The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Ailren, who didn’t know what to do, rubbed his face.

“I showed an unseemly display.”

“Well, that can happen. The Royal Knights training must be incredibly tough.”

Unlike Ailren’s embarrassment, the pawnshop owner seemed unbothered.

So she really didn’t wake him because he ‘looked tired’?

For Ailren, this was an extremely unfamiliar response.

“The Captain never shows even a moment of fatigue or relaxation… It’s truly remarkable.”

“You are truly an exemplary knight. I expect you to continue striving as you have thus far.”

He had always lived as the perfect example, a textbook knight.

Because that was the value of his existence.

But why did this pawnshop owner, who kept unintentionally seeing his inadequate side…

“Please sit.”

Act as if that was perfectly fine, as if it was nothing at all?

It was puzzling.

Like all other questions about the owner before him, Ailren couldn’t reach a conclusion this time either and sat across from her.

“Would you like some cake? It’s full of blueberries.”

“I’m grateful for your kindness, but I must politely decline.”

“Really? Seeing how someone almost finished half the container earlier, it must be really delicious cake. Don’t you like sweets?”

“Not accepting anything from citizens is an internal regulation of the Royal Knights. We cannot receive entertainment or hospitality.”

The owner smiled brightly.

“I see. Then I suppose offering you a glass of water wouldn’t be allowed either?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The owner nodded with a “hmm” and moved closer.

“By the way, what brings you here? The permit issue was resolved and the pendant matter was settled too, wasn’t it? …Oh, or perhaps.”

The owner whispered carefully, reading the situation.

She was probably referring to the hourglass.

Ailren shook his head. There was another matter that took priority.

“The reason for today’s visit is that there’s a message from your ‘friend.'”

Since Princess Katarina had called this owner her ‘friend,’ he could say this.

Though he didn’t understand why.

The owner cleared her throat at the word friend.

“Ah… is that ‘friend’ alright?”

“From what I’ve observed nearby, yes. However, there’s a way to confirm directly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your friend has invited you.”

“Pardon?”

Her violet eyes widened.

The owner pointed at herself with her finger and asked in bewilderment.

“Me? Oh, is she trying to get the pendant back?”

“Of course that may be one reason, but she said she has something to tell you directly. If you let me know when you close today, I’ll come to escort you.”

A private audience personally invited by the Princess.

This was what every noble lady in the Empire wished for. For a shop owner on a run-down street, it was an opportunity beyond dreams.

Ailren thought the owner would naturally be delighted and ecstatic.

At the same time, he felt the habitual wariness of a knight.

‘Perhaps she was aiming for this opportunity. Did she really not know that the person who entrusted the pendant was Princess?’

But then.

“Oh, today won’t work.”

Ailren doubted his ears.

“I’m so sorry, what should I do. Could you ask if three days from now would work?”

The owner was scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

***

Ailren was speechless for a long while.

He finally managed to speak.

“Perhaps you’ve mistaken them for someone else because of the word ‘friend’…”

“No, no. I perfectly understand who we’re talking about.”

“Yet you’re refusing? Even knowing whose invitation this is?”

“It’s not a refusal, it’s a postponement. I really don’t have time today, I have other plans.”

‘It’s not like I want to postpone it either.’

She really had something urgent to do. Something pressing.

Ailren’s expression became even more peculiar.

“…This may be an opportunity that won’t come twice. Will you still maintain your position?”

“I’m disappointed too, I was hoping to see the Imperial Palace.”

I put slight emphasis on the words ‘Imperial Palace.’

It was better to be certain.

Seeing that Ailren didn’t correct me, indeed.

‘Lina really was the Princess.’

But regardless of who Lina was, the fact that I couldn’t go remained unchanged.

I lowered my eyebrows and said.

“But it can’t be helped. Could you come alone in three days? I’ll give you the pendant to deliver.”

As I shrugged, Ailren said quietly.

“If you have other plans… What kind of business is it?”

Why that?

As I looked puzzled, Ailren continued.

“It would be better to give your ‘friend’ a reason she can understand.”

He asked in his usual gentlemanly ruffian tone while looking at me searchingly.

True, he couldn’t just report ‘She says she doesn’t have time today’ to the Princess.

But his interrogating tone was a bit confusing.

‘Is he trying to give me a chance, or is he questioning me because he thinks I have ulterior motives? I can’t tell.’

After thinking, I answered plainly.

“I have to go to the hospital.”

Ailren, who had been watching me sharply, suddenly hesitated.

“The hospital?”

“Yes.”

I was wondering why he reacted like that when.

“I remember you being thrown back hard during the previous search. Were you… injured then?”

Ah, was he worried he might have hurt me?

I waved my hands dismissively.

The hospital visit wasn’t because I was sick anyway.

“No, I wasn’t injured. At most I just got some bruises on my elbow.”

‘Alter caught me too.’

I meant to say I wasn’t hurt, but at the mention of bruises, his ocean-blue eyes flickered.

But I was more curious about something else than his reaction.

“By the way, can all Royal Knights use that kind of ability?”

A power that could send people flying with just a touch?

I thought there was good reason Royal Knights were distinguished from regular knights.

I had never met a Royal Knight before, so I vaguely assumed it was their defensive technique.

‘Besides, when we first met, he didn’t display that kind of power.’

When Ailren first came to the pawnshop, I had touched his arm.

But at that time, Ailren didn’t send me flying. He only clutched his own head.

As I wondered about this, Ailren slowly answered.

“I don’t quite understand what you mean by… such an ability.”

“Why, when I touched your arm, you used something like a shock wave, didn’t you? That’s how I got blown away.”

As I explained earnestly, Ailren only looked at me intently with a slightly furrowed brow.

‘Is it some kind of secret technique?’

An ultimate secret skill that ordinary people shouldn’t know about, something like that?

As I was puzzled, Ailren slowly opened his mouth.

“It was not intentional.”

“What? Then?”

“I mean it’s a power I don’t understand. I have no idea why an intangible force manifested when I made contact… with you.”

‘My goodness. Then?’

I had my suspicions, but could it be a power related to mana poisoning?

On one hand, I also had this thought.

‘It was fortunate that the intangible force was released outward, but what would have happened if it had exploded inside Ailren’s body…’

I recalled Ailren’s tragic end that was said to be in a terrible state.

Feeling dizzy, I squeezed my eyes shut and decided not to speak in roundabout ways anymore.

“Since we’re on the topic, let me ask you something. Have you examined the hourglass?”

“…Yes.”

“Did you throw it away or destroy it?”

Ailren gave no answer.

But I was starting to get a sense of things.

‘This person may stay silent, but he doesn’t lie.’

Then I just needed to ask more precisely.

“You examined it but found nothing unusual, I suppose? Well, if there had been anything strange about it, you would have discovered it already. But I have one question.”

I recalled his interview article that I had seen in the attic.

The reason I could easily identify the hourglass as the culprit behind the mana poisoning was because there weren’t many personal items on Ailren’s desk to begin with.

But why did Ailren specifically keep something like an hourglass on his desk?

“Strictly speaking, an hourglass isn’t something necessary for work, is it? You would have kept a clock instead. Yet you kept it on your desk, and even after hearing somewhat unsettling words, you haven’t removed, thrown away, or destroyed it until now?”

The conclusion came quickly.

“It’s either a very precious item, or you received it as a gift, or it’s something you received as a gift from a very important person. It must be one of those three.”

“…I cannot tell you.”

‘That means I’m right.’

I was getting somewhere.

It was probably a gift from someone of high status.

So Ailren wouldn’t have even dared to suspect it.

‘Crodil probably didn’t give it openly under his own name… Ha, it’s obvious.’

Crodil must have sent it while impersonating royalty.

And under the name of someone so high-ranking that Ailren had no choice but to accept it.

‘But I can’t just say that hourglass is Crodil’s doing.’

Because I have no evidence.

‘But I can’t just stand by and watch him get poisoned either.’

Then?

An idea suddenly occurred to me.

“I understand, I get it. It would be difficult to trust me completely. Whether you believe my words or not is ultimately your choice, Sir Knight.”

I deliberately put on a dejected expression.

I said this thinking that maybe he couldn’t trust me.

Ailren seemed to hesitate for a moment, but I decided to focus on persuading him rather than observing him.

“But… it does bother you, doesn’t it? Since you did examine it. So.”

Pretending to sigh deeply, I raised my head.

If it’s an item that can’t be thrown away, can’t be destroyed, and can’t be returned to the person who gave it as a gift.

“Temporarily losing it would be… alright, wouldn’t it?”

What the heck, just lose it, wouldn’t that work?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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