Chapter 59
“What? Thief? Where did you learn that kind of word?”
“Ah, I…… I learned from the young lords that take swordsmanship classes together with me.”
Hearing Renato’s question, Trudy realized he had made a slip of the tongue and mumbled. Renato lightly scolded Trudy with a stern expression.
“You must not thoughtlessly use those kinds of words. Got it?”
“Yesss……”
Trudy answered with a sullen face and looked at Renato. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too angry.
“I’m sorry for speaking thoughtlessly, hyung-nim. But I think the five-year gap is too big.”
Trudy mumbled his dissatisfaction. To a child whose age was still a single digit, the age of twenty-five felt like a huge adult. But truthfully, the main reason why he didn’t like that person was that the man was going to marry Renato.
“But 5 years old is not that big of an age gap…… Isn’t the age gap between Imperial Father and Her Highness the Imperial Consort bigger than that?”
“Ugh, that’s true, but.”
Trudy was speechless because of Renato’s rebuttal and could only groan. When he thought about it again, the age difference between Tristan and Ludmilla was 7 years. If he criticized the man just because of a 5-year age gap, it was like saying that his father who married his mother was also a thief.
“And you and I are 12 years apart, right? You can’t say that a 5-year gap is big. And above all else, it’s extremely disrespectful to talk about someone else’s age and gossip about it. Do you understand?”
“Uuugh, yes. I understand.”
Trudy, who was suddenly scolded by Renato twice, drooped like withered grass. Renato softly sighed when Trudy became depressed. He couldn’t understand why the child was so hostile to Khalid, but for the future, it was better for the two of them to have a smooth relationship.
“Anyway, sooner or later, his highness will invite you and me to his official residence. I’ll introduce you to him then, so you should get ready as well.”
“Invite?”
“Yes. He knows that we can’t see each other often because of His Majesty the Empress, so he invites us to his official residence. When you meet him later, say thanks to him.”
“Oh!”
Hearing Renato’s explanation, Trudy let out an exclamation. In the child’s heart, there was now very small goodwill towards Khalid.
“If you meet him, you will definitely like him. He is a good person.”
“I hope so.”
Trudy replied with a look of anticipation and started eating his cake again. The favor from that man was one thing, while the fact that he took away Trudy’s pretty hyung-nim was a separate matter. The child was filled with enthusiasm, vowing to thoroughly test whether Khalid was the right person to be Renato’s companion.
“The cake seems to suit your taste. You are eating well.”
“Yes! It is delicious!”
“Is that so? Then eat mine too.”
“Thank you!”
Renato felt like he was full just by looking at Trudy vigorously stuffing the cake in his mouth.
* * *
“Is it this place?”
Khalid frowned at the shabby building in front of his eyes. Today, he went out with Renato. To be precise, Renato, who had finished signing the marriage contract, said that he had some business to do and would wake up earlier than usual. Because of that, Khalid asked if he could go together, and then followed Renato like this.
It was because the place Renato was going to was a place with poor security, just like Baker 13th Street last time.
“Just like last time as well, I didn’t know you had a hobby of going to dangerous places.”
“I don’t have that kind of hobby.”
Renato pouted his lower lip and lifted the robe that was covering his face. After confirming that he had come to the right place, he turned his gaze to Khalid.
“Will you really be coming in with me?”
“I came all the way here, so I will.”
“Alright. Only two people can enter at a time……”
Renato, unable to defeat Khalid’s stubbornness, motioned for Luna to wait outside. Then, he made his way into the pub.
“Welcome, customers.”
Even though it was midday, the room was dark and had a musty scent just like during the night. The receptionist, who was cleaning glasses at the counter, glanced at the two when they entered and bluntly greeted them.
“What can I give you? Alcohol? A meal?”
“Twin Owls.”
Renato threw the prepared gold coin at the receptionist. The receptionist squinted his eyes after catching the gold coin with an amazing reaction speed. After staring at the two as if judging something, the receptionist put down the glass and pointed towards the kitchen.
“……Please come this way.”
Renato followed the receptionist’s instructions and walked to the kitchen. The receptionist opened the door inside the kitchen which led to a staircase heading up.
“Please go up.”
The receptionist stepped aside as if his guidance was only up to this point. Khalid looked up for a moment, then nodded to say it was okay to go up.
When they climbed the old stairs, a black iron door appeared. Renato knocked on the door three times without hesitation. Then, he could feel the presence of some people inside.
Soon, the small sliding window on the door opened with a rattling sound. Behind the window, a woman wearing glasses showed her face.
“Who are you?”
“I came here to see the Twin Owls.”
Renato handed over a gold coin just like he did on the first floor. With that, the sliding window closed, and the iron door opened. There were two people inside, a woman with long hair and glasses, and a woman with short hair and no glasses. A unique thing was that they had identical faces except for their glasses and hairstyles.
“How did you know this place? Who introduced you here?”
The woman wearing glasses looked at Renato and Khalid with wary eyes. The person not wearing glasses was ready to pull out her sword at any time.
“Does it matter how I got to know this place?”
“Because you are new customers. We only accept introductions from existing customers.”
“I cannot tell you the source of the information.”
“Then I cannot do business with you. Please go back before you get kicked out.”
The woman with glasses said in a cold voice. Renato looked at her and slowly began to speak.
“Arche, Iris.”
“……!”
When those two names came out of Renato’s mouth, the auras surrounding the two became sharp. Then, Khalid stood in front of Renato to protect him. As if responding to that, the woman with short hair stepped forward.
“You, just who are you? How do you know our names?”
“You twins would be in trouble if you knew who I am, are you really okay with that?”
“We’ll see who will be the ones in trouble!”
The woman with short hair flung herself at them and loudly shouted. At that moment, a sword appeared from Khalid’s waist.
Claaang!
With the sound of metal clashing, the woman with short hair who rushed towards Khalid gasped and fell to the floor. It happened so quickly that Renato couldn’t even make out what had just happened.
“Iris!”
The woman wearing glasses called out to the collapsed one in an urgent voice. But the short-haired woman didn’t answer. She had probably fainted.
“What should I do?”
Khalid aimed his sword at the collapsed person’s neck to prevent the woman with glasses from approaching. Then he asked for Renato’s opinion.
“Please don’t kill her.”
“All right. Then I’ll be observing to make sure she won’t do anything rash, so please continue with your talk.”
“Thank you.”
Renato thanked Khalid, then turned his gaze to the trembling woman in the corner.
“Now then, do you feel like doing business with me now?”
“Just what is this?!”
As soon as Renato finished speaking, the woman in glasses screamed. She seemed to have lost her composure when falling into a situation where she could not do anything. Seeing that, Renato calmly spoke.
“I already told you. I’m here to do business with you. If the collapsed person is Iris, are you Arche?”
“Ha, fine. Let’s do business. What do you want?”
The woman named Arche put up her glasses and fixed her facial expression. She struggled to suppress her agitation. The situation was the worst, but in times like these, she had to deal with it as rationally as possible. However, Renato’s words shook her expression again.
“I want the organization you have.”
“What……”
“The information guild that suddenly emerged a few years ago, was its name Shadow of the Night? Isn’t that yours?”
“Just how, what is your identity?”
Arche’s expression completely collapsed in an instant. Astonished, she asked in a trembling voice. Instead of answering Arche’s question, Renato took off his hood. Seeing his exposed face, Arche recognized him immediately.
There was only one beauty in the Empire with silver hair resembling moonlight and light purple eyes reminiscent of violets.
“……His Imperial Highness the 1st Prince?”
“That’s right.”
Renato nodded and slowly approached Arche. Khalid slightly wriggled one eyebrow because of his sudden action. But he did not stop Renato.
“Lady Arche from Count Luminus’ household.”
Arche tremblingly took a deep breath in when Renato called her full name. She realized that the 1st Prince had known everything before coming here to visit them. Renato kindly explained the situation to Arche who was still in shock.
“Now that you have seen my face, you have only two options left. Either swear your allegiance to me and continue to live, or die here with your younger twin sister.”
“Ah, I…… I learned from the young lords that take swordsmanship classes together with me.”
Hearing Renato’s question, Trudy realized he had made a slip of the tongue and mumbled. Renato lightly scolded Trudy with a stern expression.
“You must not thoughtlessly use those kinds of words. Got it?”
“Yesss……”
Trudy answered with a sullen face and looked at Renato. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too angry.
“I’m sorry for speaking thoughtlessly, hyung-nim. But I think the five-year gap is too big.”
Trudy mumbled his dissatisfaction. To a child whose age was still a single digit, the age of twenty-five felt like a huge adult. But truthfully, the main reason why he didn’t like that person was that the man was going to marry Renato.
“But 5 years old is not that big of an age gap…… Isn’t the age gap between Imperial Father and Her Highness the Imperial Consort bigger than that?”
“Ugh, that’s true, but.”
Trudy was speechless because of Renato’s rebuttal and could only groan. When he thought about it again, the age difference between Tristan and Ludmilla was 7 years. If he criticized the man just because of a 5-year age gap, it was like saying that his father who married his mother was also a thief.
“And you and I are 12 years apart, right? You can’t say that a 5-year gap is big. And above all else, it’s extremely disrespectful to talk about someone else’s age and gossip about it. Do you understand?”
“Uuugh, yes. I understand.”
Trudy, who was suddenly scolded by Renato twice, drooped like withered grass. Renato softly sighed when Trudy became depressed. He couldn’t understand why the child was so hostile to Khalid, but for the future, it was better for the two of them to have a smooth relationship.
“Anyway, sooner or later, his highness will invite you and me to his official residence. I’ll introduce you to him then, so you should get ready as well.”
“Invite?”
“Yes. He knows that we can’t see each other often because of His Majesty the Empress, so he invites us to his official residence. When you meet him later, say thanks to him.”
“Oh!”
Hearing Renato’s explanation, Trudy let out an exclamation. In the child’s heart, there was now very small goodwill towards Khalid.
“If you meet him, you will definitely like him. He is a good person.”
“I hope so.”
Trudy replied with a look of anticipation and started eating his cake again. The favor from that man was one thing, while the fact that he took away Trudy’s pretty hyung-nim was a separate matter. The child was filled with enthusiasm, vowing to thoroughly test whether Khalid was the right person to be Renato’s companion.
“The cake seems to suit your taste. You are eating well.”
“Yes! It is delicious!”
“Is that so? Then eat mine too.”
“Thank you!”
Renato felt like he was full just by looking at Trudy vigorously stuffing the cake in his mouth.
* * *
“Is it this place?”
Khalid frowned at the shabby building in front of his eyes. Today, he went out with Renato. To be precise, Renato, who had finished signing the marriage contract, said that he had some business to do and would wake up earlier than usual. Because of that, Khalid asked if he could go together, and then followed Renato like this.
It was because the place Renato was going to was a place with poor security, just like Baker 13th Street last time.
“Just like last time as well, I didn’t know you had a hobby of going to dangerous places.”
“I don’t have that kind of hobby.”
Renato pouted his lower lip and lifted the robe that was covering his face. After confirming that he had come to the right place, he turned his gaze to Khalid.
“Will you really be coming in with me?”
“I came all the way here, so I will.”
“Alright. Only two people can enter at a time……”
Renato, unable to defeat Khalid’s stubbornness, motioned for Luna to wait outside. Then, he made his way into the pub.
“Welcome, customers.”
Even though it was midday, the room was dark and had a musty scent just like during the night. The receptionist, who was cleaning glasses at the counter, glanced at the two when they entered and bluntly greeted them.
“What can I give you? Alcohol? A meal?”
“Twin Owls.”
Renato threw the prepared gold coin at the receptionist. The receptionist squinted his eyes after catching the gold coin with an amazing reaction speed. After staring at the two as if judging something, the receptionist put down the glass and pointed towards the kitchen.
“……Please come this way.”
Renato followed the receptionist’s instructions and walked to the kitchen. The receptionist opened the door inside the kitchen which led to a staircase heading up.
“Please go up.”
The receptionist stepped aside as if his guidance was only up to this point. Khalid looked up for a moment, then nodded to say it was okay to go up.
When they climbed the old stairs, a black iron door appeared. Renato knocked on the door three times without hesitation. Then, he could feel the presence of some people inside.
Soon, the small sliding window on the door opened with a rattling sound. Behind the window, a woman wearing glasses showed her face.
“Who are you?”
“I came here to see the Twin Owls.”
Renato handed over a gold coin just like he did on the first floor. With that, the sliding window closed, and the iron door opened. There were two people inside, a woman with long hair and glasses, and a woman with short hair and no glasses. A unique thing was that they had identical faces except for their glasses and hairstyles.
“How did you know this place? Who introduced you here?”
The woman wearing glasses looked at Renato and Khalid with wary eyes. The person not wearing glasses was ready to pull out her sword at any time.
“Does it matter how I got to know this place?”
“Because you are new customers. We only accept introductions from existing customers.”
“I cannot tell you the source of the information.”
“Then I cannot do business with you. Please go back before you get kicked out.”
The woman with glasses said in a cold voice. Renato looked at her and slowly began to speak.
“Arche, Iris.”
“……!”
When those two names came out of Renato’s mouth, the auras surrounding the two became sharp. Then, Khalid stood in front of Renato to protect him. As if responding to that, the woman with short hair stepped forward.
“You, just who are you? How do you know our names?”
“You twins would be in trouble if you knew who I am, are you really okay with that?”
“We’ll see who will be the ones in trouble!”
The woman with short hair flung herself at them and loudly shouted. At that moment, a sword appeared from Khalid’s waist.
Claaang!
With the sound of metal clashing, the woman with short hair who rushed towards Khalid gasped and fell to the floor. It happened so quickly that Renato couldn’t even make out what had just happened.
“Iris!”
The woman wearing glasses called out to the collapsed one in an urgent voice. But the short-haired woman didn’t answer. She had probably fainted.
“What should I do?”
Khalid aimed his sword at the collapsed person’s neck to prevent the woman with glasses from approaching. Then he asked for Renato’s opinion.
“Please don’t kill her.”
“All right. Then I’ll be observing to make sure she won’t do anything rash, so please continue with your talk.”
“Thank you.”
Renato thanked Khalid, then turned his gaze to the trembling woman in the corner.
“Now then, do you feel like doing business with me now?”
“Just what is this?!”
As soon as Renato finished speaking, the woman in glasses screamed. She seemed to have lost her composure when falling into a situation where she could not do anything. Seeing that, Renato calmly spoke.
“I already told you. I’m here to do business with you. If the collapsed person is Iris, are you Arche?”
“Ha, fine. Let’s do business. What do you want?”
The woman named Arche put up her glasses and fixed her facial expression. She struggled to suppress her agitation. The situation was the worst, but in times like these, she had to deal with it as rationally as possible. However, Renato’s words shook her expression again.
“I want the organization you have.”
“What……”
“The information guild that suddenly emerged a few years ago, was its name Shadow of the Night? Isn’t that yours?”
“Just how, what is your identity?”
Arche’s expression completely collapsed in an instant. Astonished, she asked in a trembling voice. Instead of answering Arche’s question, Renato took off his hood. Seeing his exposed face, Arche recognized him immediately.
There was only one beauty in the Empire with silver hair resembling moonlight and light purple eyes reminiscent of violets.
“……His Imperial Highness the 1st Prince?”
“That’s right.”
Renato nodded and slowly approached Arche. Khalid slightly wriggled one eyebrow because of his sudden action. But he did not stop Renato.
“Lady Arche from Count Luminus’ household.”
Arche tremblingly took a deep breath in when Renato called her full name. She realized that the 1st Prince had known everything before coming here to visit them. Renato kindly explained the situation to Arche who was still in shock.
“Now that you have seen my face, you have only two options left. Either swear your allegiance to me and continue to live, or die here with your younger twin sister.”
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