pathetic.  

“This isn’t good. We should go back.”  

Judging that it wasn’t wise for two women to wander around in such a deserted and unfamiliar alley, Rosie turned back toward the way they had come.  

“This seems like the right way…”  

After retracing their steps for five minutes, they should have already reached the main road, but it was nowhere to be seen. Instead, similar-looking alleys stretched endlessly.  

“Vivian, do you remember the way we came?”  

Vivian shook her head. Though usually good with directions, she hadn’t paid attention this time, too focused on chasing after Aitor.  

“What do we do?”  

Rosie looked at Vivian with a worried expression. Vivian began scanning the alley around them.  

The saying that misfortune comes all at once proved true.  

The narrow alley, lined with buildings on either side, began to darken as storm clouds gradually thickened above. Vivian, trying to calm the increasingly restless Rosie, placed a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

She strained to hear faint human sounds, focusing intently. A very faint noise reached Vivian’s ears.

“I think I hear people over there. Let’s head in that direction for now.”

Vivian and Rosie started walking toward the source of the sound, checking their direction intermittently. Then, as they grew closer to the voices, they exchanged glances.

“Should we check it out?”

“What if they’re dangerous people?”

“Then we’ll stay hidden from a distance and see if they’re dangerous or not.”

At Rosie’s suggestion, Vivian nodded and took the lead. As the voices grew louder, the two women walked as silently as possible.

“What about hiding over there?”

Rosie pointed to a spot where wooden crates and barrels of various sizes were piled up. She whispered while moving her lips quietly.

When Vivian made an “okay” sign with her fingers, Rosie went ahead first. Following her friend, Vivian reached the hiding spot but nearly let out a loud gasp at the sight of someone already there.

It seemed the person, a girl about seven years old with pigtails, had been playing hide-and-seek. She crouched down, startled, as if hiding from someone.

Perhaps mistaking Vivian and Rosie for seekers, the surprised girl quickly brought a finger to her lips and shook her head vigorously.

The two women nodded in understanding and sat down quietly beside the girl, covering their mouths to stifle their laughter.

Once the game of hide-and-seek ended, they planned to ask the children for directions back to the main street. Having averted a crisis, Vivian glanced at the girl, who was sneaking glances at her, and smiled silently.

“I’m a fugitive, but you’re not. To think you’d be walking around freely after kidnapping the Crown Prince’s fiancée.”

At that moment, a familiar voice pierced Vivian’s ears, and her eyes widened in shock.

“So, what’s your point?”

“Ha! After betraying Inferna and the anti-Imperial faction, do you think you’ll remain safe?”

“Weren’t you the one who told me never to trust anyone?”

It was Aitor and Marquis Cloak.

Why were the two of them…?

Vivian’s hand began trembling uncontrollably. Beside her, Rosie tightly gripped Vivian’s shaking hand as if to console her.

“Haha. True… Yes, I did say that.”

“So, why did you, a man being hunted by the Emperor, call me here?”

When Aitor asked, a brief silence fell. Rosie squeezed Vivian’s hand even tighter. The girl hiding with them grabbed the hem of Vivian’s dress as she looked at Vivian’s pale face.

“You have to save me.”

“I’ve told you repeatedly, I have no intention of getting involved with you. You’re not even telling me the story about what happened to my father… How many times do I have to refuse? Did you really call me here, risking danger, for such a trivial reason?”

After Marquis Cloak’s bold demand, another silence followed. Then came Aitor’s cold response, which seemed to calm Vivian’s trembling hand slightly.

“Listen to my proposal first. It’s not too late to decide afterward.”

Marquis Cloak’s words were followed by the sound of Aitor scoffing. Then, as if Aitor was about to leave, the Marquis hurriedly grabbed him in desperation. A brief scuffle ensued before Marquis Cloak spoke again.

“By the way, something has been bothering me for a while. When exactly did I call for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Aitor, you’re the one who called for me. You came to me first…”

At that moment, from the opposite side of where Vivian was hiding, the sound of many footsteps began to echo.

“Don’t move! By the Emperor’s command, arrest the traitors threatening the Empire. Marquis Cloak and Aitor Turner, surrender quietly.”

The Imperial First Knight Order, who served only the Emperor’s command, had surrounded Aitor and Marquis Cloak in an instant.

The storm clouds now covered the entire sky, as if ready to unleash a downpour at any moment.