Chapter 18: CH 18

“Miss Mary?”

I fell deep in thought. The woman called me in a confused voice. I came to my senses and looked at the woman in front of me.

Come to think of it, I didn’t even know the name of this person who saved me.

“By the way, who are you?”

“Haha.”

The woman laughed quietly as if it was funny to ask her identity now. Yeah, I’d laugh too. I felt like my cheeks were burning red for no reason.

You should’ve asked who saved you like this earlier, Mary.…!

“I’m sorry for the late greetings. I’m Hestia Taylor, a member of the Knights of the Conler family.”

“Oh, I….”

“I know. Who will not know after seeing your black hair?”

After knowing she was a knight of the Conler family, I became stiff. The Knights are here right now. Does that mean that my father and Lucas ordered the Knights to find me?

Originally, I had an image of a troublemaker, so they might think that if they take their eyes off me even for a bit I’ll disappear.

If I said I almost got kidnapped, they might think, “Is this kid really a Conler?”

“Lady, why are you so contemplative?”

“Are the Knights looking for me because I’m gone?”

Hestia’s affectionate eyes made my voice smear with tears.

“For now, Lucas and I were the only ones looking for you.”

“I see….”

That’s a relief. I thought they were looking for me by flipping the Giefroy in full force of knights. And come to think of it, I don’t think they care about me so much enough to dispatch all the knights to find me. When I realized that my worries were useless, shame began to pour in again.

Hestia sat on her knees and examined my face, as if she felt my voice was unusual.

“Are you okay? Were you scared?”

“No……”

“I don’t think so. Do you want me to catch those fu… bad guys and punish them?”

Hestia’s attempt to refrain herself from swearing in front of me almost made me laugh. I can get out of there.…. But I really didn’t think you’d show up like that.

Hestia’s expression while looking at me was too worried. It feels like she’d find them and stab them again and again with the sword on her waist.

Well, they’re cheap, but I didn’t want to put blood on Hestia’s hands because of me.

“I’m really fine……. I hit the back of his head with a frying pan earlier…….”

“……What?”

“I punished them myself and ran away, so it’s really okay. Well, I’m just worried that the duke might be worried…….”

To be exact, I’m not worried, I’m afraid he’ll think I’m pathetic.

At my words Hestia removed some of the worries from her face and smiled brightly. It was also a smile that made even the other person feel comfortable.

“Ahm, Miss Mary…….”

“Oh, Carol! Can you walk?”

As I was out of my mind, I forgot Carol was sitting on the ground. Maybe she calmed down a little, but she walked next to me and called my name. Hestia looked at Carol and said, ‘Who…?’

“It’s a bit of a little….”

“Mary is very sociable”

“I got help from Miss Mary. Well, thank you so much for today. Miss Mary.”

“Can you go alone?”

“Of course. They don’t know where I live.”

“I’m glad to hear that…….”

“I hope I can meet Miss Mary later and repay her for this.”

Carol took my hand and said with determined eyes. I felt good.  Carol went back to her house, bowing 90 degrees to me. I also shook her hand and bowed my head at Carol’s ninety-degree greeting. Hestia laughed quite loudly as if seeing me like that seems funny.

“Miss Mary, you’re just as what I heard!”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go”

Wait, what did you hear? Who did you hear it from?

Despite my bewildered face, Hestia put her arm inside my armpit and lifted me up in her arms. I was embarrassed to be suddenly hugged.

“We.”

“……?”

“We took a quick look at Giefroy because you said you were curious.”

Hestia said a questionable thing, after a slightly struggling hug. After reflecting on Hestia’s words, I knew that Hestia was trying to cover up the almost kidnapping incident.

“Hestia!”

“Oh, you’ll fall.”

Hestia’s words startled me; she clasped her arm around my neck. Perhaps because she was a member of the Knights, Hestia’s arms were narrow but firm.

“I think I know where they live, so I’ll catch them later.”

“……How do you know?”

Hestia made eye contact with me for a moment with my question. Her deep gray eyes seemed to contain a concern about me.

“Well, you have to be careful, too. There’s a dangerous street in the corner of Giefroy.”

“Dangerous street?”

“It’s a street where people who haven’t settled anywhere else flow in and live. It’s probably a gang of people who set up a site there and do bad things.”

“Is there such a place in a big city like this?”

“When there is light, there is also a shadow.”

“…….”

“Still, they cannot enter the center of Giefroy, so what’s going on? It seems that the boundaries have weakened. We need to pay more attention to security.”

The street I saw earlier must be what Hestia is talking about. If Hestia knew I had been taken there, she wouldn’t keep this a secret. I shut my mouth to hide that I saw it.

A place where people who have not settled elsewhere flow in and live. And Carol, who was abused and worked there because there were no jobs.

I feel a strange sense of guilt, is it because I’m a Conler?

“So, it’s a problem if you go around alone. Got it?”

I nodded at Hestia’s remark. Hestia’s expression asking me so did not seem comfortable.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I should have come sooner. We should’ve strengthened the security in Giefroy so that even if you go alone, you’ll be safe. We should add more security personnel.”

She looked like her pride was really hurt. It must have been quite shocking that this happened to me. Hestia’s expression made me feel a little sorry. Hestia, who looked at me like that for a long time, soon changed the subject with a bright smile.

“Oh, you don’t have to look for the guy from before?”

“Who…… ah.”

“Do you remember the look?”

“Well, no. I’ll find him later.”

***

“Demimore, are you all, right?”

“Oh, Jasper.”

At the concern of his own servant, Jasper, Demimore nodded his head with a smile as if not to worry. It was soon his mother’s birthday, so he took Jasper to Giefroy without anyone knowing to buy accessories that were only sold at the Craft Guild of Giefroy.

I was going to quietly buy things and go.

He was aware of the recent ferocious rumors in the Empire because of Jasper. It’s been said that kidnapping has been rampant.…. But he didn’t expect to see it with his own eyes, and also in Giefroy, which is called the second best city.

And the child of the Conler family.

The return of the ‘Mary Conler’ was quite a topic of conversation in the Imperial City. There was a saying that she was already dead, but the child returned home after nine years. And she will become his fiancé so that the imperial family can keep the Conler Family in check.

“You told me not to go out, so I followed you quietly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry. They’ve already been handed over to the police.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“By the way, I didn’t know Conler’s Young lady was so good at running.”

“Haha.”

At Jasper’s words Demimore couldn’t help but laugh. Mary’s question came to mind, “What were you thinking?” That’s what you’re going to say to the guy who helped you? Demimore knew Jasper was definitely coming to save him, so he tried to buy time, but he didn’t know that she would be smashing the enemy’s back with a frying pan.

“I didn’t know that the Lady of the Conler would be so daring.”

It reminded him of the men of the Conler family who were studying at the same academy as him. They are Mary’s brother…….  The same blood is flowing within them but because they grew up in a different environment, they have different personalities.

And another thing.

It was easy to be around her.

Because they have a demon blood mix in their blood it was difficult for non-Conler’s to be around them. They said that you will be overwhelmed by a strange pressure just by approaching. Even Demimore, who received the blood of the royal family, feels the pressure whenever the three brothers pass by. It was fortunate that there were not many opportunities to meet them because they are in another grade.

However, he could not feel such pressure despite his close contact with Mary.

I think I heard that Theodore, the third of the Conler brothers, has a kind personality……. I wonder if the blood of the demon is getting weaker as it goes down the generation.

“Then shall we go home now?”

“No, I have to stop by the Craft Guild again.”

“Didn’t you buy jewelry already?”

“Well, it was taken.”

“By those guys before?”

“No, no. It’s okay, since I’ll get the debt back later.”

See you later, my fiancé

Actually, I felt bad when I heard that I was going to have a political engagement with Mary Conler. But meeting her like this, I felt something strange.

My heart is beating fast. Is it the aftermath of meeting Mary?