There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 17.
Drip.
Bright red blood ran down Mother’s pale forehead.
Just like that final day.
“Mother, does it hurt?”
Mother didn’t answer.
“Father! Help me, Father! Mother, Mother—!”
I called for Father with all my might, but he never came.
“No, this can’t happen, it can’t—.”
As I sobbed and reached out to wipe away Mother’s blood, the world flipped.
Everything inverted.
I was no longer lying in a comfortable bed.
Secret Space Beneath the Floorboards.
I had returned to that cramped, suffocating darkness.
Through the gaps in the worn wooden planks above, I glimpsed my family’s forms.
And beside them, Benedict Wickes standing with sword drawn.
“Mother! Father! Lucas!”
As I wept with both hands clenched around the Necklace Father had given me, Mother cried out to the end:
“—run, my child! The Crow sees everything!”
***
“Gasp!”
I woke gasping at the desk in my quarters, soaked in cold sweat.
I’d only meant to rest my head for a moment—exhausted from poking around Knox Castle all day—but apparently I’d drifted off.
Checking the time, it was already shift change for the Night Shift.
I stumbled to the washroom and splashed cold water on my face, sending rivulets down through my short blonde hair.
I’d fallen asleep without removing the Necklace.
Fortunately, the Necklace still held plenty of Mana.
“Damn it.”
Looking at the Necklace at my throat, that nightmare came flooding back.
I’d gone so long without remembering it.
I laughed bitterly, watching my fingertips still trembling slightly.
“All that fuss over one nightmare. I really have had it easy lately.”
Back in Wickes, I used to have dreams like that almost every night.
“But tonight was different somehow.”
I couldn’t understand the last words Mother had cried out in the dream.
A Crow watching over everything.
What in the world was she talking about?
I rubbed away the dampness on my hands, trying to shake off the unease.
“This is all because of Killian Knox.”
I tried not to let my thoughts dwell on him, but willpower doesn’t work that way.
The deadline Killian Knox had set was now only four days away.
At this rate, I’d be using all of those four days just to stay alive.
After leaving Deacon Gold’s Office this morning, I’d poked around everywhere without turning up anything worthwhile.
The head laundress, who’d supposedly worked here longest, and the stable master who’d supposedly served for generations—both had the same tired story.
Just variations on what the Action Squad seniors had told me at the gate.
And wherever I went, I felt that sour, watching gaze trailing after me.
“Maybe that’s why I dreamed about a Crow.”
Whoever they were, they had impressive concealment skills.
I was simply better.
I hadn’t let on that I’d noticed, so they’d tail me again today.
“That could be a problem.”
***
“You look rough, senior—”
“What’s wrong, rookie? Are you sick?!”
When I didn’t show up to the Night Shift barracks, Jake came to my room looking for me, but the moment he saw my face he recoiled in horror.
“Sorry, my stomach’s really bad— ugh!”
As I made a retching sound and covered my mouth, Jake—notorious for his weak constitution—turned pale to match my act.
“What did you eat to end up like that?!”
“I don’t know. I heard there’s a stomach bug going around lately—ugh, I think I caught it from somewhere—”
“Whoa, whoa! Stay back! Get inside your room! Tell me from there!”
Jake made a sweeping gesture and shoved me back past the threshold, then let out a long sigh.
“Can’t help it. I’ll file you for Sick Leave, so get some rest today.”
“Are you sure that’s okay—?”
“If you try to work and spread it to everyone else, that’ll be a real disaster! If you’re still feeling bad tomorrow morning, go straight to the infirmary and get admitted—don’t let it get worse!”
“Yes, thank you so much.”
“Don’t take your senior lightly! Don’t you dare leave this room!”
I bowed weakly to Jake as he drove his point home one last time, then closed the door.
Thump, thump, thump.
Once I confirmed his footsteps had faded, I changed clothes immediately.
“It’s been a while.”
The figure reflected back at me was strange—black covering everything but the exposed blue eyes.
This outfit, specially crafted for infiltration under cover of darkness, had once felt like second skin.
After tucking the Necklace deep into my clothes, I quietly opened the window and checked outside.
The sky was overcast; the moon was completely hidden behind clouds.
“Time to move.”
***
Whoosh.
I landed silently on a thick branch and immediately frowned.
‘Is this good or bad?’
The watcher who’d clung to me all day clearly hadn’t expected me to fake illness and slip out through the window.
I’d changed routes multiple times on the way here and confirmed no one was following.
On one hand, I’d escaped the tedious surveillance—but on the other, the watcher had simply underestimated me.
I’d left subtle marks on my door and window, signs only I would recognize, to check if the watcher penetrated my quarters.
At this point, there seemed no need to verify.
I hid myself in the branches and waited, cursing whoever had decided not to keep a closer eye on me.
Dong—dong—
The midnight bell tolled low from the direction of Knox Castle’s gate.
I opened my eyes, which I’d kept shut.
Midnight.
The deepest sleep of Knox.
Unlike the Action Squad guarding the outer gate, the main building’s security operated on a Three-Shift System and would be in the thick of shift change—chaos ideal for my purposes.
Whoosh.
Without hesitation, I pushed off the branch, cleared the building’s sill, and landed without a sound.
‘A year hasn’t dulled me. Not yet.’
Satisfied, I realized I’d arrived at none other than Deacon Gold’s Office.
‘Who plants a tree that thick and leafy right outside their office window?’
It was practically landscaping designed for intruders.
Especially problematic given that this was the office of Deacon Gold, who controlled finances for both the merchant operation and all of Knox Duchy.
‘I should leave a note on my way out. A helpful one.’
It wasn’t that Knox didn’t know to guard against intrusion.
Breaking into Knox—let alone a senior administrator’s office—was suicidal.
If I got caught, it’d be straight to the dungeons. Or worse.
My situation was pathetically desperate enough to risk that kind of death.
‘That subordinate better thank me.’
One corner of my mouth twisted as I stood before the closed window.
Deacon Gold’s assessment of the man as a useless idler wasn’t wrong in the slightest.
Look at how the window latch in the far corner, half-hidden by bookshelves, was sitting wide open.
Securing entry points was basic for a subordinate.
Deserved a hundred curses.
I’d expected it to be locked and had already pulled out my tools from Wickes—I was almost embarrassed for him.
‘I’ll add a note about replacing the current subordinate too.’
The tea, whatever its quality, wasn’t worth compromising security.
I slipped inside without a whisper and immediately drew the curtains.
The room fell into complete darkness.
But thick darkness had never been an obstacle for me.
‘Vision’s perfect.’
While limited compared to bright light, the darkness posed no real difficulty—a trait inherited from the Morton Family.
This ability, which my father, Franz Morton, had passed down to me, had paradoxically become the foundation of my reputation as an assassin in Wickes.
‘Let me see.’
The first place I reached for was the cabinet I’d spotted while having tea this afternoon.
Ever since hearing the story of the previous Duke and Duchess, Deacon Gold’s Office was the first place I’d decided to search.
Money leaves a trail; money leads to answers.
The Knox Duchy had several powerful vassal families, but Deacon Gold was the only one of the seven current senior administrators to inherit his position generationally.
He’d reportedly gotten along well with his predecessor, his mother Agnes Gold, and had inherited her office as it was.
‘The oldest ledgers might’ve been disposed of somewhere else.’
The Duke’s family business remained complicated enough to warrant secrecy even now.
I would’ve bet my remaining six cookies that Deacon Gold kept the related documents close and under his own watch.
But unfortunately, the first cabinet I opened was a dead end.
‘If I were Deacon Gold—’
The office desk?
No.
Too obvious.
I swept my eyes across the darkened office and moved with purpose.
The place where Deacon Gold lay after receiving the Mana Blocking Device, weakened in body.
The place he’d tried to protect even through that weakness, instinctively.
Click.
‘Exactly what I thought.’
A hidden compartment lay beneath the couch where he’d lain in cold sweat.
I applied gentle pressure and a heavy drawer slid out smoothly.
It was packed with documents that clearly mattered.
I drew out the files one by one, starting from the front, and let out a quiet laugh.
‘Look at that.’
The treasure Deacon Gold had hidden so carefully was the Secret Ledger of Knox.
And the entity that had received the largest budget allocation over the past eight years was recorded as:
Dupont Clancher.
Killian Knox’s closest confidant’s name was inscribed there in Deacon Gold’s elegant cursive.

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