* * *

“J-Jerome, it’s him.”

“No way, it’s really Jerome.”

Stuttering in shock, the Rabbit Twins approached Jerome.

Now that I thought about it, the reason they stayed with the Luna Guild was because of Jerome.

I decided to ask later about his connection with them and introduced Cedrick, who stood stiffly nearby.

“And this is—”

Just as I was about to introduce Cedrick to Jerome, Cedrick walked past me without a word and stormed out of the guild house.

I barely managed to stammer before his abrupt exit left me speechless.

“Hold on a second.”

Apologizing to Jerome, I ran after Cedrick.

I found him already halfway down the hill, ignoring my shouts.

Desperate, I grabbed his arm.

“When someone calls you, why don’t you answer?”

Cedrick flinched, then jerked his arm away irritably. He spoke harshly.

“Why did you introduce me to your fiancé like that? It’s annoying.”

“What… Are you mad that I came back late?”

Cedrick was momentarily flustered by my serious expression, then sharply turned his head to the side.

“I’m not mad. It’s just that now that you’re back, there’s nothing left for me to do. So I’m off to help my father.”

“I was worried you were mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you.”

So he was upset about something.

But what could possibly have set him off this time?

He seemed fine when I saw him at the guild house earlier.

As we stood there in awkward silence, Cedrick suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“That engagement—Howard’s family proposed it, right?”

“……”

“You didn’t have any say in it, did you?”

It seemed that Cedrick had heard about Jeanne’s engagement.

The fact that he cared about my personal affairs was surprising, and I hesitated before finally answering.

“Yeah, why?”

“Then that’s all I needed to know.”

“…What does that even mean?”

“Shut up and take this.”

Cedrick grumbled and pulled an envelope from his coat pocket, thrusting it at me.

I looked at him, silently asking what it was.

His reply was unexpected.

“It seems even this decaying guild is starting to get mission requests. Not that I think you can handle it, but give it your best shot.”

Cedrick walked off after handing me the envelope.

Our guild finally had a mission request!

I eagerly opened the letter and read it aloud.

“Hello, my name is Karrela, and I run a cigar shop in the East.”

[I haven’t been able to contact my older sister for weeks, but I can’t leave the East because of my work. Could you check on her for me? If you meet her, please give her the cigars I’ve enclosed in this letter. The address is listed below.]

I felt deflated by how simple the mission was.

I’d hoped for something cool like a monster subjugation or a bodyguard job.

But all we had was a request to check on someone’s well-being.

Sighing, I murmured with disappointment.

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped. The Luna Guild is just starting to get recognition again.”

“What can’t be helped?”

A hand suddenly snatched the letter from behind me.

I turned, startled, to see Jerome, who had somehow sneaked up on me and was now reading the letter.

Despite the sour feelings still bubbling inside me, I tried to play it cool.

Jerome, who had been silently reading, broke into a smile.

“How interesting.”

“Interesting? It’s just a mundane errand compared to the grand missions you used to take on.”

“No, it’s not mundane at all.”

I raised an eyebrow.

How could checking on someone’s family be interesting?

Jerome returned the letter, then, with a playful grin, said teasingly:

“They haven’t been able to get in touch for weeks. It could be a simple change of address, or maybe a grudge is causing them to ignore the letters. But then again…”

His gray eyes glinted.

“It’s possible that the person is already dead.”

The way he said something so morbid with such a cheery expression was unnerving.

But when I thought about the situation from his perspective, it did seem more intriguing.

Jerome added with a smirk:

“Sometimes, a raging fire starts from the smallest spark. Why not give it a try?”

“What if we actually find a corpse?”

“Then wouldn’t that be better? It’d be the kind of serious mission you wanted.”

“I’m not thrilled at the thought of stumbling across a dead body just for the sake of a thrill. Do you think I’m like you?”

Still feeling resentful, my tone came out sharper than I intended.

Realizing this, I glanced at Jerome to gauge his reaction.

But he seemed unbothered.

‘No, I can’t let it end like this. I vowed to make Jerome’s heart race.’

But what should I even do… to make his heart race?

That’s right.

I’d never flirted with a girl before, let alone a guy, so making Jerome, who was as jaded as they came, feel flustered was close to impossible.

Snapping out of my panic, I gathered my wits.

There was no turning back now.

Desperately, I burned through every brain cell to come up with something convincing.

“Jerome.”

“Yeah?”

“How about a date this weekend? We’re officially engaged, after all.”

Jerome froze mid-step. His ash-gray eyes, filled with clear surprise, reflected my image.

✽ ✽ ✽

The home of Lady Quaintrell, the older sister of our client, Carella, was a quiet mansion on the outskirts of the capital.

According to Carella’s letter, Lady Quaintrell had lost her vision in an accident five years ago and now lived alone with her fully paralyzed husband.

Our guild mission was to check on the couple’s well-being and deliver a gift of cigars to her husband, who was an avid smoker.

Jerome, staring absentmindedly at the scenery passing outside the carriage, muttered.

“A date among corpses, of all things. This is the worst. I can’t even write about a date like this in my diary.”

I replied in a detached voice, aware that he was pouting.

“Don’t say creepy stuff. We don’t even know if there’s a corpse here yet. Besides, aren’t you the one who loves getting tangled up in suspicious, eerie cases like this?”

“What? No way. I wanted a simple theater date, something innocent and free of lust.”

“Get your hand off my thigh.”

I smacked away Jerome’s hand, which had been sneaking along my thigh.

This guy was a paradox: absurdly unconventional when he should be sensible, and frustratingly sensible when a bit of absurdity was needed.

“What’s with that ring?”

Jerome’s gaze landed on the ring on my right index finger.

It was a gift from Freya in the North, something I had worn for the first time today out of fear of losing it.

His keen eyes never missed a thing. I rubbed the ring and shrugged.

“Freya gave it to me. I don’t know much about it, but she said it’s a ring specialized in dark magic.”

When I’d asked what kind of dark magic, she’d just giggled and wouldn’t elaborate, but she’d emphasized over and over that it was meant to protect me and that I should never take it off.

Jerome seemed to contemplate something for a moment before speaking in a calm voice.

“By the way, how’s your morning sickness been lately?”

A shrill ringing filled my ears, followed by a muffled silence as if water had filled them. I grimaced and replied.

“…Are you crazy? Why would a guy have morning sickness?”

As soon as I answered incredulously, Jerome reached out as if to pull off the ring.

Feeling an instinctive sense of danger, I quickly hid my hand behind my back.

Jerome pleaded in an unusually earnest voice.

“Jeanne, won’t you give me that ring? I’ll buy you a much prettier one. Please?”

“Why—why do you want it so badly? No way. Oh, and Freya told me to pass along a message: Stop messing with her unnecessarily. What did you do to make her say that?”

Instead of answering, Jerome just gave a sly smile. Judging by his reaction, he had clearly done something behind my back.

We ended up in a ridiculous struggle to keep him from taking the ring all the way until we reached the mansion.

As soon as the carriage stopped, I shoved Jerome away and scrambled outside.

If his reaction was any indication, this ring was something I should never let go of.

Straightening my disheveled clothes, I glanced around.

Not far away was a mansion that matched the description in Carella’s letter.

An ominous aura clung to the place, and my feet felt heavy.

Jerome, who finally gave up on the ring, commented dryly.

“Look at that mansion. If this isn’t the site of a murder, I’ll eat my hat.”

“I told you to stop saying ominous things!”

His pessimism made my anxiety worse, and the sky, as if in agreement, darkened ominously.

Tall, overgrown grass surrounded the property, evidence of months of neglect.

The odds of finding a corpse instead of a person seemed to have increased by 40%.

Swallowing nervously, I approached the mansion and grabbed the door knocker, banging it loudly.

“Excuse me, is this Lady Quaintrell’s residence?”

I knocked repeatedly, but there was no response.

Checking the mailbox out of curiosity, I froze.

It was crammed full of unopened letters.

Just as I stood there, a chill ran down my spine as the rusty hinges groaned and the door creaked open.

* * *