Only I Know the War Hero’s Secret Chapter 12

At Richard’s sudden appearance, Mona felt as though her heart had plummeted off a sheer cliff.

Was this a nightmare?

Or had she, by some chance, been found out?

Was she going to be thrown in prison for illegal possession of perfume and rot there for the rest of her life?

Her shock sent all sorts of irrational thoughts swirling wildly through her mind.

While Mona stood frozen, unable even to breathe, the man seated on the opposite side sharply reprimanded her in a cold voice.

“His Grace asked you a question, didn’t he?”

“Uh…… Yes?”

When Mona asked back blankly, Richard spoke again.

“I asked what you were looking at so intently.”

His gaze was utterly indifferent, devoid of even the slightest emotion. Mona swallowed nervously.

Those utterly unconcerned eyes, as though he were looking at a cow rather than a person, didn’t belong to someone who had relentlessly searched the Luna District for the ‘woman in the white mask.’

‘……It seems he doesn’t recognize me, does he?’

Well, of course.

If he’d discovered that she was the woman in the white mask, she would already have lost her head and ceased to be among the living……

Get a grip.

‘If I tremble and act overly frightened, I might just look suspicious.’

Desperately clinging to the last remnants of her composure, Mona forced out an answer.

“I-I was looking at the map. The markings are a little unusual……”

“What about them?”

Mona cautiously raised her index finger.

“……Well, if you connect those pins, the resulting shape is quite similar to the ridge of the Kirki Mountains, which run through the Land of Chaos. I thought that was rather unusual.”

“…….”

A flicker of interest passed through Richard’s blue eyes.

There were no maps showing the terrain inside the Land of Chaos, so Richard had even dug through ancient books to mark the mountain range’s location. Yet this bespectacled woman had identified it at a glance.

“I see.”

After giving that brief reply, he suddenly lifted the corners of his lips ever so slightly.

“Your name is……”

“……?”

Just then—

“Your Grace Richard, the Imperial Secretary has arrived.”

The uniformed man who had escorted Mona to the conference room earlier approached Richard and delivered the news.

“Let him in.”

Richard glanced at his pocket watch.

“It’s about time to begin.”

Clack, clack.

With the sound of his military boots echoing through the room, Richard slowly made his way toward the head of the table.

The moment the war hero, a man of noble Imperial blood, stepped forward, a heavy tension settled over the room.

“It appears everyone has arrived. We shall begin the meeting.”

Richard opened in a dry voice.

“Richard Cronell.”

One might have wondered whether there was anyone in the Empire who didn’t know the Dragon Slayer, but the man kindly introduced himself anyway.

“By Imperial decree, I have been appointed to oversee the investigation team for this project.”

Most of the participants showed little surprise.

They had discreetly heard through their Imperial Family connections that someone of considerable standing would be taking charge of this project.

Only Mona, who had no connections within the Imperial Family, stared at the man with her mouth hanging open, as though she’d just been struck by lightning.

Oversee?

Not merely observe, but actually lead the project?

What on earth was this……

Did it make any sense for the commander of the Empire’s most elite knight order to suddenly take charge of a research project?

Weren’t bureaucrats who lived off their salaries prohibited from holding a second job?

Faced with this utterly absurd reality, Mona felt an overwhelming urge to jump up and run out of the room.

But she had already signed a confidentiality agreement before coming here, so she couldn’t move an inch.

To make matters worse, the Imperial Secretary was recording the meeting in real time.

There was simply no way for her to back out now.

‘I’ve practically dug my own grave with my own hands and climbed right into it…….’

Mona anxiously bit her dry lips.

‘How on earth did things turn out like this?’

Before the bewilderment churning in her chest had even begun to settle, Richard casually swept his gaze across the conference room and spoke.

“Since the details of this project have been classified, I imagine many of you have questions.”

He gave a slight nod.

“Hugo.”

At Richard’s call, the man who had escorted Mona into the conference room entered carrying a stack of documents.

Hugo carried the thick files as effortlessly as if they were made of feathers and placed them on the table.

The documents were then distributed among the participants, and the only sound inside the room was the rustling of turning pages.