Martin Sciences threw his bottle of alcohol to the ground, cursing.
Drunk, he stumbled down the street as he had just been demoted from his knightâs position and kicked out of the palace. Princess Philomel, or rather the woman, had taken away his escort knight position and exposed him for his unfaithful behavior.
âDamn it! Why me!â
He was a knight with no job prospects now that he had been kicked out. The aristocratic family had their own way of doing things, and Martin knew he would be ignored.
He gritted his teeth, his mind filled with Philomelâs cold face.
âShe wasnât even a noble!â
He had heard rumors that her mother was close to the queen and was a commoner. Martin didnât even know who her father was.
âHe must have been a loser who made his living by rolling around somewhere!â
Was he being humiliated by a lowly commoner girl as a member of the Sciences family?
He shouted angrily.
âIâll kill her!â
But suddenly, his spine tingled. It was a creepy feeling, like bugs crawling up his body.
âWhoâs there?â
Martin suddenly became alert, prepared to defend himself as the last remaining knight.
There was a man at the other end of the alley.
âMe?â
The man tilted his head and approached Martin. His beautiful face was revealed under the moonlight. His golden eyes glowed brightly.
âWho are you?â
Martin grabbed his sword tightly in fear.
He instinctively knew. That man was different. A completely different being, qualitatively and entirely.
The man laughed in a low voice.
âA loser who made his living by rolling around somewhere.â The manâs hand gleamed. In an instant, Martin sensed his impending death.
âWhy are you doing this to me?â
âI donât know. It just annoys me.â
And with that, Martin was killed, unable to even scream in his final moments.
***
Ignoring the gruesome scene behind him, Le Guin spoke without turning around in the dark alleyway.
âWhat brings you here, Jeremiah?â
Jeremiah revealed himself quickly, scanning the scene of the brutal murder in front of him.
âWhat about Phil? You said you were an escort knight or something.â
Le Guin opened his mouth slowly to reply.
âSheâs with Cadin now.â
âOh, so you left your brother with her and came here to handle this.â
Le Guin gestured towards a barely recognizable figure.
âYouâve always had trouble killing trash, havenât you? Unfortunately, for you, I was faster this time.â
Jeremiah simply smirked at Le Guinâs words. Only his father tried to cloak his twisted morality in grandiose terms like âjustice.â
âThatâs enough. No matter who cleans up that garbage, itâs enough. âAt the end, I stepped on the scene of grumbling while looking at Philomel, and you were watching, right?â
âYeah. We canât let scum like this interfere with Phil.â
But there was another visitor in the alleyway.
âWhat is this?!â
Lexion emerged from the corner and scowled at the dead body of Martin.
âYouâve done it splendidly. If youâre going to do it, you shouldâve done it neatly. Easy to clean up.â
âAlways nagging.â
Youâre making Le Guin nag again. Why is the blood written backwards, anyway?â
Lexion grumbled as he walked around the puddle of blood on the ground.
âAh, if only Jeremiah had discovered it first and taken care of it.â
Jeremiah would have killed the person immediately. If it had been him, he would have finished it perfectly, too.
But Lexion was a human who preferred positive thinking. He was grateful that no buildings were destroyed just because one person was eliminated, and that it wasnât Cadin.
âMaintain the barrier spell for about 30 minutes to prevent anyone from approaching. It looks like itâll take that long to clean up.â
Lexion said lightly, clicking his tongue.
âIâm leaving. You guys take care of it.â
Le Guin attempted to teleport away with disinterest, but Lexion objected.
âWait! Are you going to Phil like that?â
âNo?
Of course not. If she sees Le Guin dressed like that and faints, what are you going to do?â Lexion continued.
âWhat did I tell you before? Even if Phil isnât entirely kind, her values are sensible. If you donât want to be hated by her, please hide Le Guinâs true nature. Okay?â
At that, Le Guin tried to flick his outfit
âWell, Iâll have to take a shower and change clothes first.â
Then he muttered happily.
âI donât want Phil to hate me yet.â
***
At that moment, the state guest house.
Philomel was spending time with Cadin. Cadin said that his break hours were over and left, so only Jeremiah was left.
âCome to think of it, I canât see Le Guin at some point.â
Philomel decided to get closer to Cadin during this time.
Cadin was the only one of the four rich men Philomel had not talked to one-on-one.
He seems like a lively person, butâŚ
It wouldnât hurt to become friends, since they would see each other often.
However, it seemed like her decision was in vain, as Cadin was already looking at Philomel with honeyed eyes.
âItâs overwhelming.â
After swallowing his saliva, Philomel gathered the courage to ask,
âUm⌠do you like me, Cadin?â
âYes, I do.â
Cadin answered without hesitation.
âWhy do you like me?â
âBecause youâre like a younger sister to me?â
Philomel pinched the bridge of her nose with her finger.
As she suspected, he had a fantasy about having a younger sister who was cute and pretty.
âProbably because he has two younger brothers.â
So, Philomel had to break his illusion before he became disappointed.
âIâm not a cute person, like you might be thinking about me, Cadin.â
In fact, everyone considered Philomel to be a mature child.
In other words, they thought she was like an old woman.
âSo, itâs better not to have any unnecessary expectations.â
Cadin asked with a slightly gloomy expression,
âWhat do you mean? My head isnât that good, so I wonât know unless you tell me.â
Was it that difficult to explain?
Philomel explained again, âUm, Iâm not a very good younger sister.â
Then, Cadin who was considering something, asked Philomel a question.
âDoes Phil want to hit me?â
âWhat? Why would I hit you, Cadin?â
âDo you want to curse at me?â
âNot at all.â
âDo you want to freeze me?â
âI canât even if I wanted to.â
Then Cadin burst out laughing.
âReally? Youâre such a good person! Youâre a good younger sister, Phil. Good. Good.â
It seemed that Cadinâs standard for a good younger sister was quite lenient.
And it was easy to guess who made that standard.
Anyway, if it was so easy to become a good younger sister, Philomel felt that she could get along well with Cadin in the future.
Just donât hit, curse, or freeze him, and everything will be fine.
Feeling happy, Philomel extended her hand to Cadin.
âShall we shake hands?â
âIs that okay?â
âOf course.â
Cadin wiped his hand on his clothes with a tense expression before taking Philomelâs hand. It was a delicate touch, as if handling fragile pottery. Despite the rough and scarred hands, there was a fine delicacy.
âIâll rely on you from now on.â
âOf course, itâs me!â
Until a moment ago, Cadin felt burdened, but now he felt like a large dog, eager to go. Philomel raised her hand for the remaining three people.
They had all seemed like peculiar individuals at first, but after spending time with them, they werenât that bad.
She felt that they would be able to get along well in the future.