Chapter 13

In the office of the head of the Central Management Division of the Hagur Kingdom's Special Task Force, Rancome was lost in thought, running his fingers through his light brown hair.

Rancome and Chloe's meeting dates back to when Rancome was a young operative. Chloe was a name given to her within the organization; her real name was discarded here. On his way back from a job in a provincial town, Rancome noticed a girl drawing on the ground with nails in front of a general store. The intricate drawings piqued his interest in the girl, who seemed both intelligent and dexterous.

She had brown hair and eyes, neither exceptionally beautiful nor ugly, and her clothing suggested poverty. Observing the girl and the general store, which seemed to be her home, from a nearby shop, he noticed that her parents, who entered and exited the store, were of medium build. It seemed likely that the girl would grow up to be of medium build as well.

"Maybe this girl has potential," he thought, and entered the dilapidated store, showing his identification, which he carried for such occasions, and proposed, "We are looking for a child to work as a maid in a noble's mansion. Would you consider entrusting us with your daughter?"

The parents, seemingly suspicious of the young man's proposal, initially refused, but accepted when he mentioned the amount of money. The store appeared to be in dire straits. It was agreed that he would take the girl three days later and pay the money. If the girl proved unsuitable as an operative, he could find her a job as a real maid. The organization had several such job placements prepared.

Rancome, still a young operative, was not particularly busy and sometimes worked as a role model for the children at the training facility. Since the girl he had found was Chloe, he often talked to her. She was reserved but reliable. When she learned that completing missions would earn high rewards, she began to take the training facility's tasks more seriously.

Chloe soon began to stand out. She quickly understood what was required of her in any situation and acted accordingly. When she turned fifteen, she was assigned to Rancome, who had become a team leader. Within five years, Chloe had risen to the top of the performance rankings.

Chloe regarded Rancome like an older brother and followed his instructions sincerely. One day, while on a major mission, Rancome learned that Chloe's family home had caught fire, and her family had not survived. Since Chloe was in the middle of a significant mission, he did not inform her.

"Chloe is family-oriented. If she loses her composure now, it will be a problem," he thought, and carefully considered the right time to tell her.

He planned to inform her after completing the current major mission, but Chloe's skills were in high demand, and he kept postponing the task. As time passed, Chloe began to fall ill.

After the news of Rancome's engagement, she began to lose weight rapidly. It was then that he heard from his subordinates that "Chloe had a crush on the head of the division."

That couldn't be true.

He had never received any such looks from her.

He thought he was more like a brother or a parent to her. Suspecting there might be something else, he realized that Chloe had indeed started to lose weight after his engagement.

Because Chloe was not in good health, he continued to hide the news about her family. If one member of the team lost focus, it would endanger the other operatives.

Chloe's condition worsened to the point where it affected her work and her physical strength. He decided to let her take a break, but shortly after she began her rest, she disappeared.

It was likely that she had gone to her favorite cliff and fallen. There were traces of blood on the rocks, and one of her sandals and a pendant she always wore, except during missions, were found at the bottom of the cliff. The pendant was a gift from Rancome after her first successful mission.

Because of the rough waves and strong currents, Chloe's body was never found, and he submitted a report to his superiors suggesting that she was likely dead.

"The hat was caught in a tree at the bottom of the cliff, so she probably fell while trying to retrieve it," was the opinion of his subordinates.

Rancome wanted to accept this explanation but couldn't. The feeling of something stuck in his throat wouldn't go away.

Before Chloe fell ill, he had placed the gifts for her family, which she had asked him to deliver, in a separate room he had rented. However, the room was burglarized. After Chloe's disappearance, he suspected that the burglar might have been Chloe herself, and that she might have known about her family's death.

However, even after the burglary, Chloe continued to entrust Rancome with gifts for her family, and the amount of money hidden inside was the same as before.

Even if he accepted the theory of a broken heart, could a girl as strong-willed as Chloe choose death over a broken heart? She was the type who could compartmentalize her emotions for the sake of her work, even when given tasks that were mentally demanding.

As a precaution, he investigated the people who had passed through the border checkpoints, but found no one who matched Chloe's description. However, she was skilled at disguise and could have slipped through. Additionally, she was particularly adept at forging documents, so creating a fake identity would have been easy for her.

"Her skills make any possibility impossible to rule out," he thought.

Rancome couldn't accept Chloe's death. However, searching for her, whose status was unknown, would require a lot of manpower, and if she had disappeared on her own, sending inexperienced people would be a waste of time.

Three months had passed since her disappearance with no information, and it seemed that his superiors were giving up. Despite this, Rancome had the investigation report duplicated and stored in a drawer.

In the capital of Ashbury Kingdom, at the residence of historian Bernard Fitcher, Jeffrey was visiting during his work.

"There's a royal-sponsored ball at the palace. Would you join me?"

"A ball? Sponsored by the royal family? That's impossible for me."

"I'll provide the dress and accessories. You don't have to dance if you can't. Just be by my side and create a friendly atmosphere."

"What kind of role is that?"

Jeffrey's troubled expression was endearing, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Any number of women would take on that role for you, sir."

"If I asked a woman who was interested in me, it would only cause trouble."

"Are you asking me to be a repellent?"

"That's part of it."

"Anything else?"

"I want to discourage my boss from persistently proposing marriage. I think you can play the role of a noble lady."

I sighed.

If it were a royal-sponsored ball, there was a slim chance of running into someone I knew. There were nobles who crossed borders and worked in the same field. Pretending to be a noble lady was easy, but I didn't want to go.

Deciding to refuse, I raised my head, but Lady Eva, who had been visiting the house today, interjected.

"Can't you go? It will be considered work, and you'll receive extra pay. Every day, you have to deal with a difficult uncle, and when you get home, there's a difficult old woman. A life of only work, old people, and children is pitiful. You're still young, you know."

"But, I..."

Lady Eva continued, seeing my hesitation:

"I'll take care of Nonna. You can trust me. Think of it as helping the poor Jeffrey. Nonna, can you be away from Victoria for one night? I'll spend time with you. Just come to my house."

"It's okay. Bicky, go with the captain."

"Whaaat? Nonna..."

Thus, my retreat was cut off.

I reluctantly agreed but needed to prepare for various scenarios. "Prepare for the worst and do your best" was ingrained in me. The only thing left was to pray to God that I wouldn't run into anyone I knew.

That night, when I went to say goodnight to Nonna, who was in bed, she was still awake.

"Nonna, can't you sleep?"

"..."

"Is it because you don't want to stay home?"

"I can stay home. I didn't like being called pitiful."

"Nonna..."

I couldn't help but cup her small face in my hands.

"I enjoy living with Nonna. I'm not pitiful at all. Lady Eva didn't mean it that way. Don't worry about it."

"Will you wear a dress, Bicky?"

"Yes."

"Jewelry too?"

"Maybe."

Nonna smiled a little.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I want to see Bicky become a princess."

"Okay... I understand. I'll show you. Nonna, I'm not pitiful. Don't worry about that, okay?"

"Okay."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I will take a break from updates on Sunday.