As soon as the highest authority spoke, Anastasia imdiately shut her mouth. The crow, who had been enthusiastically echoing her comnts, followed suit.
The two exchanged glances that clearly said, "Ah, right. The Crown Prince likes Namia, doesn't he?"
“Um, but... who are you, exactly?”
“Hmm... Think of as one of the top-secret elite knights, moving in secrecy.”
“W-Wow...”
Apparently, Anastasia and the crow had beco a bit friendlier in that short span, as they started whispering to each other.
anwhile, Victor was huffing as he turned back to look at .
“I was serious. Namia Roafi, I... I... Yeah. This is the only way I know how to keep soone.”
His voice was ragged with uneven breathing.
“Yeah. You don’t know at all, Namia.”
Victor spoke with tears welling in his eyes, using a dark voice I had never heard from him before.
“I’ve always kept quiet about my childhood, but the truth is, my real parents...”
I stared at him. He was clearly about to confess sothing about his background.
But then—
I tried, I really tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t help myself.
“Haaaaaahm......”
It was beyond my control. A completely involuntary yawn—thanks to the side effects of the sleeping dication.
Victor looked more betrayed than I had ever seen him, his will to speak extinguished as he stared at .
“...I guess the Minister isn’t even interested in listening...”
Anastasia muttered as she rolled her eyes.
“Told you, confessions aren’t sothing you just try out, I did say that...”
***
[I rely reported everything happening in the Scroll Departnt to soone. After they received that report, I was contacted and ordered to sohow obtain the Crown Prince’s blood.]
Dragged away by the crows, Victor spoke those words.
[I don’t know exactly who gave those instructions. All I know is that they were from the Reformist Faction. Especially after the Saint Cairo banquet, all contact ca through my personal mailbox at the Royal Palace.]
That part was credible. After all, Victor had been involved with the Reformist Faction in his teens but withdrew the mont he was adopted by Marquis Arwin.
[Marquis Arwin doesn’t know anything. Please, I beg you—make sure he’s not hard.]
Those final words from Victor sounded sincere. Well, it made sense. No way they'd share classified information with a pawn.
[Please... please... not Marquis Arwin... He’s the one who believed in and gave a new life...]
[Did you ever show him who you really are?]
[...No. I absolutely never wanted him to know.]
Victor was dragged away, full of worry for the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Finance Minister. In a way, it was fortunate he had a weakness like that.
[As for the Dragonblood’s blood... I left it in the mailbox I used to communicate with them. That’s all.]
[If you’re lying, the Finance Minister will be the first to pay the price.]
Kiaros ordered a vial of normal human blood to be placed in that mailbox.
Then he assigned surveillance to Victor and told him to return to work as if nothing had happened.
It was so the Reformist Faction would believe their plan had succeeded.
They were ant to fall into this trap from the start.
The Royal Palace wasn’t a place just anyone could enter. Especially not at night.
Victor’s mailbox, being an official one, was located within the Palace.
If they waited there in ambush, they could catch whoever in the Palace was affiliated with the Reformist Faction.
“Then I’ll leave the cleanup to you.”
Kiaros addressed the two crows.
One of the crows latched onto Victor. His light blue eyes turned toward once more. He murmured blankly.
“...You’ll have to be careful now, Namia.”
It was the first ti I had seen that empty look in his eyes.
“You’ve been safe until now because of . But now... they’ve taken notice of you.”
I remained silent.
I had already assud as much. That was partly why I’d co straight to the Palace after the banquet.
“They thought they could use you to obtain Dragonblood. That’s the only reason you weren’t hard.”
I understood what Victor was saying.
Now that they believed they had what they wanted, they might decide I was disposable.
Soone inside the Palace, soone with access to Victor’s mailbox.
Even inside the Palace, even with guards around —I might still be in danger.
“...It’s true I wanted you from the first mont I saw you.”
Before I could respond, Kiaros stepped between us.
“Leave.”
He stood in front of and issued a low command.
“Imdiately. Now. At once. Go. Quickly. Hurry.”
Obeying his command, the crow restrained Victor and disappeared in a flash. Kiaros turned to Anastasia.
“Miss Anastasia, you should take dical leave and rest at ho. Say you were gravely wounded by Victor and are barely hanging on. And don’t try to find out more about this incident.”
“Y-Yes! Understood!”
And just like that, Anastasia’s situation was handled.
“Still, just in case, I’ll assign soone to watch over her.”
The crow who had saved her earlier—and had grown close to her in the anti—was given the job of guarding her.
Once those two were gone with their respective crows—
Kiaros looked at , still yawning, and said:
“I know you’re exhausted, but do you think you can muster a bit more strength?”
His red eyes, tinged with tension, reflected my image.
“Why don’t we wait together to see who approaches the mailbox?”
“I was hoping we could do that.”
I nodded vigorously.
And so we headed to Victor’s mailbox with the remaining crows.
One of them placed the vial of blood inside.
Then we crouched down in the bushes and hid.
As we waited quietly for soone to approach the mailbox, Victor’s last expression kept resurfacing in my mind.
“Why?”
Kiaros glanced at and asked,
“Feeling conflicted?”
I yawned once and answered with an apologetic look.
“Not really. Maybe I was too shocked during the Anastasia part... I guess I’m just thinking, ‘well, I guess this happens.’”
“Still, Victor Arwin seed to be blaming you.”
“That’s just classic bla-shifting. Doesn’t matter what kind of background he had or what his sob story was—none of that gives any reason to accommodate him.”
Back then, Anastasia had muttered sothing like “A mysterious guy with a tragic past is nice, though...”, but I wasn’t particularly curious about his story. That just wasn’t how I was wired.
“Maybe we could’ve worked out, but... I think sotis the timing just doesn’t match up.”
I blinked slowly and continued.
“But trying to control everything just to make it go your way... that’s not real love, is it?”
“...That’s true.”
Kiaros took a beat before replying.
Only then did I realize I was rambling a bit too personally to him.
He was still technically my godlike superior—so why was I saying all this?
Maybe I’ve gotten a little too comfortable?
I wasn’t sure exactly when it started, but it was definitely nothing like the ti I first t him, trembling just at the sight of his face.
It was entirely because Kiaros had made feel at ease.
He’d approached with familiarity, warmth, and genuine concern.
“In any case, we’ll make sure they don’t lay a hand on you.”
Kiaros spoke in a low voice.
“You are my guest, Namia. I will protect you.”
I was just about to respond—
When soone approached Victor’s mailbox.
The figure silently retrieved the vial of blood and tucked it inside their coat before heading back the way they ca.
“Follow them.”
Kiaros commanded quietly.
One of the crows launched into the air with swift grace, tailing the intruder from above.
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