‘What do I do?’
I froze, completely caught off guard.
As I instinctively tried to move and hide, the guards broke into a sprint.
“Stop right there!”
I halted on the spot.
Now that I thought about it, there was no way I could outrun two trained guards.
‘Maybe I should just let them catch me and pretend I know nothing.’
As much as I hated to admit it, I looked harmless.
I wasn’t carrying any suspicious weapons, and if I played dumb, they might just let me go.
The guards finally reached me.
Seeing my small frame, they let their guard down and didn’t even bother drawing their swords.
“Why were you hiding here?”
“Well, actually…”
I had just started to spin a story when—
Thud!
A muffled impact.
Then another.
Before the guards could even make a sound, they both collapsed.
‘What…?’
And behind them, Olche stood with a satisfied grin.
“Sir Olche?”
“Well? Told you I was a skilled knight.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
Now, everything made sense.
While the guards were focused on me, she had ambushed them from behind.
“You… used me as bait?”
“Let’s call it a strategy—for both our sakes.”
“You could have told me first!”
Olche didn’t respond. Instead, she handed me back my robe and bracelet.
I hurriedly put them back on, deciding it wasn’t worth making a scene.
“Let’s go.”
Olche grabbed my hand and ran.
She was fast.
I barely managed to keep up, clinging to her like luggage as she pulled me along.
Thanks to her speed, we slipped inside the mansion just as the coast cleared.
Sticking to the shadows, we avoided detection and made it to the baron’s office.
Of course, two guards were stationed outside the door.
We hid around the corner, peering into the hallway.
“What now?” Olche whispered.
“What do you think?”
I handed my robe and bracelet back to her.
“We do that plan again.”
This time, I became an active decoy.
I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my chest as if I were in pain.
“Ugh…”
“Hey, what’s going on over there?”
The guards hesitated, then cautiously approached me.
And just like before—
Thud.
Thud.
Two more silent takedowns.
Was Olche that good? Were the guards that weak? Or… did I really just look that pathetic?
“That was easy.”
I muttered as I took my robe and bracelet back.
“Told you. It’s a good plan.” Olche shrugged.
Now that the guards were down, all that was left was to search the office.
I carefully opened the door, just in case.
‘At this hour, he should be in his bedroom…’
As expected, the office was empty.
“Alright, let’s search everything. And don’t turn on any lights!”
“Got it.”
We scoured the room, relying only on the moonlight filtering through the window.
A few minutes later, I spotted something odd on the bookshelf.
‘What’s this?’
I pulled out a book.
At first glance, it was just an ordinary book like the others.
But it felt different.
The cover was shinier—smoother than the rest, as if it had been handled far more frequently.
‘If it’s been touched this much…’
A bad feeling crept over me.
I flipped it open—and just as I suspected, the pages had been hollowed out.
Inside, folded documents were neatly hidden.
A book-shaped safe.
It was sheer luck we hadn’t turned on the lights. Otherwise, I might have missed it completely.
I skimmed the documents, and it didn’t take long to recognize what they were.
“Found it!”
“Seriously? Then let’s get out of here.”
If the knocked-out guards woke up or someone saw us, we’d be in trouble.
I was about to follow Olche out when I suddenly stopped.
“My lady?”
“Wait a second.”
I started pulling books off the shelves and scattering them on the floor. Then I yanked open drawers and rummaged through them.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a mess.”
If we covered our tracks well enough, the baron wouldn’t immediately know what was stolen. It wouldn’t buy us much time, but any delay was better than none.
As I ransacked a drawer, something small tumbled out.
‘This is…’
I didn’t even need to guess.
It was a set of tiny glass bottles.
Labeled Hair Growth Formula.
I grabbed a few and stuffed them into my pocket.
“Okay, now we’re good. Let’s go.”
“Right.”
Olche, who had been helping mess up the room, nodded.
Retracing our path, we slipped back outside.
Fortunately, we didn’t run into anyone.
Once we reached the empty streets, Olche asked,
“What now? Are we heading back to the inn?”
“No.”
Baron Gobet would soon realize his house had been broken into.
It was only a matter of time before he discovered the missing ledger.
‘And when he does, he’ll do everything he can to cover it up.’
I wasn’t going to give him that chance.
“We’re going to the imperial palace.”
I answered without hesitation.
****
The meeting was convened in just a few hours.
Fully prepared, I headed to the conference room.
Unlike last time, several seats were empty.
As expected, some of the provincial nobles, whose lands were far from the capital, had been unable to attend.
‘Good. That means Baron Gobet shouldn’t have made it either.’
I smiled slightly as I glanced toward my seat—
‘…Huh?’
There, sitting confidently, was Baron Gobet.
And he was looking right at me with an air of absolute triumph.
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