Chapter 345. ???? Years (3)

The afternoon of the day Miren, the young lady of the Padrima Ducal House, came for the interview.

“It is here, sir.”

Alon received a book from the hands of Nangwon.

It was a black-covered book that gave off a feeling of extreme antiquity.

Alon took it calmly and thanked Nangwon.

“Thank you.”

“It is nothing, sir. I couldn’t even find the original copy for you.”

Seeing Nangwon scratching his head with a smile, Alon gently denied it.

If it hadn’t been for him, he wouldn’t have been able to find even a small clue, let alone the jewel of The One with Closed Eyes.

“No, if you hadn’t acted, we wouldn’t have even found this book.”

“…To have you tell me that you depend on me in that way… It is more than enough for me.”

When Alon thanked him again, Nangwon’s eyes grew moist as if he were moved, and he gave a clean smile.

“You surely want to review the contents of the book, so I will take my leave.”

“…You’re leaving already?”

“Yes, I have some matters to attend to.”

Matters to attend to?

Alon was about to ask him, but he closed his mouth and nodded.

Aside from his peculiar ability with the Inverted Eyes, even though he had a youthful appearance, Nangwon was the leader of an information guild. He undoubtedly had a lot of work.

“Understood.”

“If you need help at any time, please call me again.”

With that moved expression still on his face, Nangwon disappeared.

Alon watched him and felt a strange emotion behind his expressionless face.

……Was he really that moved just because I said thank you?

That was what he thought.

He decided that perhaps he should express his gratitude more often, and he slightly ruffled his hair.

Then he opened the book in his hands and began to read it.

Some time later—

“Sir, what are you doing?”

Alon turned his gaze toward Evan’s voice.

“I was reading a book.”

“—Ah, could it be that? The Jewel of The One with Closed Eyes?”

“How did you know?”

“I heard Nangwon say he would deliver it to you today. So, did you get information?”

At Evan’s question, Alon finished the last remaining page—only one was left—and closed the book.

“I did, but… it is somewhat ambiguous.”

“In what sense?”

Alon looked at the book.

It was thick, but many parts were illegible.

Most of the paper was so discolored that it couldn’t be read properly.

But it didn’t matter.

The information he sought was inside.

The problem was the location where the jewel was.

“The Jewel of The One with Closed Eyes… he gave it to his closest friend.”

“To his friend?”

The friend of The One with Closed Eyes.

“…I think I can guess why you consider it ambiguous, sir.”

“Right?”

“Yes.”

Evan thought about it for a moment and added:

“The One with Closed Eyes… that guy joined the faction of Sin, right?”

“Correct.”

“Then if it speaks of his friend… wouldn’t he also be from Sin?”

Alon let out a faint murmur.

He had obtained useful information, but getting more details was difficult.

He decided to push the negative thoughts aside.

After all, he had obtained information.

And he already had a direction on how to find the jewel.

“The friend of The One with Closed Eyes…”

Alon murmured.

The Next Day.

Hoo…

In his office, from morning until past noon, Alexion had been working without rest.

He finally finished and let out a deep sigh.

He took the evaluation sheet he had kept in the drawer.

It was the evaluation of Miren, the lady of the Padrima Ducal House, interviewed the previous day.

“Hmm—”

Alexion rubbed his chin.

Unlike certain previous evaluations where his opinion hadn’t been adequately reflected (?), this time the sheet was honest and quite irregular.

Although the scores weren’t uniform, Miren reached what Alexion considered the minimum necessary.

In other words: she fell into the group of candidates that the Marquis would personally choose as a possible partner.

Yes, in terms of scoring, that was it.

Alexion recalled Miren at the interview.

Her gestures and posture showed the elegance of a noble. Her way of speaking was also extremely refined.

Her knowledge, even considering her ducal background, was quite deep.

There were no clear points to deduct in the interview.

However, the reason Alexion was frowning was due to the rumors.

…What is said about her isn’t exactly good.

From Alexion’s point of view, he could ignore it and evaluate only the superficial; after all, that was his order.

But once he received an order, he never executed it halfway.

…Of course, there were interviewees who completely escaped his control.

But that was a matter of survival.

“Hmm-hmm—”

Be that as it may—

Alexion began to discretely investigate Miren through the guild.

And surprisingly, the guild delivered information to him before a single day had passed.

Actually, it wasn’t even a full day.

Alexion had made the request at night.

The information arrived at dawn.

In total, a few hours.

The guild is fast… but I didn’t remember them being THIS fast.

Even with information already collected…

Normally, the guild always asked for at least a day.

Anyone who had used them knew that.

But this time the delivery was almost immediate.

And so much information as well…

Alexion lifted the thick sheaf of documents.

There were dozens of pages, all about rumors related to Lady Miren.

Very negative rumors.

“Hmm—”

He knew that rumors weren’t always true.

But the one who gathered them was the information guild.

And he asked for rumors based on facts.

The guild always respected the client’s requests.

Therefore, what he held in his hands, with high probability, was true.

That is why—

“I cannot include someone like this as a candidate for the Lord Marquis… Although she passed the interview, so… should I hand all this over together when I report to the Marquis?”

While Alexion meditated—

“Sir Alexion.”

“What is it?”

“The young lady you interviewed yesterday wishes to see you.”

“Lady Miren?”

“Yes.”

“…I understand. Where is she?”

“In the reception room.”

“Good, I will go there.”

Puzzled, he stood up and headed to the room.

There he found Lady Miren.

Haggard.

Such a drastic change in a single day left him bewildered, but only for a moment.

Alexion bowed politely.

“Greetings, Lady Miren. Did you pass the night well?”

A simple greeting.

And then he felt something strange.

There was no answer.

He raised his head, confused—

She had kept her head bowed since she entered until that moment.

Alexion finished his greeting without receiving a reply.

“—Forgive—Forgive me—”

A faint mumble.

So low that anyone who didn’t pay extreme attention would have missed it.

“Pardon?”

Alexion, surprised, stepped a little closer.

In that instant—

“Forgive me I’m sorry I am guilty it wasn’t my intention sorry for blaspheming sorry for blaspheming sorry for blaspheming sorry for blaspheming sorry, sorry, ahhhh!”

“Eek?!”

Her voice kept rising—

Until, as if she had seen something terrifying, she ran out of the room.

Alexion stood petrified.

He looked at the door she had thrown open.

“W… what on earth…?”

Hours later, calming his racing heart—

“…The lady is resigning her candidacy?”

“Yes. The maid came to communicate it.”

“Did something happen yesterday at the residence?”

The secretary gave his sudden report.

Alexion asked, confused—

“As I reported yesterday, the lady dismissed our staff saying they made her uncomfortable, so I don’t think we can know more.”

“That is true…”

He found no clues.

The doubt persisted.

Although from his perspective…

It wasn’t bad news that a problematic candidate resigned voluntarily.

But the point was why she had ended up in that state.

As he continued to reflect—

He looked to the side.

Passing by there were Silly, Yutia, and Rine.

Perceiving his gaze, they looked up and smiled softly.

A pure smile.

Just that.

Then they bowed their heads slightly and continued on their way.

…just that.

And yet—

Suddenly, Alexion felt he understood exactly why Lady Miren had resigned her candidacy.

A cold sweat ran down his back.

Three Weeks Later.

The Mansion of Marquis Palatio remained full of guests.

Yutia Bloodia remained there under the pretext of building a church.

Seolrang under the pretext of vacation.

Each had their own reasons to stay.

Therefore, during the first few weeks, incidents occurred almost every other day.

Like Seolrang being dragged somewhere by Yutia.

Or a Red Moon appearing above the mansion in the middle of the night.

Or Alon’s statue becoming inexplicably more extravagant over time.

But when that chaos had already started to feel almost like part of daily life (?), the partner selection process for Marquis Palatio came to an end.

Thus, Alexion gathered ten candidates.

“Is this it?”

“Yes. Allow me to explain briefly.”

He handed the evaluation sheets to Alon.

They didn’t reflect his personal opinion (?), but he planned to add it verbally.

He took a breath and prepared to speak—

But suddenly, he was left speechless.

The reason:

“Hic—”

Behind the window back of Marquis Palatio, countless gazes were fixed on Alexion.

Their expressions were not hostile.

They were smiling.

The problem was that only their mouths were smiling.

At that moment—

The Marquis, who was reviewing the sheets, spoke first.

“…One, two… eight?”

And thus—

…Alon’s partner selection began.