There’s Something Special About Her - Chapter 56

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

Episode 56.
“Why…….”
Why was he here?
Killian Nox had clearly departed with a contingent of the Guard Unit.
Nox’s domain sprawled as vast as the family’s power.
The central seat where the fortress stood and the military strongholds scattered throughout were kept as the Duke’s Direct Domain, while the remainder was parceled out to vassals to govern in his stead—yet there remained no shortage of matters requiring his personal hand.
In other words, he was extraordinarily busy.
Even before things became entangled with him directly, I had witnessed Killian Nox absent from the fortress for days, sometimes weeks at a time.
So naturally, I had assumed the same would hold true this time.
“There was no record of his return yet…….”
I had confirmed it myself even after the commotion of the previous night.
According to the Guard Post records, Killian Nox and the Guard Unit had not yet come back.
As I stood muttering absently, he approached with his long legs eating up the distance, and gazed down at me with expressionless intensity.
Watching that face bereft of a trace of amusement, I found myself answering the question I’d just posed.
“Ah, you haven’t returned yet, then.”
Nox was a fortress riddled with secret passages like a spider’s web.
There was no chance a duke would expose his movements without methods to traverse such places unseen.
Which meant that regardless of what lay beneath, the sparse attire of Killian Nox—dressed nobly only in outward appearance—made sudden sense.
Toward me, fumbling awkwardly with my words, Killian Nox threw out a remark.
“Slow.”
He meant my mind worked slowly.
I made no reply to that and, clasping my hands behind my back, opened my mouth.
“I heard you summoned me.”
“I did.”
Killian Nox pulled the cord of the robe he wore, drew it off, and tossed it carelessly over a nearby chair, answering as he did so.
Despite this being an office that bore another master, he treated it as though it were his own space.
He even rifled through Dupont Clansher’s desk without hesitation.
With ennui written across his face, he flicked his fingertips against the neat stack of documents and letters, scattering them.
‘When the Lunar Eclipse Influence is absent, he’s generally in this state, then.’
When he was tearing at his own flesh and drinking the blood, he’d smiled so readily.
Meeting Killian Nox in his right mind for the second time, I began to grasp the difference.
Either a blank white slate with nothing on it, or a state of frenzy where all manner of garish, primary colors erupted and scattered everywhere.
Either way, dealing with him was difficult for its own reasons.
“Do you know why I called you?”
Having summoned me from my duties, Killian Nox now asked abruptly, though he hadn’t spared me a glance.
To my ears, it sounded like ‘Do you know what you did wrong?’
I swallowed a small sigh and answered.
“It’s because I caught a spy who came in as a trainee last night…….”
Whish—!
Bang!
The sharp pain at my ear lobe arrived a beat too late.
There was no need to turn my head to confirm.
I already knew the identity of what had just torn past my ear.
……
I gazed silently at Dupont Clansher’s work desk.
The spot where the sharp silver Letter Opener had been lying was now empty.
Lukewarm blood trickled along my ear lobe and dripped onto my shoulder.
But Killian Nox pressed on without concern.
“There’s something you did wrong before that.”
“If it was before that……”
Standing with both hands clasped behind my back, I racked my mind furiously.
‘What is it? What could it be?’
I couldn’t pinpoint anything with certainty.
There were too many candidates.
‘Drinking beer with the seniors before duty? Deliberately failing Gisella’s test? Pretending not to see Stone Head sneaking around at night? Or was it asking questions about the previous generation’s affairs?’
For the busy Killian Nox to throw a Letter Opener, the first two seemed far too trivial.
It was unlikely Killian Nox would even know of such petty matters, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care.
‘But the remaining two are somewhat dangerous.’
After a moment of choosing my words, I spoke with gravity.
“As you say, my mind turns slowly. If you would tell me which matter has provoked your displeasure, I shall correct it at once…….”
“Seems like more than one thing is catching on you.”
It was clear that Nox’s People surrendered their humanity at the Training Camp and received perception in its place.
How else could they all be so perceptive?
Wait—did Killian Nox himself come from the Training Camp?
I hesitated for only the briefest moment.
But then Killian Nox cast his gaze toward the robe he had carelessly draped moments before.
It was an expressionless face brimming with tedium, the sort that betrayed the thought ‘I might as well just leave.’
It was a bad sign.
I could not afford to lose Killian Nox’s interest.
He was not a child who would simply forget a toy once his fascination waned.
He was a monster who would wreck the toy utterly just to escape boredom.
Then, Killian Nox, leaning casually against Dupont Clansher’s desk, tilted his head with deliberate slowness.
“You seemed so eager to live. Apparently your life isn’t that precious after all.”
The eye of the one muttering dismissively glinted.
It was the reflection of light off the tip of the Fountain Pen he was rolling between his fingers.
A Fountain Pen is a costly luxury, like a pocket watch.
An object delicate and fine, requiring careful handling, became a weapon the moment it entered Killian Nox’s hands.
I did not wish to imagine what he was gauging as he caressed its sharp nib.
Gulp.
I swallowed dry and began thinking frantically.
What reason could Killian Nox have to summon me, besides the incident of last night?
‘Think of it, think of it. My life is at stake…… my life?’
A scene I had completely forgotten surfaced in my mind.
“Could it be…… because of Hanno Becker?”
“What’s that.”
“A person’s name, or rather—the name of the trainee who ran in front of your horse when you departed.”
Killian Nox’s golden eyes turned toward me with deliberate slowness.
It wasn’t the right answer, but I seemed to have struck somewhere nearby.
“Without my leave.”
Now that I thought about it, Killian Nox on horseback had said exactly that.
If that was so.
I lowered my head deeply and cried out.
“I apologize! Without your leave, I risked my life to save Hanno Becker!”
Killian Nox was silent for a time.
Only the sound of the Fountain Pen being set down on the desk answered in his stead.
With no command to raise my head, I could see only the ground—until a pair of boots came into view at the edge of my vision, approaching me.
“Is that how one apologizes?”
“……Yes?”
I raised my head hesitantly and asked in return.
Then he answered with a voice tinged with amusement.
“If you’re asking for forgiveness, you must be more respectful.”
“Ah.”
I understood what he wanted.
Then there was no reason to hesitate.
Thud.
I dropped to my knees and bowed my head, speaking once more.
“I beg your forgiveness, sir.”
“Raise your head.”
I really didn’t want to.
Glance.
I first confirmed that Killian Nox’s hands were empty.
Not that it mattered much if he had nothing—at least he wasn’t holding any blades.
“Forgive me……”
Following his command, I slowly straightened my body, but the words died unfinished.
He suddenly leaned in close.
Thinking he meant to seize my throat again, I breathed in sharply.
But Killian Nox did not lay hands on me.
Instead, he stopped at a distance where our breath mingled, staring at me intently.
His vertically slit pupils were sharp as blades, piercing through my two eyes.
“Why did you do it?”
Killian Nox asked.
“Do you know that man?”
His relentless gaze traced across my face.
As if trying to read something from it.
“No, I don’t.”
At this moment, I was not afraid of Killian Nox’s ability to discern the truth.
“I saw him for the first time that day. I learned the name Hanno Becker only while conducting the inspection.”
“I see.”
Had he confirmed I wasn’t lying?
Killian Nox withdrew his persistent gaze and stepped back, speaking.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Good.
Killian Nox no longer seemed bored.
Whatever he read from my face, he seemed genuinely intrigued now.
But it wasn’t enough.
As it stood, I could not know when I might become his brief amusement and have my life threatened again.
I had to drive the wedge home now.
“Saving Hanno Becker was indeed wrong, and presumptuous meddling. But I had something I believed in.”
Still on my knees, I looked up at Killian Nox and spoke.
“That you would not kill me.”

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