The other quickly pulled out his sword and fended off the two guards. Their movements were as fast as light. They happened so instantaneously that Aria’s party was deprived of their freedom by the two men.
Flop!
Jessie, surprised, screamed as she fell down. If she were to move even a little, her head would be cut off. Having already experienced that once, Aria trembled visibly.
“… Why did you say that?” the man who had grabbed Aria’s wrist asked. Within the cape, was a man with a slightly younger face than that of an adult with black hair and blue eyes. At best, he was a man of similar age to Cain.
Those pure blue eyes gave her goosebumps, but after seeing the young man’s face, she became a little less nervous. Then, Aria frowned, feeling as if she had seen his face somewhere, which caused his grasp to become stronger.
“I’m asking why you said such a thing to the owner.”
“I-I don’t know what you are talking about?!”
She didn’t understand what he was talking about. She looked around, but there was no one that could come to her aid.
The man said once more, “I asked why that auction pass would become useless.”
‘Why is he asking why that’ll happen?’
It was then that Aria understood the man’s question.
‘Should he be asking that so suddenly?’
She looked at him to see if he was a member of the auction. Most of his body was covered by the black cloak, so she could not see within it enough to obtain the information she wanted. Even the narrow gaps between his clothes showed black fabric underneath. However, there was one thing she knew. Ordinary people could not have such fine skin as his. They worked too hard for that.
‘… Is he a noble?’
He had to be a noble of no significance since he was an unfamiliar face for Aria, who remembered almost all of the nobles’ faces from having participated in numerous parties. He must have come up from the countryside to participate in the auction.
Thinking that, the pieces of the puzzle fit together. He would have bought this expensive auction pass and would have come up to the capital, but after hearing that it would be useless, he must have been surprised. Strangely, his quick movements and informal tone were bothering her, but she couldn’t think beyond that.
“… You’re hurting my wrist. Let go.”
“Answer me.”
“If you let go of my wrist.”
“…”
He didn’t let go of her wrist, staring at Aria incredulously. Only then, did Aria find her pace. On the surface, the man might be older, but in reality, she was beyond him.
Although she had lived a life of base pleasure, that had also given her experience, so it wasn’t difficult for her to grasp the situation and to identify the man. If he was to have been a few years older, he wouldn’t have been so clumsy in the way he was seeking his answers.
With a smile, Aria whispered to the man threatening her, “You seem to have better skills than my knights, so don’t tell me you’re not letting go of my wrist because you are afraid that you might lose to such a young girl? And it hurts a lot. What will you do if I can’t use my hand?”
It was then that the man looked down on the wrist he grabbed. A bluish, bruised color perched over her pale skin. Realizing that he didn’t have to overexert himself to that extent, he signaled his colleague with his eyes before slowly releasing her wrist.
Her escort knights were still unable to move, but Aria’s wrist was free from his grasp. However, she was blocked by the man and could not escape the store.
Aria brushed the hand of the previously gripped wrist several times to shake off the hot tingling sensations that were rising through her arm. The wrist had been held so strongly that it was numb. She found him to be extremely rude.
“Now, answer me,” the man pressed on with a sharp stare. He was looking at her like he wouldn’t let her go if she didn’t answer properly.
It was then that Aria answered calmly, “I heard a rumor.”
“What rumor?”
“That the casino is about to go bankrupt,” Aria lied casually because she had not promised to tell the truth, nor was she obliged to do it.
His face hardened. It seemed that her conjecture that the man had bought the auction ticket had been correct.
Aria added a lie to the lie, “There’s a rumor that Viscount Lupre has acquired a huge debt from expanding his business recklessly. It’s also rumored that he’s prepared to dispose of the casino, relinquish his title, and run away at night.”
Viscount Lupre was the owner of the casino. He was the aristocrat destined to be executed after being caught trafficking humans. He was also the man who would cause the collapse of his family by passing these crimes onto his children.
“This is the end of my answer, so step aside so that I can leave.”
“… If your reply is a lie, I won’t let you be.”
The man’s blue eyes met Aria’s. He had a face set with murderous intent. Goosebumps crept up Aria’s back, and she felt cold sweat slide down it. She knew that he was bluffing, but she couldn’t stay aloof in front of such a fierce threat.
Aria laughed awkwardly, unable to control her trembling mouth, and said, “… How do you judge the truth of a rumor?”
“It’s a matter of consideration.”
The answer was convincing, but his actions were not. He took a complete picture of Aria into his eyes, determined to definitely find her if necessary. Her whole body was burned in his mind.
His eyes stayed a specially long time on the rose-shaped ruby located on her chest. He seemed to know where she was from, so Aria’s face turned pale. Her calm, lying self vanished.
‘I need to run away…! I need to avoid him!’
She wanted to leave that place immediately. She never wanted to entangle herself with that man again. She felt a sense of danger. A threat that she had not met in the past would become a sword that would definitely cut her neck. She was sure that she would regret that meeting.
“… My answer is just this, so let my knights go,” Aria said with a complexion that indicated that she was about to collapse, and the man beckoned his colleague with his finger. His comrade gently released her knights. Despite their freedom of movement, her knights did not move at all, wary of the man who had overpowered them.
However, the casino would be closed down soon since a group led by the Crown Prince would interfere with it; the high-priced auction ticket would become a flimsy piece of paper, and the old man would have to suffer a massive loss.
The old man looked puzzled by Aria’s advice. It seemed that he had no intention of reselling the pass to the auction just because of the words from little young Aria.
‘It’s unfortunate since he has great dexterous hands, but I can’t help him any more than that.’
Since she had no intention of repeating her warning, she made to leave the general store after finishing her advice. It was then that one of the men, who hadn’t moved from the corner until just then, grabbed her slender arm.
‘How come you’re so incompetent!’
Aria rushed out of the general store with her useless guards and Jessie.
***
“What do you want me to do?” while checking the quickly disappearing carriage, the man who had overpowered Aria’s knights immediately asked the other man.
“… Is that a carriage of the Roscents?”
“Yes.”
“I heard that they have a first-born son… Did the count have a daughter of that age?”
“There’s a young lady named Mielle. I heard that another girl was adopted after he remarried, but they say she’s a scapegrace without any proper etiquette. Therefore, I think that was Lady Mielle.”
“Mielle…”
‘Does her name mean honey?’ It wasn’t a name suited for someone with such a coy face. ‘Even after such an unexpected occurrence, didn’t she maintain her composure and play with me?’ It was an unthinkable audacity for a girl in her early teens.
The man looked down at his hand, which had held Aria by the wrist. It had been a very thin and delicate wrist. Those of other young ladies of her age might be like that, but hers was especially more so.
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