Chapter 15

“So what exactly is going on here?”

Crash—!

A sudden flash of lightning turned the window white for an instant.

At the same time, the fake plant headband on his head trembled, creating a rather ominous atmosphere.

“What is that headband?” Calypse asked.

“It is a disguise. I was curious about the little one’s true identity, so I’ve been hiding in the flowerpot in the office since last night.”

Wow. Impressive.

I gave him a genuine thumbs-up.

“You’re amazing. Knox, you should become a spy!”

“As if I would be pleased by flattery like—”

Fidget.

Knox, who had stopped mid-sentence to adjust the headband, blushed despite his expressionless face.

“For reference, I made this myself. In any case—”

Tap.

“...As if adopting a little scammer was not shocking enough, now that same child turns out to be a spy from the Pose family.”

He set the headband on the table and stared at me.

Once he had removed that bizarre disguise, Knox was unmistakably the aide of the Kreutz family.

“......”

His emotionless blue eyes clung to me with such persistence that it felt as if they were rifling through my head.

Only then did I realize it.

I had been wondering why one particular person had been missing for the past few days.

That was Knox!

Only then did I also realize that the long-haired person I had seen by the window had been Knox too.

Now that I think about it, the maids are required to wear buns. Knox is the only one in the estate with a ponytail!

Whether I realized it or not, Knox continued dryly.

“In any case, if people learn this, there will be chaos.”

“Then hide it.”

“You think this can be hidden?”

“It will stay hidden if you keep your mouth shut.”

“You want me to keep my mouth shut.”

I looked back and forth between the two men, then clenched my teeth.

Not everyone in the estate needed to know my identity.

But Knox was Calypse’s closest aide.

And he was a sharp, capable aide who had suspected me from the beginning.

So of course I thought Calypse had already told Knox.

This looks like it needs a conversation.

I discreetly tapped Calypse on the chest.

Calypse, who had been glaring like an axe blade, lowered his head toward me.

“What.”

I whispered into his ear.

“Mister. Are you telling me you’re the only one who knows I’m a spy?”

“I didn’t think you’d be caught.”

“...What?”

He didn’t think I’d be caught.

Those words had come from the mouth of the man who dominated the north?

“...You didn’t prepare everything in advance before adopting me?”

“I told you before. I never intended to adopt you in the first—”

Calypse suddenly covered his mouth with his hand.

As if his true feelings had almost slipped out by accident.

“Yes?”

What was that? What had he just been about to say?

“...Mister?”

When I tilted my head in curiosity—

“Don’t worry. Knox may look like that, but he’s my subordinate. He listens to me.”

A large palm roughly ruffled my hair. When I opened my eyes again after shutting them from the force, Calypse had returned to the adult I knew.

“Well, look at you. Acting like her real father.”

Just then—

Clap. Clap. Clap.

As if he had ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) heard enough, Knox rose with a dry round of applause that cut through our conversation.

“Whether our fake young lady has hypnotized Your Grace or what, she certainly excels at being a spy. And you have no idea how worried I am.”

Then, after shooting Calypse a slightly resentful look—

“Knight!”

He abruptly opened the door and began shouting.

“There is a spy from the Pose family—”

But Knox’s shout stopped there.

“Squeak?”

At the same time, the peacefully sitting rat suddenly flew through the air.

Because I, holding the rat, had leaped in a wide arc.

The frog-squirrel fist technique.

Leap like a frog, fly like a flying squirrel.

“Wait a moment!”

I landed perfectly on Knox’s shoulder.

“What is this?! Get off!”

Horrified, Knox reached for the back of my neck.

If I could be caught that easily, I would not have leaped in the first place.

Slide—

Sitting on his shoulder, I crawled down his back like a lizard climbing a tree.

“What is this—do not touch my backside!”

“Sorry, it was the only thing I could grab...”

“You little—!”

When the flustered Knox bent forward—

Hop!

This time, I turned into a monkey and jumped onto his shoulder.

“...H-Hah.”

Knox’s blue eyes widened in shock.

From his expression, I could tell.

This match was my victory.

Is it already over?

Seeing the aide’s face emptied of all spirit, I felt a little awkward.

Knox really had no athletic ability at all. He must have studied his way into becoming an aide.

“Are you all right?”

Feeling oddly sorry, I scratched the back of my neck.

“Look at her. She is clearly a trained spy! Her athletic ability is not at the level of a five-year-old!”

Knox shouted sharply in anger.

My hair bristled at those words, but I forced my pounding heart to calm down.

Calm down, Aisha.

Now that I had been exposed, I couldn’t just let this pass.

If I wanted Knox to acknowledge me, I had to prove my value somehow.

“...I can say this because I’m a five-year-old spy.”

“What?”

Maybe I had muttered too softly. Knox asked again.

I clutched the hem of his shirt and shouted.

“I’m a trained five-year-old! So I’ll prove my usefulness to you, Knox!”

“......”

Silence followed.

Breathing hard, I looked around.

Perhaps startled by my words, Knox was frozen like stone, one hand still gripping the doorknob.

Calypse was the same.

He was in an awkward pose, neither fully risen from the sofa nor properly seated.

His red eyes were wide in a way that did not suit him at all.

Good. I’ve caught their attention.

It wasn’t quite the mood I had expected, but I continued with the basis of my argument.

“I’ll act as a double spy. Then the Pose family will keep sending telegrams, and those telegrams will surely contain confidential information—”

Just then—

“Who told a five-year-old...”

I did not know which of the two men spoke first.

“...to prove her usefulness?”

“...Who asked for your usefulness?”

But by the time I came to my senses—

Calypse and Knox were each holding one of my hands, leaving me dangling between them.

Blue eyes and red eyes.

The two men, who had answered in unison as if they were twins, stared at me with displeased expressions.

“A five-year-old...”

And then—

“...has no business saying things like that.”

“...should not say things like that.”

Their voices overlapped again.

“...Huh?”

What was this?

I blinked slowly, unable to understand the situation.

“So we agree on this.”

“Like master, like subordinate.”

“Enough. I’ll just stuff strawberries into this little one’s mouth.”

“Now that is the Duke Calypse Kreutz I know.”

Suddenly in perfect sync like friends of ten years, the two of them handed me over to the head maid, Mai.

My punishment was eating strawberry cake.

“...Mister?”

It was a shocking punishment: keep my mouth shut and just eat cake.

***

A short while later. ℴ

Enough. I’ll just stuff strawberries into this little one’s mouth.

Stuff strawberries into this little one’s mouth...

Stuff strawberries into her mouth...

Crunch—

My teeth left marks on the fork in my mouth.

Mai’s eyes widened at my vicious appearance, but I was in no mood to care about someone else’s gaze.

The humiliating words from the Duke were still ringing in my head.

Does he really think I’m that unreliable? I can do everything too!

And on top of that, there was the young lady’s whereabouts! And the heir selection trial!

My head felt like it was going to burst from all the unresolved problems.

As I chewed the cake with sharp eyes, I felt Mai’s gaze from across the room.

Glare—

The instant our eyes met in the air—

“......”

Fear rose across Mai’s face, as if she had been praying only for time to pass quickly.

She glanced at me, lowered her head, and backed away.

“Then, since I have brought the cake, I will take my leave...”

“Head Maid Mai.”

At my desperate call, her steps stopped heavily.

“Yes, Lady Aisha.”

Still glaring, I shouted without meaning to.

“Do I look that unreliable in the Duke’s eyes?!”

“......”

Ah. Slip of the tongue.

My startled little hand covered my mouth, but there was no taking back what I had already said.

I had blurted it out in frustration.

Knox knew I was a spy now, but it was still a secret from everyone else. I couldn’t live this recklessly!

“Mai, I’m sorry! What I just said was—”

“Because you broke the contract.”

At that moment—

“He may have taken pity on you and adopted you, but he would not trust you. You were the one who lied first, my lady.”

The head maid murmured with a cold expression.