Chapter 25

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Vivian hurried up two steps and avoided his hand.

“I’ll take it off!”

She was so embarrassed that her voice cracked. Some Knights who were moving luggages looked at Vivian. She didn’t know why she got so agitated when he got close.

Raising his eyes slightly at her exaggerated behavior, Roger smirked and laughed.

“Sure, sure.”

Unlike her, who was embarrassed, he was relaxed. Feeling lost somehow, Vivian took off the robe he had unbuttoned.

Now, as she was wondering what to talk about, she saw Hamel over Roger’s shoulder. Hamel held Vivian’s luggage from the Count’s mansion.

“Lady, where should I put your luggage?”

Hamel, who found Vivian, approached her and asked.

“My Lady, please go up first and choose a room.”

Roger answered in her place.

Vivian said yes and turned to Hamel. She climbed the spiral staircase, which was connected to the corridors on both sides. There were numerous rooms in the hallways that followed.

“Where would be a good place, Hamel?”

Vivian looked around the rooms with Hamel following her. There was a room where bright light permeated because of its window.

Somehow with a refreshed mood, Vivian grabbed the door knob of the room and turned it.

Clack.

“Huh?”

But the door did not open.

Vivian tried a few more times but the door didn’t budge. It was unlike the other doors that opened easily.

“Is this not a place we can use?”

It naturally occurred to her as it was the only room that was locked, and all the other rooms were open. Vivian had no choice. While smacking her lips she turned away from the door that wouldn’t open.

She liked it the most, but she left the locked room behind. Vivian then chose the innermost room on the second floor.

The bed was about the same size as the one in her original bedroom. There was also a mahogany table with beautiful wood grain patterns, a bright wardrobe mounted on the walls, and a potted plant by the window.

The room, neither excessive nor insufficient, pleased Vivian.

“I’ll stay here.”

“Yes, then I’ll unpack here.”

With Hamel arranging her luggage, Vivian opened the closed window wide. The cool wind swept through her face.

Vivian couldn’t see the beautiful view of the West that she had expected. It was because there was a wall blocking the entire view of the mansion right in front of her. Instead of colorful lights, Vivian suddenly thought of Hiddenca’s landscape. There was an ocean right in front of it, so the view was magnificent. She often looked at the scenery when she was in a bad mood or worried…….

‘I’ll go back to Hiddenca after this.’

Vivian, who thought this, suddenly remembered what she had forgotten. It was to send a letter to Gray, her teacher. Now that her hands are all better, it was time to write the letter.

“Hamel, I need to write a letter. Do you have a paper and a pen?”

“Yes, I brought it.”

Answering swifty, Hamel placed whatVivian asked for on the table. While Hamel was arranging her luggage, Vivian wrote a brief letter to Gray.

It wasn’t easy to confess that she had a dream of mixing herself with a man. But Vivian pulled herself together and wrote down every word.

Until she actually met him, she didn’t feel the need to find out why she was dreaming. She never met him except in her dreams, and she never thought that she ever would. But the two met in reality, as if the heavens were laughing at her expectations. Now that she actually met Roger, Vivian thought she should find out why she was dreaming about it.

“I’ll send the letter and come back.”

Vivian slipped the small letter in the envelope then came down to the ground floor.

The Knights were chatting amongst themselves, it seemed like they were almost done unpacking. They found Vivian walking down the stairs and straightened themselves.

“Are you looking for the Commander?”

“No, I have an urgent letter to take care of. I heard there was a servant.”

“It’s over there. Do you want me to show you?”

“Then I’d appreciate it.”

After a simple conversation, the Knights took the lead to guide her. It was when a Knight asked an implicit question that broke the silence of the peaceful walk.

“I…… Lady. Can I ask you a question?”

Vivian nodded willingly, thinking it was good for the awkward situation. The Knight asked straight away with a slightly brighter face.

“Did you really beat the Vice-Captain?”

Vivian stopped walking at the very unexpected question. She didn’t know what he meant, but the Knight shook his hand in a pretty embarrassed manner.

“It’s not that…… It’s just that I was curious. I apologize if I offended you.”

He must have been really embarrassed and sweated. Vivian shrugged, wondering what he was so embarrassed about.

“We didn’t fight in a duel, so it’s hard to say that I won. I just corrected his assumption a little because I didn’t deserve it.”

Vivian understood why they were asking this question. She heard from Roger that Ben was a mercenary. Being a former mercenary meant that he was capable enough to be verified without having to prove it.

He was intrigued to hear that Vivian, who seemed ordinary to them, won.

“So the Commander…….”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

The Knight somehow avoided the question in a bustling manner then opened a door, saying they were almost there. Then Vivian hurried off before he could ask anything more.

Vivian was annoyed by the mysterious behavior of the Knight, but she didn’t bother to hold onto it. It was because sending the letter came first.

Vivian was guided to the dining hall by the Knights. Roger was talking to a well-dressed man there.

Roger, who was leaning against the table, saw Vivian and pulled himself up.

“My lady, come here.”

Vivian awkwardly approached him and with hesitation. The man standing across Roger had wrinkles all over his face, he looked quite old.

He saw Vivian and bowed politely.

“This is the butler who will take care of the mansion for a while.”

Vivian acknowledged his identity and greeted him with a smile. The butler made eye contact with her with a kind expression.

“By the way, what brought you down here?”

Roger, who was staring only at her while talking, asked as soon as the conversation was over. Vivian lifted the letter in her hand.

“Well, I’ve got a letter to send.”

“You can leave it up to me in the future.”

The butler said and smiled at her. Vivian handed the letter for Gray to the butler, saying,

“I look forward to your kind cooperation.” 

Vivian hoped Gray would reply as soon as possible.

Leaving the letter to the butler and after a brief chat with Roger, Vivian turned away.

After she disappeared, Roger began to talk to the butler again. Someone was secretly observing their movements.

It was Tainy, sitting on a window in the corner of the restaurant.

He squinted his eyes as if he had doubts. Some Knights approached him. They were the same Knights that guided Vivian there a while ago.

“What are you doing here?”

Side by side, they looked at Tainy, making shapes with their hands, wondering about Tainy’s curious gaze. But the only thing that the puzzled gaze seemed to follow was their Commander.

“He is being weird.”

Tainy clicked his tongue as if he could hear it.

Everyone opened their eyes wide and tilted their heads.

“You mean the Commander?”

“He doesn’t do that kind of thing.”

The Knights of Eckhart frequently moved their base for a mission, but Roger’s actions today were truly suspicious.

He has never been in charge of managing people like that and checking internal affairs. Such a thing was the main job of the Vice-Captains Enka and Ben.

But this mission was different.

Upon arriving in the West, Roger checked every corner of the mansion and immediately verified the servants. It was an uncharacteristically meticulous and delicate attitude. It came as a farce to Tainy.

Tainy seemed to understand a little bit why his attitude was different than usual.

These days, whenever he saw Roger’s unusual behavior, there was always a common factor.

“Lady Lector.”

It was when he’s with Lady Lector.

Vivian Lector is a spiritist, but the essence of it is that she’s a lady, a noble woman who grew up preciously. Therefore, she will like a well-established and organized mansion much better than a dusty and smelly mansion. It’ll be a lot easier to stay for a while.

‘I think you’re doing all of these for Lady Lector.’

Tainy rubbed his chin as Enka’s words hardened with conviction.

It was then that the Knight next to him suddenly opened his mouth.

“Isn’t it because of Lady Lector?”

Tainy’s eyes quickly turned to him. The knight seemed to have read his mind.

“How do you know that?”

Tainy looked so embarrassed when he found out that he wasn’t the only one who knew.

The Knight, who was rather surprised by his burning reaction, mumbled silently for a long time.

“He’ll have to……I knew she was special to him..”

Soon the Knight replied, scratching his cheek. The Knights standing next to him nodded as if they agreed.

“I found out this time that Ben had a bruise in his eye. I heard the Commander did that. And that’s because he was being rude to Lady Lector.….”

The Knight slowly spoke, recalling the conversation with Vivian earlier.

One day they were startled by a bruise that suddenly appeared on Ben’s eye. They wondered who could have hurt him, a former mercenary, so badly.

But a strange story ensued. The culprit was Roger, the Commander. But Roger cared about his subordinates even though he pretends not to.

The story ended there, followed by an unconfirmed rumor.

It was rumored that Roger did that to Ben because of Lady Lector, and that Ben was rude to Vivian at the first meeting.

The gossip was clearly obscured today. Because Vivian gave a definite answer. Ben ignored her.

Tainy smirked at Vivian’s memory of Ben, who was seriously injured in the nose, while listening to them.

It was the first time he saw a guy who was always in high spirits with a tough background look so helpless. It was at that moment when Vivian, who knocked down a man twice as big as her without raising a finger, looked amazing.

Tainy actually thought Vivian wouldn’t be able to do her part because she looked so vulnerable, until he saw her use her power. In the end, Ben, who showed his true feelings, and Tainy, who kept them, were the same.