Roy leaned against the wall adjacent to the break room. He had confirmed with the knights guarding the break room door that there were no other entrances to the room.
'It's taking a long time.'
Being unable to see the target he was guarding right away made him uncomfortable.
'Let's wait for just 30 minutes. Then I have to make sure the Madam is alright.'
A servant approached from a distance and just as he passed by in front of Roy, he made a gesture that signaled their familiarity with each other. Roy naturally shifted his position and moved slightly away from the break room.
"Hey. You. Come here." (Roy)
The servant, who had walked some distance away, heard the call and approached Roy with reluctant steps. And turning his back to the knights guarding the break room entrance, he stood and said in a quiet voice.
"There are characters that need to be watched cautiously." (Servant(?))
Roy increased his voice as if wanting the knights to hear.
"Go bring me something to drink." (Roy)
"Count Ramis and Countess Falcon. The message is to inform you that you should watch carefully if either of them approach the Madam." (Servant(?))
The break room door opened, and a handmaid came out. The handmaid shared a knowing glance with the knights, then walked in Roy's direction.
"I asked you to bring it, why do you have so much to say?" (Roy)
"You cannot drink alcohol here." (Servant(?))
It was the scene of a servant who was pressed to follow a difficult demand, and a knight who was forcing him to bring alcohol. Because it was an action reasonable enough for someone as notorious as Roy, Anita held no suspicion and simply passed them.
The moment the woman passed in front of him, Roy's head turned sharply in her direction.
'What the— this smell is…'
It was a familiar but unpleasant smell. Roy knew a woman with the exact same smell. But that woman's face was not like this. Roy persistently followed the woman with his eyes until she turned around the corner and disappeared.
"…Who? David and who?"
"The Countess of Falcon."
"Don't know who that is but anyway, it's a woman."
He straightened up and quickly approached the knights standing guard in front of the break room. Seeing Roy suddenly approaching them, the knights raised their guard.
There was no time to tussle. After making this judgement, Roy gathered power in his fists and unhesitatingly slammed them into the abdomen of the two knights.
"Kh!"
Not expecting him to attack without notice, the knights were unable to react at all and toppled over. Roy hit the back of their neck and knocked them out. He grabbed the unconscious knights by the scruff of their neck and using his chin, he gestured to the man who was dressed as a servant.
"Open the door."
The man's mouth opened a crack before he quickly opened the door. As Roy entered the room, the man checked to make sure that there was no one around to see them, then he followed inside and shut the door behind them.
Roy abandoned the two knights at the entrance, kicked opened the middle door and entered inside. Seeing the scene unfolding before his eyes, Roy's eyes widened menacingly. The Madam was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, and beside her, stood David in a hovering manner.
His actions moved faster than his thoughts. Roy sprang at David in the blink of an eye and grabbed him by the collar.
"What did you do to the Madam!"
"Kuk!"
With the pressure on his throat, David couldn't reply properly so Roy relaxed his grip slightly. David complexion had turned crimson as he frowned and struggled with both hands to remove Roy's grip on his throat.
"You heinous bastard! Let me go this instant!"
Rather than obeying, Roy shook him with the hand that was grabbing his neck and threatened fiercely.
"If the Madam is hurt in the slightest, you will die in my hands."
"The Duchess is saf…kuk."
"Is this your handiwork?"
"N…No...she passed out for a mome…th-this…let go of this…"
"This fucker! Why would the Madam pass out?!"
As Roy held him by the neck and shook him, David continued to keep his mouth shut. Roy was breathing roughly as he fumed and deciding to listen to the bastard's words, he relaxed the strength in his hand. But when David continued to look at him with his mouth tightly shut as if showing off, Roy released his neck in annoyance.
David arranged his crumpled collar with a very angry look on his face.
"Will you start talking about what the hell you're doing here?!" (Roy)
"You insolent—! Do you know who I am?!" (David)
"I don't care who you are. Explain."
"And who are you?"
David snorted.
"Me? I'm the Madam's guard, of course. And whoever harms the Madam will unconditionally die by my hands."
Seeing Roy's expression full of murderous intent, David flinched. Since it was this ignorant bastard, he wouldn't care about the aftermath, he would just commit the act. David had often heard of the man's notoriety in the high society.
"I simply came to meet the Duchess." (David)
"Why would you?" (Roy)
David smiled mockingly.
"Well, because the Duchess invited me to meet her." (David)
This dude is crazy. Roy thought.
"This isn't a place that anyone can come in. I didn't hear you were in here." (Roy)
"But you…the way you're talking to me…" (David)
David ground his teeth at Roy's tone.
While David and Roy were having a standoff, the man who had followed Roy inside, felt the pulse of the Duchess who was lying down on the sofa. The man gave a sigh of relief and nodded to Roy when their eyes met.
"Duchess."
The man shook her lightly by the arm and woke her up.
Lucia pressed her temples, frowned and slowly opened her eyes. Her head was heavy as if someone had placed a bunch of stones on it. She felt a headache different from her usual headaches; her head was just blank.
"Madam!"
"Sir…Krotin?"
"Can you stand?"
Lucia couldn't think of anything at all. She just held the couch and mumbled that she had to get up as if she were performing a given task then she lifted her body. The man at the side helped by supporting her.
"Hurry and escort the Madam out of here. Make sure to keep out of sight. Something is strange." (Roy)
"Understood. Please hurry, Duchess."
Lucia wanted to know what in the world was going on. But she judged that now wasn't the right time for such a thing.
Sir. Krotin was a guard that her husband had placed at her side out of worry for her safety. There was trust in her husband's words when he said that Sir. Krotin was trustworthy as he was skilled. So Lucia decided to unconditionally believe in Sir. Krotin.
She felt a little dizzy but after a few steps, she was able to move with ease. As she followed the man who appeared to be a servant, Lucia was startled to see the knights collapsed at the entrance. Thanks to that, her vacant head seemed to awaken a bit.
The servant opened the door first and stepped out for a bit, then he came back inside.
"There is no one around. You may come out."
The hallway was usually vacant of people. As they walked along the hallway, the servant continued to be on full alert as he checked the surroundings.
"Wait. Someone is coming. It would be better to avoid them."
Since they weren't very far from the break room yet, it was better to not be seen by anyone right now.
Lucia turned into a dead-end corridor with a bunch of armor set up as ornaments, and hid next to a set of armor. The man in servant's attire walked forward, calm and composed.
A group of people appeared around the corner, consisting of about ten or so noblewomen and following them was Anita, who was dressed as a handmaid.
The servant passed by them naturally and acted as if he was turning the corner but carefully glanced at them. From the looks of it, the direction they were heading towards, was the princess' break room.
'Will Sir Krotin be fine?'
Although he was worried, there was nothing he could do right now. His most important task was to protect the Duchess.
The servant escorted the Duchess and walked towards the party venue.
Lucia was feeling quite better; the heavy feeling that had put her in a bad mood had improved. She straightened her waist naturally, like a noblewoman bring her servant along.
"Slow down. Otherwise it will seems like we're in a hurry."
"Yes, ma'am."
The servant slowed down his steps which he had unknowingly increased. And he slightly glanced at the Duchess.
'She's a really composed person.'
She didn't ask anything nor did she get flustered and run around in confusion. The Duchess was merely following Sir Krotin's instructions, but it was a great deal of coping ability for a noblewoman who had never experience anything rough and was used to giving orders rather than receiving them.
As they got out of the desolate hallway, people were buzzing around left and right. There were busy handmaids and manservants going somewhere with hurried steps, and also guests in formal wear that had come out in order to avoid the buzz of the party.
The servant called a passing handmaid, stopping her.
"Escort the Duchess to the party hall. And call the Imperial doctor. The Duchess says she had a headache."
"Yes."
The man naturally handed the Duchess to the handmaid and asked the handmaid to call the Imperial doctor to check if there was anything wrong with the Duchess.
Lucia briefly met eyes with the man. Then she left for the party hall with the handmaid. Her heart pounded as if it would burst, but she kept on taking quick breaths so that she wouldn't reveal it.
The servant watched from a little distance away as the Duchess walked together with the handmaid, then he slowly followed behind. He walked as if he was coincidentally moving in the same direction. As of now, he decided that he must not take his eyes off the Duchess.
***
After confirming that the Madam had completely left the break room, Roy spoke icily to David.
"You have not seen the Madam here today. Do you understand?"
David gnashed his teeth furiously. He was definitely going to make this bastard live a life worse than death. He wasn't just rude. A mere vulgar commoner-born knight was insulting a Count heir to a Duke.
When David angrily tried to go past Roy in a huff, Roy blocked his path.
"What!"
"Answer before you go. My Madam was never here."
David snorted.
"Didn't you hear me? I came here after being invited by the Duchess."
"This son of a—"
Roy growled. David flinched, then he was filled with indignation at the fact that he was overwhelmed by an ignorant knight's attitude.
"And if I keep my mouth shut? Do you think you can hide the fact that the Duchess was here? What will you do about the knights guarding outside?"
"I just need to tell them to never speak of it."
"How do you know that no one beside the knights and I know?"
Roy's eyes took on a gleam. David wanted to upset Roy's mood even more, so he kept mouthing off.
"Soon, people will come here. I am in the princess' break room and the Duchess' guard knight is together with me. Look forward to how I will explain this situation."
"…Someone will come?"
"The Duchess' guard knight left the Duchess and fought with the Count over a love affair. It'll be very interesting."
All expression died away from Roy's face. Lifeless eyes, void of emotion like that of a wild beast, met with David's eyes.
"…I see. This is a plot of yours."
Roy smiled. It was an immaculate, bright smile.
David broke out in goosebumps. It was an instinctive sensation of life, responding to the threat of death. David tried to say something, but it was already too late.
Roy's two hands grabbed David's head and twisted it. Crack, along with the sound, David's consciousness was cut off. Roy placed the unbreathing David on the floor and stood up. He looked around the break room with a subdued coldness in his eyes. It was completely different from his usual frivolous and careless appearance. Just like a beast that held its breath as it crouched just before taking the leap, there was a calm but ferocious energy around Roy.
Roy had now returned to being a hunter. He revived the sensation of his time in the north, when he had hunted down and killed barbarians.
'The Madam definitely came here with her maid.'
Roy checked every corner of the break room. And he discovered the two unconscious women on the floor of the restroom. The first woman he saw was only in her underwear, and the other woman was his madam's maid. The lips of both women were dark in color, displaying the typical symptoms of poisoning. Their chances of survival didn't seem very high.
'I can't leave the maid behind.'
If he was alone, he could get out of here without leaving a trace, no matter what. But taking an unconscious woman along would make things difficult. However, leaving the maid behind with the corpse of the Duke's successor, meant that the Madam would get caught up in the situation.
'Moreover, there is an accomplice.'
David said that people were coming. That meant that there was a promise or an agreement for that to happen.
'The person that brought this bastard here. They will definitely come back.'
Roy was reminded of the handmaid that had passed in front of him earlier and the unpleasant woman that kept grating on his nerves. The two different looking people had the same smell. There was some kind of relationship between the two.
'Who are they aiming for? The Madam? Or the Lord?'
While escorting the Crown Prince for more than a year, Roy learnt a lot of things. He witnessed the battles of aristocrats, where they made rumors and spread them in order deal with their enemies.
At first, he thought 'a man should pick up his sword and fight fair and square, what sort of crappy act is that'. But he came to the realization that sometimes, the effect of a rumor was much more fatal than that of a sword.
'The Madam is a woman. A rumor is not good for a woman.'
Regardless of who they were aiming for, if they harmed the Madam, the result would lead to his lord being harmed as well.
'The accomplice must be eliminated.'
Roy gave up on escaping. And he thought of cleaning up. He decided to get rid of all traces of the Madam ever being here. A true hunter should not leave any traces or any causes for future concern.
He had to start with getting rid of the witnesses. He broke the necks of the maid and the handmaid, killing them instantly. He felt a little sorry to the maid whom he was slightly acquainted with.
'Sorry. I'll beg for forgiveness in hell later.'[1]
He dragged in the knights who were strewn across the floor at the entrance. They were witnesses to the scene of the Madam entering the break room. As expected, he killed them too, and leaned them against the wall in an inconspicuous blind spot.
The whole process was over in the blink of an eye. Many lives were lost in an instant, but for Roy, it was a hunt. There was no fear or any feeling of guilt in him after murdering ordinary people.
Roy sat on the sofa, closed his eyes and waited patiently. His sensitive senses caught the sound of a group of people heading in his direction. The gradually approaching footsteps stopped in front of the door to the break room.
The moment the door was opened with a tiny click sound, Roy opened his eyes. The middle door opened. A dozen or so noblewomen piled into the break room, discovered Roy and stopped.
Roy's eyes flashed. He saw the handmaid's eyes quiver relentlessly as she stood, holding onto the door latch.
Anita thought something was strange from the moment she didn't see the Duchess' guard in the hallway, and when she saw that there were no knights in front of the break room, she felt something wasn't right.
However, she couldn't refuse the noblewomen who were following her and urging her to quickly open the door. If she ran away like that, it would be way too obvious. She thought that regardless of what had happened, after bringing the noblewomen inside, she would take the chance and naturally remove herself.
The noblewomen would never open a door with their own hand. Anita was annoyed even though she herself was such a noblewoman. As soon as she opened the middle door, Anita came face-to-face with Roy, who was staring straight at her. She couldn't move an inch as if she had become a frog in front of a snake.
'So it is you.'
Roy instinctively judged that this woman was at the center of all the things that had occurred. Following the temperament of a hunter, which relied more on the body's senses than reasoning, he pulled out the hidden dagger that he always had on him, and immediately threw it at the woman's neck.