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Chapter 10
“Did I hear right? You flattened that arrogant noble’s pride?”
“Of course. The louder they boast about their status, the hollower they usually are. Just insecurity, plain as day.”
Back in her beloved guild at evening, Rozalyn lounged in the guildmaster’s office, feet propped up on the desk, stretching like a cat basking in triumph.
Shion, who had been halfway through delivering his daily report, frowned.
“…What exactly do you mean by that?”
“That thing I said about my darling Cassis.”
“…Excuse me?”
Shion’s face went blank.
The words darling and Cassis together were such a grotesque mismatch that he briefly wondered if Rozalyn had lost her mind.
Meanwhile, Rozalyn serenely stroked the little black bundle of fur resting on her belly.
“Well, let me tell you how it happened…”
Earlier that afternoon, Rozalyn had left the infirmary where she’d spent the morning “resting her ankle.”
“Still, maybe I should say goodbye to Sir Jimmy before I head back. He’ll be worried.”
Her ankle wasn’t that bad anymore, and Jimmy was the kind to fret endlessly.
Finding him was easy: just ask passing knights.
“He should be in the courtyard behind the dining hall about now.”
“And the dining hall is…?”
“Look for the building with smoke rising from the chimney.”
Perhaps because they’d seen Cassis defend her that morning, the knights were far more cooperative than they’d been earlier.
‘Well, after the scene I caused in the lobby, of course the whole Order’s heard by now.’
And so she arrived at the courtyard behind the dining hall—
“Sir Jimmy! I thought you might be worried, so I came to—”
She stopped short.
“Ah—uh, this… it’s not what it looks like—”
Crouched awkwardly, the huge knight Jimmy was trying (and failing) to hide something.
A little black puppy.
“…A dog?”
“Shoo! Go on, get! Shoo!”
Jimmy’s massive hands flailed in panic, but the puppy only whined and pressed closer.
‘This looks exactly like someone caught secretly raising a pet.’
The tiny ball of fur wriggled, determined to stay. Rozalyn walked closer.
“Does it bite?”
“N-no. It’s gentle, doesn’t bite at all.”
“What’s its name?”
Rozalyn crouched, greeting the puppy warmly. Jimmy stopped pushing it away.
“…It doesn’t have one yet. Uh… Guildmaster, are you sure this is wise?”
“What do you mean?”
The puppy bounded straight into Rozalyn’s arms, tail wagging furiously.
“It’s… a black dog.”
Rozalyn understood instantly.
‘Right. Black dogs are supposed to be cursed here.’
Every world had its superstitions, and in this one, black dogs were omens of ill luck and death.
“It’s fine. I don’t believe in that nonsense.”
To her modern mind, believing in curses felt ridiculous.
“What about you, Sir Jimmy?”
“Well… it’s only a pup. Whatever curse it carries can’t be stronger than I am. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t keep it out of disbelief—Jimmy was simply too kind-hearted to turn it away.
“Spoken like a true knight. No curse could ever touch you.”
Embarrassed, Jimmy scratched the back of his head.
“Still… I can’t take it home. My wife and kids would be terrified.”
“So you’re raising it here instead?”
“That’s the thing…”
He explained: a patrol knight had found the pup beside its dead mother. All its siblings had perished, but this one had clung to life.
“If the Commander finds out, I’ll be in serious trouble. Only a few of us know about it.”
Since no one dared adopt a cursed black dog, the knights had been hiding it behind the dining hall. The cooks, pitying it, smuggled out scraps, so it had grown round and healthy.
“We’ve managed so far, but who knows how long we can keep it hidden…”
“Hm.”
Rozalyn studied the pup. It rubbed against her chest, demanding more affection.
Then, without warning, she scooped it up.
“Well, pup? Want to come with me?”
“…What?”
Hugging the puppy snugly, Rozalyn beamed.
“If no one else will take it, I will.”
Jimmy blinked in disbelief.
“…There’s no rule against it, I guess…”
Before he could finish, Rozalyn straightened with the pup in her arms.
“I’ve already thought of a name.”
“…What is it?”
Rozalyn looked down at the fluffy black face staring up at her.
There was only one name that fit.
“Cassis.”
“…What?”
And so Rozalyn marched straight to Cassis himself, announcing with shameless cheer:
“I, uh… picked this up on the way, and I’m keeping it.”
No one believed for a second that she’d just found a puppy inside the knights’ headquarters. But Rozalyn was utterly brazen.
‘What are they gonna do, argue with me about a stray?’
She wasn’t even asking the knights to raise it—she’d take full responsibility.
In the end, faced with her persistence, Cassis reluctantly agreed.
That’s how the puppy ended up in the guild.
“…Now you’ve gone and brought home a black dog?”
“Why, Shion—don’t tell me you believe in that absurd superstition too?”
Rozalyn tilted her chin proudly. Shion sighed, defeated.
She’d brought the pup here precisely because of him.
‘Shion knows better than anyone the cruelty of superstition.’
As a child, his father had beaten him mercilessly, claiming he was “cursed” for being born beneath a red moon.
A red moon—merely a lunar eclipse. But his father, a bitter gambler, blamed every loss on Shion’s supposed curse.
That was the true curse of superstition.
At last, Shion raised his hands.
“Fine. Keep it. At worst, the others will just be startled.”
Startled? More like shocked out of their wits.
Rozalyn pretended not to notice, stroking the puppy fondly.
“Our little Cassis, how could you be this cute?”
“…Did you really have to name it that?”
Shion grimaced. The idea of a fluffy puppy sharing a name with the terrifying Commander was unbearable.
“It’s perfect. Big Cassis is all black, little Cassis is all black. What’s the problem?”
“His hair and uniform being black doesn’t mean—ugh, never mind.”
Trying to redirect, Shion returned to business.
“I’ll dig up more dirt on Count Dylan. We already have leverage, but I’ll even find out how many candlesticks he keeps in his bedroom.”
“Excellent. I trust you, Shion. We can’t let this end halfway.”
Rozalyn smirked. She’d already humiliated that pompous noble once with Cassis’s help, but she had no intention of stopping there.
If a mere commoner knowing their secrets was unbearable to them, then let them experience hell firsthand.
She was all too willing to provide the full course.
Humming in satisfaction, she stroked the little Cassis—then suddenly froze.
“By the way… what’s the status of that?”
“…What do you mean?”
“The Cassis Report.”
At the mention of the name, Shion’s eyes flicked toward the ball of fur resting on her stomach. The pup tilted its head at Rozalyn, as though listening.
‘Coincidence… surely.’
Masking his unease, Shion answered.
“There isn’t one.”
“…What?”
“No new information. Nothing at all.”
Rozalyn’s brows knitted.
She’d only pushed her officers for half a day, true, but still—nothing?
“You mean you haven’t found it yet?”
“No. We’ve searched with everything we’ve got. Aside from the basic details already collected, there’s nothing else. Not a single scrap. At this point, I’d call it a failure.”
Rozalyn’s face darkened.
Everyone had secrets. Everyone had weaknesses. That was her creed—the reason the Hyde Guild had risen so high so fast.
Yet the Archduke’s heir, of all people, had nothing?
“Not even the tiniest detail?”
“If there were, it would already be on your desk.”
Her gaze drifted to the empty desk before her. For three days it had remained bare, waiting for a report that never came.
“…Could he not even be human?”
“War demon, maybe. Or a ghost?”
“Not funny, Shion.”
She scowled at his weak attempt at humor, but her own thoughts churned uneasily.
Don’t tell me I really have to endure the full thousand hours…
Unacceptable. A thousand hours could buy her anything.
She dropped her feet from the desk, sitting upright, crimson eyes gleaming.
“Contact Tiger. Tell him I want a meeting.”
“…Is that really necessary?”
“From the looks of it, that’s the fastest way.”
Shion sighed, resigned.
“…I’ll send word.”
Tiger—a secret informant, known only by the codename Rozalyn had given him.
Annoying bastard, but if anyone knows something… it’ll be him.
