Chapetr 16
The more she heard, the stranger it sounded.
“No, it’s just that…! The engagement was broken off not long ago! He’s absolutely not a strange person. My master’s name is Karl Lerint, the admiral who leads the Empire’s Western Fleet.”
“I understand for now… but how did the engagement end up being broken off?”
“…I heard that it was my master who requested it. I don’t know the reason, though.”
The maid answered in a shrinking voice.
He was the one who asked to break off the engagement, yet now he wants her found after she’s gone missing?
What kind of mindset is that? Does he still have lingering feelings?
If he cared that much, why didn’t he come to request it himself?
Clink.
At the sound of porcelain touching the table, she stopped her thoughts and looked up.
Teacups had been placed in front of both her and the maid.
It must have been Daimon who prepared them.
She turned to thank him, but he had already disappeared.
The maid, however, didn’t pay any attention to the tea or cookies and only stared at her face.
“I heard about you from a friend who works as a maid at the Grayden Marquis household. They said you’re incredibly skilled. So please, you must find our young lady!”
“But didn’t you say your master and she already broke off their engagement? Why would you take on a request like this…?”
And even calling her “our young lady” with such familiarity.
“That’s…”
The maid lowered her head with a dejected expression.
“I’m just a servant, so I don’t know what happened between them. But I’m sure my master is worried about Miss Elisa.”
New request received!
If accepted, <How to Become the Hero’s Spouse> will be added to the library.
As soon as the maid finished speaking, the acceptance window appeared.
She had thought their relationship seemed complicated—so it was a regretful male lead request.
A man searching for his already broken-off fiancée…
She wanted to hear the full story properly, but since the person involved wasn’t here, there was a limit to what she could learn.
“Then please, I’m counting on you!”
In the end, without obtaining any meaningful information, the maid left the office, leaving behind only documents and the advance payment.
Request accepted!
<How to Become the Hero’s Spouse> has been added to the library.
Would you like to read it now?
Read now
Close
Well, the world had never been kind to extras anyway.
She’d just have to read the novel herself to find out.
It bothered her a bit that the male lead was a soldier, but it didn’t seem like a particularly dangerous request.
And the payment was quite generous too—if she used it to fix up the office…
“May I clear the tea?”
The voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
She looked up to see Daimon staring at her with his usual indifferent expression.
She leaned back to make it easier for him.
“Oh, yeah. Go ahead.”
Even after getting permission, he didn’t move.
Instead, he stared at her even more intently than before.
What’s with him?
“…What is it? Is there a problem?”
“This.”
He pushed a book toward her.
“It’s the book you were trying to take out earlier.”
“Huh?”
It must be the one she had randomly pulled out earlier while making an excuse during that awkward moment before the maid arrived.
She scratched her cheek awkwardly and picked up the book.
“Uh… thanks.”
Without thinking, she read the title on the cover.
<How a Hopelessly Single, Romance-Incompetent Woman Can Seduce and Devour a Younger Man / Author: R>
“…?”
What is this?
What the hell is this insane title?!
Before she could even come up with an excuse, Daimon silently picked up the teacups and headed into the kitchen.
No. That’s not it.
That’s not what it means!
“Why is a book like this even…?”
Who keeps putting these ridiculous books in my library?!
This is absurd…
No. Maybe this could actually be a good opportunity.
She was already someone who clung to others in an unpleasant way—if she added the trait of being a hopelessly single, romance-inept person, wouldn’t that make her the number one person people want to avoid?
Wouldn’t anyone, no matter how desperate, want to run away?
Of course…
That didn’t change how utterly embarrassing it was.
Embarrassing enough to want to die.
I seriously want to run away.
Forget the runaway male lead—she felt like she’d bolt first at this rate.
But seriously, what is this? Since when was this even on my shelf?
She had been living in the office for months and had never seen this dreadful trash before.
These days, Daimon handled the cleaning, and the books on the shelf weren’t ones she bought.
But still—why would something like this be there?
Wait… come to think of it…
“You told me to read it when I had time. It helped me a lot.”
That day, after returning from completing the Grayden Marquis’s request, Daimon had said that while showing her a book.
If she remembered correctly, the title was <How to Become a Good Detective Assistant>.
“And that book’s author was also R…”
What is with this person?
Are they some kind of expert at mass-producing trash books and destroying the environment?
Do they have a grudge against trees or something?
While glaring at the author name on the cover and feeling murderous toward someone she didn’t even know—
“Wait… I feel like I’ve seen this pen name somewhere else…”
The initial “R” felt oddly familiar.
She was sure she had seen it before. But when?
She tapped her desk lightly and slowly retraced her memory.
“Congratulations on opening Mr. Welf’s detective agency. From R, who misses you… huh?”
That’s it!
The bouquet she had found while rummaging through the office after receiving her first mission!
The card attached to it had the sender’s initial.
And that initial was R too!
“Where did I put that? Daimon! Do you have it?”
“Yes.”
When she called out loudly, he appeared as if he had been waiting.
Wow, he showed up without a sound—startling.
She cleared her throat, pretending to be calm, and spoke.
“Do you remember the bouquet and card from about two months ago?”
She had been too busy at the time and just shoved them somewhere…
Since Daimon handled the cleaning, he probably either threw them away or put them somewhere.
It was from two months ago—would he even remember?
She looked at him anxiously.
“….”
She expected him to either think back or look unsure.
But Daimon… seemed strange.
He looked expressionless as usual, yet there was a faintly sunken, heavy atmosphere about him.
“That bouquet…”
After a moment of silence, he spoke quietly.
“Who… did you receive it from?”
His calm gaze turned toward her.
Maybe because his expression rarely changed, she couldn’t guess what he was thinking at all.
It was as if he refused to reveal anything about himself.
“There’s someone like that.”
A suspected tree-killer.
“It should only say ‘R.’ Did you throw it away?”
“….”
Only then did his persistent gaze fall away.
He quietly shook his head.
“I have not seen it. Perhaps you placed it somewhere I am not allowed to touch.”
“Hmm, not my room… maybe the desk?”
She had told him beforehand not to clean her bedroom or office desk.
Ah, maybe she had put it in the desk drawer back then?
She quickly moved to the drawer.
After it creaked a few times as if something was stuck, she barely managed to open it.
“Found it!”
Amid extreme chaos, she finally pulled out the bouquet and card.
“The organization…”
Daimon muttered as he looked into the drawer, which had turned into a storm of disorder after leaving the hands of a cleaning expert.
“…is impressive.”
…Was that sarcasm?
“I remember exactly where everything is. I left it like this on purpose so I’d notice if someone touched it.”
“Yes.”
He nodded half-heartedly.
Judging by his expression, he clearly meant, “You don’t even remember where you put it, what nonsense are you talking about?”
She had no excuse.
Why was today so full of humiliation?
Fidgeting with her reddening ears, she pulled the card out from the bouquet
