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EPISODE 168 – ENTERING THE PALACE (3)
“Nnngh
 Jude
”
Cordelia quietly mumbled before she exhaled and turned her body to the side.
Is it 9 o’clock?
Cordelia had gone to bed earlier than usual because of her exhaustion, but at some point, she suddenly woke up.
Because she could feel something moving.
‘Jude?’
She could hear footsteps, though it was very light.
She couldn’t check right away because her back was turned to the door, but she could feel someone approaching from behind.
Someone was stealthily approaching.
Someone was rustling something.
‘Rustling?’
She heard the sound of someone touching the bed, and not just approaching it.
‘What’s going on?’
Jude, is that you?
And what’s going on?
Why are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?
Why are you approaching the bed while I’m sleeping?
‘And.’
Why am I staying still?
Why am I pretending to sleep with my eyes closed instead of waking up and asking him on what happened?
In the short time she was troubled, her heartbeat increased, and the rustling sounds continued, indicating that someone was drawing near.
Light footsteps.
The sound of someone taking off their foot from the floor.
The sound of someone gently climbing on the bed.
Who could it be?
Who is it?
Is it Jude?
Is it really Jude?
But why?
She could get up and ask, but Cordelia continued to pretend to be sleeping without realizing it, and someone finally reached out to her. She felt them gently putting their hand on her shoulder, and then going up.
From her red hair to her covered nape and then to her ear. From there, it went down along her jaw line and stopped on her soft cheek.
She felt a gentle touch as if someone was caressing her.
Cordelia’s body somehow gradually hunched, and she swallowed her saliva. At that moment, she felt the long and thin fingers touching her cheek suddenly do something. It pinched Cordelia’s soft cheek and pulled it straight.
With a very familiar hand gesture.
“Ah?”
Familiar?
In that instant, Cordelia opened her eyes and grabbed the hand pulling her cheeks as she raised her body at the same time.
“Scarlet?”
“Ah, you were awake?”
Scarlet shamelessly smiled while dressed in a maid uniform, and Cordelia’s brows furrowed.
She was fine with the shameless expression itself, but she did not expect to see Scarlet’s face.
‘No, what am I saying?’
Cordelia shook her head to rid herself of her useless thoughts, and she pulled Scarlet’s arm and asked.
“Hey, what exactly are you doing in my bedroom in the middle of the night?”
“What am I doing? I was pinching my princess’ cheek.”
“My princess?”
Cordelia’s eyes grew fierce, and Scarlet said with an awkward smile.
“Ah, is that a pet name only Jude could use?”
“Do you want to retire today?”
When Cordelia brightly smiled and gathered mana in her empty left hand, an eerie blue light rose, but Scarlet quickly grabbed her hand and said.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop playing around. Let’s have a serious conversation. Black Cloak! Come in!”
“Jude?”
Cordelia blinked her eyes and turned to the door. And it didn’t take long before the door burst open.
“Scarlet, didn’t I ask you to wake her up quietly?”
“I did wake her up quietly. Very gently.”
Scarlet shrugged and gave her a wink, but Cordelia glared at her again as she sat up straight.
“What’s going on? Why are you here in the middle of the night?”
Scarlet quietly smiled at Cordelia’s slightly irritated voice, and she sat down next to Cordelia and spoke.
“It’s only 9 o’clock. Isn’t it too early to say it’s the middle of the night? Of course, it’s the time when good kids go to sleep.”
“Are you picking a fight?”
Cordelia fiercely glared at her again, and Scarlet shut her mouth while Jude deeply sighed before he approached the bed.
“Scarlet, don’t say anything else and just get to the point. Cordelia was woken up from her sleep, so her mood is bad now.”
Jude persuaded her as he handed to Cordelia the teacup he was holding.
It was warm honey water that she usually enjoyed drinking.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Jude replied with a smile before he sat next to Cordelia and glanced at Scarlet again.
He gestured with his eyes for her to talk quickly.
“Tsk, this couple rubbing salt into my wounds. Will something bad happen if you stop making me feel salty?”
“Hey, I can hear everything, okay? Oh, this is delicious. As expected of my Jude.”
“I’m glad Madam likes it.”
“Yes, yes, my Jude is awesome.”
When Jude responded as if he was in a drama, Cordelia gently smiled, and Scarlet frowned again at the appearance of the two.
He told her to stop annoying Cordelia, but they rubbed salt into her wounds again. He told her to get to the main point but continued to act shameless.
“Hey, Pink Bomb.”
“What is it, b*tch?”
Scarlet was momentarily stunned at Cordelia swearing naturally, but she soon nodded her head.
Because Scarlet knew that Pink Bomb was foulmouthed in the first place.
“Hmm, you’re a natural.”
“Stop playing around and get to the point. You do know that waking up someone who’s sleeping well isn’t nice, right?”
“Alright. I’ve already told Black Cloak about this, but I’m here for work.”
“Work? Are you stealing something?”
“No, not stealing. Do you think the job of a Rogue Master is to only steal?”
“Hmm, you do have a point. Because a rogue does a lot of stealing, assault, terrorism, and so on.”
Cordelia nodded as if she understood Scarlet, who frowned when she saw Cordelia’s actions.
She was right, but that only made Scarlet feel bad.
“Hmph, you do know what you’ve done to my cheek is assault, right?”
“I do know it’s assault. Anyway, I want us to work together. Actually, yesterday’s visit was part of my investigation.”
When Scarlet said that while avoiding Cordelia’s eyes, Cordelia tilted her head and looked at Jude, asking him with her eyes.
‘What’s wrong with her?’
Why is she avoiding my eyes when she’s asking us to work with her? Her face is also red.
At Cordelia’s gaze that reflected her confusion, Jude bitterly smiled and replied with his eyes.
‘Our competition hasn’t been settled yet. So she must have felt awkward asking us to work with her. She must be embarrassed.’
Cordelia let out an ‘Ah’ after Jude explained it to her, and she teasingly smiled as she looked back at Scarlet.
Because Scarlet whom she had found annoying until now, had looked very cute.
“Oh my, you’re so cute.”
Scarlet was surprised when Cordelia pinched her cheeks, but she didn’t try to resist because she had also done the same thing to Cordelia, and that she was asking them for a favor now.
‘Ah, so this is how it feels.’
It was a situation where a provocative-looking beauty was blushing while her cheeks were gently being pinched.
Besides, her cheeks felt squishy, so Cordelia was feeling very happy at its texture.
Cordelia’s face loosened as she continued to play with Scarlet’s cheeks, and Jude sighed since their conversation stopped, so he opened his mouth instead.
“Cordelia, Scarlet’s suggestion is for us to explore a dungeon. Or to be exact, she wants us to go with her to the stone tablet-type dungeon book lying underground the Red Rose Castle.”
“Dungeon Book?”
Cordelia removed her hands from Scarlet’s cheeks and asked again with her eyes.
‘Are you talking about the Palace of Mirrors?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘I see, so that was the reason.’
The Palace of Mirrors was a dungeon book that could not be entered alone.
It was an instant dungeon which required a certain number of people before they could enter.
‘It’s the reason why Jude and I didn’t plan on entering it.’
By the time one entered the Palace of Mirrors in the game, Duke Spencer and the SĂ€len Kingdom were already gone, and the Red Rose Castle was in ruins, but that was not the situation now.
Not only was the castle intact, but the number of people residing in it was considerable, so it was hard to sneak in and bring other people.
‘No, it’s possible if it’s only infiltration, but it is hard to find someone reliable whom we can bring.’
She could ask Gaël or Adelia to go together with them, but they would definitely scold the two as soon as Jude and Cordelia told them about it.
‘It’s impossible to ask the prospects whom we just got to know today.’
If it were a dungeon in a quiet forest somewhere, it would have been possible to persuade them, but the situation was different if it was inside Duke Spencer’s mansion. They would clearly show reluctance the moment they were asked to go.
‘The Palace of Mirrors is a 4-player dungeon, right?’
‘Yes, that’s why neither you nor I were thinking of entering it.’
But little did they know that Scarlet had appeared and suggested it herself.
If you add Cordelia, Jude, and Scarlet, then they numbered three, so they needed one more person in order to enter the Palace of Mirrors.
Just one more person.
The last person.
‘You’re thinking of the same person as me, right?’
‘Yes, you’re right.’
A person they could trust, not only because of his skills, but also because of his personality.
In addition to that, a boy whom they could give a chance to improve his skills at least once.
‘I think it’ll be easy to lure him.’
Jude did not deny Cordelia’s words, and the two soon began to smile wickedly.
***
“Lucas, this is Scarlet. Scarlet, this is Lucas.”
Inside the room of Jude and Cordelia.
Lucas had been called out in the middle of the night, but he was still nice and well-mannered. As soon as Cordelia’s introduction was over, he politely greeted Scarlet.
“I am Lucas Hrésvelgr.”
“I’m
 Scarlet.”
Scarlet had initially tried to answer casually, but she politely spoke in the end.
Because Lucas’ eyes were too serious to just ignore.
‘I knew it! I knew he’d be weak against this!’
Just as Lucas liked stories about heroes, Scarlet also liked those stories especially those of the Rogue Master’s stories.
Cordelia screamed happily in her mind, and she quickly looked back at Jude.
‘Jude, Jude. Don’t you think that they look good together?’
Her eyes sparkling with anticipation made her look very cute, but Jude just smiled at her excitement.
‘Hey, you said that you wanted him to end up with Red Wind back then.’
‘But Red Wind is in the wild lands. She seemed to be getting along with Sun Song.’
So let’s pair Lucas with Scarlet.
They’re enthusiasts of hero stories, so they’ll get along well. Isn’t that a match made in heaven?
‘A young master from a noble family and a provocative-looking beautiful thief. Plus, the woman is older. Hmm, hmm
it looks good, it looks good.’
As Cordelia continued to be immersed in her imagination, Jude briefly put aside the conversation with their eyes and explained the rough situation to the two, or rather, to Lucas.
“Oh, I see
 So there’s a dungeon book hidden in the basement of this Red Rose Castle?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Miss Scarlet is Mr. Jude and Lady Cordelia’s adventure companion.”
“Yes, we had an adventure together just before we came to the royal capital.”
Cordelia seriously nodded when Jude replied with a smile, and Scarlet affirmed it though her expression was strange.
“To sum it up, you need four people to enter the dungeon book, so you came to me, is that right? In order to enter the dungeon book together.”
“Yes, to go on an adventure together.”
Lucas flinched for a moment when Jude emphasized a certain word, and Cordelia’s wild instincts did not let her miss that moment.
“Lucas, don’t you think it’s going to be fun? We’ll be accessing the hidden secret of the Red Rose Castle. There’s also an enigmatic and mysterious beauty with us.”
“Who? Me?”
Scarlet questioned if Cordelia was referring to her, but Cordelia continued to speak.
“It’s a dungeon book, so Duke Spencer’s place will not be damaged. We don’t have to worry about dying either. We can literally enjoy an adventure. A great adventure.”
Cordelia continued to emphasize the word ‘adventure,’ and Lucas flinched each time she said it.
Because he had focused so much on sword training that he had forgotten his longing for adventure for a while, so his longing had been revived now.
“Lord Lucas, will you join us? This is my suggestion to Lord Lucas, my good rival. I can’t just monopolize the opportunity to grow further.”
In fact, it was because of the four-people restriction, so they needed one more person, but there was no need for them to reveal such a thing.
The important thing was to lure Lucas.
“Mr. Jude
”
“Lord Lucas, let’s grow together.”
As if to respond to Lucas’ unsure look, Jude tightly held Lucas’ hand as he emphasized it again, and its effect was amazing.
Lucas was overwhelmed by his emotions and he nodded his head.
‘Wow, as expected of my Jude, a really good scammer.’
It would be really terrible if he was someone else’s scammer.
Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief while Scarlet who was watching from the side, squirmed as if she was going to die from cringe.
And a few seconds later.
Lucas finally made up his mind and clenched his fist as he said.
“I’ll try to help you even if my skills are lacking. Let’s grow together and become better!”
“Wow.”
Jude and Cordelia applauded as if they had waited for his reaction, and Scarlet was also forced to applaud after Cordelia stepped on her foot.
“Now then, let me tell you the details before we leave.”
The exact location of the dungeon book and the enemy they would encounter inside.
Scarlet was amazed by Jude’s knowledge, and she continued to glance at Cordelia to ask how he knew about it. But Cordelia was only humming and didn’t give her a proper answer. As for Lucas, he was busy listening to Jude with a serious face.
“It won’t be easy. But the joy of achieving that much will be great.”
Jude told everyone before he stood up from his seat, and Lucas quickly followed him with sparkling eyes.
“As you said, I think it’s a necessary challenge for me now. Mr. Jude. Thank you very much.”
“Because it’s for my rival.”
“Mr. Jude
”
“Lord Lucas.”
As Jude and Lucas shared a heated look, Scarlet’s eyes grew cold, while Cordelia giggled and pulled Jude’s sleeve.
“Anyway, let’s go.”
Cordelia was also very interested in the special enemy she would face in the Palace of Mirrors.
“Yes, my princess. Everyone, this way please.”
Jude opened the window very naturally, and Cordelia who was dressed in the usual pants she wore while they were on a trip, quickly passed through the window and went outside.
“Please go first.”
“Uh
okay.”
And followed by the serious Lucas and the awkward Scarlet.
The four young men and women cautiously and secretly walked as if they were running away at night.