Crack!

The wooden doll in Lynen’s hand shattered.

“Eek! Why are you breaking children’s toys?!”

The man carrying loads of luggage beside Lynen made a fuss.

It was Dovion, Calliphe’s exclusive merchant.

“I suddenly felt unpleasant.”

“From your expression, you’ve seemed unpleasant for a while now.”

“That’s because you interfered with my schedule, criminal.”

Lynen, who was visiting several orphanages as part of his personal schedule, met Dovion.

Though pretending it was coincidental, he had clearly been waiting for Lynen.

“I, I washed my hands! And I was somewhat helpful, wasn’t I?”

“Only somewhat.”

Though he tried to shake off Dovion, just then a communication came in from Raul.

He reported tracking a Special Magic Division member who was fleeing after abandoning their plans on orders from above.

―I tracked him to Platanus Avenue in the capital but lost him, my lord. He was carrying a magical beast core.

If that was the case, where the man was heading could be an important clue to understanding the Special Magic Division’s objectives.

At this point, Dovion proved unexpectedly helpful.

“My invention ‘Hide and Seek Hair Peeker’ is quite useful, isn’t it?”

“You mean the detection device you made to hide from people trying to kill you.”

“Do you really have to state the facts so bluntly to feel satisfied?!”

“The one taking offense is the problem.”

Anyway, thanks to Dovion’s detector they managed to follow closely behind the man, but lost him in an instant.

The red dot marking the target blinked and suddenly disappeared.

“Looks like he used teleport or something. What do we do now?”

“Continue what we were doing.”

“Which is?”

“I’ll return to the orphanage, and you’ll get away from me.”

Since they had been shopping for toys to give to the orphanage children when they started the pursuit, he intended to finish the remaining work.

“Let me come with you!”

“Tch.”

When Dovion stuck close, Lynen clicked his tongue in displeasure. Had he not been Calliphe’s subordinate(?), Lynen would have released k*lling intent with that gesture.

Dovion was crying inside.

‘I don’t want to stay with you either, I’m scared!’

Dovion knew too. That Duke Ortega hated criminals as much as he was known for his integrity.

Nevertheless, there was one reason he kept stubbornly following along.

‘Because I need to get some information.’

About the merchant who allegedly killed the previous Duke Ortega.

He had been so surprised when he saw that child called Noah earlier. An incident he thought was no longer relevant had suddenly resurfaced.

Since that day, he’d been anxious and unable to sleep, so he took advantage of Calliphe’s absence to approach Lynen.

‘But at this rate, he’ll cut me off just for bringing it up…’

He needed to be more helpful to get anything out of this.

That’s when it happened.

Beep beep beep.

On their way out after giving toys to the orphanage.

The tracker once again showed the whereabouts of the Special Magic Division member they had lost.

“…!”

“Eek?! W-wait for me!”

The moment Lynen started moving, Dovion was startled.

They said Duke Ortega was a Sword Master, and in the blink of an eye, he jumped onto a rooftop and disappeared.

“D*mn these physical types…!”

Dovion drank every potion he had that could make him move faster.

Even so, he lost sight of Lynen several times.

Finally, just when he was about to give up with his breath reaching his throat, Lynen stopped his pursuit.

“Huff, wheeze… D-did you catch him?”

“He disappeared.”

Furrowing his brow, Lynen looked down at the detector.

The red dot they had almost caught up to was gone.

However, this time it wasn’t completely fruitless.

‘This place is…’

Looking up, there stood a massive, majestic building. The Imperial Palace itself.

The fact that the Special Magic Division member had vanished near the Imperial Palace was significant.

‘Could there be a hidden facility nearby.’

It was beyond bold – it was reckless.

‘Or perhaps there’s a reason it has to be near the palace.’

Even after waiting quite a while longer, the red dot never reappeared on the detector.

“Raul. Keep watch around the palace for the time being.”

―Understood.

Having no choice but to turn back, Lynen left instructions through his communication stone.

For now, he should head back.

“…”

Return to where Calliphe was.

It felt strangely unfamiliar all of a sudden.

He got into the carriage that had been waiting while ignoring Dovion who was secretly following behind.

And he closed the door before Dovion could get in.

“W-wait!”

Dovion stuck his arm through the gap in the carriage door, but the force closing it didn’t decrease.

“Agyaaa! My, my arm! Arm! It’s coming off!”

“Move.”

“Wait, just wait! I helped you, didn’t I? I can be more helpful in the future too. Right?”

“We have no more business.”

“Ugh. What happened to your humanity… Aack!”

The hand caught in the door gap was squeezed even tighter.

Dovion cried from the pain.

‘Duke Ortega, you jerk!’

They said he was courteous and noble enough to speak politely even to subordinates, but he’s just a thug without a knife!

He had completely forgotten the fact that he himself was a criminal on probation.

“So-something else! I’ll help you with something else!”

“Not needed.”

“Mini-mini potion! Makes your body as small as an ant!”

“What for?”

“Charm-charm potion! Makes you attractive to the opposite s*x!”

“…Why would I.”

Hmm!? What was that pause before?

Though he wasn’t sure what it meant, Dovion’s instincts screamed at him to exploit that gap.

In that case…!

“Heart-reading doll! Tells you the true feelings of the person you’re curious about!”

“…There is no such person.”

“What about Lady Calliphe’s true feelings!?”

A pause.

“Or I have a cat doll that gives massages by kneading!”

“A doll, you say?”

‘Bingo!’

Taking advantage of the loosened pressure from the carriage door that had been crushing his arm, Dovion pulled out a doll.

“Co-come on now. Don’t hold back. Let’s see how it works!”

Dovion activated the doll.

―Meow meow. I’ll massage your legs!

The cat doll started kneading the inside of Lynen’s right thigh.

“…?!”

Startled, Lynen quickly snatched the doll and pressed it firmly against Dovion’s face. He gritted his teeth.

“I meant show me the other doll.”

“Kuhuck. I-I didn’t know…”

Though it was just pressure from a cloth doll, the pain felt like it would leave a bruise.

Dovion pulled out another doll while crying. With quick hand movements, the doll took on an appearance similar to Calliphe.

“Sniff. Then let’s hear Lady Calliphe’s true feelings toward you.”

“…”

Lynen crossed his arms. His fists clenched involuntarily over something so trivial.

Since that night when he became aware of his feelings, Lynen had been emotionally complex.

One spoonful of self-loathing thoughts that he must be crazy.

Two spoonfuls of annoyance toward Calliphe who slept so peacefully.

And the miserable feeling of wanting to gouge out his own eyes the moment he realized even her passed-out appearance looked lovely.

But the strongest thought was this:

‘Is she not conscious of me? Not at all?’

That can’t be right. Calliphe must be pretending to be indifferent.

The time spent trying to comfort himself flashed through his mind.

‘She said she liked me.’

Words he heard endlessly three years ago now came back to him.

Of course, since Calliphe’s words weren’t true affection, Lynen likewise felt no regret or disappointment.

Yet why were such useless thoughts coming to him now.

―Retrieved Calliphe Offensa’s true feelings toward Lynen Ortega!

“…”

Lynen quietly stared at the doll.

Nothing else entered his vision except the doll.

―Playing true feelings now.

At that moment, the Calliphe doll looked at Lynen.

With an even more impudent face than usual, it started to swagger.