Chapter 84

When Adrian came back to his office, he found Jack sitting there with a confused expression on his face. ‘I think I know why he came back,’ Adrian thought.

“What do you want to check?”

“How are you sure that she’s Nina La Dell?”

“Because she’s Nina.”

“What if the real Nina actually died two years ago? What if it’s something else that returned pretending to be Nina?”

“No.”

“But······.”

Jack squinted and Adrian raised his hand as if to say, ‘Just say it.’

“That person is not very much likable. I’ve actually never seen someone like her before, neither master nor my former leader might have seen one like her. And the fact that she’s emotionally disabled, even I can feel it in her.”

“So?”

“Well, how do I say this? Does Dame Nina’s story even sound plausible? She pointed her sword at me the first time we met, right? Honestly, I think she’s somewhat surreal.”

Even though she knew that he didn’t have any malice, she still swung it.

That’s surreal.

“Then she came after me······. Huh.”

Her flowers, her words, crept too easily into his heart.

A person usually has a shield in their heart and it is not easy to reach through it, but her words came and reached him so easily.

“And she always catches everyone’s eye even by just talking or smiling. It’s like she’s shining.”

Huh? Thinking back, it feels like there’s something wrong with what he just said.

“I’ve heard that she was already charismatic, or attractive even before. But that’s kind of······. Is she even human?”

He knows what kind of person his Master is, so Jack was very suspicious that his favor was directed to her.

“Yes. And just as how you’ve investigated yourself, Nina has always been like that.”

She was always like that from the beginning.

“How do you think a 14-year-old girl was able to stay in good shape in a group full of wild men who might die tomorrow, or, frankly, in a group comparable to mercenaries?”

Even if you say that it was okay because they first thought she was a boy, it was different after that. Jack opened his mouth but shut up at Adrian’s rebuttal.

“Well. If Master says so. It’s my fault.”

Then she must really be Nina La Dell.

It is rather scary to think that there is more than one such human being. He smacked his lips and peeked at Adrian.

“As an informant, I think she has great potential.”

“No.”

“I knew it.”

Jack got up from his seat and smirked.

“Master, it must be hard.”

“What?”

“Our commander is so popular.”

Even though he said it playfully, Jack thought it was a good thing she was strong.

The stronger and higher the shield of the heart is, the easier it would be to fall for her. To such a person, she is likely to be the only one. His Master was such a person, and because he is so strong, he must have lived fine until now.

‘Of course, there are various kinds of affection and liking. And how it develops depends on the other person.’

There’s a high possibility that it’s going to explode in a weird way. Jack suddenly had a strange concern.

Adrian replied, putting the report down on the desk.

“Not that much.”

“Really?”

Jack asked back playfully, and Adrian replied.

“As long as Nina is happy, that’s enough.”

Jack briefly said “Is that so?” and “You really think so?” then stepped back.

Adrian looked at the window and saw the upcoming dawn.

Today is going to be a busy day as well.

────── •❆• ──────

Benzel looked around the ballroom. There weren’t only one or two people who wanted to talk to him, the commander of the Lily Knights.

In particular, those who wanted to line up or show off their friendship with Princess Vialentel always greeted him.

Benzel politely replied to all of the greetings, but his gaze did not stay on the other for long.

‘Is he not coming?’

Hearing that the Duke of Luverne would be present, he deliberately attended the ball, but it seemed that he would not come today.

More than half of what people say at the ball, or almost all of it, was about the Duke of Luverne.

Dame Nina, who defeated the bellac in the city; and Dame Nina, who had stopped the evil deeds of a mad sage.

Due to Seur Randell’s accusation, one of the Seven Grand Sage; the sages were turned upside down, and the temple confiscated and searched the laboratory, but there were reports that the fragment was not found.

It was also the Duke of Luverne that supported and protected Sage Randell.

The temple made several requests to meet Randell, but the Duke politely refused. It was not an exaggeration to say that the capital city is now in a frenzy because of the Duke of Luverne.

If there was an incident, it was all related to the Duke.

The nobles, who stayed far away when he first appeared, changed their attitudes faster than turning their palms upside down.

Like a flock of ants sticking to sugar, they began to cling to the Dark Knights, Commander Nina, and the Duke who attended the ball. And since then, the duke’s attendance has dropped sharply.

In some cases, it started to become a fashion trend to wear black upper and lower clothes like the Dark Knights.

Then, the entrance of the hall suddenly fell abuzz.

Benzel raised his head just in case and gave strength to his eyes.

“His Excellency, Duke of Luverne!”

The Duke and his party entered with the call.

The symbol of the Dark Knights was the black hawk.

The ballroom was filled with bright and colorful colors, and the black uniform that crossed it stood out from afar.

It looked like a black hawk stuck between small, colorful birds. And in the midst of it, the presence of the Duke of Luverne did not die at all.

In other words, the Duke was now the center of social interest.

His smooth cane with a silver headdress was simply a sensation. Before, a cane was something that old people used to stand up.

However, the black-purple cane with the colorful headdress was attractive and quickly became popular. It became even more popular when the black and purple tree became known to be a specialty of the Violet Forest.

It is said that the danger aroused a sense of victory.

What about that unique shade of clothing?

Most of the clothes were bright, colorful, and heavily clothed for both men and women, but the Duke of Luverne wore clothes that were perfectly fit for the body and had dark shades.

It was a new horizon for men’s clothing.

People expressed their interest and rushed to order similar clothes. His elegant tone, smile, and behavior all became fashionable.

Both his pleasant, gentle yet often harsh conversational style and imperial accent.

It was said that Duke Luverne’s nobility was a level higher than that of the royal family.

What about the gold watch he even recently brought out?

A clock was usually something to hang on the wall because it was not small enough to carry around.

However, the gold watch, ordered by the Duke of Luverne at the Karak workshop, was a size that could be carried in a pocket.

It has an eye-popping price equivalent to a small territory’s one year budget, but somehow, the upper nobles struggled to order the gold watch.

Since the Duke was a walking billboard, Lorocomo struggled to make him wear the items.

Similar to him, the one that caught the eye of the people at the same time was her, with her silver hair hanging in pigtails.

‘You’re here.’

Unknowingly, relief passed on Benzel’s face.

Nina was still standing behind the Duke with a collected face. Her golden eyes are cold, and the occasional faint smile was sharp.

But Benzel knew how rich her facial expressions and voice were when she wasn’t like that.

Of course, even when she was annoying.

As Benzel waited for the time, he approached after confirming that most of the people had fallen to some extent.

“I see your Grace, Duke of Luverne.”

When Benzel greeted him politely, Adrian glanced at him.

According to the etiquette of the aristocracy, the lower class should greet first, but it is purely up to the higher class whether to talk to the person or not.

“Sir Benzel, I see you again.”

Adrian greeted him. Benzel lowered his hand on his chest and said, relieved.

“I’d like to speak to Dame Nina for a moment.”

The excitement quickly spread around like invisible smoke.

Nina La Dell.

No one didn’t know that she too was full of rumors.

If the Duke of Luverne had taken over the society, Nina captured the hearts of the people of the capital.

Wearing a cape-like long coat over her shoulders and dressed in a uniform with a pair of gold buttons and golden decorations, she was now the second most famous figure in the capital.

The best sword of the empire.

While public opinion is leaning towards the title she said was really hers, the Commander of the Lily Knights, who can be said to be her biggest rival, said that.