Chapter 15. Guild Revelus
Blair was standing on the outside of the balcony railing. Precariously, as if she could fall at any moment.
Blair also seemed quite flustered, not having expected Rina to enter the room.
Rina seized the moment and rushed over, roughly grabbing Blair by the waist.
"No! You can't!"
"Rina, wait! It's a misunderstanding. First, let go of this..."
"No! I can't let go! If Your Highness says you'll die, then I'll die with you!"
"That's not it..."
"No! Until you come back over to this side, I won't listen to whatever you say! Quickly, come inside!"
Eventually, Rina held onto Blair and began sobbing loudly. Even while crying, she tenaciously gripped Blair and pulled her in, rescuing her like landing a prize catch.
"Where are you trying to go alone, leaving me behind! Absolutely not! If you're going to have such terrible thoughts, kill me first before you go!"
"I said it's not like that. It's only the second floor, what..."
But it seemed those words couldn't reach Rina, who was sniffling with tears and a runny nose. Blair had no choice but to remain held and endure her tears.
Only after a long while did Rina finally calm down and ask Blair.
"But why were you having such thoughts...?"
Her voice was still nasal, the trace of crying not yet gone.
Blair scratched her cheek awkwardly as she explained.
"It's not what you're thinking. I was trying to leave because there's somewhere I need to go secretly."
Hearing Blair's words, only then did she notice the cloth tied to the balcony railing. It was a rope made by firmly tying together blankets from the room.
Rina was aghast.
"Ah, no. How reckless! What if you fall and get hurt?"
"It's only the second floor. There are bushes below too."
Blair stood confidently as if she had planned everything meticulously, but Rina, who had watched over Blair for a long time, knew.
Her beloved imperial princess, despite her gentle appearance, would sometimes launch into reckless endeavors.
Rina pressed her forehead and sighed, then suddenly recalled something and asked.
"Anyway, where on earth are you trying to go at this hour of the night...?"
Instead of answering, Blair smiled radiantly. It was a dazzlingly beautiful smile, but somehow ominous.
* * *
"This place is..."
Rina's eyes widened as she looked out the carriage window.
The place they arrived at after slipping out of the ducal residence with Blair was the Guild Street in the back alleys of the Imperial Capital.
Blair pulled the robe's hood over her head and opened the carriage door, saying,
"I'll be back soon."
"If you don't come out in 30 minutes, I really will come looking for you. I mean it!"
Since Blair had earnestly insisted throughout the carriage ride that they couldn't enter the guild together, Rina backed down obediently despite her stern warning.
After getting out of the hired carriage, Blair stood in front of a guild building.
Guild Revelus.
It was an information guild that had made a name for itself, said to be unrivaled in gathering intelligence among the numerous guilds.
Blair took a deep breath and stepped inside the guild building.
The interior looked like an ordinary tavern at first glance. When Blair entered, the noisy guild fell silent as if doused with cold water.
They scrutinized the uninvited guest who didn't fit this place.
The woman had her face hidden by the robe's hood, but just from the glimpse of her prominent nose and small rosy lips beneath it, one could tell she was a beauty.
A well-built middle-aged man who had been scrutinizing Blair's face slammed his beer mug down with a thud and shouted.
"Hey, who called their lover to the guild? Confess voluntarily."
"Ah, I think it's my lover."
"What are you talking about. She looks like my wife."
The men bantered among themselves, each claiming Blair as their woman. Even their giggling laughter felt frightening to Blair.
For her, who had grown up nobly as an imperial princess, a group of men revealing their raw nature was something she had never encountered.
But if she had intended to be scared and run away, she wouldn't have come here in the first place.
Blair ignored them and approached the bar located in the center of the guild.
However, the drunk men seemed unwilling to easily let go of their hard-caught eye candy, and stood blocking her path.
"Hey, pretty lady. What brings you here?"
"I've come to meet the master of this place."
"Our master is busy, so he doesn't take small-fry jobs. How about telling us hyungs instead? We'll do it cheap and sure."
"Have a drink and let's talk slowly. About what worries our pretty one has to come fearlessly to a place crawling with these dark fellows."
A man too drunk to even stand properly put his arm around Blair's shoulder and pressed close. The stench of alcohol and unfamiliar warmth that came with him made her skin crawl.
Blair calmly grabbed the man's arm and pulled it down. Then, placing a ring in his hand, she said.
"Bring the master."
"Hah!"
The man, whose face was flushed red from the alcohol, let out a laugh of disbelief.
Being completely ignored and merely handed a jewel to be ordered around like a servant was utterly displeasing.
"Do you take me for some neighborhood mutt! You think I'll wag my tail for money?"
The man raised his voice, spitting as he spoke. Just his large frame and loud voice were threatening enough.
But Blair didn't back down.
No, she couldn't back down.
Not when she thought about how the guild request held the future she would share with Asiel.
Blair tightly clenched her instinctively trembling hands to hide it and faced the man.
"You've worked in this business for a long time, so you know better than anyone how to conduct yourselves. How foolish it is to cut open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs."
The man who met Blair's eyes through the hood flinched. From this slender woman's gaze, he felt a peculiar, irresistible sense of authority.
It wasn't just the man who felt it; the watching guild members also sensed the strange atmosphere and exchanged glances with each other.
If nothing else, seeing the woman come out so confidently, they were certain she was a heavyweight client they absolutely shouldn't miss.
One of the guild members who had been exchanging glances went up to the second floor, and after a while, came back down with another man.
"Did the lady ask to see me?"
Blair looked at the man once and opened her mouth.
"No. I wish to speak with the master."
"I am the master of Revelus."
"Is it Revelus's rule to deceive clients like this?"
As she said that, Blair's gaze was directed toward the bartender wiping glasses inside the bar.
He was a handsome man with a gentle impression, wavy brown hair, and green eyes.
"I wish to make a request to the guild master of Revelus."
The man's eyes behind his round glasses paused for a moment, but then he smiled as if finding it amusing and asked.
"May I ask how you knew?"
"When I told them to bring the master. Everyone was glancing sideways to check your reaction, but you just listened."
"You have a good eye."
The man smiled at Blair, then looked around at the subordinates who had been caught in their 'sideways glances'. The subordinates subtly avoided his gaze.
The man set down the glass and came out from behind the bar.
"Shall we move to another room?"
Blair followed the man up to a room on the second floor. The room he guided her to was an ordinary empty room.
When they were left alone, the man bowed his head politely.
"Let me formally introduce myself, Duchess. I am Mikhail Kines."
Blair flinched. The man knew her identity even though she hadn't mentioned it. But come to think of it, if the head of an information guild didn't even know the face of the imperial princess, that would be even more untrustworthy.
"...That situation earlier, you were testing me on purpose."
"I wanted to check how desperate you were, madam. Those who seek me out risking danger pay a price equivalent to their desperation. I apologize if you were offended."
"It's fine. That must mean you're confident you can carry out the assigned task cleanly."
Even at Mikhail's insolent attitude of daring to test her, an imperial princess and duchess of a nation, Blair responded calmly.
However, in her gentle voice and gaze, there was tolerance and at the same time, bite. An attitude that showed grace while simultaneously overwhelming the other person. It was a natural demeanor for someone accustomed to handling subordinates.
'So she was born a noble imperial princess from the start.'
Mikhail smiled and replied to her words.
"Revelus will duly repay that trust. Then, could you tell me the details of your request? The more specific, the more we can help with your purpose."
When the topic of the request came up, light entered Blair's violet eyes that had been calm all along.
"There are three things I wish to request in total."
Mentioning 'three things,' Blair spread three fingers. It was a habit that came out when she talked with Asiel, but not knowing this, Mikhail thought her appearance was quite cute.
"To be entrusted with three things. Revelus will be able to become even wealthier."
It was a joke born from the confidence that they would never fail the requests they took on.
Blair laid out her requests.
"First, secure a small villa in the outskirts of Agentha, the capital of the Clania Kingdom. And a new identity to live under, discarding this name."
She had no intention of living in one place for long, but it would be difficult to move around with a pregnant body, so she planned to stay in Agentha until she gave birth to Asiel.
'Agentha is the capital of the kingdom, so it should be easy to find capable doctors or necessary supplies.'
Hearing Blair's story, Mikhail was inwardly surprised.
The imperial princess was saying she would discard her name. That meant she would also leave the ducal house.
He was curious about the reason, but he had no right to be curious about that.
"The second is I need men who will be entangled in scandals with me. About four or five. It would be good if they're trustworthy people to ensure secrecy."
"Then it would be better for me to be involved as one of them. To report on the progress in between. Would that be alright?"
"If you're fine with it."
Blair nodded readily. If the guild master himself stepped forward, it would be that much more trustworthy.
At that, Mikhail smiled.
"Then when would you like the scandal to break out?"
Mikhail grasped her plan immediately after hearing just one sentence. It was convenient how quick he was to understand, like a professional.
"I'd like it to be half a year from now."
"I'll have to prepare as quickly as possible. Then what is the last request?"
Blair took out a note from her inner pocket and held it out. On the note was drawn a crest. It was a drawing of the crest that was engraved on the dagger of the stranger who had killed her before her regression.
"I'd like you to find the person who possesses a dagger with this crest."
Mikhail carefully examined the crest drawn on the note, then put it in his inner pocket.
"I will strive to get you the answer you want within a short period."
After finishing her conversation with him, Blair came down to the first floor.
The subordinates, who had vaguely guessed her identity from Mikhail's attitude toward Blair, finally bowed their heads deeply.
Blair left the guild with their send-off behind her. At the same time, the shadow that had been watching her disappeared.