Chapter 1384. An Unexpected Debut (19)

I saw reports sent by the guild members, but one of them wasn’t actually from a guild member.

‘It’s Chang-Ryeol and Yeon-Soo.’

It had been a while since news came from them, but just because they were missing at the debutante ball didn’t mean they weren’t working.

On the contrary, I was certain they were even busier than those working in the field.

At least, Alps and Belier were living a relatively comfortable life by posing as noble ladies, but those two couldn't enjoy that luxury, as their main work was intelligence.

They had to disguise themselves as workers in the ballroom, vagrants on the streets, and even bar workers. They had to spend most of their time in shadows and darkness.

Even assassins or rangers used to such environments wouldn't find that comfortable.

On top of that, there were kidnappings and torture along with other covert acts, and considering they were operating not just in the Union of Kingdoms but in the Empire and the Republic as well, Lee Chang-Ryeol and Ha Yeon-Soo were the busiest out of everyone.

Of course, the results were as solid as the effort and time they had invested. Chang-Ryeol’s abilities went without saying, and Ha Yeon-Soo had long proven that she was a trusted pick by Ji-Hye noona, who believed in her above all others.

Since she once belonged to the Black Swan Guild, an organization specializing in intelligence warfare, she was probably even better than Lee Chang-Ryeol in that field.

‘Are they having some kind of friendly rivalry or something? I can’t believe how thick this letter is...’

I was a bit surprised, but of course, the noble ladies weren’t interested in the letters from mere commoners. As expected, their eyes gleamed upon seeing a certain letter.

“Lady Peneloti, Marquis Jayce sent you two letters.”

“...”

“What could they be about? Surely about the future? Otherwise, why send two letters? He even visited the salon yesterday, so he must still have more to say.”

Their faces clearly begged me to share the contents of the letters. They didn’t ask me to read them aloud, but they wanted to know what was written, like what kind of tone it had.

“What about Count Kim Hyun-Sung?”

“Yes, yes! What did Count Kim Hyun-Sung write? Peneloti?”

“

Huh? Huh?

”

“You should also decide who to reply to first, Lady Peneloti.”

‘Right. That’s important too.’

Before reading the letter Chang-Ryeol had sent in earnest, I unfolded the one from First Life Commander Jin. I didn’t know why the young ladies were swallowing their saliva as I read the letter, but they were showing remarkable concentration.

It seemed that the options they had just been weighing—between Marquis Jayce and Count Kim Hyun-Sung—had been pretty entertaining. They were so immersed in it that it was like the letter had been addressed to them.

[Like eyes as beautiful as flowers blooming in the fresh spring...]

‘Ah, damn it, I can’t read this thing.’

It was exactly the kind of letter someone like him would write. He was probably convinced that such a cheesy line would work.

‘I’ve got to save this forever.’

Aina Peneloti wasn’t from Earth. Being a lady from this era, she was more attuned to the sensibilities of the Union of Kingdoms. However, the fact that he wrote his letter with the kind of flowery expressions that suited this era made his letter look more like a poem than a letter, making it even more bewildering.

‘Wow... did he actually write this letter thinking that Peneloti will smile while reading it?’

“W-what... what did he say?”

“Just...” I muttered.

“Yes?”

“I-I can’t say it. It’s too embarrassing,” I said.

“

Kyaaaaaaaah!

”

‘Okay, stop with the crow noises.’

“C-could you at least tell us a little bit?”

“It’s just... things like hoping I’m doing well... and... that he misses me...” I answered.

It went on for four full pages, packed with text. Honestly, reading every word felt like a waste of time, but it seemed that kind of sentiment worked on noble ladies.

When I recited some of the fancy expressions that didn’t even relate much to the actual content, Lady Brush suddenly cried, saying, “It’s... it’s moving. Revolutionary, even. The way the writer expresses his longing for his beloved through the image of a shadow—portraying the feeling of wanting to approach but being unable to do so—it’s so beautiful.

"That letter must be kept, Lady Peneloti. It will surely be remembered by future generations. One day, students might even study it at the academy. It has literary value!” Lady Brush said.

‘Okay, that’s a bit much.’

Saying that it had literary value was a bit of a stretch; it was just pretentious.

Compared to that, Count Kim Hyun-Sung’s letter was refreshingly simple. His tone was clearly different from Marquis Jayce, who had to strain himself to impress.

Of course, the nature of their letter was different from each other. The former was a heartfelt love letter, written with effort in every word, while the latter was more of a casual message asking how Aina Peneloti was doing.

They hadn’t met again after their encounter in the garden, so it read like a formal inquiry about her well-being and mood. He probably sent it just out of politeness, but...

‘You don’t send a letter like that if you don’t care at all.’

It was undeniable that he, too, was harboring some ambiguous feeling toward Peneloti. I wanted to head out of the salon and do something—anything—but today, there was something far more important to do, so I couldn’t afford to do what I wanted.

“...”

“...”

“

Um

... then, I’ll head in first,” I said.

“

Huh?!

Stay a little longer... Isn’t it too early to go back?” Lady Pastel asked.

“I’m sorry, Lady Pastel. I’ve just got too many letters to reply to...” I answered.

‘We’ve gotten too close. She wants to be together all the time.’

At this point, the five of us were practically inseparable. Even going back to my room first made me feel self-conscious.

‘Let me just have a little time alone.’

“Then I suppose there’s no helping it. Please rest well, Lady Peneloti,” Lady Pastel said.

“Yes. You too, Lady Pastel, have a good rest,” I said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lady Palette said.

“Yes, Lady Palette, see you tomorrow,” I said to her.

“G-good night! Peneloti!” Lady Pastel shouted.

“Yes. Good night to you as well, Lady Pastel.”

I walked through the salon's lounge and returned to my room. Finally, I could stretch my legs and pull out the stack of letters.

‘I've got to skim through the unnecessary ones first and toss them away.’

After pouring myself a glass of the wine I had stashed under the bed...

“

Um

... P-Peneloti!” Lady Pastel shouted from outside the door.

“

Ah

! Yes?! W-wait, my room is...” I trailed off.

“...”

“...”

“

Ah

! No, never mind! It’s nothing!” Lady Pastel quickly shouted.

“

Ah

... okay. Good night, Lady Pastel,” I said.

‘Damn it, sometimes I just want to be alone. I want to be alone.’

When the presence outside the door had disappeared completely, I finally relaxed and sat down in my chair.

Of course, the first thing I did was open the letter. I saw a myriad of words written on the latter. As expected, they even did things I hadn’t requested. It came out to about fifty pages, written in a straightforward, factual manner without unnecessary commentary—a fair amount of work. In fact, for something completed in such a short time, it was impressive. The first section was, of course...

‘A list of the Republic’s people.’

It contained information on how many had people from the Republic had entered this place, who exactly they were, and how many of them were combat personnel.

It was known that the Republic’s people, like Marquis Jayce, had infiltrated this place, but with my limited reach, there was no way to determine their exact lineup.

Fortunately, Lee Chang-Ryeol and Ha Yeon-Soo had scratched that particular itch for me. Some were mixed in among the workers, and there were even a few of them among the guards.

If the numbers were small, it could be dismissed as a simple intelligence mission...

‘But there are more people than I expected...’

They had clearly come here for a reason.

The most obvious reason was to stop any potential alliance—official or clandestine—between the Union of Kingdoms and the Empire. However, their true goal was likely to drive a wedge between the two. If things went poorly, whatever happened here could become the spark to ignite a war.

Sure enough, several suspicious details stood out.

[The Republic’s supplies and troops are moving toward the Empire.]

[A large number of troops were confirmed to be training at the Dawan meeting site.]

Of course, it was still too early to assume that a war would break out based solely on the movement of troops, but in a situation like this, where all the circumstances were converging toward a single point, it couldn’t be dismissed as mere speculation.

Considering they had done something similar during the second life, the hypothesis that the Republic was preparing to start a war was credible.

The timing was perfect, given that the Empire and the Union of Kingdoms were working to solidify their alliance. The Republic’s leadership had probably concluded that they could no longer afford to delay and that they could not give the Empire any more time.

‘It was a chaotic period for the Empire, too, so it makes sense they’d think that now is the best chance.’

The war between Celia and Lindel had just ended, Charlotte had ascended to the throne, and the purge had just ended as well.

Thinking about why Charlotte sent Kim Hyun-Sung and the delegation here in the first place gave me the answer, she had to have judged that the Empire’s unstable political situation had finally settled down to some degree.

The alliance with the Union of Kingdoms was meant to strengthen them internally and to serve as a countermeasure against the Republic. Given that, it was no surprise that the Republic was moving urgently. The problem was when exactly it would all erupt.

‘The debutante ball has been going on for quite a while now. That means it’ll definitely happen before it ends...’

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem possible to gather more information. Capturing the Republic’s combat personnel who had infiltrated the Union of Kingdoms could potentially alter the timing of things, and it would be a huge gamble as well.

One wrong move could expose their own hand, and even if they managed to capture someone, there was no guarantee they could extract information through torture.

‘

They’re all fanatics, every last one of them.’

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The timing of an operation like this could always shift. After all, First Life Commander Jin was here; he was someone capable of directly altering the field, so things could change at any moment. He was clearly preparing to light the fuse himself, taking precautions against any unexpected variables.

‘

I mean, I figured as much, but still, it gives me chills.’

Perhaps Aina Peneloti was the one delaying that moment somehow. It didn’t make logical sense that he would postpone an operation just because of one genius noblewoman, but we were talking about Commander Jin here, so it was possible.

‘Maybe it’d be smarter to wait until more information comes in before making a move. Or maybe they’re planning a kidnapping or something once the operation starts.’

After reading Ha Yeon-Soo’s report, I tossed it straight into the trash can. The next section contained something even more interesting—reports of unidentified individuals lurking around, aside from the Republic’s people.

“...”

“...”

There had been a brief skirmish. It seemed the unidentified figures hadn’t managed to infiltrate the ballroom itself, but they were reportedly operating outside the castle walls.

‘I didn’t think it would happen this soon.’

Up until now, I assumed they had no clear objective just yet. Their real activity was supposed to begin only after

he

joined them. I thought the timeline would be a bit tighter, but it seemed he had already joined at this point. While investigating the outskirts of the city, Lee Chang-Ryeol encountered First Life Sun Hee-Young.

“...”

The brigade...

“...”

It wasn’t confirmed yet, but it appeared that they, too, were going to take part in this event.