Ian and Robert arrived later than expected at the auction house.

Ian was a little late to the appointment because of Annabelle, so it was a problem that he did not go the usual way.

"Who's there?"

So, at the back of the general store building, at which they arrived a little late, Robert spoke the code without hesitation.

"The password is... green."

As if the password was correct, the old woman wearing an old apron greeted them politely.

"Come in. Welcome."

And as soon as they entered, they murmured while passing by.

"You are quite late."

Robert smirked.

They started walking down the secret passage that the old woman had led.

The road in the dark was quite long, and Robert muttered after making sure no one was around.

"I guess it's true."

Robert and Ian moved at a fairly fast pace without realizing it.

Then, Robert said seriously, erasing his smirk at the old woman earlier.

"You should definitely get Morriett."

"It's a place of black magic..."

Ian couldn't hide his disgust and muttered.

It was the first time he had encountered such an outright illegal act.

Robert calmly explained.

"It's no use catching the workers, Ian. If you really want to find the chief executive, the one who actually practices black magic, you have to pretend to be a real customer."

"..."

"It's your first time doing this, so you didn't know, but camouflage investigations are basic in this situation. Even if it's unpleasant, you have to endure it to some extent."

"Okay."

Robert had been tracking these crimes for a long time.

If there was abnormal magic behind it that did not suit the world, a large amount of money naturally followed.

Robert speculated that the money was flowing into the political funds of Crown Prince Carlon.

"It's nothing else, black magic... That power does not fit in this world."

Robert muttered low.

"But it's strange that it's been so secretive for so long."

"...I see."

"I guess it's hard for them to get this far unless the crown prince of the empire takes care of them."

That was the reason why he couldn't bring the Imperial Guard himself and had to ask Ian for help.

The head of the Imperial Guard was Carlon.

Of course, by just having Ian, he was superior to dozens of those imperial guards.

"Then, is your goal to find the connection with the crown prince?""

"First of all, yes."

Robert nodded at Ian's question.

"But even if it's hard, I won't let this place go for now. It's the largest illegal site in the capital, and if we can, we have to capture them all."

While having a conversation, they felt a presence of people behind them on the secret passage and immediately shut up.

It was a brown-haired woman who appeared in extreme tension.

Her face could not be confirmed because she was wearing a mask, but Ian judged that she had no combat ability.

'She must be going just to watch.'

Ian even felt a little disgusted because her steps were so cheerful.

'As the prince said, I shouldn't cause problems for no reason.'

So Ian let her pass by them.

"Even a very ordinary young woman comes to a place like this alone."

"I guess that's what is going on around us. We have to be really on alert."

Ian and Robert sighed, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"Actually, I secretly sought help from the temple. Just in case."

"You didn't officially ask for it."

"It's hard to believe even in a temple. It's just one of those devices that I hung up just in case."

Robert said it as if it were nothing.

"If she really is a good person, it will be helpful, and if the information is passed on because even the temple is entangled in this..."

His eyes gleamed in a splendid form.

"That will also be an important clue for us."

After walking for a while, the colorful entrance finally caught their eyes.

But they saw someone lying in front of the entrance.

Seeing that he was quite large and wearing a black suit, he seemed to be a member of this black market.

"What? He seemed like a gatekeeper guarding this front."

Robert whispered in a bewildered voice.

Ian carefully drew his sword and looked at the unconscious person.

"Well..."

It must have been a one-time final blow aiming at the vital point.

A very familiar attack pattern comes to mind when he guessed the level of skill, location, and powerl...

'Annabelle?'

Shouldn't she be having dinner together with her newly found family by now?

'...She can't be here. You better stop thinking about it.'

Ian quickly erased his thoughts and put the sword back in.

"I think he was knocked out after getting a final blow at a vital point. Don't worry about it, I guess we can just go in."

"From what we witnessed, it doesn't seem like much time has passed since the incident. It's better to go in and mix with people before someone gets suspicious."

Robert's words were reasonable, and the two entered the black market.

Ian was momentarily startled by the illegal scene unfolding before his eyes.

He was born into a high-ranking aristocratic family and had led the Wade Knights with fairness while living independently at the top of society.

He also found that he lacked controlling his facial expression because he, by nature, valued the good.

In the meantime, Ian said he'd never been hesitant about what he thought was wrong.

It was when his trembling hand moved slowly towards the sword, unknowingly.

"Honey!"

Almost at the same time as his hand moved, a familiar body temperature struck him.

"You're so fit! I like you the most out of all the people here!"

Ian's heart thumped and fell even before her loud voice was stuck in his ears.

So, his body recognized her before his head did.

Although, she was saying absurd lines.

Ian couldn't say anything since he felt that he was being stupid.

Everything stopped with her presence felt right next to him.

A whisper followed in his ear after a loud and lively voice.

"If you want to make that expression, look at me and do it. Even if you wear a mask, I can see that your lower jaw is stiff. If you make that face here, you'll be dragged away. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

He felt every single hair stand still near his ear, and his body stiffened.

"On top of that, are you crazy that you're trying to grab your sword?"

She wore a colorful mask, it was clear that she was Annabelle.

He tried not to think about her all night.

When he became conscious of her body temperature that was attached to his arm, his head felt dizzy, and his whole body was tense as if he had stopped breathing.

To be honest, even if Annabelle picked up the sword and stabbed him in this state, he felt like he would be helpless.

He hurriedly came up with anything to say in his head.

"...The guy at the front door... That was you, right?"

"Oh, yeah."

To knock down an official, it seemed that Annabelle was not on the same team with Morriott.

Annabelle then spoke loudly while they were conscious of others' eyes.

"Honey! Come with me! I'll be nice to you!"

"You'll... You'll be nice to me?"

Ian asked stiffly without realizing it, and Annabelle answered bravely.

"Yeah! I'll just listen to you for about 30 seconds, even if what you're saying is a little boring."

"Even if it's a foreign language that you've never heard of for about 30 seconds, anyone can listen to it..."

"Then I'll play rock paper scissors at the same time if I have to."

"That's..."

"Isn't this enough? Then let's go to the dessert store together later. I'll give you strawberries when we eat the strawberry cake together."

"..."

"Don't you like strawberry cake? Then I'll order more and sprinkle syrup on yours."

'Being nice' was just a facade, but Annabelle's tone sounded serious.

When the embarrassment disappeared to some extent, he noticed that Annabelle was more nervous than ever.

Anyways, Ian, who thought he should keep up with the rhythm, nodded stiffly.

"Well, then, um, I'll go with you."

"Ugh, it's very expensive..."

Annabelle kicked her tongue, and Ian found a person with a rabbit mask approaching behind Annabelle.

It was Aaron, who was as familiar as Annabelle.

He also recognized Ian in a mask and murmured slowly.

"Oh... Hmm? What's going on?"

Annabelle whispered back so quietly that only Aaron and Robert, who were close to Annabelle, could hear.

"Ian couldn't hide his hateful expression, so I'm working on pretending to be a woman who sticks to him recklessly.

Aaron replied with admiration.

"It's a strategy to hide hatred with hatred! You're incredible."

Robert also intervened playfully.

"Yeah, it's Ian's first time doing this and he's such an honest person, so he'll be a little weak in acting. It's great to cover up the hatred of crime with the hatred of Annabelle in this way."

Ian sighed without realizing it.

Before he could say that he didn't hate it that much, Annabelle whispered quietly.

"There's nothing we can do. I'll stick to you, so stay like this. It's better than being suspected for no reason even if you don't like it."

"..."

"Once you get hit by a black magic, there's no healing to get better. Apart from that you're good at swordsmanship, all the managers here use black magic."

"Okay."

Ian replied bluntly.

He tried to say that he didn't hate Annabelle clinging to his arm so much, but he closed his mouth with a glance at Aaron.

This was because he knew that even if he spoke, he had to do it when Aaron was not around, in order not to be teased for distorted and fabricated stories throughout his life.

He was going to talk seriously with her when there would be only two of them left somehow.

'I'll say I don't hate you.'

Rather, he had to say thank you for saving him from danger.

'The two of us...'

Suddenly, he started to feel nauseous. No matter how much he thought about it, her clinging body temperature seemed to confuse him.