Chapter 41

“He didn’t say anything.”

It’s only natural. No assassin would introduce themselves to their targets.

“Didn’t you get a look at him, Duke?”

“He was already outside the window.”

As expected, it was difficult to find a clue unless the assassin got caught. Selena told him whatever she could recall. Thinking that no matter how trivial the information was, it might be a clue.

“His hands were covered in very thick gloves.”

“He must’ve been wearing gauntlets. Most people in the North put them on during their work. It’d be hard to specify that way.”

This wasn’t a clue either. Discouraged, she let her shoulders droop down.

“I had a good argument with Mrs. Janet before I went to take a bath. It doesn’t make sense to hire an assassin and send him after me in the meantime, does it?”

“I don’t suppose Mrs. Janet would have done such a thoughtless thing if she truly intended to kill you.”

“Then, could it be either Fionel or Rosalyn?”

“Perhaps. Or they could be someone else I’ve never thought of.”

“By now, they might be wandering around to attend 10 parties and make the rumors spread in the capital to create a big chaos.”

No one in the capital would truly know about Selena.

Kalcion agreed with the conjecture. The same was true for Irelle. Even before she was properly introduced, everyone knew that the prospective fiancée of the Duke of Renbird was arriving in the capital. There were even a bunch of people who guessed which parties she was going to attend.

There was something people were half-confident about during the time of Irelle’s visit. Before that, not many people said anything about the scandal about Kalcion.

However, with Irelle’s already established record, interest in Selena would never be skipped. In other words, they could start with actions without even finding out more.

“It would be great if the assassin could be arrested.”

“Then everything will be simple.”

Heavy footsteps walking down the hallway stopped at the door. Unlike the thick door of Kalcion’s bedroom at the Castle of Renbird, such small sounds through this door were audible.

“This is Dion.”

“Come in.”

Dion paid a light silent tribute and immediately went into the report.

“We missed him.”

“Did he get away?”

Kalcion’s eyebrows twitched with displeasure.

“He has committed suicide.”

Selena’s shifting gaze between them stopped.

“He must’ve been very well trained.”

“All the retreats we had secured were new for him. As soon as he judged there was no way he’d escape, he chose to terminate himself at once.”

Kalcion’s lips closed at Dion’s subsequent report.

“Had he infiltrated us from the mid-way?”

“He hadn’t. I think he was following us from Dunfel.”

“Did you find anything in his body?”

“There was nothing specific at all.”

“Hmm.”

“Shall I send people to Dunfel to investigate?”

“No, there’s no need to distribute forces like that. Dispose of the body and send for an investigator to Dunfel by contacting Silenza.”

“Understood.”

Dion stepped back. However, the tension in the air from the conversation did not ease up. Selena turned to Kalcion, feeling anxious.

“We couldn’t get anything after all. Back to square one.”

“Not back to the origin. There aren’t many families that can send such trained assassins.”

“If not many, how many are there?”

“About 30 families?”

“…….”

It’d take a month if one family was investigated a day. That wouldn’t be much, he said?

“Well then, how many families are there in the capital?”

“About 300?”

“……..”

This world was bigger than she thought. It’s time that she got used to this scale. Before she began tackling assassins on a daily basis.

Even though such an incident occurred this night, there would not be any delay in tomorrow’s departure.

“We should get some sleep.”

“Right.”

“No more people would attack when we sleep, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

With no information from her assailant, she only found out that there were 30 families who could be after her life. A dark displeasing aura filled her heart.

Shriveling at the thought, Selena walked to the bed. She was naturally going to the left, but she suddenly turned to the right.

“I’ll sleep on the right side tonight.”

“Why?”

“I think I’d be scared…… so, I want us to sleep together.”

Kalcion got up and walked towards the bed. Selena’s weak worried figure relaxed as he sat on the bed.

“…….Can’t we?”

She felt so refreshed that her voice sounded cute.

Her drooping eyes looked like they were going to be full of tears if he denied, whereas her lips gathered up, which showed that she was afraid.

Once, he had found a palm-sized beast on his way to investigate the mountain range. Although small in size, it was highly likely to be a grown-up since it did not cross the range.

Usually, magical beasts were more deformed than regular beasts and had monstrous forms. However, some were deformed into beautiful shapes.

The beast was unmistakably cute. Even Kalcion, who usually had no compassion, sympathized with the small beast saying it was adorable.

Unlike its appearance, the beast was so ferocious that he had to kill it. But he still regretted not being able to tame it after catching it. He didn’t think there would ever be such a cute creature in the world again.

But here was another. Right in front of him.

Dazed at Selena’s cute expression, Kalcion nodded without realizing.

“Whatever’s convenient for you.”

Selena’s smile appeared at his permission, and she quickly settled under the blanket.

Kalcion lied down on the left side of the bed, and stretched his arm towards Selena.

Selena rolled towards him as if she was waiting for it, and leaned her head on his shoulder. Naturally, his hand rested around her waist. Kalcion closed his eyes, trying to be oblivious of their position and pretending as though her arm was a blanket.

His futile efforts broke every time Selena scooted closer to him. After a while, she whispered when her thumping heart calmed down.

“What if someone sneaks in while we’re asleep and tries to suffocate me with a pillow?”

Her voice was as small as the breeze whooshing past the window.

“They wouldn’t be able to come in. The guards have been increased.”

“There were guards outside the bath, but he was still able to sneak in.”

Now that she’d faced one incident, she couldn’t be sure that it would never happen again.

“…….I’m right beside you.”

She sighed deeply and stretched out.

“Just wake me up if I do anything weird in my sleep, alright?”

“All right.”

That he could do without her to inform him. Even in silence, he never missed his mark, which was a basic skill that any knight of Renbird had.

Perhaps she was relieved by Kalcion’s answer, but she was still a little doubtful. Selena, who wished she could fall asleep as she was, opened her eyes again shortly afterward she hoped to be quiet.

“Come to think of it, do we have to bathe together now?!”

“?!”

This time, Kalcion’s eyes opened wide.

“No, we don’t have to…… We’ll strengthen your escort from now on, so it will be fine. I’ll inform them, so you will be safe anywhere you go.”

He came up with a plan to stumble.

“……Okay.”

It made her uneasy, but she replied anyway.

“Do I have to stay as nervous as this all the time in the capital?”

“The capital city is better because there are many eyes to keep watch and a lot of people to get intertwined within. The most risk is in when we move.”

“You’re saying it’ll be fine once we reach the capital, right?”

Selena, who seemed a little convinced, sat up.

“Wait, no, it was fine when we started moving. You chose the path within Renbird’s estate for safe travel, but it wasn’t, right?”

Unable to deny, Kalcion stayed silent. Trust, which had already fallen to the ground, was now getting picked up as scattered sesame seeds by hand. Selena needed a device to lower her anxiety.

“My life wasn’t multiplied by what I had. I anticipated going through the limit of strange happenings that a person could go through at a time, but I don’t think it’s been upgraded to meet this world’s standard.”

Many things happened even when she was an actor. Even if she had bodyguards, there were such things that could be prevented.

Stalkers sneaking in through door passwords, calling late at night, putting something in the mailboxes, showing up everywhere she went, and trying to hug her when she’d just managed to keep a clean and formal greeting.

Although stalkers were dangerous, they did not try to kill Selena. The threat of murder was worse than stalkers putting a dead bird by her door every morning.

“The thing is that you feel startled and anxious right now, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

She answered quietly. However, being relieved by that alone, she lied back down to Kalcion’s side.

Though her mouth was shut, he felt a sign that she was having trouble falling asleep immediately. He couldn’t even ask her to train to deviate her fear as he did to his soldiers.

‘…..Is there nothing? Why isn’t there?’

Selena was, however, an outstanding athlete. She said she could do anything with her body. She said she was learning martial arts little by little, so why didn’t he think about it?

“If you can’t sleep,”

“Yes?!”

She replied with a look of delight on her face that said she was desperate. Still, her features seemed dry, lifeless.

Although he wondered if he should ask this to a Lady, Kalcion mustered up his courage to suggest it.