#66. Must It Really Be Like This?
“…As if you wanted me.”
Cryer’s last reply was spoken so faintly that even he could barely hear it himself. Olivia, of course, didn’t catch it.
No answer came, and her eyes remained covered, yet she didn’t feel the urge to brush his hand away. Instead, she only blinked rapidly beneath his palm.
Her long, thick lashes fluttered against his hand like butterfly wings, tickling his skin—and deep inside Cryer, heat flared up.
“Uh? What’s with you all of a sudden?”
It had been sudden when he first covered her eyes, but perhaps it was just her imagination—removing his hand felt even rougher and more abrupt. Olivia tilted her head in confusion.
But Cryer simply dragged a hand down his face and, without looking at her, stretched out the other.
“Never mind that. You need to look at this.”
“What is it?”
Choosing not to question his earlier behavior, Olivia took the papers. The moment she skimmed them, her face twisted in anger.
“What kind of nonsense is this?!”
While Olivia and Cryer were rapidly cutting down the mountain of documents side by side…
Isaac and Angbeu, back in Tarenzer, were literally putting their heads together.
And Isaac meant literally—foreheads pressed against each other, so much so that he narrowed his fox-like eyes and asked for the second time:
“Must it really be like this?”
“You’re more persistent than I thought. I told you already, didn’t I? The best ideas come when we put our heads together.”
“Thinking together, yes. But not quite this… literally.”
“I need to do it this way.”
Their breaths mingled as they spoke, and Angbeu’s answer was sharp enough to leave no room for doubt. Isaac closed his mouth.
Somehow, ever since he’d met this girl, he felt like he was constantly being dragged around.
No—that wasn’t just a feeling. He really was being dragged around.
True, she had him cornered for trespassing into Tarenzer uninvited. But hadn’t she agreed to overlook that, on the condition that they investigate together?
For a brief moment, Isaac wondered why he was even here, in this situation with her. Then he brushed the thought aside.
Well… it wasn’t that bad, was it?
And according to the Arkendel family creed—swift decisions are the key to survival—Isaac decided not to pull away from this partnership with Angbeu.
She asked many questions, but it wasn’t particularly irritating.
“…So, we should probably speak to the knight first, don’t you think?”
“Apologies, I missed the beginning. When you say ‘the knight’…”
“The one who stands at Her Highness’s side. Silver hair, dark crimson eyes. When Her Highness returned from the Assembly with him, society was in an uproar.”
Since their foreheads were still touching, Angbeu tilted her head, leaving Isaac forced to tilt his the same way to meet her gaze.
“It was enough to stir the whole social circle, wasn’t it? After all, it was the first time Her Highness personally chose someone.”
“Oh, please. The fuss was really made by those obsessed with power shifts.”
“You mean all the nobles of the Empire.”
“Anyway, what caused the most stir was his looks. His face? His whole presence, really.”
“Then why are you looking so puzzled?”
Furrowing her brows, Angbeu lowered her voice.
“Sure, his looks could make anyone’s head turn. But honestly—doesn’t he look impossibly strong? Like, the kind of strength you can’t even begin to gauge?”
Isaac gave her a new, appraising look.
Perhaps it was because she was heir to the Taren family, but her eye for people was impressive—impressively accurate.
He himself had recognized the knight at a glance, thanks to years of brutal training under his family’s vision, treated like a hound in his homeland. But Angbeu, whose training went no further than self-defense, had managed to draw the same conclusion?
“Still, since he belongs to Her Highness, all those gossips shut their mouths quickly.”
“Quite right. One must choose carefully what topics to bring to their lips.”
If Olivia had heard them, she would have jumped up in denial, but the two continued their conversation as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“In any case, we’ve dug through every scrap of information on the Leuir family, and came up with nothing. Which means what Sugar is hiding must concern himself. And the one clue we do have…”
“Those crimson eyes.”
At Isaac’s words, his throat bobbed as he swallowed dryly.
He had already resolved to follow that man—but that didn’t mean he wanted to meet him face-to-face.
Just picturing those crimson eyes, so eerily similar to Sugar’s, glowing in the dark… sent a shiver crawling down his back.
And now this girl was calmly suggesting they go meet him.
“May I ask you something?”
“Of course. If it’s something I can answer, I’ll tell you anything.”
Her response was sincere, even friendly. Isaac pulled his forehead away from hers, leaned back, and shook his head.
“You don’t need to tell me everything. That would be… burdensome.”
“If it burdens you, then fine. So, what’s your question?”
Angbeu smiled brightly, not at all offended.
“Are you not… afraid of him? Not frightened, not uneasy, not wary, not… difficult to approach?”
“You used ‘afraid’ twice.”
“It was important enough to repeat.”
Isaac was entirely serious. Angbeu straightened and answered with equal seriousness.
“Not afraid at all. Not uneasy, not wary, not difficult either.”
Her words struck Isaac with the realization that his earlier judgment of her had been wrong.
He’d thought her insight was sharp—but no, not here.
“He’s the one by Her Highness’s side. Even if he could snap my neck with a flick of his fingers, why would I fear him? He belongs to her.”
Seeing her innocent smile, Isaac corrected himself again.
So she did have good instincts… except when it came to anything related to the princess.
“You’re the one who fears him, aren’t you, Isaac?”
The question was blunt, almost cutting—but Isaac admitted it without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her tone was genuinely puzzled. Isaac answered honestly.
“It’s instinctive fear. Survival instinct warning me. The fear one feels before someone so overwhelmingly strong you can’t even fathom reaching them.”
It wasn’t learned—it was primal. Anyone with a certain level of power would feel it when they faced Cryer.
Naturally, someone like Angbeu, who had no such power, couldn’t understand.
But she didn’t scoff, didn’t demand he justify it. Instead, she simply asked, her eyes shining with conviction:
“Even so… you’ll go, right?”
She didn’t specify where or to whom, but Isaac only shrugged and stayed silent.
“Silence means yes. Then let’s go!”
“Right now?”
“Of course! These things should be acted on immediately. There’s even that Imperial saying: strike the iron while it’s hot.”
“It’s… not exactly that. The Bolshaic Empire is full of strange proverbs. And besides, we still have loose ends.”
“Loose ends?”
Isaac tapped beneath his eyes.
“The crimson eyes are just a suspicious clue we stumbled on while investigating. But our actual investigation was about—”
“Oh, that’s right!”
Angbeu slapped her palm to her forehead, nodding furiously.
They had dug up plenty of information while tracking the missing servant, much of it tied to the princess’s palace.
“The reason for the disappearance may or may not be linked, but either way, the three of them were entangled in a love triangle.”
“Exactly as expected.”
Still smiling, Angbeu suddenly rubbed her arms and hunched her shoulders.
“Let’s head straight to the palace now.”
Isaac opened his mouth to respond—
Knock, knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock.
The knocking wasn’t loud or harsh, but it carried a frantic, desperate urgency.
The person outside didn’t say a word, but Angbeu immediately sagged, waving Isaac away as if resigned to her fate.
“You’ll have to go alone.”
Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock!
The knocks became fiercer, almost obsessive.
Seeing her slump even further, Isaac couldn’t resist muttering:
“We still don’t know what Sugar’s secret is…”
He hadn’t even finished when Angbeu’s face brightened.
“Then we’ll meet again soon! Next time, I’ll let the guards know in advance, so you can come through the front gate.”
“No, if possible, I’d rather avoid the front gate…”
“Alright then!”
Without a second’s hesitation, Angbeu accepted his shady methods of entry and called out toward the door:
“Come in.”
The moment she spoke, Isaac vanished—and the door burst open.
“M’lady, please, have mercy! I beg of you, it’s urgent! If this doesn’t get approved right away—!”
Tears pooled in the eyes of the marquis’s aide as he pleaded with clasped hands.
Angbeu’s full face wasn’t visible from Isaac’s angle, but he caught a glimpse of her white cheeks puffed up in a sulky pout.
Chuckling quietly, Isaac slipped out of Tarenzer the same way he had come—without anyone knowing.
“So, the missing servant turned out to be from the Leuir family, and though they were in financial trouble, the cause was unknown?”
“Yes. And the woman who targeted Her Highness did it over a love affair. The princess wasn’t the true target—she just happened to be wearing the ribbon-colored dress that belonged to the real target.”
“Ah… I thought as much.”
Olivia nodded bitterly.
The very same servant the Marquis of Heinder had accused of being ‘ill-behaved’ in a petition to the Emperor—that was the servant with the different ribbon color.
“A common enough story, then. With a common ending.”
“A love triangle gone wrong—one lover cheating with the other’s closest friend, all three ending in ruin. Not exactly rare.”
Isaac’s tone was casual. He added:
“But we confirmed for certain—it wasn’t an assassination attempt on Her Highness.”
“Good. Then we’ll close the case here.”
They couldn’t take official measures against the ribbon-colored servant who had nearly become the victim.
Whatever happened between those three, only they truly knew.
And since the Marquis of Heinder had already meddled too far, pushing to have the servant dismissed, the matter felt even murkier to handle.
“This case is closed, however…”
Isaac trailed off, glancing at Cryer.
Since Cryer made no effort to hide anything, Olivia also turned toward him.
“Say whatever you wish. There are no secrets from her.”
“…I see.”
Barely concealing his unease behind narrow fox-like eyes, Isaac fixed his gaze on Cryer and asked:
“Do you… have a son?”
