There’s Something Special About Her Chapter 10

Damn that Knox!

He never lets me lower my guard!

I silently ground my teeth while continuing to pretend to be asleep.

Because the low-ranking operative, Runelk Eins, would be sleeping soundly without a care in the world until someone knocked on the door.

Swish, swish.

With my hearing sharpened, I could tell even more clearly.

This was on a completely different level from the sound made by Jake, my senior, who had about as much caution as a person could have while cooking soup.

Swish, swish, swoosh.

The light friction of shoe soles brushing against the floor sounded like the wind.

Even in the quiet of the middle of the night, footsteps that could barely be heard unless you listened carefully belonged to someone who had been properly trained.

‘Please just pass by. Please.’

Whoever you are, maybe the hospital corridor is just a shortcut to wherever you’re going?

‘Please.’

Swoosh—

Damn it!

The footsteps finally stopped right in front of my hospital room.

Click.

Even after turning the doorknob, they did not open the door right away.

That was probably a precaution in case the target inside had woken up because of the noise.

The intruder was probably pressing an ear against the door by now, checking whether my breathing or presence had changed.

The best response would be to kick the door open and launch a preemptive attack.

But I focused only on keeping my breathing steady.

‘There’s no killing intent.’

They were sneaking in, but there was no sharp killing intent.

That meant they had some other purpose.

For example, surveillance or intimidation.

‘Which one is it?’

However, a highly skilled assassin could sometimes hide their killing intent until the moment they swung their weapon.

Swish, swish.

Without making even the slightest sound, the footsteps gradually approached the bed. I kept track of them carefully, ready to open my eyes at any moment and roll underneath the bed.

Flap!

Suddenly, rough fabric touched my face, and by the time I opened my eyes, I could no longer see anything.

‘Right. Kidnapping was also a possibility.’

When I struggled as if I were surprised, a strong hand clamped over my mouth.

“Mmph!”

If the target resisted as though they were about to scream, an intruder would normally threaten them or tell them to be quiet or die.

But the intruder—no, the kidnapper—didn’t do that.

My attempt to get a clue about my unseen opponent from their voice or way of speaking failed.

The price for that failure was a sharp strike to the back of my neck.

Thud!

‘Ah, they missed.’

Still, I let my body go limp and pretended to faint. The kidnapper casually threw me over their shoulder and started moving.

‘It doesn’t seem like Wickers sent them.’

There was no way they would treat the enemy who killed their boss and escaped this gently.

For now, just knowing Edward probably wasn’t behind this was a relief.

‘Come to think of it, kidnapping isn’t really something that guy would do.’

Not unless he came storming through the main gate of Knox.

Then who was it?

I thought back to whether I had made any enemies during my time in Knox who might have a reason to kidnap me, when I heard a rattling sound.

It sounded like a small bead rolling, followed by a sweet smell spreading through the air.

‘Are they eating candy?’

Even though I was pretending to be unconscious, how could they be this relaxed?

I couldn’t help feeling deflated too.

But something was strange.

‘Why are we going upward?’

The hospital was located on the first floor of the main building, in the east wing.

For someone this skilled, it would have been a good place to take someone outside without being noticed.

But the kidnapper wasn’t heading outside.

They were going upward.

And they were using the staircase leading toward the center of the building.

The second floor, then the third.

Strangely enough, the kidnapper walked through the main building’s stairs as if they were walking through their own home, only lowering their footsteps once they reached the third floor.

‘What was on the third floor again?’

I pictured the map of the Knox estate in my head.

The layout of the third floor was simple.

The large conference room where the previous incident had happened, and then, and then……

‘No way.’

Even as I gave a hollow laugh, a chill ran down my spine.

‘Run.’

I struggled as the door opened, trying to escape, but I was thrown onto the hard floor like a piece of luggage.

Thud!

The damn kidnapper quietly walked away as if their job was finished.

“Ugh……”

I rubbed my aching butt with one hand and roughly pulled the sack covering my face off with the other.

No, I tried to.

I froze.

‘Someone is here.’

I felt a faint presence a short distance away.

It appeared for only a brief moment before disappearing again, but I was definitely not alone.

‘Is it too late to pretend to be unconscious again?’

Ah, I really don’t want to take this sack off.

If possible, I would rather never see anything ever again.

Rustle.

The hateful sack, already half-removed, slipped down despite my wishes.

And what came into my clearer view was—

“You came.”

Kilian Knox, standing with the cold moon behind him.

 

*****

 

 

If I could turn back time, I wanted to go back a few hours and grab Dupont Clansher by the collar and demand an explanation.

‘You said His Grace was too busy with important matters!’

No, if I could actually turn back time, I wouldn’t have stopped the Green Merchant Lord in the first place.

I should have just left Kilian Knox to whatever happened to him.

Like all regrets, of course, it was already too late.

Gulp.

The sound of me swallowing dryly echoed far too loudly.

In the silence as sharp as a needle, Kilian Knox’s golden eyes gleamed brightly.

But what made me hold my breath even more than that was the killing intent piercing my skin.

It was blatant killing intent, with absolutely no attempt to hide it.

An intense killing intent poured toward me, so thick that I couldn’t imagine it coming from someone with such an expressionless face.

He wanted my blood.

……Why?

“Runelk Eins, an operative belonging to the Action Squad.”

Kilian Knox called my name.

“Y-Yes. I am Runelk Eins……”

“You stopped the Green Merchant Lord today.”

As expected, I was kneeling right in the middle of the Duke’s office.

The third floor of the main building only contained the large conference room and the Duke’s office.

“How did you know?”

“What exactly…… I was definitely asleep in the hospital, so why am I here……”

“I’m asking how you knew the Green Merchant Lord was after my life.”

Kilian Knox asked, chewing down each syllable one by one.

This was completely unlike him.

‘This is bad.’

Kilian Knox I had encountered in the bathroom and the Kilian Knox who had kicked the assassin in the head to silence him had both been terrifying enough.

But the man in front of me now was on an entirely different level.

“It’s just that…… something felt a little strange.”

I lowered my body as much as possible and answered.

“The appointment time written in the letter sent by Mr. Deacon Gold still had plenty of time left, but he kept rushing me, saying we were going to be late. And he also seemed…… impatient.”

“Impatient?”

“W-Well, normally, everyone would be nervous on the way to meet His Grace the Duke. But that man acted like he couldn’t wait to meet you, so I thought that was strange……”

Even though I gave the kind of answer an eager low-ranking operative might give, no response came back.

……Did it work?

No, it had to work.

Otherwise, I would……

Then Kilian Knox walked toward me and ordered,

“Raise your head.”

I slowly straightened my body, which had been pressed close to the floor.

I knew that if I didn’t obey, Kilian’s foot would crush my head without hesitation.

“It is strange.”

The moment I managed to raise my head, he suddenly leaned his face toward mine.

Hmph.

Seeing me hold my breath in surprise, he muttered,

“You are quite strange.”

Interest? Displeasure?

I couldn’t tell what emotions were passing through those golden eyes.

“Even a moment ago, you realized I was there before you removed the mask. Am I right?”

“T-That was just a coincidence……”

“When the Green Merchant Lord arrived.”

This time, Kilian Knox’s story shifted to what had happened during the day.

“Neither Dupont nor Deacon, nor any of the knights guarding the door, noticed that he was after me. It had been a long time since a bug came directly at me, so I was the only one watching him. But you saw the same thing I did.”

A rough growl mixed into his low voice.

“Was that a coincidence too, Runelk Eins?”