“See me off, nothing. Go inside and rest quickly.”
Diego continued to stand there keeping his position until Roman’s retreating figure disappeared. After a while, his expression became one of realization at a thought that belatedly crossed his mind.
He had planned to visit the guild soon to ask when and where to meet during the next Bloody Cycle, but in his excitement over the sudden meeting, he had completely forgotten. He tried chasing after him belatedly, but it was futile. By the time he reached the main road and looked around, Roman’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
“Haah…”
A long sigh resembling a lament flowed out. Diego roughly tousled his hair in regret and turned his heavy steps back.
***
Making a mockery of his words that nothing special had happened, a small incident occurred not long after. Clear signs of damage were discovered on the lock attached to the dress shop’s entrance.
Around lunchtime that day, Martin opened his mouth while repeatedly tossing and catching the lock in his hand.
“What do you think?”
The person being asked was Diego. Instead of answering hastily, he carefully pondered before belatedly voicing his thoughts.
“At first I thought it might be the work of whoever was spying on the young viscountess… but it doesn’t seem to be that. If it were, they would have used a much more violent and direct method.”
“I think the same. I heard there were signs of intrusion at shops in the same block too.”
It was a fact he had learned while going around the area in the morning. Among them, a fabric shop with relatively lax security had apparently been broken into, as expensive fabrics had all disappeared, causing quite a commotion.
“This is just my feeling though.”
“Please tell me.”
“…I don’t think we need to worry too much.”
Instead of what he had originally intended to say, Martin answered vaguely and closed his mouth.
As a result of faithfully monitoring the surroundings, Martin increasingly got the strong feeling that there was no one circling around the client with malicious intent.
There were two reasons. If there was someone who harbored romantic feelings for Grace, they wouldn’t have just stood by and watched her go to Lovers’ Lane.
Let’s say they couldn’t bring themselves to approach and came to the shop she ran to pour out resentment and venting. Then, as Diego said, they would have committed far more violent acts, not just tampered with a lock a bit before leaving. The same would be true even if it were someone harboring a grudge rather than affection.
So this morning’s lock damage incident seemed to be the simple theft activities of petty thieves. There were signs of intrusion at each shop, and the fabric shop had actually suffered damages.
Another reason was Grace’s attitude. The young viscountess was no ordinary person. She seemed quick-witted and clever, yet appeared too calm for someone supposedly being circled by someone.
It could be due to a bold personality, but… somehow it didn’t feel that way. Rather, he got the stronger feeling that ‘perhaps she already has someone in mind.’ It was intuition stemming from experience gained physically through all kinds of trials and tribulations as a founding guild member.
But since it was still just speculation, he decided to keep quiet for the time being. Though he didn’t think it would happen, he didn’t want Diego’s tension to loosen or for him to take the work lightly just because he ran his mouth unnecessarily. The same went for himself. He planned to continue focusing on work just like now until something more certain was revealed.
# Chapter 3
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As always, the employees left the shop first. After seeing them off with a smile, Grace also prepared to return home.
But then, the door opened with the jingling of a bell. Diego’s gaze, seated behind the partition, turned toward the door. The person who visited the dress shop at this late hour was a middle-aged-looking man.
Diego instinctively detected an unusual air and straightened his posture. During the nearly two weeks of performing his duties, it had been extremely rare for male customers to visit. Even those had all entered together with female partners; not once had anyone come alone.
Breaking through the taut tension, Grace’s voice was heard.
“What brings you here?”
“…I came to see if you were doing well.”
“As you can see, I’m doing well.”
It was a voice with a strangely cold tone. Though he couldn’t see the young lady’s face with his back turned, he could easily guess that this wasn’t a welcome visitor.
Diego didn’t take his eyes off her. She must know he was here, so he watched the two people with the momentum to rush over immediately if she sent any signal.
“Won’t you offer me a cup of tea?”
“…How shameless. To me…”
Grace, who had been retorting in a slightly agitated voice, suddenly closed her mouth. Diego hesitated. It was because he saw Grace, who had turned around, suddenly walking toward him. He thought she was requesting help, but completely different words from his expectation flowed from her mouth.
“Could you wait outside for a moment?”
Though in the form of a request, it was actually closer to an order. Since it was the client’s demand, he should naturally comply, but just in case, he asked her.
“Will you be alright?”
“I’ll be fine. Five minutes should be enough.”
“…Understood. If you don’t come out after five minutes, I’ll enter.”
“Thank you.”
When he stood up, he could see the man standing at a distance flinch in surprise. After quickly engraving the man’s face into his mind, Diego opened the back door and went outside.
Though his body was outside, all his attention was directed inside the dress shop. He was waiting without letting his guard down when the door really did open not long after, and Grace appeared.
“Please come in.”
He looked around the interior, but the man was nowhere to be seen. Diego’s gaze turned to Grace again.
“The customer seems to have left.”
“Yes.”
“If it’s not rude to ask, what is your relationship?”
“I have some acquaintance with him, but he’s someone you don’t need to particularly worry about.”
Grace answered with a smile. He felt like asking in more detail, but Diego closed his mouth again. It was because the feeling that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore strongly emanated from her.
“…If anything happens or if something is on your mind, please let me know anytime.”
“I will. More than that, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you today.”
“Please tell me.”
“Could you spare some time the evening after tomorrow? I received an invitation to a party, and it’s a difficult occasion to skip.”
“Of course.”
He had heard similar words a few days ago. It was a question of whether he could accompany her to Lovers’ Lane, and after brief consideration, Diego had answered that he would.
Actually, it was something he shouldn’t have had to consider. His job was to protect the woman before him for one month with full responsibility, and he received additional pay for the extended hours, so there was no loss.
So when he immediately agreed this time, Grace smiled as if relieved. It was after that when unexpected words followed.
“But… this time I’d like you to go with me as my companion.”
Go together as her companion?
Diego hesitantly and carefully asked what came to mind.
“Don’t tell me you’re asking me to escort you?”
“Yes. If I enter alone, unnecessary gazes pour in from all directions. The whispering comes as a bonus.”
Even so, it was a somewhat bewildering request. He could take her to the banquet hall and wait all he wanted, but he hadn’t expected to be asked to enter together.
“Wouldn’t it be better to request a specialized guild?”
“I’d like to do that, but I suddenly received the invitation today, so time is tight.”
…So that letter someone delivered this morning was this.
Still, it was just as troublesome. He had never escorted a noble lady before. Even if he had, there was another concern.
“I understand the situation, but receiving personal requests without going through the guild is prohibited.”
It wasn’t an excuse but a fact. Regardless of the weight of the work, in principle, requests involving compensatory money or goods had to be mediated through the guild. But Grace didn’t yield.
“I’ll just give congratulations and leave. About 30 minutes should be enough—couldn’t you help just this once? Of course, I’m naturally planning to pay you separately for the trouble.”
“It’s not about the money. And…”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“I think you’ve misunderstood because of my build, but I’m a regular Benic.”
Diego knew that nobles and wealthy people sometimes brought people with dominant traits as their partners to attract people’s attention. And Benics usually had better builds the more dominant they were, but unfortunately, Diego was a regular trait. In short, it meant there was no reason to waste money commissioning an escort from him.
But this time too, Grace’s thoughts seemed different.
“It doesn’t matter. As I said, I’ll just show my face briefly and leave.”
At this point, it was difficult to refuse outright anymore. Diego swallowed a sigh and offered a compromise.
