“It seems a customer has arrived.”
As she said, it was the sound that rang whenever the boutique’s door opened and closed. Thanks to that, Diego was able to regain the freedom he’d been briefly deprived of.
Letting out a faint sigh once, when he raised his head, he saw Grace’s figure warmly smiling and greeting a customer through the gap between the partitions.
Beautiful appearance and a soft, gentle voice. Though not a strikingly glamorous beauty, Grace was a woman who possessed both the softness characteristic of Neos and a capable personality.
‘…Is that why someone’s been lurking around?’
Upon learning that someone was loitering around her daughter, Viscountess Rood expressed deep concern and wished for her daughter to refrain from going out for a while. But Grace didn’t yield. Disliking the idea of hiding herself because of someone she didn’t even know, she continued to want to go to the boutique, and eventually the viscountess, unable to break her daughter’s stubbornness, had submitted a guard request to the guild.
Already the tenth day since taking on the job. The work assigned to Diego was simpler than expected. Every morning he would watch the viscount’s residence, and when the carriage carrying Grace emerged, he would quietly follow behind. What he did afterward was just one thing: watch over the boutique while hiding in the alley across the street or in a second-floor tea house.
And following Martin’s suggestion, he sometimes monitored the customers from inside the boutique. As the saying goes, the area under the lamp is dark—there was also the possibility that someone nearby might unexpectedly be the culprit.
Diego had hoped that his senior Martin would take the easier job, but Martin actually refused with distaste. The reason was that he couldn’t stand being stuck indoors all day without moving—it was too stifling.
Thanks to that, the indoor surveillance fell to Diego, which required a slight arrangement. In a boutique where the main customer base was women, Diego’s presence would inevitably stand out. So Grace prepared a curtain-like partition in a place that wasn’t easily visible.
There was the inconvenience of limited visibility, but it couldn’t be helped. Also, for covert surveillance, it was preferable to hide himself somehow.
“The rain shows no sign of stopping.”
The customer who visited the boutique late in the afternoon was a familiar lady and her daughter. A close relative of Grace’s, they had visited a few days ago too, so he remembered them.
Diego settled into a more comfortable position while keeping watch on them. Seeing them sit down naturally, it looked like going home early would be far off today as well.
As expected, all sorts of trivial stories flowed from the lady’s mouth. Just as he was beginning to feel restless, she changed the topic with an expression as if something had just occurred to her.
“Oh, by the way, an invitation came from Count Labia’s household—did you receive one too?”
“Yes. I received one too.”
“I was so surprised. To think that child is already an adult—time really seems to fly.”
At those words, Grace smiled and replied.
“Catherine is already twelve years old.”
“That’s right. I can’t believe how much my daughter has grown.”
A pleased smile appeared on the lady’s face. Soon she looked at Grace again and asked.
“Do you have any hats that would suit Catherine?”
“Of course. Come this way.”
Watching the affectionate mother and daughter, Diego felt his heart growing heavier and sinking.
If his parents had been alive, Emily would have gone on outings with her mother like that and bought pretty clothes to her heart’s content.
If only that incident hadn’t happened. Or at the very least, if such people hadn’t become the siblings’ guardians, they wouldn’t be living the life they were now…
“Haa…”
Letting out a long sigh, he pressed the corner of his eyes with his fingertips. Though he’d long forgotten regret, being human, he couldn’t help the remorse that surged up once in a while.
“Well then, good work today.”
“Goodbye.”
Shortly after, the mother and daughter left the boutique. As if taking turns, other customers opened the door and entered, and Diego sharpened his scattered focus while committing their faces to memory.
***
Five minutes after settling at the table. Martin, who had been surveying the interior of the bar with a searching gaze, came to this conclusion:
“People are the same everywhere.”
Leisurely tilting drinks, sizing up others, and then when they found someone to their liking, approaching to seduce them.
He’d thought the space for nobles would be more special, but it wasn’t particularly so. Aside from the more decorated interior and drink prices being several times higher, there wasn’t much difference from the scenes you’d see in an ordinary bar.
After work ended in the evening, Martin and Diego visited a bar on Lovers’ Lane side by side. It wasn’t to scout for one-night partners as originally intended. It was because Grace, their client, had her Bloody Cycle today, so they’d come here together as a form of overtime work.
The table where the two had settled was in a blind spot, cleverly hidden behind the bar that protruded in a square shape. However, most of the interior was visible, and the stairs leading to the second floor were also in direct view, making it perfect for surveillance work.
Diego took a sip of beer and then pulled out his pocket watch. Seven ten. Confirming that about thirty minutes had already passed, he let out a long sigh.
‘Going home early is out of the question.’
There had been a man who approached as soon as Grace sat down, and since then seven more men had approached her. But she was still alone.
“She must be pretty picky.”
“Indeed.”
They were all likely nobles, and decent-looking men at that who had approached Grace. But not a single one went upstairs to the second floor with her. The distance made their conversation inaudible, but Grace had clearly refused them.
At this rate, they might end up going home at dawn. It was fortunate he’d told Emily that he might be very late today, so she shouldn’t wait and should go to sleep first.
“Did you say she’s not seeing anyone?”
At the voice that suddenly reached him, he turned his head to see Martin’s face, smiling leisurely while holding his drink.
“Yes.”
He had a sex partner, but it was a secret he couldn’t reveal to others. Much less could he say that the partner was the guild Master.
“You must have pretty high standards too. If you went to Lovers’ Lane, Neos would line up for you.”
“No, sir.”
“What do you mean no. Three people have already come and gone.”
As Martin said, people whose eyes had met his as they passed by had approached. But rather than being interested in him, it seemed the sight of two sturdy Benics sitting together had drawn attention. There was no rule saying nobles couldn’t enjoy group sex, after all.
“Want another drink?”
“Sure.”
Soon a new glass was placed on the table, and Martin cheerfully tilted his drink.
He was one of the original members who had been with the guild from its very beginning. Based on his abundant experience and expertise, he exclusively handled substantial requests, but this time he’d somehow ended up guarding a noble lady.
He had no complaints about it. Doing his best on any request was his creed, and though standing in one place all day like a fixture was boring, it was an experience if you could call it that.
More than anything, Martin quite liked the guy he’d ended up carrying out this request with. He’d heard the guy had received a near-perfect score on the entrance exam for the first time in a while. He’d also heard he’d spent several years with a mercenary group before, and usually in such cases, people tended to put on unnecessary airs or act pompous.
But he saw none of that in the guy sitting beside him now. Reliable yet calm, and even while being with himself, a far senior, he didn’t shrink back and focused on his own work—Martin quite liked that aspect too.
It seemed everyone had similar judgment of people, as Roman, the guild Master and longtime friend, seemed to think the same. Judging by how he’d said something he never usually said—to take good care of him.
“You joined in March this year?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have adapted sufficiently—is there anything difficult or challenging? Or anything you’re curious about?”
Diego was about to answer that there wasn’t anything in particular when he suddenly recalled someone and turned his gaze to the side.
“The Master… how old might he be?”
“Roman?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard.”
That wasn’t all. Though it was certain he was still young, he didn’t know how he’d become the head of such a large guild, what he’d done before, what his family relationships were like, and so on—there was far too much he didn’t know about him.
He’d thought several times about asking him directly. But if he did that, he felt his romantic feelings would be exposed, so he’d chosen cowardly avoidance instead.
“I don’t know either.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I don’t know either.”
It couldn’t help but be a rather shocking answer. Unlike the surprised Diego, Martin wore a faint smile with an expression as if lost in memories.
“Was it about two months after I joined? He seemed capable, but he was so evasive and suspicious that one day I cornered Roman and confronted him. Then he proposed a drinking contest. He said if I won, he’d tell me anything.”
