Chapter 103
Lione was lost in thought.
Sunk in shadows, invisible to anyone’s eyes.
The shadow’s highly suspicious movements.
Going back, going back.
Where to?
Though he had heard she was of common origin, once she had become the shadow of a family—especially of Bolshevik’s heir—she couldn’t go anywhere else.
Moreover, he had heard she had no family, and hadn’t he gone out to confirm this himself?
She had said there was one man she considered like family, but due to his uncertain whereabouts, he only occasionally visited the house where the shadow originally lived.
“She said he visited the Duke’s estate too.”
That wasn’t strange.
Even as a shadow, she wasn’t a prisoner, so she had the right to meet whomever she wished.
For Lione, who still didn’t know about Hans threatening Becky in the past or about his entanglement with Riina at the auction house, Hans was merely an acquaintance of the shadow—nothing more, nothing less.
As his thoughts deepened, Lione sank deeper into the shadows, until they reached just below his chin.
“This is clearly beyond what I can handle alone. A spy, of all things.”
No matter how much he racked his brain, he didn’t feel he should continue thinking alone, investigating a bit more, and then reporting.
Rather, he needed to alert someone to this situation as quickly as possible and await further orders.
Having made up his mind, Lione headed straight for Riina’s office.
Not by walking through the corridors like ordinary people, but by moving through the shadows.
“…so I’ll need to buy a gift.”
“What? I saw that huge fellow heading toward the annex…”
“Documents for the Duke must always be seen by the Young Miss first…”
All kinds of information poured in as he moved from shadow to shadow.
Not just what he heard, but what he saw, and even smells.
Before being here, Lione had been a young lord of a major count’s family, responsible for one pillar of the family.
Naturally, he had more than sufficient ability to recognize the importance of information and discern its value.
He filtered out useless information and details that could be the beginning, middle, or end of some matter.
Having instantly reached Riina’s office, Lione surveyed the surrounding presence and suddenly laughed.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
Is this acceptable? Was this meant to happen? What had begun with him being pushed along was now as comfortable as breathing.
If he continued to avoid meeting people like this, perhaps those past incidents wouldn’t happen again.
Though he had never wanted to disconnect from people, whenever he met them anyway…
Shaking his head, Lione entered the office, following the presence he sensed inside.
When he, moving through the shadows, found Riina among the tower-like stacks of documents, she was just rising to her feet.
Discovering that Riina was about to leave again, the anxious Lione suddenly emerged from her shadow.
“Young Mis—”
Thwack!
But before Lione could speak, he had to jerk his head back to avoid an inkwell flying toward his face.
Fortunately, or perhaps predictably, the flying inkwell didn’t even graze his cheek and fell to the floor with a dull sound, but black ink was messily spread around his shoulder and cheek area.
Silence fell in the office.
That was inevitable, as both Riina and Lione had frozen from shock.
Drip, drip-drip.
How long had passed with even the sound of black drops falling from the inkwell on the carpet seeming loud?
“Li…one?”
At the call that flowed from between Riina’s lips, Lione immediately straightened his posture and bowed deeply.
“I apologize, Young Miss. It was my carelessness.”
Riina looked down at the top of Lione’s head and tore her stuck lips apart.
“I… had heard that the Akendel secret arts were indescribably remarkable.”
Commonly known as Riff.
A man from the distant past who had formed a connection with the Bolshevik family when they held the rank of marquis in the Empire of that era, not the current one.
The secret arts of Akendel that he left behind were precisely what Lione now used as naturally as breathing.
“I truly apologize!”
As Lione bowed even more deeply than before, Riina reached out to him.
Grasping his shoulder, Riina finally exhaled a faint sigh.
“It’s fine, raise your head. I was just startled.”
A person suddenly emerging from a shadow—what a sight.
It’s said that in the past, there were institutions specializing in training and employing such people, but now it’s merely a passed-down tale.
Seeing such a thing right before her eyes, suddenly, and by Lione of all people, who hadn’t been doing this from the beginning, made it even more startling.
“I’m sorr—”
“I already said it’s fine. You’re being too formal. Besides, I threw an inkwell at you. I’m glad you dodged it well.”
Just as she took out a handkerchief from her bosom and was about to pat around his shoulder.
Without exaggeration, Lione moved so quickly it made a sound like the wind.
“Is it… necessary to avoid me that much?”
Riina’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Lione, who had retreated backward as if jumping.
“No, it’s just. Well. You know?”
Lione waved his hands, but said nothing more.
Of course, the unspoken words were understood, so Riina didn’t bother to ask further.
He probably didn’t want to incur Einar’s displeasure any more.
Max, Lione, Becky too.
Why were the people around her making such a fuss?
After all, it was merely a contractual relationship formed by a bet…
Her insides tingled but then turned cold, causing Riina to unconsciously rub her abdomen as she asked:
“So. Why did you call for me so urgently?”
“I have something to report, and since it seemed like you were about to leave, I became anxious and I’m sorr— ahem.”
Lione, who was about to apologize again, covered it with an unnecessary cough and added:
“If you have urgent business.”
“No, it’s not that urgent.”
Riina looked down at the documents she had originally intended to pick up, not the inkwell.
It was the first report submitted after she had ordered an investigation into the suspicious group.
Unfortunately, there was no information about the “illness,” but it contained information speculating on the related countries and families, which she had risen from her seat thinking she should share with Einar.
Though Lione stood before her eyes, what Riina saw was Einar, who wasn’t present.
She had naturally, as easily as breathing, returned to the Bolshevik estate “together” with him.
Until she sat across from him in the office, the entire process had seemed so natural that she hadn’t noticed it at all.
After a while of silence as they faced each other, Riina opened her mouth.
‘Do you have any remaining business at the Bolshevik estate?’
To this, Einar slowly shook his head.
‘Not really.’
‘Then why…’
The unspoken question of why he had come to the Bolshevik estate with her was understandable without being heard.
‘Ah, that’s… right. Then I’ll be going today.’
Einar, who seemed as though he hadn’t thought about it either, couldn’t hide his embarrassment in a manner unlike him.
Rising to his feet, Einar stared at Riina for a moment before smiling slightly.
‘I could tell you to rest well, but you wouldn’t listen. But next time, I hope you can truly go out to clear your head.’
Recalling that far, Riina bit her lower lip and then released it.
When had it become like this? At what point had it changed?
Having him beside her felt natural, being with him was everyday life.
Even when returning, even the place to return to, with Einar…
But Riina couldn’t complete her musings.
Because Lione had mentioned Jane.
“What I need to report is, following Becky’s request—no, I mean, both her request and your orders, I observed the shadow and discovered something strange.”
“Something strange?”
Lione began to meticulously lay out everything he had seen to Riina.
“A transparent liquid in a small vial.”
As Riina nodded, Lione continued:
“…so I also looked at the materials about the shadow that Becky had been diligently collecting, but I still couldn’t pinpoint anything.”
Having poured out information without pause, Lione took a short breath and added:
“Since neither Becky nor I can make arbitrary judgments, I’ve come to give you this cumbersome report.”
“Going back, you said?”
“Yes. That part bothered me the most.”
Lione carefully continued:
“Young Miss, though it’s just my own thinking, would you hear me out?”
“Speak.”
Riina didn’t say things like “you can say anything” or “I can trust your words.”
She simply granted what he wanted.
And for Lione, that was enough.
“I’d like to investigate the possibility that she’s a spy.”
“Hmm.”
Suspicious behavior and words suggesting return with “going back.”
Besides that, didn’t Jane have a few more things hidden?
A spy…
If it were another family within the Empire, the situation would be somewhat manageable, but if she were sent from another country, her cooperation with the Third Prince would become an even more troublesome problem.
No, I’m getting ahead of myself.
“Alright. Set that direction and investigate. I’ll inform Becky too, so work together.”
“Becky?”
