♚Chapter 2: A Pledge for the Future
♚Chapter 2: A Pledge for the Future
ROCK and Phoebe were taken by surprise when Nisha visited Floria Clothes Shop. Nisha didn’t seem to know this was their shop either. She absently looked around before holding out a piece of paper from the pile she was clutching.
“You’re…Rock, right? Can I trouble you to put this up?”
The paper was one of the missing person posters they had seen around town.
The poster clearly read:
Missing: Krister Gionet
28-year-old male
Slender, silver hair, charcoal-black eyes
The text was accompanied by a professionally drawn portrait of Krister that perfectly captured his features. Just having that drawn must have cost a small fortune, but Nisha didn’t stop there—she’d had dozens of the posters made.
The bottom of the page was signed “NiShA” with the sloppy handwriting of a child just learning how to write their name.
These posters had already been hung up all around the slums. Rock had spotted one on her way to the shop that very morning.
Rock lifted her eyes from Krister’s portrait to look at Nisha.
Her cheeks were sunken in, her eyes red and swollen from crying, and her lips paler than when Rock had met her a week ago at Justia’s. She was clearly haggard from worry caused by Krister’s disappearance, no doubt.
“Sure. I’ll put it up outside,” Rock agreed.
Nisha forced a miserable smile and asked, “Have you seen Krister yet?”
“Sadly, no.”
After being given the runaround all week, Rock had given up looking for him. But she could easily tell he was still missing from his customers knocking at her door to this day.
“I see… I hope nothing bad happened to him…” Nisha’s lips trembled and she cast down her eyes. “I don’t even know if he’s still in the capital. And everyone says they don’t know where he lives.”
Going two whole weeks without being seen was too long by all accounts. And it was almost a month since Nisha last saw him. Rumors were even starting to spread that he’d skipped town for some reason or another.
“You have no idea what he’s gotten himself into?” Phoebe asked her, unable to just watch.
Nisha feebly shook her head. “None whatsoever. I never thought he’d disappear from my life.”
Her heartrending whisper struck a chord with Rock.
She must be in so much pain to think that way. Especially when the cause of all her heartache is the man she loves…
“Did he mention anything about that big job of his?” Phoebe asked, digging deeper.
Nisha furrowed her brow as she tried to remember anything of use, only to droop her shoulders.
“I don’t think so. Krister rarely talks about work.” Tears formed in her eyes and she sniffled. “All he said was that he’s going to make big money off it.”
“‘Big money,’ huh? Just how big is that?”
“He said once everything was over, he’d take me back to my hometown.” Tears slipped down Nisha’s cheeks, the conversation pushing her over the edge. “He promised to go south with me to meet my family and get married.”
Phoebe shot Rock a look like his case was proven then and there.
There could be more than just that to explain his disappearance. Rock could only watch Nisha cry in silence.
After Nisha left the shop, Rock penned a letter to Ebel in the aristocrat district. She’d finally finished basting the court uniform he’d ordered, so she requested he come to her shop for a fitting.
She debated whether she should bring up Krister. She preferred not to put bad news into her letter to Ebel. But he was certain to see those posters on his way there.
So, after going back and forth with herself, she finally added: “Krister Gionet hasn’t shown up since that night. If you still remember where he lives, may I ask for your help in finding him?”
♚♚♚
THE day after the postman delivered Rock’s letter, Ebel arrived at her shop before his reply. He likely saw the poster hanging outside the shop, since his expression was harder than usual when he set foot inside.
“He went missing?” Ebel asked Rock as she helped him into the basted court uniform in the fitting room.
“It seems that way,” Rock confirmed, then continued, “I haven’t seen him once since that night he appeared in front of my apartment. From what I gather, no one else has seen him since that following afternoon either.”
“Hrm… What’s the reason for his disappearance?”
“No one knows…” Rock held the tailcoat out to Ebel while shaking her head.
He slid his arms through the sleeves with practiced ease, then frowned.
“No one knows? He just up and disappeared then?”
“Yes. It’s not even clear if he left of his own will, got involved in some bad business, or is just hiding somewhere nearby.”
As she spoke, Rock circled behind Ebel and gently straightened his collar. His court uniform seemed perfectly tailored to his exact measurements. Now she just had to do the final stitching. But she wanted to resolve her concerns before that.
“It’s just that Nisha—Krister’s lover—seems really miserable.”
Ebel looked at her over his shoulder at the mention of that name. “Nisha…that’s the signature on the posters, right?”
“Yes. She’s been putting posters up all over the slums.”
—to find her lover.
Or at least that’s what Rock believed without a doubt. Phoebe, on the other hand, had a different opinion.
“So far, it’s just Nisha calling herself his lover,” his annoyed voice grumbled outside the fitting room. “There’s a chance he ran for it when talks of marriage came up.”
“That’s too cruel, Phoebe. Why would he run from marriage?” Rock argued from inside the fitting room, getting an exaggerated sigh in return.
“Not everyone willingly wants to get married. You’re still too naïve in that department, Rock.”
He had a point there. Rock was only twenty years old, an age where many still have fanciful dreams and high hopes about marriage.
Neither of them knew what Krister and Nisha’s relationship was actually like. But was it really so unreasonable for Rock to take Nisha’s side after seeing her cry?
“What do you think, Ebel?” Rock drew him into the conversation. Ebel quietly smiled in his full court uniform.
“When it comes to marriage, I swear I won’t dash your hopes and dreams.” Rock blinked up at him. His expression turned serious as he continued, “As for Krister, I can’t comment without more information.”
“I suppose so…”
“But we need to find out more.” Ebel’s golden eyes narrowed warily. “If there’s foul play involved, the danger needs to be removed. This is where you live, after all.”
Rock gazed up at his handsome face as relief quietly washed over her.
There is no greater blessing than having people you can rely on in life. In that respect, Rock was truly blessed.
Rock served Ebel tea after he removed his court uniform and exited the fitting room.
“It’s cheap tea, so I hope it doesn’t offend your tastes,” she warned in advance.
The count didn’t hesitate to take a sip and savor it before flashing her a bright smile.
“It’s delicious. Thank you.”
“I’m glad you like it. Phoebe made it for you,” Rock added, relieved he liked it. Ebel, however, gagged.
Phoebe’s scarlet lips curled up at the corners.
“Oh dear, you don’t like it if I made it, Your Excellency?”
“…I would never…think that way.” Ebel elegantly wiped his lips with a handkerchief. Then he faced Rock with a more serious air about him. “In your letter, you asked if I remember where Krister lives, yes?”
“Yes. To tell you the truth, not even Nisha knows where he lives.”
Since no one knew where Krister lived, no one could visit his home to confirm his safety.
Perhaps he was still burning the midnight oil working at home. Or it was equally possible he was passed out on the floor. Rock had no trouble imagining him unconscious and unable to call for help.
“It might be hard for you to remember since you followed him over two weeks ago…” Rock continued, uncertain if she was asking too much. Ebel did indeed furrow his brows.
“Honestly, I can’t confidently say I do remember…”
It didn’t help that Ebel was only tailing Krister and not trying to remember the way there. Plus, this was the slums: a shantytown where shacks were built upon shacks, and the alleyways changed shape by the day. Even if he remembered the path he took that day, there was no guarantee following it would get him to the same place today.
“But I don’t want to say ‘I can’t’ in front of you.” Ebel winked at Rock, deciding to do it. “Let’s search for his house, relying on what I can remember.”
“Thank you very much, Ebel.” Rock bowed to convey her gratitude.
“I’ll come too then,” Phoebe immediately added his name to the search party.
“It never hurts to have more people.”
“That’s true. We don’t know what’s waiting for us, after all,” Ebel agreed, seemingly expecting the worse.
It wasn’t farfetched to assume Krister got himself caught up in some kind of trouble here, where crime was more common than three meals a day. Rock’s slender arms weren’t much good in a fight, so it was reassuring to have Phoebe come along.
“I don’t give a damn about that bastard’s wellbeing,” Phoebe stressed. “Frankly, I couldn’t care less if Krister ran for it or got whisked away by some evil fae. I’m interested in one thing and one thing only: the big job he got.”
Now that he mentioned it, Phoebe had only asked Nisha questions about the job Krister received.
“Do you think that’s the reason Krister went missing?” Rock asked.
“I’m thinking it very possibly is.” Phoebe stroked his smooth chin. “It pays so well he was willing to sacrifice all his other work for it. And this is that greedy bastard Krister we’re talking about. Work like that is about as common in the slums as finding gold on the streets.”
Rock was curious about who’d hired Krister for this high-paying job as well. She thought it came from a factory or the like because he was making clothes with the same exact shape and design, but there hadn’t been any news of such a facility opening up in these parts. Perhaps the job came from outside the slums.
“If that is the case, then we can’t pretend like it’s not our problem.” Phoebe looked closely at Rock’s face this time. “The same customer might show up at our shop next. Dangerous seeds should be squashed before they can sprout, right?”
“I can’t disagree with you there.”
Rock was all for that plan.
Something about this situation felt like it was just as much her problem as Krister’s.
♚♚♚
THE three of them left the shop after sundown. The reason being that Ebel had followed Krister from the rooftops. He’d jumped from roof to roof, keeping track of Krister’s whereabouts by tracking where his silver hair went.
“It will only slow us down if the constables see me up there.”
So they set out after sunset.
They locked up the shop and headed to the front of Rock’s apartment first. And just like on that night, Ebel jumped onto the roof while Rock watched.
“You’re as light on your feet as always.”
“Let’s go,” Ebel called down from the building after leaping up there with such agility it astounded Phoebe. “I’ll go slowly, so you can keep up.”
Then he bounded from rooftop to rooftop with the quiet power and balance of a prowling cat.
Rock and Phoebe chased after his shadow through the alleys.
The alleyways were hard enough to navigate as it was without the added difficulty of following Ebel’s shadow. Ebel sensed they were struggling and kept to a pace they could keep up with. But unlike the rooftops with few obstacles, the intertwining roads were jam-packed with them. Everything from shacks jutting out into the alley to mountains of junk left lying around and randomly placed wooden fences and stakes obstructed their path.
To make matters worse, there was barely any light, with makeshift buildings sprouting up willy-nilly, blocking the few streetlights.
Rock and Phoebe ran into several dead ends along the way, and every time Ebel directed them toward an alternative route, pointlessly increasing the amount of time they had to spend walking.
“Sheesh. He’s so nimble I’m starting to envy him,” Phoebe grumbled, staring up at the night sky from the narrow alleyway.
Ebel had just so happened to vault over their heads at that moment. His burnt sienna hair softly floated in the air as he easily made the jump. Watching his catlike movements was enough to make anyone stop and stare in awe.
“Can’t you do the same thing, Phoebe?” Rock asked, thinking back on the time he rescued her from Linus Manor.
“I couldn’t keep it up forever.” Phoebe smiled wryly. “His Excellency has superhuman agility.” He paused, then continued in a mystified whisper, “But it’s strange that he’s this agile in this form.”
Rock thought the same thing. Ebel had inhuman physical prowess, even in human form. It didn’t matter that he had a medium build; he could still overpower Phoebe, who was significantly more built.
Then Rock suddenly remembered the story Phoebe had told her about how the people oppressed during the age of the Ancient Empire had clung to the power of the werewolves.
At that time, Rock thought it was foolish of them to rely on a curse that would forever change their shape, even if they gained the power to fight back in return—but would she think the same if she could exert the strength of a werewolf while in human form?
Perhaps what the Werewolf Brotherhood was really after were powers they could use even in human form.
Rock contemplated those things as she followed Ebel crossing the rooftops.
Her meandering thoughts were eventually interrupted by his voice.
“…This seems to be the place,” he said, looking down from the rooftop.
They were in a cluttered alleyway that was very much a part of the slums. Ebel gestured toward a two-story hovel protruding diagonally out onto the road Rock and Phoebe had taken.
When viewed from the road, the front side was a one-story building, and the back was a two-story building. A streetlight stood right behind the one-story building, blocking out the light, so the front of the hovel was poorly lit.
“I saw Krister enter this building two weeks ago.” Ebel pointed to the one-story building.
Rock surveyed the building from the ground.
Perhaps he didn’t use it as his workshop, since he didn’t have any signs out. There was only one window, but the shutters were down, and she couldn’t see inside.
The front door was obviously shut, and she couldn’t hear any sounds inside, even when she put her ear against it.
“Not to be rude, but are you sure this is the place?” Phoebe asked politely. Ebel gave a big enough nod they could see it in the bad lighting.
“He lives in a one-story house, and I saw light through the window as soon as he went inside. His neighbor lives in a two-story house that casts a shadow on his rooftop. A streetlight stood directly behind the buildings, so I figured he built his hovel in the middle of what used to be a road.”
Phoebe seemed convinced by Ebel’s detailed account.
“You have a great memory.”
“Thank you, Phoebe.”
Ebel jumped down from the roof, happy for the compliment. He turned toward Rock and Phoebe after he landed with catlike ease.
“All right, it seems the house owner is out. What do you want to do now?” he asked.
“Want to start by knocking on the door?” Rock suggested, knocking on the hovel’s door three times.
They waited a couple of minutes, but there was no reaction, as they expected.
“Guess we’re stuck breaking down the door?” Phoebe rolled up his dress sleeves, revealing his muscular arms.
Rock stopped him despite thinking it was a splendid idea. “Wait. Let’s get a light source first. I doubt there’s any lamps lit if he’s away.”
The closed shutters were of shoddy craftsmanship and had gaps. The sheer lack of light coming through told them it was pitch-dark inside.
“In that case, let’s borrow that.”
Ebel looked toward the streetlight.
The imperial capital streetlights set up on the street corners each consisted of an oil-lit lantern secured to a tall post by wire. The lantern could be removed if they undid the wire. It was at a height an ordinary person couldn’t reach without a ladder, but Ebel needed no such thing.
“Won’t that upset the constables…?”
“I’ll return it when we’re done. We’ll only be borrowing it for a moment.”
“Yeah! We just have to return it before they find out.”
Rock expressed her concern, but Phoebe immediately agreed with Ebel’s plan.
These two might just get along better than I thought. Rock forced a smile as she decided to go along with them.
Ebel easily removed the lantern from the post and hopped down with it. Its warm light surrounded them and illuminated the door. Phoebe’s expression hardened just as Rock was filled with relief.
“Look.”
He pointed at something that’d fallen on the cobblestones in front of the door with the tip of his boot. At first, Rock thought it was a button, but the light revealed it to be a small bloodstain.
“…Oh no…”
Rock was at a loss for words.
The bloodstains had already dried and become discolored, proving they weren’t from today or the day before.
“Break down the door now,” Ebel requested.
Phoebe nodded and twisted the doorknob as hard as he could. The hovel’s door was no match for a battle-hardened mercenary, and it came off its hinges with a creak that sounded like a death cry. The three of them rushed inside through the gap.
But, contrary to what they were expecting, the inside was clean.
Nothing, not even a drop of blood, littered the floor. It looked like someone had swept up the place.
The room’s furnishings consisted of a simple bed, a workbench with fragments of charcoal on it, a desk, and several cupboards. Despite being locked up for some time, it didn’t smell of dust or mold and even seemed to be filled with a familiar, sweet scent.
“No one’s here.”
Rock gasped after looking around the hovel.
Where did Krister get off to after leaving a trail of blood? Of course, there was no guarantee that was his blood, but still…
“I wonder if he was kidnapped or fled in the night…” Phoebe raised an eyebrow.
“Probably the former.”
“What makes you say that?” Phoebe asked Rock.
Rock slowly walked up to the workbench. “This.”
She picked up a piece of charcoal left there. The tip was cut to make it easier to draw marks like the charcoal pencil Rock had at the shop.
“Is that a charcoal pencil?” Ebel asked, coming over with the lantern.
“Yes, it is. It’s a sewing tool used to mark fabrics,” Rock answered, then continued with confidence, “No tailor would run without their sewing tools.”
She knew as someone of the same trade that tailors couldn’t earn the price of bread without their tools. Krister probably couldn’t do business without the tools he’d grown accustomed to.
“I see…” Phoebe groaned, his expression darkening.
A kidnapping worsened the situation significantly compared to him fleeing on his own. Krister’s life might be in danger as they spoke.
“But I don’t see any other tools.” Ebel grimaced as he closely examined the workbench. “Did he purposely not bring it because you can get charcoal anywhere? Or did someone leave it, not knowing it was a sewing tool…?”
As Ebel said, there weren’t any other sewing tools around aside from the charcoal. Pincushions, measuring tape, scissors, needle threaders, punch needles, and the like were expected at a tailor’s workbench, and Krister also sold fabric and buttons. None of those items could be found anywhere.
“Maybe he put his other tools away. Let’s check,” Rock suggested, prompting everyone to search the house.
The three of them combed the room, relying on the light from their lantern. But they couldn’t find any other tools, scraps of fabric, buttons, or clothes for sale in the market.
All they found was a shriveled apple and moldy old bread in the cupboard and books shoved messily under the desk. Dust had fallen into his water jug, and it was easy to see the stagnant water hadn’t been used for a long time.
“I’m surprised that bastard could read.”
Phoebe crouched and pulled the pile of books out from under the desk. A thin layer of dust had collected on top of them, but Phoebe dusted them off and checked the contents of each volume.
“There are books on Southern history, climate, culture, and even their old lullabies…”
“I wonder if he collected them for Nisha,” Rock said cheerfully.
Phoebe seemed unsure of how to react. He glanced at his daughter’s face and smiled.
“Maybe so.”
Phoebe flipped through a book and frowned at the sentence recorded on the endpaper.
“This is a rental. It’ll cost him a fortune if he doesn’t return it soon.”
Books were valuable in the imperial capital because every volume was written by hand and took time and effort to create. Commoners couldn’t afford them, which was why book rental shops were established around the capital. Rock wasn’t the reading type, but she knew Phoebe often visited those shops.
“I wonder if they’re all rentals. Should we return them for him?” Rock asked.
“Don’t even try. You’ll end up paying for them.”
Rock and Phoebe checked every book, and it turned out most of them were rentals. Then something else slipped out from between one book’s covers onto the ground.
“…What’s this?” Ebel picked it up, raised the lantern, and looked at the cover. “‘Sales Ledger’… It looks like it’s his account book.”
It was a simple notebook with its pages tied together with string—clearly different from a normal book.
“This falls in your wheelhouse, Roxy.”
Rock excitedly opened the ledger Ebel handed her.
Contrary to his work ethic, Krister seemed to be diligent when it came to bookkeeping. He’d recorded his sales and necessary expenses in detail, and from that, Rock could tell he was making a decent profit as a tailor. Judging by customer numbers alone, he had far more traffic than Floria Clothes Shop, making Rock a little jealous.
But that was trivial now.
The big job in question was mentioned about a month ago, just around when Nisha stopped seeing Krister. He’d received an order for thirty blue robes with wool satin faille fabric and a special request for a unique embroidery, but he didn’t detail what kind of embroidery.
And although he didn’t write down the customer’s name, they were definitely a big spender.
“He received full pay the same day he accepted the order.” Rock explained what she’d learned from the ledger to Phoebe and Ebel. “And it was ten times market price. This goes beyond just a generous or lavish spender.”
Krister likely overcharged his customers, so he must’ve been ecstatic they were willing to pay this much.
And if that wasn’t juicy enough, he received the same amount of money once every few days in the name of expenses. Rock had no way of telling if Krister or the customer suggested the extra payments, but either way, it meant his customer was wealthy enough to afford it.
“It’s not your average slightly rich man we’re dealing with here. Must be a wealthy merchant or some nob…” Phoebe paid Ebel a sideways glance.
“I could afford it,” Ebel agreed. “But the buyer’s methods lack class.” He seemed like he’d more to say but stopped to quietly sneeze in the elegant way only noblemen could. Embarrassed, he apologized. “Forgive me. An odd smell has been tickling my nose since entering the room…”
“I know what you mean. There’s something snooty about this smell; it’s grating on my nerves.” Phoebe scrunched up his nose.
A sweet smell hung thick in Krister’s apartment. It had a faint but unique scent, like smoked wood. Rock felt as if she’d smelled the same scent years ago.
“What kind of scent is this?” Rock asked the room.
Ebel was first to answer.
“Fragrant wood.”
“What’s that…?”
“It’s an incense made from sweet-smelling trees. And it’s an incredibly high-quality one too.”
No wonder why it smelled like smoked wood then. Yet, it didn’t quite smell smoky and had a slightly sweet scent, which gave it the qualities of an expensive fragrance.
“People who enjoy this smell often burn the incense in their rooms or perfume their clothes with it.” Ebel frowned as he continued, “This kind of incense is almost always imported. It’s far from cheap.”
“It’s the kind you have to cough up a mountain of gold coins just to buy one of this size,” Phoebe explained, pointing to his pinky finger. He might have had big, bony fingers, but it still wasn’t big enough to adequately convey the scent’s expense.
Rock grimaced.
“For his room to have such an expensive smell must mean—”
“It’s likely the smell of a customer who came here.”
“And I’m willing to bet it’s the wealthy customer who dumped a pile of money on him to make robes,” Phoebe finished, his thoughts in perfect sync with Ebel’s.
Rock gleaned just how rich this customer was from Krister’s ledger. Someone who could pay in advance for a huge order of thirty robes, frequently paid for expenses along the way, and had money to spare for the luxury of perfuming their clothes with incense had to be as wealthy as a nobleman.
The problem at hand was if and how this person was related to Krister’s disappearance, but the answer still eluded them.
And something else bothered Rock.
“The ledger doesn’t state if he delivered the goods.”
Flipping through all the old transactions showed Rock Krister made a point of recording when he’d delivered the goods. Only this most recent job lacked any record of being delivered. And if that wasn’t weird enough, any kind of record stopped being made two weeks ago.
“He hasn’t written a thing since the day he came to my apartment.”
The last time anyone recalled seeing him was during the following morning. Something that triggered Krister’s disappearance may have happened that day.
“I don’t think Krister ran for it,” Rock told the other two her thoughts. Sure, a piece of her hoped that was the case, but she drew her conclusions solely from her experience as a tailor. “Neither thirty robes nor the materials to make them are in this building right now. But it’s physically impossible to flee carrying all of that. It’d be too much baggage.”
Maybe that’d be a slightly different story for someone with superhuman strength like Ebel, but Krister had sticks for arms. It was unlikely he was able to escape without anyone noticing him hauling off thirty blue robes.
“What’re the chances he delivered the product but didn’t have time to record it?” Phoebe asked, too cautious to jump to conclusions. “He might’ve just been in too big a rush to deal with it.”
“If that was the case, then he shouldn’t have had the time to open his stall during the morning after he dropped by my place.”
Although he wasn’t out long, Krister still did business the next day. That was why all his troublesome customers ended up at Rock’s shop.
“And then we have these rental books.” Aside from all the other evidence she had, the books were the main reason why Rock wanted to believe in Krister. “Would someone who’s planning to make a run for it really borrow books like these?”
She picked up several of the books on the South. History books, culture books, climate books, and even lullabies and fairy tales—he clearly had an interest in the South.
She didn’t know how Krister perceived the way a book rental shop did business. Knowing him, maybe he thought he could borrow as much as he could and never return, so he didn’t have to pay the fees. But even if that’s how he planned to treat the rentals, Nisha still remained the only reason he would pick books on these topics.
“But if he didn’t run for it, then…” Phoebe pushed his chestnut-colored hair up, inhaled, then continued, “…we’re dealing with more than one person. It’d be a skilled group, too.”
“What makes you say that, Phoebe?”
“Look at the floor. There were bloodstains outside, but it’s sparkling clean here.”
In other words, if Krister was hurt by someone, then that someone had enough time to kidnap an adult male, carry away thirty robes and sewing tools, and even scrub the possibly bloodstained floors.
“If that’s true, then they’re frighteningly skilled.”
Rock shuddered as she imagined what might’ve happened here. Ebel gently rested his hand on her shoulder.
“Whether he delivered the goods or not, we need to identify the customer. As far as we know, that’s the last person Krister met.”
Rock and Phoebe both nodded.
“Good point. If only we could find them…”
“There aren’t many clues. If only we knew the embroidery design…”
Father and daughter exchanged looks, furrowing their brows at the same time. Then, suddenly, Ebel’s glowing golden eyes darted toward the gaping door.
“…Someone’s coming.”
The werewolf count’s ears picked up on a sound Rock’s could not. Phoebe seemed not to hear it either, but he acted fast. He blew out the lantern fire and stealthily looked outside through the door.
“I can’t see anyone yet, but…I think our time is up. How do you want to do this?”
“Let’s escape to the roof. Whoever they may be, we don’t want to get caught here,” Ebel said, pushing open the broken door without making a sound. Then he turned to Rock, who followed behind him and whispered, “Don’t make a sound.”
Thanks to that warning, Rock barely swallowed her cry when his arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her to him. Ebel easily ascended Krister’s roof with Rock in one arm. Then he reached down with his free hand and pulled Phoebe up. The three of them crouched on the dark rooftop and waited with bated breath.
Footsteps and lantern light approached. Rock squinted in the direction of the alleyway where the streetlight was out and the stars didn’t shine.
Before long, a city constable wearing a surcoat over his armor appeared from around the corner.
He was likely on patrol. He walked in their direction, shining his lantern’s light over the surrounding area. Then he stopped in front of Krister’s hovel and glanced at the broken door.
Will he find us? Rock held her breath, but the constable only gave the door a fleeting glance. He quickly departed without being alarmed by the broken door or paying heed to the bloodstains at the entrance.
Everyone on the rooftop finally breathed as soon as the constable was entirely out of sight.
“We scraped by on that one.”
“Great work he’s doing, not even checking what happened.”
Ebel and Phoebe seemed relieved, but Rock had mixed emotions.
“…It’s kinda sad when you think about it,” she muttered, getting an odd look from the other two. “We’re the only ones who know this is Krister’s house. It’s just sad to think it will be left forever unchecked even though he’s disappeared…”
Both Ebel and Phoebe’s expressions darkened.
If Krister never came back, the hovel would be left as a vacant house. Getting occupied by a vagrant would be one of the better outcomes, although it was more likely one of the flippant slum dwellers would demolish it and use the materials to build a different shack.
“Is it a bad idea to tell Nisha about it?” Rock asked.
Phoebe was first to shoot down that idea. “She’ll only worry more if she sees the blood.”
“You think so too…?”
“If you’re going to bring her any news, it’d better be good.” Phoebe patted Rock on the head to comfort her. He looked down at her with an affectionate smile. “Since we’ve come this far, why don’t we track him down?”
“I agree,” Ebel said, his expression grim. “Something about this customer of his bothers me. I’ll use my connections to look into what someone could possibly want that many robes for.”
“Please do, Ebel.”
Someone capable of putting out that much money couldn’t possibly reside in the slums. Ebel was the best person to look into that side of things.
They descended from the roof and decided to leave the area for now. On their way out, Rock grabbed Krister’s ledger from his apartment. She thought it might still have some clue to his whereabouts.
“I feel sort of guilty looking at someone else’s ledger, though.”
“Kinda late for that, isn’t it?” Phoebe laughed, then glared at the door he’d broken down. “We should probably seal this place up.” He turned to Rock and Ebel next. “Go on home first. I’ll take care of things here.”
“Will you be all right alone, Phoebe?”
Phoebe even laughed at Rock’s concern. “Who do you think you’re talking to? Besides, we have to return this guy,” he said, holding up the extinguished lantern. The streetlight still stood as just a post without any light behind the hovel.
“You don’t mind if we leave it to you?” Ebel asked.
“Not at all,” Phoebe snorted. “Make sure you safely escort my daughter back home too, Your Excellency.”
“You needn’t worry about that. Her safety is guaranteed with me.”
No sooner did Rock see Ebel stand up tall and confident than he pulled her close again. He launched himself off the ground with her in his arms faster than she could react. They landed softly on top of the roof.
“Ready to head back, Rock?”
“What? B-By rooftop?!” Rock cried out despite herself.
Ebel didn’t seem to mind as he answered mid-run. “It’s safer than by ground.”
“That may be true, but— UWAAAAAAAAAH!” Rock’s protests melted into screams that were swallowed by the night wind.
Ebel bounded under the night sky with frightening agility with her tucked under one arm.
A single cold drop hit Rock’s cheek as she listened to the roaring night breeze while being carried. Startled, she lifted her head and saw gray clouds hanging in the sky. Meanwhile, drop after drop of rain pelted her face.
“Ebel, it seems to be raining!”
He noticed it without her telling him. He slowed down and looked up at the sky.
“There’s still some distance to your place, but…I wonder if it will get much stronger than this.”
They temporarily dropped down from the roof and took shelter in the shadow of a nearby building.
Rain was rare in the imperial capital. There was little rainfall throughout the year, and ladies exclusively used umbrellas as parasols.
The rain poured down on the slums, making quiet noise after its long absence.
“I hope Phoebe’s all right…” Rock’s thoughts went straight to her father and then to the hovel. “The bloodstains will be washed away, won’t they?”
Ebel cast down his eyes, understanding what that meant.
“In the end, we might’ve been the only ones to have discovered it.”
“That’s likely… We have to do whatever we can to find Krister.”
I want to find him for Nisha’s sake, not his own.
Rock was completely on Nisha’s side. The reason for that didn’t need explaining.
She stole a glance at the man standing beside her. Ebel was looking up at the sky from under the eaves, trying to get a feel for when the rain would let up. Raindrops glistened on his burnt sienna hair, some of the locks sticking to his handsome face. His melancholy expression brightened when he noticed Rock’s gaze.
“Doesn’t look like it’ll let up any time soon. Care to put your trust in me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I shall carry you to your rooms without letting a drop touch you.”
No sooner did he finish speaking than he scooped Rock up without warning again. This time he held her sideways in front of his chest with both arms. When he looked down at her, Rock was flustered by how he was carrying her and how close his face was.
“U-Um, you needn’t go this far for me!”
“Your father instructed me to safely escort you home.”
“But this is embarrassing…”
“You mustn’t move. Please hold on to my neck.”
At his request, Rock timidly wrapped both arms around his neck.
“Perfect.”
He flashed her a blinding smile.
Then he rushed out from under the eaves and leaped onto the rain-soaked rooftop. Leaning forward, he sheltered Rock from the rain as he ran.
As the one being protected, Rock was tormented by feelings of guilt and embarrassment. Even so, she never took her eyes off of Ebel’s determined face as he raced through the downpour.
♚♚♚
EBEL was soaked to the bone by the time they’d arrived at Rock’s apartment. And yet he succeeded in protecting Rock up to her doorstep, where he gently lowered her to the ground.
“See? I brought you home without getting you wet.”
He winked triumphantly as water dripped from his burnt sienna hair. Rock pulled out her handkerchief and wiped away the droplets on her tippy-toes.
“You’re soaked, though… You’ll catch a cold like this.”
“This is nothing.” Ebel roughly raked back his dripping locks. “I’m content as long as you are safe. Now then, I shall excuse myself for the evening.”
He smiled once to placate her, then turned to leave.
“Please wait!” Rock hastily called him to a halt. “Let me grab something to dry you with!”
Ebel turned back around with a wry smile. “I’m thrilled by your concern, but I’ll have to go right back out into the rain. I doubt drying off first will make things much better for me.”
The rain was still pelting the makeshift roofs of the slums. Clouds still blanketed the night sky and seemed unlikely to clear any time soon.
“But…”
Rock gazed up at Ebel standing in front of her.
Not only did his hair change color from having absorbed water, but so did his clothes. Droplet after droplet dripped down in streaks on his face as he stared back into Rock’s eyes.
Meanwhile, only Rock’s sleeves were a little wet thanks to him covering her. Krister’s ledger was dry as well.
She knew Ebel only did it because he wanted to, but she just couldn’t forgive herself if she sent him home without thanking him.
So she worked up the courage to say, “In that case, I’ll brew you a pot of hot tea.” Despite realizing how desperate she was coming across, she quickly added, “Why don’t you warm up before you leave? I’ll prepare it real fast.”
Ebel seemed torn on how to answer her. His golden eyes drifted away for a moment before returning to her with a troubled smile.
“I don’t know how to put this, Roxy…”
“What is it?”
“You may be dressed as a man, but you don’t seem to understand a man’s heart.”
Rock blinked. She didn’t expect him to say that of all things.
“I don’t?”
“You don’t.”
“I wonder about that… I guess the only heart I can say I know for sure is my own.”
Rock enjoyed dressing and living as a man but wasn’t confident she was pulling it off right. On the other hand, she did succeed at acting the part of a weak and fragile man.
“I would’ve happily accepted your offer the other day, but your father entrusted your safety with me tonight. If I come inside, this escort will stop being safe.”
He didn’t come right out and say it, but Rock knew what he was getting at. She still persisted despite the heat rising to her cheeks.
“Oh, come on, it’s just tea.” After Rock said that, she suddenly realized how much that sounded like a different kind of invitation and panicked. “I-It’s not like I’m trying to keep you here— ah, I guess I am keeping you, but…um…I really don’t mean anything weird by this. I j-just want to do something for you…”
The more excuses she made, the more she mumbled and tripped over her words.
Ebel watched her with a faint smile. He chuckled softly after a moment and then said, “I can’t very well turn you down when you put it like that. Would you like me to come in for a bit?”
“Just for a bit…?”
“Yes, a very short bit. I only want you to let me into your room while we are still talking.”
Rock unlocked the door and invited Ebel inside. The water droplets falling off him quickly formed a puddle on the floor, and he apologetically looked at his feet.
“Sorry, I got your floor dirty.”
“Don’t worry. I can just wipe it up later,” Rock laughed it off.
“Your clothes will probably get wet. Please change after I leave.”
“Wha…?”
Ebel caught Rock in his arms faster than she could ask him what he meant. Embraced by his drenched chest, Rock’s clothes began to absorb some of the rainwater. The water gradually sank in and spread like an infection. Even so, she felt Ebel’s warmth through her cold clothes, leaving her more comfortable than not.
“I kind of feel like I pushed you into this,” Rock bashfully whispered into his chest. Ebel rubbed gentle, soothing circles into her back.
“You can ask this of me anytime.”
“Thank you.”
Rock closed her eyes, wrapped up in pure bliss. At the same time, the anxiety she never realized she had nestling in her chest disappeared. Apparently, sympathizing with Nisha had bred unnecessary unease within her.
“I kept thinking about what I’d do…if you disappeared,” she confessed in a breathless whisper. “I never want that to happen, so please don’t go anywhere.”
“I would never go anywhere without you,” Ebel declared without hesitation. “Besides, all hell would break loose if I vanished, even if I didn’t want it to.”
Unlike the people of the slums, Ebel was a bona fide citizen of the imperial capital and a count at that. Someone would notice if he suddenly went missing, and a search would be conducted right away, especially when he had servants like Johanna and Ludovicus who’d immediately report his absence.
“I’m more worried about you.”
“I’ll be fine. I have Phoebe.”
“You do, but…we still don’t know a thing about Krister’s case,” Ebel said, rubbing his cheek against Rock’s. “Please don’t disappear on me, Roxy.”
He hugged her tightly, as if she were his most precious and irreplaceable treasure.
Rock relished every moment of their embrace.
She mustn’t keep him too long, which was why she silently enjoyed the time they had.
Through their wet clothes, she felt every aspect of the body she’d measured that day. And she also caught a whiff of his smell. It was the faint, pleasant scent of soap on human skin rather than the doglike smell of his werewolf form.
Now that she thought about it, Phoebe had scrunched up his nose and asked her if she’d brought home a stray the day after Ebel had first visited her shop. It was kind of strange to think the werewolf curse even changed a person’s scent, but it was a little late to be surprised by that when it already changed their physique and mass.
As Rock was becoming better acquainted with his human scent, she suddenly remembered the sweet fragrance hanging thick in Krister’s apartment. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was intimately familiar with the fragrant wood smell.
She’d smelled that same scent while being embraced, just as she was right now.
“My mother smelled like that fragrant wood incense once,” Rock said as the memory came to her.
The smell had come from her mother’s apron pocket when they’d hugged. That was the same day a thief had broken into her mother’s shop and stolen all her proceeds. No one could find the thief in the sparsely populated mountain village, and that’s when Rock’s mother comforted her with these words:
“Don’t worry about the money. We’ll manage.”
“Mother had the incense on her…” Rock furrowed her brow as the memory grew clearer.
“If I’m not mistaken, your mother was also a tailor, right? Did she like incense?”
“No. She just had it on her. I never saw her burn it.”
Expensive incense wasn’t the kind of thing a poor mountain tailor would freely carry on them. But why she had it made more sense after Rock learned about her mother’s family history.
How did Vale Floria feel when she traded her treasured incense for money?
“My father says Mother was the daughter of a low-ranking imperial nobleman,” Rock confided in Ebel, lifting her head to look into his eyes. He was naturally taken by surprise and gasped.
“Really?”
“Yes… Although it seems like she fled home and had nothing to do with her family after that.”
But when she thought back on it now, there were various things throughout her childhood that attested to her mother’s noble upbringing.
“What was your mother’s maiden name?”
“Valencia Alexis…or so Father says.”
Ebel’s expression changed as soon as she shared that information. He released her from his embrace and placed his hands on her shoulders. Then he peered down at her face and grimly asked, “Who else knows this?”
“I’m the only one Father told,” Rock replied, feeling overwhelmed. “And you’re the only one I’ve told, Ebel.”
“…Then I suggest you don’t tell another soul,” Ebel instructed her in an unusually hard voice.
“I haven’t had any direct contact with the Alexis family, but I’ve heard the rumors. It seems the youngest sister left the family, and the parents died one after another right after. The remaining sister lost the will to protect the family name and was forced to take a husband to who she entrusted headship. But then they were unable to have any children and are currently looking into adopting an heir, but are hesitant to pass on the title to someone who isn’t at least distantly related.”
Rock struggled to wrap her head around the flood of information he presented her.
Seeing her expression, Ebel kindly simplified the issue. “All that is to say they might seek you out as an heir if news of your relationship gets out.”
“They’d want me?!”
Rock was stunned.
An even more unbelievable reality had just been added to the already surreal story of her mother’s family.
But there’s no way some fancy nobles would want a tailor from the slums as their heir…
“But Father said Mother no longer has any connection to her family…”
“That probably has more to do with what your parents wanted.”
Ebel was the picture of calm after he got over his initial shock. He staidly advised Rock.
“We don’t know if the Alexis family feels the same. Keep your connection a secret if you don’t want to get roped into anything.”
Rock never planned on sharing this secret from the start. Phoebe likely divulged the information to his daughter with that intention too, and Rock had only told Ebel because she trusted him fully.
While she was curious about her mother’s past, she didn’t want anything to do with it. There was no reason for her to deliberately go after what her mother had tossed aside.
“I won’t tell anyone else,” Rock vowed as she stared into his golden eyes. Ebel’s features finally softened and he nodded.
“That’s for the best. I’ll keep your secret too.”
“I trust you.”
“I’m honored, Roxy.”
His eyes lingered on her face, studying her in earnest as his still wet hair stuck to his cheeks.
“…I must admit, you remain a mystery to me,” he whispered in a velvety voice. “You dress as a man, yet you aren’t one. I met you in the slums, but you have noble blood running through you. It’s been quite a while since we first met, and it seems I’ll need much more time to learn about you.”
“I don’t have any other secrets…probably,” Rock said bashfully.
“Probably, eh?” Ebel grinned. “I’d love the opportunity to uncover everything there is to know about you.”
“Everything?” Rock repeated, catching on to the double meaning just as his lips pressed against hers.
“I won’t take a thing from you,” he vowed after their fleeting kiss. “I’ve decided to only receive what you give.”
“What are you talking about, Ebel…?”
“I want to share our future together.” Ebel didn’t give Rock a second to process his sudden proposal. “I’d love to introduce you to my father in the near future. Well, I’d like to bring you to his grave, to be precise…” He intertwined his fingers with hers and whispered almost pleadingly into her ear. “Won’t you consider it, Roxy?”
♚♚♚
ROCK stripped out of her wet clothes after Ebel left. She felt like his warmth was leaving her too as she slipped her arms through clean sleeves. But staying wet would only lead to a cold, so she changed despite the loneliness it brought.
His proposal lingered in her thoughts.
“Share our future together, huh…?”
Rock was delighted he felt that way about her, and she wanted the same thing. But she felt insecure. Not because of Ebel, but because of the things she didn’t know about her mother’s family.
I want to decide my future for myself. And I have to keep my lineage a secret to do that.
Rock firmly made up her mind to keep her secret that way for good.