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Chapter 20
Meanwhile…
“The rendezvous point is the staff storage room? Where is that?”
“WAAAAAAAH!”
Knox’s question was swallowed whole by the roar of the crowd.
“Now then—this is the Giant Orc that the ruler of the North, Duke Crost himself, once fought!”
“Eek! I-It looks disgusting!”
“It has to be over three meters tall… How did Duke Calypse fight something like that?!”
“UOOOOARGH!”
Enraged by the shackles binding it, the orc rampaged wildly. The entire circus trembled as though struck by an earthquake.
“Damn it… move… let us through!”
The spectators, whipped into a frenzy by the orc’s appearance, shoved us from every direction.
There were no rules here.
No lines.
No order.
And the people, blinded by their obsession with monsters, had no intention of sparing a small child.
“Uwah!”
That was when it happened.
A huge man’s bulk split Knox and me apart.
Dropped to the floor like a discarded toy—
“Eeeek!”
I activated my hamster-roll technique, tumbling desperately between trampling legs.
“…Huff. Lunatics.”
By the time I barely escaped the audience stands, my legs were trembling.
Well, escaping the orc perverts was a success, but…
‘Meeting up with Knox again is probably impossible now.’
I stared into the dark sea of tangled spectators.
My ideal scenario had been finding Lucas together with Knox.
But in this situation, rescuing Lucas first seemed smarter.
‘Alright then. Let’s go find Lucas.’
I began scouting the area in earnest.
Lucas was probably hidden somewhere impossible for someone like me to find easily.
From Ahilly’s Circus’s perspective, Lucas was an S-rank product.
Which meant they’d stash him in the darkest, deepest storage room possible—
“Hey, kid.”
Just as I was about to sneak through what looked like a warehouse door, a pair of flashy patterned suit pants blocked my path.
One of Ahilly’s circus staff.
“This isn’t a place for children to wander into. Are you lost?”
A black-and-purple striped suit.
His bizarre fashion sense was only made worse by the creepy smile hovering above me.
“I’m not lost. I came with my mommy and daddy.”
I tilted my head back as far as I could to answer.
Unlike the people of House Crost, he didn’t bother crouching to meet a child’s eye level.
At Ahilly’s Circus, everything was divided into only two categories:
Customer.
Or product.
“I see? And what do your mommy and daddy do?”
Was I a customer?
Or a product?
Well… that depended entirely on my answer.
“Business! They do big business! We’re rich!”
Stretching out my arms and standing on tiptoe, I expressed the biggest “big” I possibly could.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Another nearby employee approached.
The man dealing with me leaned over and whispered.
“Looks like she’s lost. Says her parents are rich.”
“…Well, judging by her clothes, maybe.”
“But she says they’re commoners.”
“Commoners?”
At that, the bored man’s eyes changed.
I didn’t miss my chance and quickly chimed in.
“Yes! We’re commoners, but super-duper rich!”
The corners of both men’s mouths twisted upward ominously.
“…What should we do?”
“What do you mean, what do we do? If parents lose their kid in a place like this, that’s their fault.”
“True.”
“If they’re rich, they might spend thousands of gold looking for her.”
“…Now that could be profitable.”
Only then did they seem genuinely interested in me.
They finally crouched to my level.
“Kiddo.”
I blinked at them with my most innocent expression.
“Yes?”
“We’ll help you find your parents. Why don’t you rest somewhere comfortable for a bit? Want to come with us?”
“Okay!”
And just like that, I was naturally escorted into the warehouse by complete strangers.
As I followed them, I flawlessly played the role of a naïve rich brat.
“Wow, what’s that?”
My chubby finger pointed toward a white fox trapped in an iron cage.
A relatively common animal in the North, though only found there.
“That… isn’t worth as much as you.”
Not worth as much?
My hand trembled at the way he spoke of life like merchandise, but I endured it.
For Lucas’s sake.
Then—
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
As one of the workers opened the inner warehouse door, a scream sharp enough to split my ears rang out.
“Kid, cover your ears if it’s too loud.”
Completely unfazed, they walked past rows of caged animals.
“Grrr! Bark! Bark!”
Guard dogs snarled.
Tiny deer shrank into corners at the sight of the staff.
“Shut up already!”
As if accustomed to their cries, one worker kicked a cage.
Inside, hedgehogs shrieked and collapsed.
‘These bastards.’
They hadn’t just captured monsters.
To keep their premium magical beasts alive, they had also indiscriminately kidnapped countless prey animals.
‘If I hadn’t come here to save Lucas…’
A horrifying future flashed before my eyes.
‘Once this is over, I’m freeing all of them too.’
The sight of those trapped behind iron bars stirred something buried deep inside me.
My own past.
Born a spy.
Suffering for reasons I never understood.
These animals were the same.
Dragged here without knowing why.
Only to become prey.
Then—
“Alright, from here on, our little kiddo needs to take a nap.”
“Ghk—!”
A heavy blow struck the back of my neck.
With a tiny gasp, I collapsed.
How much time had passed since I lost consciousness?
“…Cold…”
Feeling the freezing hardness beneath me, I instinctively curled into myself.
Why is it so cold?
Sleeping on icy floors stopped after that mister adopted me…
Somewhere between dream and reality, I heard a voice.
‘So you went to the duke’s house and made something quite interesting.’
A voice I didn’t recognize.
‘Don’t dispose of it. This could become rather entertaining later.’
I struggled to escape the unfamiliar scene, but my body wouldn’t move.
Where is this?
Who is that?
Wait…
Did Calypse die, just like in the original story?
Like how my parents died in that car accident in my previous life?
Then… what happens to me?
The anxiety I thought I’d buried came rushing back.
Do I have to return to Duke Pose’s house?
No.
I’d rather die.
Tears burned at the corners of my eyes.
‘…I shouldn’t have met Calypse in the first place.’
If I was just going to be abandoned again…
Then maybe it was better not knowing what it felt like to be loved.
It felt like drowning alone in a black sea.
And then—
Something suddenly draped over me.
“…?”
It was far too thin to truly fight the cold.
But it was warm.
A hand, carrying body heat, gently patted my back.
Slowly, I opened my eyes—
“…?”
The sun was in front of me.
Golden eyes surrounded by deep crimson irises.
The boy staring down at me—
“Jeez, you scared me.”
He quickly pulled his hand back, startled that I’d suddenly sat up.
He looked around my age.
Maybe slightly older.
Wait…
‘In the novel, Lucas should be around eight right now…’
I pushed myself upright and examined him.
Curled up in the corner, he looked less like a person…
And more like a frightened beast.
Greasy, matted hair.
Ability-suppressing restraints around both wrists.
Worn, tattered clothes.
A chillingly wary gaze.
There was nothing noble about him.
And yet—
The moment I saw those mystical eyes shining through the tangled hair—
I knew.
This was Lucas Crost.
‘Right. I came here to save Lucas.’
Finally returning to my senses, I aggressively wiped my wet eyes with my sleeve.
Then I crawled over and approached him.
“Don’t worry, Young Master Lucas.”
“What? How do you know me?”
“No time to explain. Hold on.”
Ignoring his shock, I pulled out the tweezers I’d prepared in advance and fiddled with the lock on his restraint.
Click.
“…Huh. It worked.”
First time trying it in real life.
Guess five years of hellish training wasn’t useless after all.
“Hah.”
“There. You’re safe now. I came to rescue—”
I held out my small hand.
Smack.
He slapped it away.
“I’ll never take your hand, so get lost.”
“…What?”
Startled, I looked up—
Only to meet a spine-chilling glare.
“At first they sent adults. Then when I didn’t trust them, they sent a brat like you? You’re here to scam me too, aren’t you? I know exactly what this is!”
“W-Wait, what are you—”
“You’re a spy from House Pose! Who do you think you’re fooling?!”
His blatant hostility echoed through the warehouse.
“…Uh…”
“Am I wrong?”
“……”
I wasn’t.
Well… not exactly.
I was a spy from House Pose.
Suddenly, Knox’s first greeting resurfaced in my mind.
‘Greetings, fake young lady.’
And then—
‘But if you’re a five-year-old former spy, that’s different.’
He’d said it so casually.
But he was right.
No matter what, I was still Duke Pose’s spy.
A spy remained a spy until death.
Nameless.
Titleless.
The kind of villain only found in fairy tales.
“……”
As I fell silent, Lucas stood.
“Well, thanks for removing this restraint. After five years of dragging me around, I guess their service improved. Or maybe this spy’s just an idiot.”
Thunk.
He tossed aside the suppressor and brushed past me lightly.
“I won’t kill you, so scram.”
“……”
“Honestly, you look too stupid to actually do anything to my family anyway.”
Even then—
I couldn’t say a word.
‘Spy?’
That was all my kindness amounted to?
That’s what I was?
“…I’m not a spy. Sit back down.”
I grabbed his ankle tightly.
“What?”
That attitude?
Absolutely unforgivable.
“If you’re gonna call me a spy, then I’m locking those restraints back on—so SIT. DOWN!”
“AAAGH!”
