“Is Lady Sephine in?”
The woman outside knocked on the door again, but there was still no response from within.
“None of those old foxes would take this mission. If I had known, I wouldn’t have accepted it either… I wonder if Lady Sephine is willing to do me a favor; I did help her out yesterday, after all.”
The woman at the door was rarely seen without her beloved armor; today, she had ventured out in casual clothes.
Aglis Gross, the Knight Commander of the Royal City Knights, had been ordered to come to Sephine’s side to gather information.
Being an agent for the Demon King was truly a difficult job; she had hit a snag on the very first step.
“I even took the time to pick out nice clothes today, hoping to make a good impression on Lady Sephine.”
After the Morning Court ended today, the Demon King had specifically pulled her aside to issue this mission, rather than announcing it during the session.
This showed just how secretive the task was.
Out of a sense of responsibility toward the Kingdom, Aglis accepted the mission.
She still remembered the Demon King speaking to her with earnest concern:
“The Empress has run away from home. For the sake of the Kingdom’s survival, you must help me!”
Aglis had answered without hesitation, “Please rest assured, My Lord! I will certainly complete the mission!”
She then followed the clues provided by the Demon King to this location.
The mission was simple: build a good relationship with Lady Sephine, speak well of the Demon King in her presence, and convince her to return willingly.
The difficulty wasn’t too high, so it should be resolved quickly.
The Demon King had even promised her a raise upon completion!
Although her family was practically minor nobility and didn’t lack money, a little extra could always go toward maintaining her precious armor and sword.
“Hey, Karin, she seems to know Mother. Should we open the door?”
“Fala, are you an idiot? Mother told us not to open the door for anyone when she left!”
“Why don’t I remember her saying that? Whatever, let’s just wait inside for Mother to come back.”
“What if that’s a Big Bad Wolf out there? We’d be doomed! I don’t want to go back to the Temple right after being born.”
“True. Let’s keep playing then!”
Aglis had quite sensitive ears and could hear any sound coming from inside, though she couldn’t quite make out the words.
At the very least, she knew someone was there.
But why wasn’t Sephine responding?
Aglis clearly remembered Sephine being a very polite person.
Even though their relationship wasn’t strictly superior and subordinate, Sephine would often bow to her, use both hands when handing her things, and always spoke with honorifics.
‘There was definitely something fishy going on!’
“A peephole? Perfect!”
Observing from the shadows was a necessary skill for a knight.
Not to mention, she was technically an assassin as well, so being proficient in such things was only natural.
Aglis pressed one eye against the hole, but she saw nothing.
“Karin, she’s looking at us.”
“Let’s scare her. This is going to be fun!”
Aglis looked down again and saw two figures — one white and one black — flash by below.
A moment later, the peephole went pitch black, as if someone was blocking it.
“What’s going on?”
Immediately after, Karin flapped her Little Demon wings and lifted Fala up.
The two of them overlapped and made a funny face at the peephole.
“What is that… how strange.”
Aglis, of course, wouldn’t be frightened by something like this.
She was a professional knight who had been on the battlefield.
However, this helped her confirm that the person inside probably wasn’t Sephine.
Sephine wouldn’t do something so childish.
Although it might sound a bit conceited, Aglis felt that among all the officials, she was the one with the best relationship with Sephine.
They used to drink together often.
Even though Sephine would usually get drunk after just one cup, they managed to get along reasonably well.
“Karin! She isn’t scared.”
“Fala, don’t worry. Watch me set a trap at the door. She’ll be finished when she comes in!”
The two sisters were having a great time, though they seemed to have forgotten something — their mother was also outside.
Since the person inside refused to open the door, Aglis didn’t plan to keep shouting.
She simply sat on the steps to wait.
Sephine would return sooner or later; she could just ask her to open the door then.
Aglis seemed to have forgotten her original purpose for a moment.
After some time, the drowsy Aglis heard the sound of small leather shoes hitting the ground.
“Aglis Gross? What are you doing here?”
“Lady Sephine! You’re finally back!”
Aglis’s body was stiff from the cold wind, but she had finally waited for Sephine.
“You don’t need to call me ‘Lady’ anymore. I’ve been laid off.”
“That… I’m sure the Demon King was just acting on impulse — “
“It has nothing to do with her. I chose to leave on my own. Did she send you to spy on me?”
Aglis broke into a cold sweat.
Sephine had hit the nail on the head, guessing her purpose immediately.
However, now was not the time to panic.
Aglis possessed excellent knightly training and could adapt on the fly.
“How could that be? It’s just been a long time since we went drinking. Why don’t we go grab a few drinks today?”
“Do I look like I’m in a state to drink right now? Forget it. If there’s nothing else, please leave. I don’t want to have anything more to do with her.”
“Wait! It looks like there’s a thief in your house!”
“A thief?”
Sephine’s heart skipped a beat.
She had two children inside! If a thief had broken in, the children were in danger!
“But why would Aglis know there was a thief and not go in to help?”
Perhaps she had mistaken the children for thieves.
But for now, Sephine didn’t want to reveal the existence of the two children.
If the Demon King found out, she would surely send people to take them away immediately…
“I’ll go in and check first. If there really is a thief, I’ll scream, and you can come in and catch them.”
“Alright.”
In any case, she wouldn’t be kicked out for now.
As long as she stayed here, there was still a chance to improve their relationship.
The mission hadn’t failed yet!
Sephine pulled the key from her pocket and pushed the door open.
With a *thud*, a mouse fell onto her shoulder.
Sephine took one look and let out a terrified shriek.
Hearing that there really was a “thief,” Aglis rushed inside, but she saw nothing.
“A mouse!”
Sephine collapsed to the floor, thoroughly shaken.
Seeing Sephine fall, Aglis was also scared half to death.
Although her information was a bit outdated, she knew the massive news that the Empress had been pregnant.
With how large Sephine’s belly had been before, the news had long since spread through the palace.
But looking closely now, Sephine’s figure seemed to have returned to normal.
“Stupid Karin! You scared Mother! Go help Mother up, quick!”
“Oh no, oh no…”
Karin flapped her little wings and flew directly down from the second floor, tossing the mouse on Sephine’s shoulder out the door.
“Mother, are you okay?”
“Mother?”
Aglis looked at the little girl who looked exactly like Sephine and was stunned.
“Karin, go back inside! And no flying around the house!”