As soon as he felt Irene’s gaze, Noel, who had been standing idly, realised that he had made a mistake
“Yes. Okay. I will do that.” He quickly responded.
“Master, Lady Irene. The time has come.”
Hearing Louiselle’s voice come from outside the door, Irene got up from her seat first and held Noel’s hand tightly. He looked at her in surprise.
“Come on, Noel.”
“Ah... yes.”
Noel regained his senses and followed Irene’s footsteps, who hurried ahead of him. As he left her room, he wondered why he was doing this, but he didn’t quite understand his condition. It was as if he was possessed by something.
The two of them left their quarters and headed for a private hall a little farther away. Perhaps because of the restrictions on entry and exit, they didn’t run into anyone while they made their way to the venue. It seemed that the guests had already arrived in the hall.
Noel, who was heading to the wedding hall holding Irene’s hand, looked back once. He didn’t show it lest she notice, but his brow was drawn into a slight frown.
You’re not coming.
It was because the ring, which was supposed to arrive in the morning, had not yet arrived. The wedding ring of the two would be exchanged at the ceremony today.
♔♔♔
Mulliman wanted to protest to Noel.
No, I’m not good enough, who’s to blame for that.
He thought two weeks would be just the right amount of time to finish, but engraving was more complicated than he thought, so he slightly exceeded the promised time.
Even so, it won’t be too late.
“Master, the carriage is waiting outside.”
One of the assistants came up to Mulliman informing him that the horse-drawn carriage was waiting outside in advance.
“Oh, yes. Here it is. It is very important, so never lose it and take good care of it. Don’t risk your life though.”
“...all right.”
He didn’t quite understand the last words of his master, but the assistant grabbed the box and quickly went downstairs. Seeing the carriage leaving the window, Mulliman flopped on the lounge. Another assistant handed him a cup.
“You’ve been through a lot. Just rest…” Ryun said.
“Ryun, are you sleepy?”
“Pardon?...no.”
Though he gave a negative answer, in truth, Ryun was very sleepy. For, Mulliman and his assistants stayed up day and night to engrave the ring. He was planning to hand over this teacup and go back to sleep right away.
“Hm? Then you and I should go somewhere.”
Even though he thought he was going to die of sleep right away, out of politeness he had answered like that. But it was a big mistake. Ryun resisted the urge to throw the letter of resignation on the musing face of his master at any moment, and nodded vigorously.
“But where?”
“Where do you say? To the Grand Duchy of Kristen.”
“Ah? Why there…” Ryun, who did not understand the reason his master wanted to go, asked.
He had just sent the ring, so why bother to go there?
When his doubts appeared on his face, Mullman smiled and stood up from his seat. Then he spoke calmly.
“Actually, I have the real ring.” At his shocking words, Ryun opened his mouth wide. Then what about the ring you just sent?
♔♔♔
“Stop!”
Suddenly, the neighing of the horses of the carriage echoed loudly. It was one o’clock and the carriage stopped! The assistant, who stuck his head out the window to urge the coachman, was frozen. It was due to a blade which was thrust under his neck that had peeked out.
“Give me everything you have.”
“I don’t think this is a simple robbery…”
“What were you transporting? If you try to deceive or refuse to give it, your throat will fly.” The assistant took a deep breath. It was a look that did not suit this dire situation.
“I haven’t slept properly for two weeks, so I have no energy…”
“If you keep talking nonsense, I will cut your throat. What were you transporting?"
The assistant was really upset. Normally, this group of suspicious thieves would have been lightly defeated, but now he was in a bad state.
Because my master told me not to give up my life.
In fact, he was pretending to be relaxed, but in this situation, it was not easy for him and the horseman to escape. It was safer to give up what they wanted and run away. However, the ring was a commission of the Grand Duke of Kristen. That was worth a whopping half a billion! To just give up this easily, he himself would not be safe from the consequences.
“Eh, I don’t know. I'll just have to hold on until I can…”
He didn’t know how long he could last. The assistant smiled brightly at the black-masked opponent.
The moment the masked man was about to say something, his smiling appearance was stunned, and lightning struck him.
It was magic that the assistant managed to unleash with the remaining mana in his body. If he had known that the ring he was risking his life for was a fake, he would never have done it.
♔♔♔