Lorraine had seen several personable men among the commoners who rose up to become famous.
They were all people who she didnât understood for why they were called handsome. They were good looking, yes. But not actually handsome.
The same went for nobles.
Among the aristocrats who were reputed to be handsome, there was no one she really found handsome.
Lorraine had been seeing Lorian since childhood, so her standards were set quite high.
But even Lorraine had no choice but to acknowledge Cloudâs natural appearance.
ââŠYes, no matter if he is a commoner, he is a hero, right? A being chosen by the Goddess. Thatâs no ordinary commoner.â
He was a human being chosen by the Goddess herself.
So of course, he was fundamentally higher than a knight, and his status should be higher than that of any nobleman. So, wasnât it the same as him being an honorary nobleman?
Self-rationalization.
It was Lorraineâs self-rationalization to defend her pride from the fact that she didnât feel offended by being kissed by a commoner whom she thought as vulgar.
â Chueup⊠ChueupâŠ!
The kiss felt long but ended shortly.
Even after the short kiss ended, Lorraine sat there blankly. Because the heat left on her lips hadnât gone away yet.
Then she felt Cloud staring at her without leaving yet.
âWhat? Why arenât you going away?â
Normally, he would have left as soon as the kiss was over, why was he still with her?
âAre you going to send a challenge letter tomorrow morning?â
âThatâs upto me! Why? Losing your confidence to defeat me the next day?â
âNo⊠that⊠well, anyways.â
Cloud took a deep breath and left the grounds.
Lorraine looked at his back in dissatisfaction.
âWhat? I thought he had something to say.â
She grunted and stood up from her seat.
She went back to her room, and she wrote a new challenge letter, placed it inside the crevice of Cloudâs room door, and then she went to bed. And the next night, she waited for Cloud at the grounds.
It had become a normal routine from some moment on, but Lorraine always pretended she didnât care.
But it was weird.
No matter how much she waited today, Cloud did not come. Lorraine, tired of waiting for him, scrunched her brows, and stormed into Cloudâs room.
âHey! You sleeping or what? Are you sure about ignoring me?!â
Lorraine spurred the door and entered the room.
The inside of the room was clean and empty.
â..?â
What? Did something happened?
It canât be, right?
Lorraine, who was bewildered, didnât get the answer until the next morning.
âAre you talking about Hero Cloud and his team? They left yesterday, early morning.â
She couldnât half-believe what the butler told her.
Lorraine went to bed late and woke up late because of waiting for him at the grounds, and Cloud had left while she was sleeping?
âThis⊠y-you motherfuckerâŠ!â
âYou left without saying a word to me..!â
Lorraine was furious.
No, he had left but why should she get angry?
Why should she get angryâŠ
Oh yes, the duel.
She hadnât won a duel. She even lost her first kiss, and more kisses every time after, she hadnât been kissed so many times by her parents on the cheeks, alright?
That bastard made fun of her lips.
Yes, this was rÄpe.
Heâs a rÄpist who rÄped her lips and left!
When she came to the conclusion, she felt even more angry.
Promising to catch him by the hair the next time she saw him, Lorraine headed to Lorianâs room.
She intended to improve her skills by asking Lorian to teach her. She was no longer allowing Lorian to bury himself in the corner and wallow in self-pity.
ButâŠ
âHuh⊠Where did my brother go now? What is actually happening?! Are they making fun of me as a group?!â
Lorian was not in his room.
* * *
While Lorraine was yelling out her frustrations at Lorianâs room wall, Lorian was facing Gis.
Gis blew out white smoke from his mouth and rubbed the cigar he was smoking on the table.
âSo, you mean you want to hire our assassination squad?â
âThatâs right.â
âWhy did you come to me? Our handsome prince will surely be able to hire an assassination squad himself, even without me in this whole thing, eh?â
âIt is a fact that no one can deny, the Zarakh Societyâs assassination squad is the best on the continent. And so I thought I should hire the assassination squad for a commission through you than going directly myself.â
Gis was sponsored by the Kingdom of Alitiaâs criminal organization, the Zarakh Society. It was a secret to outsiders, but what every insider knew.
âWell, thatâs right. So, the target? Cloud, right?â
Lorian nodded his head.
âThere is no need to kill. If you do, you may incite her wrath. But⊠you see. I wish you can instill despair in him. Despair deep enough to break his heart.â
âIt is not difficult. Torture is one of the specialties of our assassination squad. You donât have to worry about other issues. The Assassination Squad of the Zarakh Society is not that cumbersome.â
Gis giggled and leaned back on to the chair.
âThe number of accomplices have increased. Thatâs good.â
Lorian narrowed his eyes.
âAccomplices?â
âYes, accomplices. You didnât think Iâd stay still even after being humiliated, did you?â
Gis said with a creepy smile.
âI have already sent them a letter.â
ââŠâ
Among the women in the room, Adreana was the only one deeply troubled.
* * *
After refusing the solicitation of the Duke of Oler, we were going to the capital of the Kingdom of Prona.
Because the royal family had called us there.
The king himself had, actually.
If we didnât go, we would have had another troublesome problem on our laps, so we followed the call and arrived at the capitalâŠ
And, saw.
âPut the heretics to the guillotine!â
âPut the prince to the guillotine!â
âDown with the heresy! Overthrow the prince!â
The citizens who filled the front of the royal castle.
âCome out, Prince! If youâre not a heretic, you have to prove your innocence!!!â
Clergymen shouting at the forefront of citizens.
ââŠdo you guys want to turn back?â
The group nodded their heads in a heartbeat without saying a word.