Chapter – 19
No matter how she looked at it, Aldehyde did not seem like the type who spoke in metaphors.
‘I should just interpret it as him telling me to get lost because I’m in the way.’
But she needed to observe Aldehyde. And besides…
‘If it’s a smuggling ship, then this is extremely important. I absolutely have to stay close to him.’
Currently, the Empire had two major problems.
One was the rifts where monsters emerged, and the other was the criminals of the underground world.
‘And the leader of those criminals… is my uncle, Marshal Vuettridge.’
However, he acted carefully on the surface, building a good reputation. Even knowing the future, she had no way to catch him red-handed.
At this point in time, there was one particular activity that served as his source of funds.
The smuggling ships.
They brought in all kinds of illegal goods from other continents and distributed them throughout the Empire to make money.
They were also connected to Shadow Street, so for Ppuppu’s sake as well, she had to deal with this before she died.
‘Besides, if Aldehyde has ulterior motives, there’s a high chance he’s connected to this ship too.’
If she confirmed what was happening on the ship, it could become an opportunity to determine whether Aldehyde was a villain or a good person—and exactly where he stood.
So Lillie answered with great determination:
“No, it’s fine! I will faithfully assist the honorable Lord Aldehyde by his side.”
She slightly stumbled over the word honorable, but she still managed a decent bit of flattery.
At that moment, Aldehyde slowly scanned Lillie with a cold gaze.
“…Honorable?”
“Yes, honorable!”
For some reason, he looked strangely uncomfortable at that word.
‘Did I say something wrong?’
Then Aldehyde quietly muttered:
“…Why does it feel like I just heard something I wasn’t supposed to? Instinctively, I feel like asking how I could possibly deserve your respect.”
“…?”
What is he even talking about?
“Then…”
“…”
“Follow—”
“Yes! I’ll pack my things and follow right away!”
* * *
A harbor covered in thick fog.
The lighthouse beam blurred across the rippling water.
Paul and I hid behind the pier, clutching the hems of our waterproof cloaks tightly.
We had received a secret tip that at this hour, a ship would be smuggling illegal stabilizers into the harbor.
‘If this is the same incident I remember…’
My task wasn’t just to confirm the illegal stabilizers brought through smuggling. I had something else to do.
While I stared ahead with determination, Aldehyde silently checked his watch. When the second hand finally reached the hour—
“Hide.”
At his command, we all pressed ourselves to the ground.
In the distance, a deep ship horn sounded.
Soon, a black hull cut through the water toward us.
Old wooden crates were stacked in the cargo hold, and dark silhouettes stood on the deck.
“We move now.”
“Yes.”
Just as Paul and I moved in sync, Aldehyde spoke to me:
“You…”
“…?”
“You can’t go alone.”
“Excuse me?”
I looked at him in confusion. As he muttered quietly, suddenly my feet lifted off the ground. I was gently pulled forward until I was right beside him.
“…What? Why?”
Seeing my puzzled expression, Aldehyde rubbed his face.
“I don’t know either, so just move.”
What do you mean you don’t know?!
Behind us, Paul adjusted his cloak and muttered:
“What about me?”
“You figure it out yourself.”
“I really don’t understand why you’re like this. That’s honestly hurtful discrimination…”
Leaving Paul’s complaints behind, I followed Aldehyde onto the ship.
Thump. Thump.
Maybe because the place was so quiet you couldn’t even hear breathing, I could clearly identify the unusually loud sound.
It was Aldehyde’s heartbeat.
‘Is he about to lose control?’
His heartbeat sounded unusually fast and loud. When I looked at him with suspicion, he whispered:
“Look ahead.”
Well maybe if you weren’t making it so noticeable…
It didn’t seem like he was in danger of losing control yet. Feeling relieved, I looked forward—
Blue mana shimmered beneath our feet, forming a thin sheet of ice over the water.
“Be careful.”
Before he even finished speaking, our three silhouettes glided across the water. Thanks to Aldehyde’s ability, we stepped soundlessly onto the shadowed deck.
As soon as we reached the deck, the smell of medicine hit us.
The ship’s side was dark and damp. Seawater had seeped through the wooden gaps and pooled on the floor.
Inside the crates were white and red pills stacked together, covered with thin silk cloth.
“A dead end.”
Aldehyde’s expression twisted instantly. I calmly responded:
“Is there no one here? Did they all run away?”
“Yeah. All the humans ran. Only the illegal stabilizers are left.”
He gestured toward the railing. Torn teleportation scrolls were scattered across the floor.
‘I expected we wouldn’t catch them immediately.’
We hadn’t come here to catch them right now anyway.
I had come to see whether they had any ties to Aldehyde, and at the same time to find clues to catch them later.
Aldehyde frowned as he examined the pills. I also stepped closer to inspect them.
But then…
“…”
I heard the heartbeat again.
When I turned my head, I realized Aldehyde was looking at me.
“Why?”
This man—why is his heart beating like that? And he doesn’t even seem aware of it.
‘Does he have arrhythmia or something?’
Despite his loudly beating heart, his tone remained firm.
“I’m going to search the interior. If you make noise, I’ll leave you here.”
“Yes…”
Why is he like this?
But because of the movement spell from earlier, I still had no choice but to float beside him.
He looked at me as if I were a nuisance.
“No, you…”
“Yes?”
“Why are you still next to me?”
“Because you used magic to keep me next to you?”
The moment I noticed his earlobes turning slightly red, my feet suddenly touched the deck.
His magic had been released instantly.
He looked between Paul and me and said:
“I’ll check dangerous areas like the lower decks myself. You two just stay around the deck and don’t be a bother.”
“Me too? What a luxury!”
Paul’s eyes widened.
Aldehyde frowned.
“Yes, Paul. Stay next to her.”
Paul nodded energetically and stuck himself right beside me.
Then Aldehyde made a strange expression and grabbed Paul’s shoulder, pulling him slightly away.
“I didn’t say stick that close.”
“Why do you keep changing what you say?”
Ignoring Paul’s protest, Aldehyde frowned and turned away.
‘So far he just seems like a normally righteous… crazy person.’
For now, let’s stop observing Aldehyde.
“Don’t worry, we’ll just check the deck!”
…I said confidently, but I already had a plan.
If the future I knew hadn’t changed—
There was evidence of wrongdoing on this ship that I needed to find.
* * *
The cargo area on the deck was already a mess.
Overturned wooden boxes were scattered everywhere, and illegal stabilizer pills were spilled across the floor. Despite searching carefully, there were no traces of the crew. No clothes, no bloodstains. It was as if they had vanished.
“Guess there really is no one. Can’t even find abandoned clothes or shoes. Should we head back?”
“No, wait.”
Stopping Paul, I listened carefully.
A faint groan came from beneath a ventilation shaft.
“Could it be…”
As we both crouched down, we saw a small puppy curled up inside the vent.
“There’s a puppy here.”
The puppy stared with clear black eyes, holding its breath. Tears fell from its eyes onto the scattered pills below.
Before my regression, I had read an article about how people trying to strengthen their powers conducted experiments on countless animals, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
‘The illegal stabilizer incident was connected to that animal experimentation case that shook the capital.’
The moment I saw the puppy’s teary eyes, my chest ached. Partly because I could directly feel its pain, but more than anything—
‘It reminds me of Ppuppu.’
The fragile puppy resembled the small boy who always called himself a baby puppy.
My heart dropped.
Thump.
