A hawk circled the skies above the imperial castle.
"Ana, have you heard anything from my fiancee?"
Lazy, yet proud, the hawk's wings spread far and wide, majestic.
"Your fiancee, lord brother?"
"Elder brother, who are you talking about?"
The hawk didn't flap its wings. Slyly, it climbed unto a current flowing upward.
"Ah... Right. Who was I talking about again?"
And the hawk soared above the clouds.
***
"My lady," I called out. "Are you, perhaps, being forgotten by the world?"
Absurd.
That was how I would describe this thought.
In the carriage that gently rocked on the streets, an air of silence loomed.
The lady slowly turned her gaze toward me, the slight sense of happiness in her previous actions completely disappearing.
"What nonsense are you spouting, guard?"
Was she pissed?
"I've been thinking this since yesterday, my lady. It didn't make sense for servants of a duchy to be tardy on their duty one day. That you even had to ask for food or look for your Aide even once is too odd."
I was still an employee, so I decided not to act out, this was also how it should be. Respectfully, I conveyed my reasoning to the lady.
As if amused, she scoffed.
"I told them not to bother me yesterday."
"Then today, my lady. How could a simple merchant dare to stand up against your words?"
"Those merchants knew who I was well enough."
"But not how they should act in front of you. Hence 'being forgotten,' my lady."
The lady clicked her tongue.
"Guard."
She didn't seem pleased at all.
But she didn't force me to shut up like yesterday either.
"Are you not a part of this 'world' you talk about?" she asked.
If I put up something that absurd, of course, I should be affected too.
Was it just tardiness?
No. That wasn't the case. All signs pointed in the direction of people around her being unaware of their duties. The sight that I saw this morning with rows upon rows of maids moving to assist her was normal. On the contrary, seeing not a single person yesterday was as odd as seeing a meowing dog.
From Tempo and Sorcerer before to the people today. From reluctance to talk in the beginning to outright forgetfulness.
All of them were the same, they weren't sure about things related to her and were forgetting them further.
Then, shouldn't I be affected too? No, naturally I should have forgotten her too.
But that wasn't the case.
Since the moment I met her—
"—I didn't stop thinking about you for a second."
I had to make her admit that I was cooler, after all.
The lady flinched slightly.
"There, you have your answer..." the lady's voice was akin to a whisper. She pulled her veil lower with her fingers and turned away from me again.
"Shut up now..."
***
A familiar hotel.
Out in the sixth district of the capital city, I had followed the lady of the Acacia Duchy into her next destination for the day which was the same hotel that I had spent the night in on the day of the month's beginning. With Dawn.
It was also the place where I met the other person who had made me an immediate VIP.
I entered the hotel with the lady. As soon as the front desk saw me, they whispered with each other and one of the employees left to fetch someone else.
Luther who was still knocked out was resting on the horse, the chains were keeping good care of him.
The lady moved toward the front desk when someone came rushing our way.
"Sir, you are here."
A lady in a formal dress came up in front of me, ignored the lady, and bowed.
Come to think of it, it was just the fourth day of the month, and she had asked me to meet her in two days on the second.
I slowly shifted my gaze toward the veiled lady, who was looking this way. Not a single muscle in her body was tensed, she was expressionless.
Did she think I was going to kill this girl? I mean, I did it with the merchant because I was too confused by things, not because I was a murder hobo.
The employee noticed my gaze and turned to the lady of the duchy.
"Take me to the owner of this place."
The employee glanced my way again and then nodded.
"Please follow me," she said.
The lady was led by the woman and, being her guard, I followed at the back.
We were taken to the mechanical lift where she inserted a key and the lift started moving downward. We went two floors underground and were led to a dark office room.
The underground floor was cut off from the rest of the building as not a peep of sound came from the casino above. We were led to an office room with a single candle burning at the end of the room.
Slowing her steps down just slightly, the lady came near me and whispered.
"Can you fight without those chains?" she asked.
"It's the one who will be hit that will regret my chains being missing."
The lady nodded.
I almost smiled. I guess some small disagreements made people more open with each other.
The employee opened the door and showed the two of us inside.
The smell of mold and dust filled the space while the smoke of a cigar wafted in the small room.
A glass table.
And a large chair with its back facing us.
"You're here."
A voice called.
A creak rang out as the chair turned.
"Lord Dark Moon— Ah?"
The sound stopped as the person's gaze landed on the lady.
Glasses.
It was a floating pair of glasses.
And the words 'Lord Dark Moon,' there was no mistaking it.
This place was owned by the Dark Moon Bandits.
It was owned by me.
I was the one that the lady was here to shake down. Fuck.
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