Aaargh.

A blood-soaked man groaned as he writhed on the floor.

A blonde lady, who was sitting down cross-legged in a chair as she stared down at this man, asked, Where did you say he was going?

To gasp to the Mayhard Duchy

It was impossible to tell whether the mans trembling came from pain, or from fear.

The woman gave the man a long look, as if trying to tell whether he was lying, before waving her hand.

Get him out of here.

The man was soon dragged out of the room, pulled along like a piece of trash by a pair of soldiers.

He left behind a long trail of blood, marking his path to the door.

The lady let out a sigh.

That crazy bastard

Incan had disappeared.

His disappearance in itself was a problem, but he had even stolen one of her possessions before he had escaped.

Rather than a theft, would it be more accurate to call it a eat and run.

The man who had just been dragged out of the room while covered from head to toe in blood was the servant who had been stationed at Incans bedside. Following Incans instructions, he had stolen the item from her room and delivered it to his master.

That idiot sure made use of what little wits he has. Well, it would be difficult if he tried to escape with his body in such a state.

And I was careless and neglected to keep an eye on him, especially since his body was so frail.

The womans mood plummeted.

And for him to head to the Mayhard Duchy of all places

The lady was lost in thought for a moment before waving her hand once again.

At this gesture, a man who had been waiting nearby immediately fell to one knee at her feet and awaited her orders.

Make your way to the Duchy of Mayhard immediately. Once there

Her orders continued for quite a length.

After a while, having memorized her orders, the man bowed his head and disappeared from the spot.

The lady rose from her seat.

Upon leaving the room, she called out to her personal maid.

Follow me, Hannah. Get ready to go out.

Where are we going?

Without looking back at her maid, the woman replied.

I need to go buy some clothes. Black ones1.

***

My lady, a letter has arrived for you.

Yelena, who had just been about to leave the room, glanced at the letter that the servant was holding out to her.

There was nothing that could be distinguished from the letters appearance. So Yelena accepted the envelope and flipped it over.

As expected. The name of the sender hadnt been written on the envelope.

Just like before, does the delivery man have no idea who the sender is?

Yes. They said that theyre only in charge of delivering it, so

After a moment of internal conflict, Yelena tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter.

[Seeing as you havent replied, did you really forget about me?]

Yelena quickly handed the letter back to the servant.

Since the message was so short, there was no need to linger over it.

Take this away and burn it. Also, from now on, if another letter like this arrives for me, then dont bring it to me and instead just burn it or throw it away.

Yes, my lady. As you command.

The servant hurried away, carrying a piece of tinder shaped like a letter.

After the servant had left, Yelena shook her head and headed to the dining room for lunch.

There really are a lot of weirdos around.

G-good morning, your Ladyship.

On her way to the dining room, Yelena soon ran into Colin.

Usually, he would have just gone his own way after his greeting, but today it seemed like Colin had some other purpose in mind.

It looks like were in for some nice weather today.

Yelena stared curiously at Colin, who had suddenly started talking about the weather, before asking, Is there something you would like to say to me, Sir Colin?

by any chance, will you have time after lunch?

I should be free then, why do you ask?

Do you have any plans to go out today?

Huh?

As Yelena blinked in surprise, Colin blushed a bright read before stammering out an explanation.

Thomas and Max keep bragging- Wait! No, its not that. Its just that I thought, since the weather is so nice and all, wouldnt it be nice to head out for a while

Ahah.

Yelena immediately realized why Colin was suggesting this.

Come to think of it, Max and Thomas had each had a turn escorting Yelena, leaving Colin the only one who had yet to do so.

If its for an outing;

In the end, her thoughts turned to Anna.

Is she doing alright?

Since the last time they had met, with Yelena rescuing her from the other kids in the alley, she hadnt heard any news about Anna.

That had to mean that there wasnt anything in particular going on with Anna.

Because Ben had decided to take some extra care in keeping Anna safe until the time came for the dispensary to open.

However, now that Anna had popped into mind, Yelena kept feeling the urge to see her.

After some consideration, Yelena turned to Colin.

Fine then. Ill be heading out on a short trip after the meal, so make sure to prepare for that.

I will give my utmost to escort you!

Colins eyes shone so brightly that they felt blinding.

Having given up on understanding why her knights felt the way they did, Yelena didnt seem at all surprised and instead had accepted that was just how things would be.

***

Hm?

After lunch, as she was casually getting ready to go out, Yelena stopped in her tracks upon seeing the earring that the maid had brought to her.

This is

1 Black is the color of mourning. Her buying clothes make it seem like shes anticipating someones death.

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