Chapter 60 - Got Caught
Chapter 60 - Got Caught
60. Got Caught
On my second birthday, when I was 24 months old, Abelardo sent a relic as a gift. I picked up the stone on the bed without knowing what it was and that it was sent from Abelardo.
‘Because of that damn stone, my divine power was opened forcibly.’
And now, the object that the mole put in front of me looked exactly like a relic.
“Is this…a relic?”
Because of my past memories, I didn’t pick up the stone, but looked at it carefully. No matter how much I looked at it, it looked exactly like the stone from that time.
But was it a relic for nothing? It might be a relic because it had a tremendous ability. It was unlikely that an item with that ability would be found in some gold mine.
It was when I couldn’t touch the stone and observing it closely. Lissandro, who was watching me from a distance, seemed to feel something suspicious and slowly approached me, tilting his head.
“Your Majesty. You can’t eat dirt.”
“Huk.”
I beckoned for the mole to go. Then, I quickly pushed the stone into the pit the mole dug and covered it with both palms.
“Little Majesty. What are you doing?”
“Justh.”
Watching Lissandro, who was looking at me with a playful expression as always, somehow made me feel bad.
‘I was surprised that Lissandro came so suddenly.’
In a spirit of revenge, I rounded up the soil and handed it over to Lissandro.
“Ung. I made it for Lissandro!”
“Wow!! Are you giving it to me?”
Lissandro smiled brightly as he received the ball of dirt. I laughed more clearly and shouted.
“Ung. Eat it!”
“……”
Lissandro’s face turned blue. I smiled brightly as I looked at Lissandro.
“Eat!”
Lissandro looked at me as if it were vulgar, but I only blinked innocently.
“Hehe.”
I don’t know anything.
***
Casey was the second strongest person in the information guild, Evil. Although he was a commoner, it was a case where he accidentally joined the guild because of his magical abilities.
As he rolled through the back alley, he learned excellent combat skills on his own. No one could stop him. So, aside from the nobles, a group he couldn’t reach, he lived without fear.
That was, until he met the guild master, Aedan.
‘I thought I was going to die back then.’
When he first met Aedan, of course, Casey ignored him. Although he was tall, he was only a child.
Some ruffians in the back alley had a quarrel, so after chasing them roughly, he gave him some advice.
Children don’t come to places like this, so go home and play with your house friends.
His great life flew away after that.
“Euuu.”
Casey trembled and walked busily. According to the command of the very terrifying master, Aedan, he had to complete an important mission today.
Casey tilted his head as he checked himself while getting dressed.
What kind of person was the ‘real master’ that the master followed absolutely?
‘He’s a scary person. The man who is the real master.’
Casey, honestly, admired him.
Evil’s strong position as an information guild was because of the contribution of decisive information provided by one person, rather than the efforts of the individual guild members. And the source of that information was the real master. And there was something even more scary. No matter how famous Evil became, it was still only a third-year information guild. Therefore, the principle was not to take on high-risk tasks. But the real master was trying to touch the Empire’s giant, Duke Javier. It was a tremendous distribution to touch the nobles.
‘For me, as long as I get money, I’m good.’
Casey used magic to change his dark green hair to common brown hair and his common black pupils were changed to brown just in case. Even though only his hair and eye colors were changed, his image was markedly different. There was no loose atmosphere, and only an ordinary man without any personality stood. In the meantime, the clothes he wore were neat and luxurious.
“This should be enough.”
The place where Casey entered was a male-only membership saloon. A guard who was standing at the entrance blocked the front entrance as Casey took a step.
“Here it is.”
The guard bowed and stepped back only after seeing Casey’s member invitation.
“Have a good time.”
The guard wouldn’t even dream of it. The fact that the invitation he saw and passed was actually an imitation invitation created by a guild member with excellent dexterity.
Casey, who changed his behavior, stepped inside pretending to be gentry.
There were all sorts of play boards spread out throughout the glamorous hall as if money was being poured in. In one place, there was a space for resting, and in another, there was a space for smoking. Casey went out to find someone in a chattering group.
‘There he is.’
It was none other than Duke Javier that Casey found. He was playing card games at a table set up for entertainment. Casey looked around and observed the situation first. Duke Javier’s hand wasn’t very good.
“Hmm…”
The Duke frowned. Casey pretended to pass by and stumbled behind the Duke.
“Oh, oh my. I’m sorry.”
He whispered into the Duke’s ear.
“You have the second hand.”
Casey, who made eye contact with the Duke, smiled and stepped back a few steps. And he watched the game end. After one game, Duke Javier, who had cleared his seat, smiled happily and approached Casey.
“If I discarded the card, I would have lost.”
“I’m glad it helped.”
“Thanks to you.”
He was nervous because the stakes were quite large, but the fact that he hadn’t lost money made the Duke feel better.
“I can’t just pass it over after being helped. I’ll buy you a drink. How about it?”
“If you say so, I won’t refuse.”
They moved to a bar on one side of the saloon and tilted their glasses. The Duke liked the man who had somewhat of a sad smile, even though it was their first meeting.
“You, what’s your name? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here.”
“My family is so lacking it’s shameful to say…”
Casey laughed happily and avoided the answer. The Duke laughed and tapped Casey on the shoulder.
“I’m not the kind of person who’d treat people by status or title, well, I understand.”
Then, the Duke thought to himself.
‘I guess he’s some local family’s vassal.’
In order to receive an invitation from this saloon, there was a condition that the man had to be a nobleman with a title, so he couldn’t think that he would be a commoner.
Casey spoke with a sad smile,
“I’m called Ace, Your Excellency, Duke Javier.”
“Hm? Have you seen me before?”
Duke Javier was amazed that he knew his identity even though he had yet to introduce himself. It was because, although most nobles knew his face, they had no knowledge of the young man in front of them.
“Is there anyone in this Empire who cannot recognize your Excellency? Isn’t it that great Javier Duchy? It would be strange not to recognize you. Haha.”
“It’s not that much.”
It’s something everyone said, but flattery sounded nice. Duke Javier burst into laughter and drank his alcohol.
‘A young man who knows his stuff.’
Except for the fact that his family wasn’t big, he really liked him. They leaned over and talked. Among their talks, there was a story that appealed to both.
“I heard that they’re going to be cracking down on the port of Clenhang soon. If Your Excellency’s top is going to be anchored at Clenhang harbor, maybe you should be careful?”
“Where did you get that information?”
“I have a reliable source of information.”
Since there was nothing wrong with being careful, the Duke put the case on Clenhang in his head.
“About nutmeg, I heard there’s a lot coming from Kalman, so it would be better to keep that in mind.”
“Ohh. I see.”
Since then, useful information that cannot be heard had been pouring out. Duke Javier listened to Casey as if he were bewitched.
Before long, a glass of wine rose, and with a polite smile, Casey spoke,
“My cup is empty, so I’ll get up now.”
“Already? I’ll buy you another drink, so be my companion, Ace.”
The Duke held onto Casey, thinking it was a waste to just let him go. But Casey shook his head and smiled as if he was sorry.
“I’m sorry, Your Excellency. I think time is difficult because there are families waiting.”
“Is that so?”
He was a young man he liked enough to want him under him. He was pleased that he had the wit to kiss up to his superiors moderately and was knowledgable in various fields.
‘But I can’t make such an important offer in our first meeting.’
It was when the Duke calmed down his regrets by making judgements ahead of his emotions. Casey took a few steps back and looked back.
“It’s a pity to break up like this, Your Excellency. May I see you again sooner or later?”
The Duke nodded happily at Casey’s surprise.
“Of course. Let’s see each other at this time in a week!”
“It’s an honor, Your Excellency.”
Casey laughed towards the Duke as if he was happy.
‘Caught you.’
***
A few days later, I was choosing clothes to wear to meet Duchess Donovan.
“I think this dress is too fancy.”
“This dress is too modest.”
Between the maids choosing a dress, I was changed from one piece to another. At first, it was nice to be able to try on cute dresses, but after ten, I was exhausted.
“I want to wear that yewow dress…”
“Ah, Your Majesty. Then let’s just wear this dress, okay?”
“Heung…”
I even used my secret weapon, the whimper, but the maids didn’t budge. The maids were satisfied only once I was wearing a white dress.
“You’re like a fairy!”
“More like an angel than a fairy!”
It was when they were hanging up the clothes eagerly.
Knock knock.
“Come in.”
The door opened with my permission. It was Aiden, who I seemed to see after a while.
“Aiden!”
With a happy heart, I ran towards Aiden. We’d been sharing notes through the mice the whole time, but it had been a few days since I saw his face.
“Did you eat?”
The maids chased me and lifted the hem of my dress.
“Your Majesty, you have to be careful. What if you trip and fall down?”
“No. Ah won’t fall.”
There was a sound of a giggle. As I lifted my head in confusion, I saw Aiden covering his mouth.
“Did you laugh at me just now?”
“No.”
“You did laugh though? Everyone heard it, right?”
When I looked back at the maids, they covered their mouths with their hands and laughed while avoiding my gaze.
‘Hey, I’m serious!’
Of course, I did fall once a day, but these days, I hadn’t fallen a lot. When I clenched my fists and stared at the maids, they hurried to speak.
“Sir. How is Her Majesty? She’s very cute, right?”
“Please tell us, hoho.”
Aiden’s expression hardened slightly when he was asked at the sudden question. At first glance, his expression was anger, but actually, it was confusion. The maids who served me knew that well and laughed ferociously.
I felt Aiden’s gaze on me. I laughed with a ‘hehe.’
‘This dress is pretty.’
After a brief silence, Aiden finally spoke.
“…it looks good.”
In response to his reaction, the maids complained as if they were dissatisfied.
“Oh my, oh my.”
“Is that it?”
I tilted my head.
‘If it looks good, isn’t that enough?’
I couldn’t figure out what kind of reaction the maids were hoping for. But there was a more important problem.
“Aiden. So, did you eat?”
Sleeping and eating were the most important law!
Aiden skipped meals often, so I had to take care of him like this.
“Not yet.”
“Aigoo.”
I sighed and shook my head. Look, what did I say. He hadn’t eaten again.
“Let’s go eat.”
Actually, it wasn’t time to eat yet. One of the maids, listening to out conversation, made a suggestion,
“Then, how about packing a lunch and having a picnic in the garden?”
“Okay!”
I readily agreed. It would be more delicious if you ate food while sitting in the breeze!
***
“Casey made contact with Duke Javier.”
I replied, handing Aiden a cup of milk.
“It will be good to gain more twust. Let’s take it slow.”
Munch.
I bit into the egg sandwich. The inside of the sandwich, which was neither excessive nor insufficient, harmonized perfectly. It was delicious.
“We have released the information as you wanted. A response will come soon probably.”
I nodded while sipping milk. The savory taste was very excellent.
“Yummy.”
“Eat more of this too. It is said that the Kalman top will release nutmeg to the market by tomorrow.”
“Just as the mouse said! Ah, eat this.”
We ate the picnic lunch.
People watching us from a distance smiled happily.
“Thinking abwout it, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“The mole found a stone in the gold mine, and it looks exacwy like a rewic.”
I told Aiden about the incident related to the holy relic, so he already knew. Aiden, who was quiet as if thinking about something for a moment, spoke,
“Come to think of it, I think we caught something.”
“What did?”
“It’s like Duke Javier buying a mine…”
“Ung.”
“He seemed to be looking for something.”
As I grabbed the strawberry sandwich, I was so surprised that I paused right there.
“Surely… that stwone…?”
“I will find out. Where is that stone?”
“Ung. Right bewow Aiden.”
“……”
It was when I was sharing fruit and talking about our next plan. Someone’s appearance was getting close.
When I raised my head, I saw-.
“…Mabel, how could this be?”
It was Daddy, standing with a shocked face.
“W-what?”
When I asked back, flustered, Daddy shouted.
“Isn’t it natural to go on your first picnic with your Dad?”