Chapter 06
“Ma-Marriage?”
The Master coughed for a long while before asking in shock.
“To the House of Meius?”
“Yes.”
When Judith answered, he failed to hide his bewilderment.
“Um… the young lord is only eight years old, though?”
“Not the young lord. Child marriage is illegal anyway.”
“Th-The Duke and Duchess are known to have a very good relationship.”
“Not the Duke, either. The Empire practices monogamy.”
“No, then…”
“The heir.”
“Lady Ailan, are you talking about Ekian Meius?”
“Yes.”
Judith could understand why the Master looked so incredulous. Saying she intended to marry someone who was officially missing would sound absurd to anyone.
To prevent a pointless argument, she spoke firmly.
“You said yourself that you know nothing about Ekian Meius, Master. Then keep it that way.”
“But how can you marry someone who’s missing?”
“It’ll happen.”
Judith smiled brightly.
“Have any of my pieces of information ever been wrong?”
* * *
The Master returned to the Gray Information Guild in a state of mild panic.
Only after stumbling into his office, shutting the door, and dropping into his chair did a hollow laugh escape him.
“Marry Ekian Meius?”
From the moment he had met her, she had been an utterly outrageous woman. Lately, however, she seemed determined to shock him every single day.
Even though all the literal bombs had already been dealt with, his head felt more blown apart than ever.
From her ridiculous declaration that she liked Ekian Meius despite never having exchanged a single word with him…
To marriage.
“How do you even get married without a husband?”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
Judging by the fact that she had visited the Meius ducal estate today, she must be trying to gain the family’s approval.
But was that even possible?
The House of Meius was one of the Empire’s greatest noble families, wielding power rivaling the Imperial Family itself. They were not people Judith could manipulate or deceive at will.
And from everything he had observed, Judith Ailan was, at heart, a good and righteous person. She wasn’t the type to run a scam on the Meius family.
“That just makes even less sense.”
The Master muttered in confusion.
“Marrying the heir… what kind of nonsense is that…”
In the empty room, he removed his mask as if suffocating.
The mask that had concealed even the back of his head fell with a soft thud.
Hidden black hair cascaded down in smooth waves.
Hair as dark as the night sky.
A clean forehead.
Strong, neatly shaped brows.
Cool, deep-set eyes.
A sculpted nose.
His irises were a dark crimson, as though stained with blood, while a sharp jawline and softly curved lips completed his striking features.
“How exactly does she plan to marry me?”
The Master of the Gray Information Guild.
A man who, while still in his late teens, had founded an information guild with his bare hands and become the undisputed ruler of the underworld.
Not even his closest subordinates had ever seen his face without a mask.
And although he was secretly a master swordsman, he had never revealed his true skill to anyone.
The identity nobody knew—
Was Ekian Meius.
It had almost been five years since he had run away from the Meius ducal estate.
Which meant that after five years of being officially missing, he would soon be legally declared dead.
That’s for the best.
There shouldn’t be a place for me in the House of Meius.
Ekian closed his eyes as he thought of the Duke and Duchess of Meius, and his younger brother Karl.
I need to become someone who disappeared.
If he did not vanish, his parents would never name Karl as their heir.
Since childhood, Ekian had enjoyed overwhelming support from the family retainers. Unless he were officially declared dead and Karl was forced to inherit the title, there was practically no way to pass the position to his younger brother.
And now, when there’s so little time left… marriage? What is she even talking about?
He could not understand what Judith Ailan was thinking.
Only her confident words remained vivid in his mind.
“Have any of my pieces of information ever been wrong?”
Judith and Ekian had never officially crossed paths even once.
Which was only natural.
Back when he lived at the ducal estate, Ekian barely had time to meet even high-ranking nobles. He disliked social gatherings and rarely mingled with people outside necessary obligations.
And Judith Ailan is a noblewoman buried under a mountain of debt… wait.
Only then did Ekian realize something and press a hand to his forehead.
He had been so shocked by Judith’s declaration that he had completely forgotten the reason he had sought her out that morning.
Originally, he had intended to pay off her debts as compensation for saving his life.
He had completely forgotten to mention it.
There had been very few occasions in his life when Ekian Meius was so flustered that he forgot the purpose of a visit.
Glancing at the clock, he thought:
It would be awkward to go back now. She’s probably working as a tutor at this hour.
He knew her daily routine well enough.
Judith worked incredibly hard because of her debts.
The money she earned from selling information to him had helped her keep up with the interest payments and avoid sinking deeper into debt, but she still needed money to live.
Even the cheapest boarding house required rent.
She needed clothes.
She needed food.
So Judith spent her days working as a private tutor.
Apparently, she had received an excellent noble education in childhood, because she was quite skilled at teaching young children essential subjects and etiquette.
Most people would have given up by now. She really is remarkable.
Ordinarily, someone in her position wouldn’t even dream of paying off the principal amount of their debt.
Yet Judith never seemed despairing.
She had never once complained to him.
She acted as though she had some kind of plan.
Calmly.
Steadily.
Methodically.
There was nothing particularly dramatic about her days, but their consistency had left a deep impression on him.
I’ll see her tomorrow. No, I’ve already thanked her. I should simply summon her here instead.
That way he could hand her the check immediately.
Without even realizing that he had spent the entire time thinking about her, Ekian organized the next day’s plans.
And I need to ask about this marriage scheme in detail.
Yesterday, investigators had appeared demanding to know how Judith learned about the bomb incident, so he had never gotten the chance to speak with her properly.
It wasn’t the kind of thing he could ask openly in public.
So it would be better to bring her here and question her in private.
Ekian immediately picked up a quill pen.
He wrote a letter asking her to visit the guild when she had time the next day and sent an employee to deliver it.
* * *
The next day, Judith finally arrived at the Gray Information Guild shortly before evening.
“I’m a bit late, aren’t I? Sorry.”
She looked unusually cheerful.
“I’m coming from the Meius ducal estate. I was originally planning to visit them two days from now, but the Duchess suddenly summoned me.”
Ekian already knew she had been called to the estate at dawn.
That was precisely why he had spent the entire day anxiously waiting for her.
Because…
The one place he had never placed informants was the Meius estate.
No matter how much information he collected elsewhere, he knew nothing about what happened inside that mansion.
To avoid lingering attachments, he had deliberately excluded the Meius family from his information network.
“What could possibly have kept you at the estate all day? I heard you went there before sunrise.”
“Oh, I had to fill out the marriage registration papers.”
“…What?”
“The registration should be completed by tomorrow.”
For a moment, Ekian felt as though someone had struck him across the head.
He truly hadn’t thought it possible to be any more shocked than he already was.
Then again…
He was.
“W-Wait… h-how…?”
“Since the news will spread throughout the capital soon anyway, I thought I should tell you first out of courtesy, Master.”
Judith spoke brightly.
“The House of Meius is going to announce that I’m pregnant with Ekian’s child.”
The moment Judith mentioned the marriage registration, Ekian had thought:
Surely I can’t be any more surprised than this.
He immediately took that thought back.
Because he was even more shocked now.
In fact, horrified would have been a more accurate description.
