He looked at her young face, swollen from crying so much, and recalled the stories about Elia that his confidant had gathered.

—She’s said to be a sincere and capable administrator.

Recalling the words his straightforward subordinate had conveyed, Pehiard looked at Elia appreciatively while propping his chin.

—She has a reputation for being kind and competent to everyone. With Count Kent…… they’ve known each other since before she entered the imperial palace. For people who’ve known each other long, she maintains a distant relationship with him, but women whisper that it feels like she’s deliberately keeping distance in front of others.

Just looking at her appearance, she looks like she’d play house while drinking milk when others drink alcohol, yet she’s obviously acting and playing around with a married man for others to see?

With such a soft and gentle-looking face, she does such things? And with Count Kent, the emperor’s right hand?

Pehiard’s finest emerald-like green eyes took on a dark light.

Though he’s been getting pushed around and treated like a neighborhood punching bag lately, Rowell Kent is actually a person of interest among foreign big shots.

He’s the confidant the emperor of the great empire Aprion has kept by his side since childhood. If Aprion’s emperor was called the reaper of battlefields during his crown prince days, Count Kent was called the scythe held in the reaper’s right hand.

Those who hadn’t seen him fight would find it hard to imagine how magnificent Count Kent’s prowess was on the battlefield.

Pehiard, who had directly crossed swords with Count Kent on the scene of fierce battle, looked at Elia quietly once more.

Though she had looks worthy of generous scores from anyone, was it enough to stain his life-risking love?

The sight of Count Kent running to catch his locket containing his lover’s portrait even in a life-threatening situation when it flew away was still vivid in his eyes.

That desperate love cooled enough to have a separate lover just a few years after marriage.

The feeling of confirming again the dirty aspects of human nature he had witnessed countless times in life in an unwanted place was as filthy as stepping into sticky mud.

Without even dreaming of what thoughts the man, beautiful as if God had carefully crafted him, was having while looking at her—no, actually having forgotten even that man’s existence—Elia was busy.

“Ah…… why is this added here again?”

Her hands were busy frantically flipping through papers while frowning her fine brow.

The expressions her small face contained changed moment by moment.

Deeply furrowed, then darkened as if in serious contemplation, then brightened momentarily as if finding an answer.

How long had he been watching such diverse expressions that made him think he wouldn’t be bored all day just watching that woman?

Elia, who had let out a deep sigh, suddenly stood up from her seat.

At her sudden action, Pehiard’s lips unconsciously parted as he watched her. And Elia also showed signs of being startled.

“Ah…… you’re still there. I’m sorry for startling you.”

It was a statement that seemed like she had truly completely forgotten his existence, so Pehiard unconsciously twitched his eyebrows.

“It seems the work won’t finish at this location, so I’m going to leave now. But I have a lot of materials to transport, so I’m going to ask the knights for help. If it’s alright with you, it would be better if you stepped aside for a moment.”

Considerate words followed, saying that though he hadn’t done anything wrong, it wouldn’t be pleasant to get scolded for nothing.

Since it was a statement where he could truly feel pure concern for others, Pehiard briefly pondered the underlying meaning of Elia’s words.

“So…… you’re telling me to hide?”

“If you want to express it that way…… yes?”

At his twisted question, Pehiard made a deflating laugh at her response of widening her eyes and retorting.

“Hmm…… if you hate stepping aside, you can just stay. I didn’t mean it badly, but if you encounter the knights, the explanation will be long and I thought that might be bothersome for you.”

Not knowing how to interpret Pehiard’s laughter, the small woman in front of him rolled her round eyes here and there while adding excuses.

“You know, even if you haven’t done anything wrong, encountering people with swords makes you feel bad for no reason, right? Of course, all the knights of the Imperial Knight Order are gentlemen, but they’re so big…… Ah, you’re also quite tall……”

The longer Elia spoke, the more Pehiard’s lips twitched.

It was like the desperate squirming of a harmless herbivore. A face that would make even full fighting spirit dissipate instantly.

Such a woman having an affair? And with that pure and innocent man?

Pehiard tilted his head sideways and crossed his arms.

Actually, encountering knights wouldn’t be good for his situation.

He would officially visit Aprion’s imperial palace soon, so there was no benefit in encountering knights beforehand.

It wasn’t just a day or two that he had suffered losses because of his conspicuous appearance, so there was no need to add another one to that.

“Alright.”

Having reached a conclusion in his mind, Pehiard pushed his chair back and stood up.

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll step aside for a moment. Ah, do you happen to know where the maps and geography books are?”

“Pardon? Ah, the geography section is up those stairs, go straight to the right, and it should be the fourth bookshelf from the end.”

An immediate answer came as soon as he asked the question. Pehiard lightly waved his hand in thanks and immediately headed toward the stairs.

The Central Library had a structure where a large spiral staircase was positioned in the center of the open building, connecting the first and second floors.

Pehiard, who climbed the stairs with his long legs, turned his head to the right and scanned the dozens of bookshelves lined up in a row.

The geography books that were originally Pehiard’s purpose for coming to the library today were located exactly at the fourth bookshelf from the end, just as Elia had said.

He had come to the Central Library because the maps he brought from Rosellern weren’t suitable for exploring the area around Aprion’s capital.

‘But with so many books, how does she remember exactly where each book is located?’

Pehiard’s eyes narrowed as he recalled Elia’s face when she had stated the book’s location without hesitation. As he was carelessly pulling out books and skimming through them, there was commotion downstairs.

Looking down, he saw several knights in armor coming and going.

It seemed the knights were moving to transport the pile of documents that had been stacked like a mountain on the desk.

Pehiard lightly dismissed the commotion on the lower floor and refocused on his books.

Among the six books he had roughly selected, two contained exactly the content he was looking for. While he was turning pages to find the necessary sections, the bustling sounds gradually quieted down.

“This is the last box, so I’ll load it onto the carriage.”

At the resonant voice of a young man, a small voice responded clearly with something.

At the girlish voice that still retained a youthful quality, Pehiard turned his head and looked down at the lower floor beyond the railing.

Soon his indifferent green eyes widened greatly.

‘Count Kent.’

Though the appearance in his memory stained with blood and sweat was now completely clean, he couldn’t fail to recognize the man he had crossed swords with while risking his life.

Count Kent gave some instructions to the knights carrying boxes, and the knights moved in unison according to his commands.

When the knight carrying the last box turned and left, only Count Kent and a small woman who barely reached his chest remained in the spacious first floor of the Central Library.

Count Kent, who had been chatting quietly enough that it couldn’t be heard on the second floor, reached out with a serious expression recognizable even from a distance and placed his hand on the woman’s cheek.

Pehiard’s eyes narrowed.

The sight of the woman standing and conversing naturally without pushing away the hand of the outside man who approached without reserve and cupped her face looked extremely natural.

At the unpleasant feeling that filled his stomach in an instant, Pehiard gritted his teeth.

Count Kent had once been an enemy he fought against, but he was one of the few men Pehiard considered worthy of respect.

Though he had inwardly denied his subordinate’s report that he wasn’t that kind of person.

The scene he witnessed with his own eyes was so clear that it was absurd.

Pehiard clicked his tongue briefly into his mouth and turned his back to avoid the sight he didn’t want to see.

Didn’t Pehiard have no right to feel displeasure just because someone who was neither blood relation nor close friend had committed an improper act?

⁕⁕⁕

“Are you running a fever?”

“Huh?”

“Your face is red.”

At Count Kent’s worried question as he cupped her cheek, Elia grimaced.

“Blood rushed to my head from looking at documents. There’s not just one or two things to handle.”

“Exactly what kind of things?”

“Additional budget increases that should have been delivered to each department long ago are all slightly off. Large materials need to be transported starting tomorrow, so what do we do?”

Elia grumbled and complained that her head was pounding to the point of splitting.

These were matters that should have been decided through meetings with everyone from the finance department gathering to match calculations, but since that wasn’t possible, this was the result.