Chapter 8

“The Security Force will be here soon! Please release the staff and stop any further violence!”

“Oh, call them as much as you want! Hic! But I only need one person! Hey! Camellia! Are you not coming out even now? Aaah!”

“Sir… Ugh!”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“How dare you lay a hand on Sir Brandon!”

“That’s right! Ugh. Such a stuck-up woman… Who do you think you are, ignoring me! Huh? If you don’t come out, these guys will pay the price instead!”

Crash! Something broke again, and shouts echoed back and forth.

Irien’s face hardened and Madam Olga sighed.

“Well, that’s pretty much the situation. That customer has been persistently asking to see you even on days you weren’t here, and now he’s causing this mess…”

“Madam, what should we do? He seems like a noble, what if there’s trouble later…”

“Stop. Do you think this is the first time I’ve dealt with something like this? For now, all of you stay inside and wait.”

A new staff member paced nervously in the back of the waiting room, but Olga answered briskly, even with a troubled expression.

She had something to rely on.

“Once Naiden arrives, this will be sorted out quickly.”

Naiden was the Security Force Captain and Olga’s longtime lover. In truth, it was hard for a mere Security Force to stand against nobles, but Naiden was different.

Nobles who tried to intimidate Naiden had never succeeded; not once had he faced trouble. Instead, nobles who caused chaos in the tavern mysteriously disappeared.

So rumors spread that this district’s Security Force Captain had connections with high nobles, and even the worst troublemakers stopped coming to the tavern.

‘That connection is actually me.’

Irien never let Naiden suffer any disadvantage for dealing with such incidents.

Olga, seeing Irien, added nonchalantly,

“So relax and slip out the back, Camellia. …You’ll take care of the rest, right?”

“Of course.”

At Olga’s meaningful words, Irien gave a faint smile.

Only the owner of Fiore realized that the powerful connection behind her lover was linked to ‘Camellia.’

But Olga wisely never pried or asked for more. Knowing the owner’s practical nature and refusal to cross boundaries, ‘Camellia’ only performed at this tavern.

“Well, I’ll go first…”

Thud! Suddenly, Olga staggered and collapsed at the entrance to the waiting room.

“Madam…?!”

Startled, Irien rushed over and raised Olga’s upper body. Thankfully, her eyes were open, but she seemed about to lose consciousness, her gaze unfocused.

She wasn’t the only one affected.

“Huh…?”

“What’s happening… Ah.”

Thud, slump!

The performers in the waiting room started to stagger, and soon everyone except Irien collapsed.

Irien stared at them with a tense face and shook Olga’s shoulder.

“Madam? Wake up. What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know. Suddenly… so… sleepy…”

“Madam? Madam! Olga!”

Irien supported Olga’s drooping head and quickly turned her head.

“Senri!”

“Everyone has fallen asleep.”

Senri, who had quietly released her invisibility and was checking the fallen people, answered in a stiff voice.

“There are no signs of injury.”

“Then…”

“Aha! Ha! Hahaha! It’s real! It’s really working!”

A laugh echoed from outside the waiting room, startling Irien and Senri.

“Hic! I thought it was fake since it wasn’t working, but… Heh. Stupid bastards. You think you can block my way? Hey, you all. Go get Camellia… What? Are they asleep too? Tsk.”

Apparently, even the guards and customers had fallen asleep. The sudden silence outside made the culprit, the troublesome noble, click his tongue loud enough for Irien to hear.

‘Even his own people fell asleep? Then could it be…’

Swish.

Senri quietly grabbed Irien’s wrist.

“Lady Camellia. This isn’t just a sleep poison. Most likely…”

“A magic tool.”

“You noticed.”

“Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense… Wait, Senri. You?”

Irien noticed the bracelet on her wrist—her own concealment magic tool, bestowed upon Senri. It was enchanted to make the wearer invisible.

“Luckily, we stayed outside for a while, so it’s progressing slower for us. But if we delay, it’ll get dangerous.”

Senri assessed the situation calmly. Her eyelids were also growing heavy.

Taking down a single troublemaker was nothing, but in a situation where they could fall asleep at any moment, acting recklessly was dangerous. Especially since this wasn’t the palace but the outskirts of the capital; anyone could intervene.

She urged the confused Irien to stand.

“Hide yourself and go out the back. I’ll buy you time.”

“No need. The Security Force will be here soon…”

“We need to.”

Senri shook her head fiercely—not to deny Irien, but to fight the drowsiness overtaking her.

“Any escort would make the same decision. Nothing should threaten you. Not even by accident.”

Irien was the Queen of this country. Even with a wig, heavy makeup, and a false name, her noble status never changed.

While Irien was speechless, Senri twisted the bracelet without waiting for permission.

Click, the clasp locked, and Irien’s body became invisible.

“Slee… uh!”

As she tried to grab Senri’s arm with her invisible hand, Irien gasped.

Thump!

Suddenly, her heart pounded hard. Heat surged through her body, and her mind grew hazy.

‘Is this the magic tool’s effect? No, wait… This is…’

Just as Irien tried to assess her condition, her body was pushed backward. Senri, seeing her freeze, quickly shoved her away.

There was no need to ask why. Right after Irien landed against the wall, the waiting room curtain was ripped open.

“Are you here, Camellia! …What’s this?”

The nobleman scanned the waiting room full of sleeping people, looking at Olga’s body with annoyance.

Thud!

He kicked her impatiently, sending her rolling into the corner.

“Annoying, ugh…”

He looked to be in his late twenties, drunk, his eyes gleaming with intoxication. His expensive outfit was disheveled and stained with alcohol.

He was just another troublesome drunk, but the object in his hand was unusual.

A long, gold chain attached to an hourglass, engraved with exotic patterns. Irien instinctively knew it was a magic tool.

“I have arrived! The son of Marquis Oro, I, Brandon, myself is here! Where are you?”

“Camellia… isn’t here.”

“Huh?”

Senri, barely able to sit upright, grabbed Brandon’s trouser leg.

“She left right after the performance… It’s pointless to… Ugh!”

“How dare you lie to me!”

Brandon shook his leg in annoyance.

“I heard her say she’d perform again! Stupid… Let go! Won’t you let go?!”

Whack! Thud!

Even after several kicks, Senri wouldn’t let go, so Brandon grabbed her hair roughly. Irien raised her trembling hand toward him.

‘I have to take that away.’

Senri, the shadow escort, would never be overwhelmed by a drunk troublemaker. The sleep effect was stronger because she was too close to the magic tool.

Irien’s body soon collapsed. The abnormal heat intensified, and her legs gave out.

Thud.

“Huh?”

Brandon looked up at the sound. His gleaming eyes turned toward Irien’s collapsed spot.

“Are you there? Camellia…!”

He didn’t see her invisible form, but grinned and stepped forward.

“…!”

Senri, still clutching his trouser leg, was dragged along.

“I know you’re here. I can smell you. I can hear your breathing… Hehehe!”

Brandon was right. Irien couldn’t hide her ragged breathing.

Unlike others, she wasn’t overcome by sleep but by an unpleasant heat. Her heart raced, her body itched as if bugs crawled all over her.

Her nerves alternated between tension and drowsiness. Irien managed to look up at Senri, still clutching Brandon’s trouser leg.

Step…

Brandon’s approach seemed to slow. Senri appeared unconscious, but still clung to his trousers.

Irien remembered a day from her past.

Or rather, the memory overlaid itself.

“Hah…!”

The figure approaching her wasn’t Brandon. It was a middle-aged man with golden hair and blue eyes, his gaze cold and cruel. In his hand, a woman’s hair.

Beautiful black hair, now disheveled, and the woman’s legs twisted unnaturally as she was dragged.

‘Ah…’

Irien met the woman’s eyes, filled with despair, and couldn’t even moan. Her outstretched hand was powerless, her legs weak.

She did nothing. Then, and now…

‘No, it’s different now.’

She moved her hand again.

‘I won’t just let it happen like last time!’

Irien summoned all her strength to stand and swung her arm.

Whoosh!

Brandon, searching for Camellia, paused. Suddenly, something red appeared in midair.

‘That’s…!’

A red camellia flower. The one always worn in Camellia’s hair.

“There you are… Ugh!”

Brandon instinctively grabbed the flower and was pushed backward. Thud! Something invisible shoved his stomach hard.

Crash!

“D*mn! What is this? Where are you?”

Brandon staggered to his feet. The woman’s hair he’d been holding was gone, but he didn’t care.

“It’s you, isn’t it!? You, Camellia! You didn’t fall asleep? Haha! Even better. Tonight, I’ll… Huh? What’s this?”

Tap.

His back touched something as he rummaged through the fallen people’s clothes. He turned, eyes wide.

“You, you’re…”

Behind him was not Camellia, but a giant wall… No, a person.

The scent of desert sand drifted in. Bare, bronzed chest, rippling muscles, thick veins on clenched fists—an intimidating foreigner.

“Eek!”

Where did he come from? Brandon tried to retreat.

But a large hand seized his wrist.

“Ow! Let go! Do you know who I am…?”

“Who are you?”

Squeeze.

The grip tightened, and Brandon was dragged right up to him.

“Eek?! Th-this… let… ow!”

“Answer.”

The man—Usher—glared at the red flower in Brandon’s hand.

“Who are you to hold that?”