Chapter 42

The tracker stiffened.

A look of uncertainty flashed across his face.

The Empress's command is very important. However, he can't just touch me within the Astra Manor.

As long as I protect him, there's no way he can reach Alexis.

While the tracker hesitated, I gave Han Jihyuk a quick glance.

After a few exchanges of glances, Han Jihyuk put the whistle hanging around his neck in his mouth.

Whiiiiik—!!

A sharp noise echoed through the street.

The tracker looked at Han Jihyuk with a bewildered expression.

Han Jihyuk raised an eyebrow and said,

“The soldiers will arrive soon. You will surely pay the price for defying the Astra bloodline.”

The tracker's shoulders twitched.

‘That’s right.’

What if the tracker is caught by our soldiers?

Since he interfered with the direct line, they will naturally verify his identity.

‘His connection to the Empress will be exposed.’

Then Grandfather will try to find out why the Empress sent the tracker.

And the Empress will rather eliminate the tracker than let her secret be revealed.

Tsk, the tracker clicked his tongue and quickly disappeared from sight.

I sighed deeply. I was very tense, worried that things might go wrong.

Han Jihyuk, with a drained expression, said to me,

“Shall we go now?”

I nodded.

Alexis stared at me blankly.

“Didn’t you say the soldiers were coming?”

“No.”

“...What?”

“It’s just a whistle.”

How could the soldiers at the Clanglin bakery hear the whistle?

I used this trick because I didn’t think he would back off.

Before blowing the whistle, Han Jihyuk and I had a very quick exchange of glances.

It went like this:

1. I glanced at the whistle hanging on my chest.

‘That one!’

2. Han Jihyuk looked down at the whistle.

‘This one?’

3. I nodded slightly.

‘Yes!’

That’s how Han Jihyuk blew the whistle.

Han Jihyuk, being a former con artist, had the talent to make things sound plausible.

As reincarnated partners, we’ve been working together for about 8 months.

We’ve become so well-coordinated that this level of cooperation is possible.

While the tracker was lost in thought, I almost went cross-eyed from the quick glances.

I pressed my palms against my eyes to prevent them from going cross-eyed.

Alexis looked at me with a strange expression.

“Did you lie?”

“Yeah! I’m a liar!”

“...”

“Ready?”

I said, pulling Alexis’s hand.

This time, she followed me obediently.

Perhaps she found my confident demeanor ridiculous, or she had relaxed her guard a bit more than before.

As I walked with Alexis, I said to Han Jihyuk,

“Take Alexis there.”

“There? You can’t mean there?!”

“No one can find her there.”

“Well, that’s true, but...”

Han Jihyuk furrowed his brow.

* * *

Alexis was looking at Elliot with a suspicious eye.

The pink-haired man and Elliot had been to this place several times,

“Is it really there?”

“Yes, it’s there.”

—searching for the place.

Where are you taking me?

Just as her guard was about to rise again, Elliot approached Alexis.

“Let’s buy some clothes first.”

“Clothes?”

“Yes. You can’t go there in what you’re wearing.”

Elliot held Alexis’s hand and walked for a while.

Despite the many fabric shops and tailor shops along the way, he only looked straight ahead and walked briskly.

The pink-haired man said,

“We’re quite far from that alley now. Can’t we just buy something from a tailor shop?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“If I were the Empress, I would check when the tracker reports back to see if the child the Astra lady brought was really a girl.”

“If it’s discovered that you bought boys' clothes, it would be evidence that the child you brought was actually a boy.”

“Right.”

“But would the Empress’s suspicion be dispelled by that?”

“Even if she suspects, without evidence, she can’t do anything to me.”

Elliot continued in a low voice,

“That’s what power is.”

Alexis stared at Elliot.

Elliot smiled at Alexis when their eyes met,

The three entered a tiny general store in a corner of the shopping district.

The owner of the general store, who was tidying up, ran up to Elliot, exclaiming, “Oh!”

“Is it you, Miss Elliot! Goodness, what’s going on here?”

“Hi. I need some boys' clothes.”

“Is it for the person next to you?”

“Yes.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The owner hurried into the storage room.

The pink-haired man, standing with his arms crossed, asked,

“Who is she?”

“She’s a maid from the Demond Province.”

“Is there such a maid in the province?”

“Yes. She was a maid who resisted the unfair treatment by Mrs. Leche and was fired.”

“Mrs. Leche? Oh, the one you mentioned before.”

“Yes. I offered to help her get her job back, but she decided to open a store instead.”

As the two chatted, Kalma came out of the storage room with a few pieces of clothing.

“We’re a general store, so we don’t have fancy clothes.”

“It can’t be helped.”

Elliot took the clothes and handed them to Alexis.

“Try them on.”

Alexis slowly turned her body. Kalma smiled and said, “You can change in here.”

After changing, Alexis came out, and Elliot smiled widely.

“You look good.”

“...”

Elliot turned to Kalma at the counter.

“Kalma, can you ring us up?”

“Ring you up? You’ve already given her such a generous severance package. Just go.”

“But...”

“It’s really fine.”

“Hmm. Kalma, can you keep this a secret?”

Kalma smiled and narrowed her eyes, mimicking zipping her lips.

“Don’t worry. I’m Kalma, the one who stood up to Mrs. Leche and was fired.”

“I like that about you, Kalma.”

“No wonder Heidi and Betty are so smitten with you.”

Kalma chuckled and saw Elliot and the group off.

After leaving Kalma’s general store, Elliot said to Han Jihyuk,

“Take her there and come back.”

“Okay.”

Then he looked at Alexis.

Elliot, who had been walking, handed something to Alexis.

“Here, these too.”

They were gloves.

When Alexis hesitated to take them, Elliot put the gloves on her hands himself.

“So you don’t get cold.”

“...”

“Hide for a little while. I’ll come for you when it’s quiet.”

“...”

Even though she didn’t respond, Elliot’s expression didn’t change.

Elliot waved goodbye and ran off.

Han Jihyuk glanced at Alexis, who was watching Elliot’s back.

“Shall we go? Or... shall we go?”

“...Okay.”

“Is there anything you need to take with you?”

“No.”

Alexis followed Han Jihyuk.

That girl is really strange.

She couldn’t understand why this stranger was being so nice to her.

Alexis asked Han Jihyuk,

“Why is she being so nice to me?”

“She’s usually nice to people. But if she considers you an enemy, she’s ruthless.”

“...”

“She can also become terrifying for her goals.”

“I am the granddaughter of the great Chronos Astra and the daughter of Daemon Astra.”

“...!”

“I am the owner of this manor.”

Are you scared?

No.

A bit... impressive, too.

Han Jihyuk glanced at the child, who was lost in thought.

“We’ve arrived.”

The place they arrived at was a carriage rental.

Han Jihyuk rented a small carriage and helped Alexis in.

He took the reins himself.

After a while,

They reached a building as the sun was setting.

Alexis looked up at the building.

“Is it really here?”

“Yes, it is.”

Alexis, with a stiff face, turned to Han Jihyuk.

“Really here?”

“I told you, she can become terrifying for her goals.”

Han Jihyuk chuckled.

* * *

At that moment, in the VIP quarters.

Mrs. Gonarong glared at the tracker disguised as a guard.

“What? Who interfered?”

“She said she is the granddaughter of Chronos Astra and the daughter of Daemon Astra.”

“What?”

If she is Daemon’s daughter, there is only one.

Elliot Astra.

The youngest of the direct line.

Yes, I saw her in the etiquette class.

Blonde hair and red eyes.

A child with the same colors as the first head of the Astra family.

“Why did Elliot Astra interfere with finding the prince? What’s the reason!”

“I don’t know the reason.”

Mrs. Gonarong rubbed her fingertips hard.

‘There’s no reason for her to interfere.’

Does she know they are looking for the real heir to the royal family?

No, even if she knows, why would a three-year-old interfere?

It’s strange for the Duke of Astra to give such a task to a small child when he has grown grandsons.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

This is a big problem.

If they fail to find the hidden prince again, she doesn’t know what will happen to her.

“Mrs. Gonarong.”

“Yes, yes, Your Highness...”

“I really like you. You’re capable.”

“I am honored.”

The Empress smiled as if making small talk, but she knew what it meant.

It means she will be discarded if she is not capable.

The Empress is a ruthless person.

She even staged the suicide of her brother who caused trouble with the Astra family...

Mrs. Gonarong clenched her forehead, closing her eyes tightly.

She received business funding because she was favored by the Empress.

If she fails this task and is discarded, all her hard work will be...

Bang!

She slammed her fist on the table.

Today, she managed to send the guard to the shopping district under the pretext of showing the Astra Manor to the guard.

But if the guard keeps going out every day, people will start to suspect.

“There are few chances left. We must find the prince!”

“What about Elliot Astra?”

“I will investigate her. You go down to the civilian area quickly.”

“Yes.”

* * *

I was reading comments in my room.

Wow, I didn’t know you could do that, lol.