9.
“It’s nothing major.”
I spoke cautiously, sensing a surge of courage as I saw Kyle listening with a serious expression.
“One of my friends was caught up in this recent incident and taken away. I want to save her.”
“Caught up and taken away……”
Kyle repeated my words, his tone shifting into something unreadable.
“Plea bargaining isn’t my jurisdiction.”
He drew a firm line. A flash of irritation sparked in my chest; his words made it sound as if Connie were the culprit, not a victim.
‘Calm down. If you get sucked into his game, you lose.’
I soothed myself and feigned a composed air.
“There is no need for a plea deal. She is innocent.”
Kyle gestured with his eyes for me to continue.
“Surely you could introduce me to someone who could help uncover the truth.”
“That means you must truly trust your friend, Miss Diaz.”
“Yes.”
I was annoyed by his relentless attempts to wedge a divide between me and Connie. When I answered firmly, telling him to stop, Kyle smiled—a bright, sudden shift that completely altered his demeanor.
“Occupational hazard—I’m a bit paranoid. Very well. Let us consider the deal concluded.”
Kyle gathered the documents I had left on the table.
“In three days—no, come back here at this same time next week. In the meantime, I will take personal responsibility and guarantee the safety of Miss Connie.”
Perhaps because he sensed my schedule was tight, he dismissed me, offering a coffee refill—a transparent hint for me to leave.
“I appreciate the offer, but I am fine.”
I jumped up and practically fled. Kyle saw me off with a look that almost seemed regretful. I walked away with long, quick strides, terrified that he might try to reach out and pull me back.
‘Wow, I suppose you have to be that ruthless to run an information guild.’
I prayed that the coffee drinking was just a necessary ritual for requesting his help.
‘I can’t drink any more of that.’
***
After Ri-Na left, Edwin emerged from the guild’s private office, which was connected to the café. He held the background check on Ri-Na that Kyle had compiled.
“Was it just a coincidence again today?” Edwin asked, as if to himself.
Kyle answered while locking the café door.
“It’s certainly peculiar.”
He sat across from Edwin, who had slumped into the nearest chair.
“You did investigate properly, right?”
Edwin flicked the document, the motion sharp enough to sound like a fan.
“I did my best.”
Normally, Kyle would have bristled at the implication, but today, he could only offer that answer. He, too, had been wondering if there was something extraordinary hidden within Miss Diaz.
“The results show nothing special.”
Edwin flipped through the file he had already reviewed a dozen times. A father who started as an orphan and rose to become a protégé of an aristocratic house. A mother, the second daughter of a renowned Count, who defied her family to marry a commoner. The father had later been appointed a professor at the Academy and granted the title of Baronet—that was the extent of it.
While the family history was messy, it wasn’t even enough to fuel a week’s worth of gossip in aristocratic circles.
“The parents’ marriage was a scandal, but they lived quietly afterward.”
Because they had severed ties with the House of Renkels, they had no connections to speak of. Carolina herself worked in the Imperial Palace, skipping her debutante season entirely. Her life was closer to that of a slightly wealthy commoner than an aristocrat. There were no gaps in her resume, no secret agendas.
“Meaning every encounter in the capital is just a coincidence.”
Edwin’s face was not widely known. He had spent his youth confined by the late Emperor, and after his accession, he had gone straight to the battlefield. He didn’t keep an escort knight because he was more than capable of protecting his own life.
‘The probability of an information leak is low, and there is nothing suspicious about Carolina Diaz’s movements,’ Kyle thought.
Rikel Street was a common haunt for Palace staff. Grizel Park was right in front of her house. The time they ran into each other near the café was simply because she had stopped at a grocery store she frequented.
“I’ve accepted the evidence so far,” Edwin said, stroking his chin. “But what about this?”
He pointed to the documents Ri-Na had left behind. They were the precise pieces of information they needed, arriving exactly when the coincidences were reaching a boiling point. Even someone as pragmatic as Edwin couldn’t help but hesitate.
“Perhaps Carolina Diaz is actually a shadow of the House Camelot, hiding her true identity.”
Edwin knew it was an absurd theory, but it felt more probable than the idea that all of this was mere chance.
“Surely not,” Kyle said, offering a vague, placating smile. “You know how bad the relationship is between Count Renkels and the Duke Camelot.”
“Come to think of it, there was talk that the Duke Camelot killed Count Renkels’s fiancé.”
Edwin recalled the rumor that circulated like an open secret. The current Count Renkels was Olivia Diaz’s older sister—Carolina’s aunt. While the previous Count Renkels held the real power, he did not openly interact with Olivia, though the two sisters remained close.
“Just because Olivia Diaz and the Count are close, it doesn’t mean Carolina is on their side,” Kyle added cautiously. “And if she just stays put, she could inherit the House of Renkels herself. Why would she bother working as a minion for the Duke Camelot, who is in a hostile relationship with the Count?”
The previous Count had stripped the succession rights of any daughter who entered into a marriage of unequal status, but perhaps he had mellowed; the succession rights of the grandchildren Olivia had borne remained intact. If the current Count Renkels died without an heir, the title would likely fall to Carolina.
“The Duke Camelot couldn’t give his own minion a Count’s title, could he?”
“I suppose not. And the Count would go absolutely berserk if she even suspected Carolina had the slightest association with him.”
“It’s still strange.”
Edwin buried his face in his hands. After a moment of frustration, he seemed to make up his mind.
“Was it next week that you were supposed to meet with her?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“I’m going there.”
A faint, sharp flicker of curiosity burned in Edwin’s gold eyes.
*･☪D✶༄ ‧₊˚a⋰˚☆m✶༄ ‧₊˚
A week flew by.
I cautiously pulled the door of the café. As the bell chimed, Kyle, who was tidying the tables, turned toward me.
“You’ve arrived at the perfect time.”
He greeted me with a smile and guided me to the back.
“We have customers today.”
I glanced back to see young girls whispering and eating cake. I had wondered if there was some sort of perception-altering magic at play, but it seemed not.
“I didn’t realize this was a place where customers could come.”
Kyle faltered. “It is a functioning café, after all.” His tone was strangely sulky. “Sit and wait for a moment. They will be here.”
I sat in the small room with its dark gray walls.
‘Who is coming?’
According to the original story, Kyle was the son of the nanny who had raised the Emperor, serving as his closest aide. If he was arranging this meeting, someone of great significance would appear.
‘Maybe an aide directly under the Emperor.’
I steeled my nerves, trying to keep my composure. Then, the wall—which I had assumed was solid—opened, and a man walked in.
He wore a heavy hood, but the silhouette was agonizingly familiar.
‘Don’t tell me.’
I stood up before I could help myself. At the same moment, the man pulled back his hood.
“We’re acquaintances, aren’t we?”
His gold eyes, beautiful even after all I had seen, sparkled enchantingly in the dim light.
‘It’s really Everett Rohas again.’