There’s Something Special About Her Chapter 22

“What kind of assumption is that…….”

Runelk Eins frowned as if even imagining it was horrible, but he still gave an answer.

“Cut Grayer Knox right away and put someone suitable in his place. If you lend him just a little of the real Information Bureau’s power during the process, he’ll settle in quickly. If you simply replace the stupid guide, the ship will head in the right direction.”

Even though a mere low-ranking member of the action squad dared to call an executive “stupid,” Killian Ains did not feel like punishing Runelk Eins.

“But you have no intention of doing that, do you? You don’t need to, either.”

“No need?”

Killian’s narrowed pupils caught the rudely pouty lips as if they were prey.

Neither of the two men standing face-to-face noticed the change.

“If a dragon is bleeding, everyone will rush toward it. They’ll think it’s a chance to bring down a huge being that no one has ever dared to challenge. But.”

“But that blood wouldn’t be the dragon’s. It would be the blood of the enemies who had already been hunted.”

Runelk Eins nodded gloomily, as if asking why Killian was asking when he already knew the answer.

Without taking his eyes off him, Killian drained his glass of liquor in one gulp and said,

“The low-ranking member says that. What do you think, Dupont?”

At the short call, a tall man appeared.

It was Dupont Clansher, who had been listening to their entire conversation from a hidden space inside one of the pillars of the office.

“Wait, where did he suddenly come from…….”

Runelk Eins’s eyes grew round as he kept glancing toward the pillar where Dupont had walked out.

But his curiosity did not last long.

Grab!

Dupont Clansher suddenly covered both of Runelk Eins’s shoulders with his large hands.

“It has been a very long time.”

A strange light gleamed in Dupont’s eyes.

“Since we’ve had a truly talented person join us.”

“Take him and train him well enough to be useful, Dupont.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“W-wait a minute!”

Runelk Eins struggled to escape Dupont’s grip and shouted.

“Then was my answer correct?”

“Hey.”

Dupont, looking shocked, tried to stop the reckless young member.

But he had to step back a couple of steps when an invisible force pushed him back at Killian’s casual gesture.

Killian put down his glass and stood in front of Runelk Eins.

The shadow made by the moonlight fell across his arrogant, pale face.

“Then?”

“Give me the antidote.”

“Did I ever poison you?”

“It wasn’t poison, but you did make me eat something similar.”

As he said that, he secretly glanced at Dupont, which was both funny and ridiculous.

There was nothing good that could come from getting on his radar.

The little one was becoming more and more amusing.

‘He even knows when to watch what he says.’

Dupont Clansher was practically Killian’s right hand.

Yet even in front of Dupont, Runelk Eins did not want to reveal that he had drunk Killian’s blood.

He was someone who did not know how to feel safe or trust anyone.

“You can’t have that.”

Killian looked down at the lips that had once been covered in his own blood and said,

“It was quite interesting, but that wasn’t the correct answer.”

The correct answer was ‘eclipse.’

The eclipse in which Killian, the center of Knox, was consumed by dragon blood could be called Knox’s darkest secret.

But if Runelk had learned about the eclipse.

“W-why are you doing that?”

It lasted only a very brief moment, but Runelk Eins noticed Killian’s suddenly cold eyes and took a frightened step backward.

He was as sensitive as a small wild animal.

‘I’ll need some time to tame him.’

After quietly reaching that conclusion, Killian spoke in his usual calm voice.

“The answer you gave was only half right.”

“Only half?”

“You’ll learn the rest if you follow Dupont.”

When Killian gestured toward the door, the invisible wall blocking Dupont disappeared.

“I’ll give you the antidote when you prove that you’re worth it. Now, go.”

“……Understood.”

Even with a face covered in complaints, Runelk Eins somehow managed to bow before following Dupont out with slow, awkward steps.

Without looking back, until he had escaped the long shadow cast by Killian.

“…….”

As he sensed the power of dragon blood inside Runelk Eins gradually moving farther away, Killian habitually stroked the desk in his office.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

After leaving the office, I was not lucky enough to return to my quarters.

Instead, I was following Dupont Clansher somewhere.

He showed no sign of telling me where we were going beforehand, so all I could do was quietly follow the backs of his boots.

“Never speak to His Grace like that again. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

“You should be grateful His Grace was in a good mood today. You almost died.”

As if I didn’t know that.

Everything Dupont Clansher said while walking ahead of me went in one ear and out the other.

My head was completely blank.

‘I survived.’

After coming so close to death once, the exhaustion that came rushing over me was no joke.

My body, which had barely eaten or slept properly for five days, suddenly became limp like cotton soaked in water.

I blinked my heavy eyelids and looked out the window along the corridor.

I never thought the sight of the fortress, which had become familiar to me over the past year, could make me feel so relieved.

I rubbed my nose for no reason as it started to sting and thought,

‘The eclipse must be over.’

Just as Dupont Clansher had said, Killian Knox seemed to be in a pretty good mood today.

He looked so different from the savage man I had seen the last time he was affected by the eclipse that it almost felt like he was a completely different person.

‘Killian Knox, you bastard.’

The back of my neck, which had escaped the trap of that hideous beast that might have been a dragon or a snake, was still pounding with fear.

Good thing I didn’t mention the word eclipse.

From the moment Killian Knox mentioned his “darkest secret,” I knew what he meant was the eclipse.

But even if it was the correct answer, it was not a way to extend my life.

A low-ranking member who learned that the head of Knox sometimes became more like a monster than a human would obviously be dealt with.

Whether I gave a boring answer or even said the correct answer, I was doomed to die.

The moon was especially bright tonight, and I hated looking at it, so I quickly turned my head away.

‘Maybe I should just spread the whole story.’

I had learned about the eclipse when I was still with Wickers.

But I had discarded that information without telling Edward.

The eclipse was like Killian Knox’s weak spot.

A weak spot that would bring down the dragon’s fury if touched carelessly.

At the time, all I wanted was revenge for my family, and I did not want to get myself killed by provoking Killian Knox before I could accomplish that goal.

‘It’s not even a weakness.’

Killian Knox only became more ruthless and stronger every time there was an eclipse.

Thinking about it that way, I realized once again that I had really almost died.

And somehow, I had survived the trap set by someone like Killian Knox.

As my tension faded and my body temperature dropped, I rubbed the back of my cold neck and asked,

“By the way, where are we going?”

“You’re asking rather late.”

Dupont Clansher muttered as if he had never seen such a strange person before.

“Don’t make a fuss and just follow me quietly.”

“……Yes.”

As if he would have told me even if I had asked.

None of the people in Knox were likable.

Whatever it was, I just wanted it to be over quickly.

I desperately wanted to take off the necklace that felt especially heavy today and collapse onto my bed.

But the farther I walked behind Dupont Clansher, the more suspicious I became.

Eventually, I stood at the end of the western corridor on the fourth floor of the main building, in front of a huge portrait of the first Duke of Knox.

It was a vivid painting, with the first Duke’s golden eyes and the red eyes of the crow sitting on his shoulder.

“Sir Dupont Clansher, why are we here…….”

“Shh.”

Dupont Clansher silenced me with one sharp look before pressing several gems embedded in the frame.

The moment I saw his familiar movements, I suddenly came to my senses.

Ah, this wasn’t good.

I had a feeling I was about to get dragged into something extremely troublesome and annoying.

“I’ll be going now…….”

Dupont Clansher grabbed my arm as I tried to escape and shoved me inside, almost throwing me into the secret passage that had appeared.

That’s right.

There had been a secret passage behind the portrait!

“Don’t make trouble for either of us. Walk ahead.”

Was this really something an executive of Knox should say, or did he sound more like a thug who had appeared in a dark alley?

I was too dumbfounded to move, so Dupont Clansher poked me in the back with his long, hard fingers.

“All right. I’m going, I’m going.”

The passage, illuminated only by moonlight coming in from outside, was a staircase leading upward.