Unable to even trace the escape route, Flora’s assessment of the person being skilled proved true.

“If we can’t find even a single clue after going this far, it means the mastermind must be quite influential…”

The fingers of his hand not holding the cigar tapped the edge of the desk.

Someone had targeted his life.

Currently, while the Marquis was clearly the one who found him most irritating, Claude judged that he wasn’t clever enough to plot something like this, nor did he have reason enough to attempt murder.

His thoughts were complicated. Since one had escaped alive, they would have reported to someone, and there was a high possibility Flora had been mentioned in that process.

Moreover, the Emperor’s sudden words today were particularly concerning.

Who should he test?

“Tell them to continue the tracking without stopping. If there’s nothing to find in Fashante, tell them to search the territories near the castle walls.”

“Yes.”

It was a simple problem that would reveal its answer in time.

Claude suddenly stopped as he was tapping ash from his finished cigar. He remembered the Emperor’s foolish expression, seemingly captivated by Flora’s swordsmanship.

Was the Emperor wanting to see the appearance of a proper knight? A flash of interest crossed his otherwise annoyed expression.

“Wait. Since it’s an audience with the Emperor, Flora should be properly dressed, right? Of course, carrying a sword is forbidden.”

“Yes. Though nobles aren’t subject to body searches, they must surrender their swords.”

“The Emperor is quite the coward.”

If that was the case, there was one good way to test whether the Emperor was behind this or not.

The corner of his straight lips curved up elegantly.

“Tell the butler to have Flora wear a dress for the banquet.”

“…A dress?”

To Heriot’s look that seemed to ask if that was really necessary, Claude responded by exhaling a long stream of hazy smoke instead of answering.

“But… why is the Emperor really calling for Flora?”

“How should I know?”

Perhaps he’ll make the crazy request of asking a woman in a dress to swing a sword.

There were many excuses that could be made.

* * *

Several days had passed, but there had been no other intrusions since that night.

Flora had guarded her master’s bed throughout dawn. Though he’d told her to sleep if she got tired, maintaining an uncomfortable position for long hours was quite taxing.

This too made her laugh. Since when had she become so particular about seating?

“…Flora. So you were here.”

Flora turned around at the sudden voice.

Mary, who seemed to have rushed over, was catching her breath roughly with both hands on her knees.

“You never think about resting, do you? Aren’t you tired? The butler said you should rest in the mornings.”

“I’ve been sleeping in between, so I’m not particularly sleepy. I don’t feel like sleeping anymore either.”

Since Flora took on the duty of guarding the Duke’s sleep, the butler had excluded her from morning duties. It was a consideration so she could catch up on missed sleep.

However, Flora insisted on attending to her duties regardless. She disliked that her reduced workload meant increased work for her colleagues.

“Really? Well, that’s good then… I was worried you might get sick.”

Mary’s lips drooped as she looked at Flora’s small shoulders, which had been given special duties.

“Even now you don’t look well… See, it’s because you’re not getting enough sleep.”

Mary was quite observant. Flora had worn a dress that completely covered her neck in case she noticed something like before, but one never knew.

Flora slightly turned her body as she lifted the wet sheets.

“I’m fine.”

“Or… do you perhaps have something troubling you?”

Mary narrowed her eyes, seemingly ready to scrutinize Flora’s face from every angle.

“Oh right, didn’t you come here because you had something to tell me?”

Flora naturally changed the subject. She knew that when Mary came looking for her urgently, it was usually because she had something important to tell.

Sure enough, Mary exclaimed that she had forgotten and hurriedly blurted out her words.

“Flora, what should I do! Tommy just confessed to me.”

At this unexpected statement, Flora blinked for a moment before smiling.

Mary liked Tommy, who was in charge of the stables.

Even Flora, who was rather dull when it came to emotions of love, could see it. How the usually chatty Mary would close her mouth tightly and speak sparingly in front of him.

And without fail, she would return with complaints mixed with musings.

‘Was I too cold…’

‘Hmm. I don’t think so… Tommy didn’t seem angry either.’

‘Really?’

Mary in love was cute and would smile broadly when comforted. Then she would sigh deeply again.

‘No… I must have seemed too prim. I really tried not to be like that today.’

She said that whenever she was in front of the person she liked, her heart would race and her breath would catch, making it impossible to speak. She’d end up acting completely opposite to her usual self.

She imagined the two of them together.

Tommy with his warm wheat-colored hair standing next to Mary with her light brown hair in twin tails. Just picturing it created a warm scene.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Well… actually…”

Mary’s expression, which she had thought was surely happy, suddenly became ambiguous.

“I was so surprised I ran away without answering. What if he thinks I rejected him?”

“Why did you run away?”

Flora asked back, puzzled why she would immediately flee from Tommy’s confession when she liked him so much.

“…I don’t plan to marry until my brother returns.”

Did Mary have a brother?

As Flora tilted her head, Mary exclaimed “ah” and began to explain.

“Oh right, I never told you. My brother volunteered for the Imperial Army four years ago. So I’m waiting for him to return.”

What was she saying? The war had ended.

As if guessing the words Flora couldn’t bring herself to say, Mary smiled somewhat dejectedly.

“I know. That it’s been more than a year since the war ended…”

“……”

“But there’s always a possibility. They say many still haven’t returned after the war. Like Mrs. Enola from Sol’s Bakery in Yeraf Square. Her husband just returned recently. They say he was late because he was receiving treatment for injuries in the North.”

Flora had also heard this news recently. News of someone returning from the battlefield would occasionally be heard, and such news would become hope for others.

“So my brother might be alive somewhere, having lost his memories.”

The one waiting for her only remaining family member didn’t seem entirely sad.

Mary had once told her something.

She said she lost her parents to the plague in a small village at the eastern edge, and left her hometown. After experiencing all sorts of hardships in the capital, she finally found stability when she started working at the Duke’s mansion.

Mary continued speaking as if she had absolute faith in her brother’s return.

“…Before he left, my brother promised. He said he would definitely return after the war and stand beside me at my wedding in place of our parents…”

Though Mary smiled brightly as she said this, her small chin trembled slightly.

“So even though I like Tommy… I don’t want to get married without my brother.”

Flora averted her gaze, feeling an inexplicable bitterness.

As she watched quietly, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

When Flora first lived doing menial tasks in the unit, she would occasionally expect someone to come looking for her. Though she couldn’t search herself due to her lost memories, she thought if she had family, they would come looking for her someday.

But her expectations were never fulfilled, and Flora had to learn swordsmanship to find her own way to survive.

But she hadn’t given up yet.

She too wanted to find her family. That was also why she absolutely couldn’t die.

Flora bit her lip hard as she felt hope stirring inside her that she had tried to suppress for nearly 10 years.

“Oh right, my brother was also deployed to the western region. About 2 years ago… The last letter I received said he was transferred from the southern region to the western region. That’s when he suggested I might want to transfer to the Heinst ducal mansion since the maid position here had good treatment. You probably didn’t know this either, Flora?”

Flora asked Mary, who had come closer to help and was pulling the laundry basket.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Mentus…”

Mary straightened her back and smiled broadly, seeming pleased just to say her brother’s name.

“Have you seen him in the unit? He has brown hair like me and freckles on his cheeks, and he talks so slowly that his nickname was once ‘Slowpoke’. But he has a foolishly kind personality.”

Flora shook her head slowly with an apologetic expression.