Of course, he also tries not to take her for granted. However, he couldn’t help but get nervous every time her gaze turns to a different place.
Strictly speaking, they are not relatives or lovers. He can’t even say that they were simply childhood friends.
Still, there was no doubt that they were the closest to each other.
A relationship that can’t be named.
Adrian thought of Faradiv and inadvertently frowned.
I don’t like it.
Either the goofy confession or his actions.
However, as the Duke of Louverne, he was an adversary that he didn’t need to be wary of.
Nina definitely refused.
‘She refused.’
However, she has yet to get rid of her plan of making a lover.
Adrian shook his head while tapping nervously at the desk with his fingertips. Now is not the time to concentrate on other things.
While searching through the notes sent by Jack, Adrian squinted.
‘Continuous disappearance.’
He looked at another piece of paper.
‘Gathering of the Sages.’
The junctures of these two papers overlapped and Adrian was lost in thought.
The Sages’ Gathering in the capital was similar to the Bluestone Island but a bit different.
Since the island is far from the capital as it is an island, it has branches in major cities, which were called the Gatherings of the Sages.
At first, it started with a group of Sages scattered throughout the continent, but now there were even decent buildings.
The Sages, the Spirit Contractors, and the Temple.
These three were precariously related to each other.
The temple does not believe in spirits. It was because they think they could become corrupted at any time. On the other hand, they consider the Sages’ skills to be a god-given ability, so they treat them well. Though, of course, they need to be vigilant when it comes to how Sages uses that ability.
In the case of the Sages, they think that the temple telling them what to do prevents them from researching freely, and the Spirits evoke their interest.
And though the Spirit believers were in a neutral position, since God was the one who created the Spirits, they always have the tendency to tilt towards thinking that they have a point in common with the Temple to some extent.
It’s an especially poisonous relationship where each one craves to bite the other’s backs.
However, the Spirit Contractors are out of the question since they’re extremely rare, and no matter what the relationship between the Bluestone Island and the Temple may be, there was minimal interaction between the two.
The only opportunity for such external interactions was on the Gathering of the Sages.
Compared to the secluded and research-crazed Bluestone Island, it was a place where wizards could communicate freely with the outside world.
‘But these events overlap.’
The meeting places moved from place to place. There were very few events held in the main building, but they were said to be for security purposes, and following traditions.
However, the place where the gathering was held and the place where the disappearance occurred were subtly close.
‘I’ll have to look into it a little bit more.’
Adrian folded the paper, opened it again, and stared at it for a good old minute.
He had a good idea.
────── •❆• ──────
Nina was enjoying the freedom of her long-awaited day off.
Accepting Adrian’s words to take a break and work in moderation, Nina and the knights took turns escorting him.
Unlike usual, Nina loosened her long hair and wore a bright-colored hair band.
She didn’t know at first and wore the same twin pigtails while dressed in casual clothes. However, every time she entered a store, she would be stopped and asked, “Are you Dame Nina?”
It’s good to be famous, but she still wants to rest without paying attention to other people’s eyes.
Wearing a bright tunic and long boots, Nina bravely walked through the capital waving her long hair. A bandage was wrapped to her right wrist to cover the spirit symbol on it.
‘It’s gorgeous, bustling, and obviously, it’s very eye-catching. Then why do I get the feeling that I’ve already been here?’
Nina looked around. It was the first time that she visited this place, so she should be admiring it while going all, ‘Wow, wow.’ However, the place was strangely familiar.
She doesn’t know if it’s because of her old memories or because she has read the novel.
‘Huh?’
At that time, a distinguishable hair passed by the edge of her gaze.
A blonde hair that seems to have been made with gold.
‘Randell?’
Is he in the capital city?
She looked back in surprise, but the blonde was already nowhere in sight. Her eyes quickly found a person wearing a hood.
His height and body were similar to Randell’s.
Nina turned around and took quick steps towards him but someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. She turned her head, and Nina’s face completely wrinkled.
It was Benzel.
“Let go.”
Nina said with a sidelong glance while the hooded person was getting farther and farther away.
“What brought you here?”
“For some reason, I’m here to look around. If you don’t have any business, I’ll go.”
Nina tried to walk away from him, but he didn’t let her go.
“What?”
When Nina annoyedly looked back at him, Benzel asked with a serious face.
“Are you the one who sent the letter?”
“What letter?”
His face frowned slightly when she asked what he was talking about.
“It’s not you?”
The hooded man disappeared through the crowd. If it’s Randell, he’ll definitely be in touch soon. Nina decided to concentrate on this side and quickly get rid of him.
“So what kind of letter?”
“I got a letter saying to come to the square at this time today. And since you’re here······.”
“When you get such a letter, do you always get muddled up?”
Benzel’s face distorted at Nina’s question.
“I thought you’re the one who wrote it······.”
“No, why would I write such a letter? Why would you think it was me······. Oh, someone impersonated me?”
When Nina’s face turned grave, Benzel had a strange expression on his face.
“That’s······. It was a letter sent anonymously saying not to forget recent encounters.”
“What? So they’re not impersonating me.”
“The only meeting I can recall recently is with you.”
“It’s confounding to have such an unfortunate encounter twice. Isn’t it too much of a leap to think it’s me just because of that?”
“What?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t understand when your ears work just perfectly fine.”
Gosh, Nina said with a face.
“To be precise, isn’t a person you met at the ball the right answer? Why would I even ask you to meet? Unless we meet for a duel.”
Benzel’s face distorted.
“I’ve already thought of it back then, but you’d better get rid of that arrogant way of speaking.”
“This is how I normally speak. On the contrary, isn’t it because you’re just too authoritarian that you feel it’s arrogant?”
“Allowing you to make such cheeky statements only shows that Duke Louverne······.”
He couldn’t finish his speech. It was because Nina’s fist touched his lower abdomen.
The distance between them disappeared in a flash.
“I’m warning you. If you’re going to swear at my Young Master in front of my face, you better be prepared.”
Benzel’s eyes blinked in amazement at her low-pitched voice and sunken eyes.
‘I didn’t see her movement.’
No matter how careless he was, they weren’t initially that close. However, he didn’t even have the chance to respond even until he felt her fist touching his stomach.
He was speechless for a moment and closed his mouth, breathing out.
“I made a slip of the tongue.”
“How about an apology?”
“Sorry.”
“Good. I know there won’t be a second time.”
Nina crossed her arms while saying so, and Benzel looked at her anew.
Musing about her loyalty to her lord, she seemed like a proper knight. He stood upright and spoke with courtesy.
“The last time we met, I didn’t conduct myself courtly······.”
“Huh?”
Nina passed by him, making a strange sound. Benzel sighed. It seems that he was mistaken.
“Can’t you listen when people talk?”
He grabbed her arm as she walked by, trying to talk with her. But then, he was dragged away and almost stumbled over.
‘What kind of strength······?’
After stopping, Nina said with a frown, as if to shake him off.
“Don’t carelessly touch me. Don’t you know how to treat a lady?”
“Try to become a lady first.”
“Damn it. Thanks to you, I missed it.”
“What?”
“The cult.”
“What?”
Benzel’s voice turned sharp. He quickly scanned the surroundings and lowered his voice.
“A member of the cult? How?”
“Kyaaah!”
“Argh!”
“A monster!”
“Bellac! There’s a bellac!”
Before he could even finish speaking, a piercing scream cut through the square first. Benzel looked away, feeling goosebumps all over his body.
“Darn it! It’s my first time off duty in a while!”
Nina screamed as she looked at the giant centipede straightening up.
People were running wildly to get away from the centipede as the congested people at the square fell over and rolled around.
Nina, like a salmon, crossed the current of people by moving in the opposite direction of the flux, took a ribbon in her pocket, and began tying her hair in pigtails.
With all her hair tied, she gently raised a woman who fell and was almost trampled on by people.
People tried to beat her through, but the ones who hit Nina were the ones who fell instead.
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“Are you all right?”
“Ye-yes, Dame Nina!”
As soon as she saw the silver pigtails, the woman shouted and Nina grinned.
“Yes, yes. It’s Nina from Louverne.”
After talking and making sure she can stand up properly, Nina started running the opposite way.