CH 23

I was a little worried.

Is it good for me to go directly to the hotel where he stays and return the ruby when I decided not to see Leonhard anymore? I didn’t think I would be good at it at all.

But there was no other way. Ruby grunts at Philip or Helen and sets his teeth up.

“This monster…is he okay? What if he suddenly raises his claws and scratches the lady?”

“I think It will be fine because Ruby is calm now.…”

The problem was that I didn’t know how long Ruby would stay calm. So I had no other options. I had Helen buy some baskets and blankets in a hurry, put the ruby in the basket, and covered it with a blanket.

That’s how we arrived at the Crimson Hotel safely. To the front of the hotel.

“Looks like we have arrived. The carriage has stopped, lady.”

“Oh, but….Isn’t it a bit noisy outside?”

“Yes. Shall I go out and check the situation?”

“Yes. And, if nothing is wrong, go into the hotel and except for Leon, Leon’s aides or maids…Bring anyone to this carriage.”

“Anyone?”

“Yes. Anyone who followed him from Ajas must know about this monster.”

Helen nodded in agreement and got out of the carriage, and I asked the coachman to move the carriage to the side of the road a short distance from the hotel.

While the carriage moved again, Ruby was nibbling on beef jerky in the basket, as if this was his home.

Looking at Ruby like that, it doesn’t look much different from a normal cat. Besides, the magic stone on the forehead shone so pretty like a jewel, so it seemed like I knew why people kept low-level monsters as pets.

‘Snowfox was very cute too…’

It would have been nice if it was a gentle animal rather than a monster.

With that thought in mind, it was time to put another piece of jerky into Ruby’s mouth because he ate all the jerky and licked his lips.

Tok-Tok!

“Lady.”

Philip knocked on the carriage door.

Has Helen already brought someone? I set the basket down on the seat next to me and opened the side window on the carriage door to check outside.

“Sir Philip? What happened?”

“Right now, the hotel staff are walking around looking for something, but they seem to be looking for Wing Cat. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could return the monster to them?”

“Oh, really?”

I wondered why it was so noisy outside, and it must have been because of Ruby. Not only Leonhard’s aides, but also the hotel staff were looking for Ruby, so it seemed that the matter had gotten big.

“Then, please call one of the hotel staff here.”

“Yes, Lady.…”

“Ruby!”

At that time, loud voices ate Sir Philip’s words. Me too, so Phillip looked around as if he was quite surprised.

“What the hell…”

“Ruby! Ruby’s here! You’re here Ruby.!”

Philip, who was behind the side window, moved to the side, and two bright green eyes filled the side window. I almost screamed in surprise.

“Ruby! You were here!”

“Hey! The lady inside is the Howard family. What disrespect!”

“The Lady of the Howards?”

The eyes that had passed me and only looked at the Ruby in the basket belatedly turned to me. I could easily recognize who was the owner of the eyes that opened a little wide as if surprised. I’ve seen him before.

“Hi, Leon’s aide.”

“Ah… Long time no see, Lady.”

The green eyes disappeared. Perhaps he was bowing from the other side of the carriage door, but of course, I couldn’t see him.

“I committed rudeness because I was in a hurry. Please forgive me.”

“I understand. It was a reasonable situation, wasn’t it? Sir Philip, open the carriage door, please.”

“Yes, lady.”

When the carriage door opened, Leonhard’s aide was seen with tears in his eyes, covering his mouth and nose with his hands. Just by looking at his face, you would know that he was having a family reunion of some kind. But when I think about it, it’s not very wrong, I picked up the basket and returned the ruby to him.

“Here you go. It’s Leon’s pet monster, right?”

“You’re right! This kid must be our ruby! Ruby, why did you run out of the hotel? It’ll be a big deal if you leave the house now, you bastard. Is the jerky going down your throat now?”

The aide, who hugged the ruby in the basket, cried profusely, shedding tears to the extent that his bright green eyes were completely covered. I don’t think I should keep looking at it, so I quickly turned my gaze inside the carriage.

‘Hmm…’

The reason I endured despite the threat of the first prince was that Noah cared for Ruby very much.

Noah couldn’t act like a child in front of his simply difficult father or adults who regarded him as a blemish.

The only time Noah smiled like a child was when he was playing with Ruby. It said, ‘When Ruby died, it broke Noah’s innocence.’ For Noah not to grow into darkness, Ruby must not die at this moment.

Ruby was supposed to be alive, at least until Noah was all grown up. That’s the only thought I had…

More than I thought…Ruby must have been a very beloved pet monster.’

“Hey, don’t do anything like run away again. I thought my real heart was falling…”

“Ruby!”

the woman’s loud voice came from a distance, and urgent footsteps came closer to this side.

I couldn’t see anything else because the carriage obstructed my view, but the aide’s face as she held the basket looked pale.

“Ca, Cathy.…”

“Ruby! You were here!”

The woman with hair as red as Ruby’s magic stone knocked the aide away, hugged Ruby with the whole basket and started crying again.

‘Surely I shouldn’t have to keep watching people cry one by one like that, right?’

“Ruby! Where did you go?!”

“If you have a complaint, you say it. Why are you running out of the hotel!”

“You know how dangerous the capital city is right now….”

Two males and three females, including an aide. Everyone looked so affectionate, so they shed tears with Ruby in the middle.

I wanted to just pretend I didn’t know and go, but I couldn’t because Helen couldn’t get into the carriage because these people were doing this in front of the carriage.

“Ekhmm.”

Philip, who couldn’t see it, clear his throat, The first person to notice was the aide.

“Oh, my God. We’ve caused you trouble. I’m sorry, Lady.”

“I heard that Lady found our Ruby. How should I repay this favor…?”

“Wow, pretty.”

While he was coming back to His senses and conveying his apology and gratitude to me, there was a person who said such a thing out of the blue. It was a red-haired woman called Cathy, the second to appear after the aide.

“It’s just like a flower. I’ve never seen such a pretty color, can I touch it?”

“Cath! What are you talking about?”

Like a guardian cracking down on a spoiled child, the aide quickly shut Cathy’s mouth and dragged her back.

And as if she was used to this, a woman with short green hair in a light uniform stepped into front and smiled at me.

“Excuse me, lady. I am Leona Victoria of the Heilang Knights under the Marquis of Ajas.”

She politely bowed to me and held out her hand to me politely. Now that things are like this, I think I should get off the carriage and say hello, so I put my hand on hers.

“Nice to meet you. I am Raenel, the second daughter of the Howard family.”

“Me, me! I’m Catherine! Member of the Heilang Knights…ugh!”

“Hey be quiet!”

“I’m sorry, lady. She made a mistake because she had no idea about noble etiquette. I apologize for that.”

“It’s okay. How can I force the rules and etiquette of the Capital on someone who is not from the Capital?”

“How did you know?”

The brown-haired, brown-eyed man’s mood changed instantly. I just want to say that I was a little wary, and Philip’s face changed as he sensitively accepted that sign, so I hurriedly looked at Catherine.

“With a tattoo on the back of the hand. I’ve seen it in books. Is that the symbol of a warrior?”

By giving reasonable reasons, fortunately, the atmosphere did not deteriorate further.

Catherine said ‘Yes!’ she exclaimed excitedly, escaping from the aide’s hands.

“A pretty girl is even smart. I like this girl. Raenel I know your name. Are you going to marry our captain, right?”

“Cathy, please be quiet..”

“Um, about that….”

Just as I was about to say that I don’t think this is a question I can answer in a place like this, Catherine, who had been waiting for my answer, sniffed once and shouted softly.

“It’s the captain!”

“Cath!”

But Catherine ran to the carriage road before the others could catch her. It’s a little hard to say this to a person I’ve never met, but she is very active.

Did I spot Catherine running towards me? Or did she find someone she knew on this road?

The Carriage slowly slowed to a complete stop, and Leonhard got out of it.

“Captain!”

“What the hell happened to you guys that the hotel told me that you were in trouble?”

“Oh, well, because Rob lost Ruby…But who is inside?”

I could see that Leonhard’s face was stained with embarrassment at that question. Why is he reacting like that?

“Robert! Come here…”

At that time, Leonhard looked this way and called Robert, his aide. Then, our eyes met.

The distance between where I was standing and where Leonhard was standing was quite far. But in my eyes, I can see him clearly.

An expression of astonishment and bewilderment spread across his face. I soon understood why he reacted the way he did.

“What’s going on?”

With a voice mixed with a bit of annoyance, a gorgeously dressed woman appeared in the carriage with Leonhard.

Black hair that shines like silk and pink eyes. In terms of color, she is quite similar to the First Prince, she is the third noblest lady in the Empire, the princess.

* * *

I told my eldest brother that I would not marry Leonhard. If my eldest brother had already conveyed my intentions to him, no, even if he hadn’t, there was no need for him to be loyal to me. In the first place, we weren’t even dating, let alone engaged.

In short, I said that he had nothing to do with me even if he met any woman other than me. There’s no need for him to feel sorry for me.

‘Still if he with princess….Wouldn’t it be difficult to appoint Noah as the successor?’

Anyway, it had nothing to do with me, so I quietly greeted him in the eyes and returned home.

‘I thought this cut him off from me.’

But A few days later. It certainly would not have been if the rumor had spread that the young Lady of the Howard family had stayed with Marquis Ajas overnight at the hotel where he was staying.