APML 01

Chapter 01

“Hey, young man passing by.”
“?”
“You’re about to be struck by misfortune.”

In a shabby alley, an old woman sitting at a battered little table spoke bluntly to the man walking past her. Her tone was a bit awkward, but just the words alone were enough to irritate him.

He stopped and turned his head. The old woman, wearing a tattered black robe pulled low over her face, partially hiding it, was fiddling with a glowing crystal orb.

The man briefly furrowed his brow at the stereotypical fortune-teller appearance but didn’t react otherwise.

As if annoyed, he turned his back, but the old woman hurriedly spoke again.
“Someone is targeting you.”
“!”
“No, I see… you’ve already been attacked by someone before.”

Only then did the man take a step toward her.

Finally satisfied that she had captured his attention, the old woman lifted her head slightly. But startled by his cold expression, she leaned back slightly, retreating.
“…….”

When his sharp red eyes glared at her, she lowered her gaze. Though mostly hidden by the robe, her long, thick silver eyelashes trembled faintly—unusual for someone her age.
“Don’t get too aggressive. I’m trying to save a young man.”
“Save me?”
“Yes. So you’d better listen to me. Otherwise, you’ll die.”
“…….”

The man eyed her with suspicion. But the old woman, unable to see his full expression as he lowered his head, misinterpreted it as attention and continued confidently.
“Don’t go alone. Always stay aware of your surroundings. Otherwise, you’ll die alone and lonely.”
“I’m not weak enough to be taken down that easily.”
“Of course, I know that much—hm hm.”

The old woman, about to respond naturally, quickly coughed to cover her mouth. She had almost revealed that she “already” knew him.

Trying to calm her pounding heart, she continued.
“You seem completely unconcerned about the possibility of death.”
“Hmm.”

The man’s expression didn’t change. Considering what he had done so far, he couldn’t really complain if he died. Yet, his red eyes glimmered ominously.
“Boldness is commendable, but if you keep this up, you won’t survive your next encounter.”

Amusingly, worry seeped into her words, and the man frowned slightly. The old woman, unaware that he was stepping closer as she spoke, looked up in surprise.
“What are you really?”
“What do you mean? I’m just an old fortune-teller wandering in a place like this.”
“A fortune-teller?”
“Yes. Fortune-teller. Since no one comes to alleys like this, I had no customers, so I just sat here killing time. Then you happened to pass by.”
“…….”

“I was bored, so I tried a reading. When I saw death in your future, I thought ignoring it might give you restless dreams.”

The man furrowed his brow, staring intently at her, as if weighing his next move.
“So… what’s the price?”
“Huh?”
“You said you’re a fortune-teller. Don’t you want a fee? How much?”
“Well, that—ahem.”

The old woman, buying time with a cough, touched the crystal orb again.
“Not that I expect a payment.”
“……”
“But if you insist, just consider this a solicitation. You can repay me when you come back next time.”
“Solicitation?”
“Yes. If my reading is accurate, you’ll seek me out next time. If you insist on offering something, that’s when you can do it.”
“Hmm.”

The old woman was shameless, stopping a passerby in an alley like this.
“What’s more valuable to a poor old lady than money?”

The man, observing her mouth forming a faint smile beneath the robe, finally issued a dry command:
“Grab her.”

Immediately, men in black uniforms scattered throughout the alley surrounded her. Their movements were swift and silent; the old woman didn’t even notice them approaching.
“Huh?”

She only managed to utter a single word before being surrounded by these men, leaving no chance to escape. Stiff with shock, she was swiftly pulled away.
“Wait, what are you doing?”

The voice wasn’t the old woman’s, but a young woman’s. The man smirked as if he had expected this.
“Interesting. Let’s take a look at your face.”

Mockingly, he roughly removed the robe the woman was wearing. Long silver hair fell to the side, and her startled purple eyes looked up at the man—Cain.

The woman’s face was younger than Cain’s, even younger than the supposed old woman.
“An old woman disguise, black robe, and crystal orb. Were you seriously prejudiced about fortune-tellers?”
“Huh?”
“Did you mistake me for a witch? Did you think I’d be easily fooled, like in some fairy tale?”

The woman blinked in genuine surprise at Cain’s taunt.
‘Ah, seriously! Grandma said this would increase credibility!’

She had just copied the landlady, who made a living reading cards. Feeling unfairly accused, she clamped her mouth shut.
“Also, your hands on the crystal orb had no wrinkles. That was sloppy for trying to deceive me.”

Cain crossed his arms and smirked. The woman, pale as a sheet, hung her head.
‘This is bad.’

Despite smiling, the warning instinct in her body trembled at the thought of possibly dying.
‘I need to escape.’

She struggled desperately, but her arms were held by men in black uniforms, making it hard to move. Cain watched her wriggle for a moment and then ordered his subordinates:
“Take her to the underground prison.”
“What? Prison? Wait! I’m not that strange!”
“You admit you’re strange?”
“Huh? That’s… different. Anyway, there must have been a misunderstanding; we could talk it out carefully—”
“You’ll have time to talk later. Don’t waste words now, or it won’t end well.”

“Waste words? Trying to save your life is a crime?”

Even as she panicked, she snapped back clearly, which piqued Cain’s interest. No one had ever talked back to him like that.
“Do you have no fear, or no brains?”
“Huh?”
“Shut up and take her away.”
“No! Hey!”

Cain signaled his men indifferently, ignoring her shouting. As she was dragged away, she turned to him, yelling:
“Let me go! I just told you something important! You’ll regret this! This could get the commander you respect killed!”

The men, annoyed at her urgent voice, dragged her more roughly.
“Quiet!”
“No! Is this really happening? I just saved your life! Can you treat your savior like this?”
“Why are you so lively? Just shut up!”
“Hey! You’ll regret this!”

Cain crossed his arms, exasperated at the yelling woman. At that moment, another man with glasses and a calm demeanor approached.
“Cain.”
“Jade.”

The brown-haired man, called Jade, reported in a low voice:
“There are no other suspicious individuals nearby.”
“Good.”

Cain scanned the surroundings with his red eyes. The woman’s nonsense about fortune-telling aside, her mention of someone targeting him or a prior attack caught his interest. Recently, someone had been monitoring him, even attempting something. Perhaps this woman was trying to attract attention with her fortune-telling as a distraction.
“Hmph. Thought I’d catch something this time…”

Cain clicked his tongue in disappointment as he heard the woman’s high-pitched voice being dragged away:
“Disregarding human kindness? You’ll regret this! I said you’d regret it!”

“Ah, it’s annoyingly loud. Please, just be quiet!”

“Quiet? Let me go! Cain Louis! How can you do this! Betrayer! I liked you so much!”

Cain’s red eyes contorted in disbelief at her final words.
“Cain?”

Despite Jade’s suspicious look, Cain ignored him.
“What do you think?”
“……It’s suspicious. Someone was clearly targeting Cain.”
“The question is how much she knows and how.”
“Yes, though—”

Jade gave him a skeptical look, prompting Cain to ask impatiently:
“What? Why that look?”
“About what the woman said at the end.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she liked—”

Cain cut him off sharply:
“She’s crazy. Can’t you tell from how she approached me?”
“Oh.”
“She’s a woman I’ve never seen before.”
“Oh.”
“……”

Seeing Cain’s displeased glare, Jade cleared his throat and straightened up, though curiosity and interest shone in his green eyes.
“It’s fine, Cain. Even if you used her to gather intelligence, this situation makes sense.”
“No.”
“You might feel embarrassed using an unconventional method, but in espionage, this is common—”
“Jade.”

Cain’s low, restrained voice warned him.
“One more word, and see what happens.”