Guest from the Imperial Palace (3): The Gray Sword's Inquiry
“Young master.”
“Yes.”
“What happened back then?”
Sera Klein’s voice was calm. It always had been since we met. This woman could touch the edge of someone’s throat and still sound as though she were merely commenting on the weather.
Three years ago, in spring. The period when the report format from the Kaindel Count Territory changed, tax leaks decreased, and the budget for maintaining transport routes increased. And the time when I opened my eyes in this body.
“……”
I drew a slow breath. I could have laughed it off. I could have brushed it aside with something like, “Haha. I don’t really know.” But this time, I didn’t want to.
“Inspector.”
“Yes.”
“Did you come here just to ask that?”
Sera Klein’s gaze fixed on me. A merchant passing by on the street read the atmosphere and quietly turned away.
“The Ramal incident.” I folded one finger. “Military operation records, unofficial security activities. I can show you those.”
I continued evenly. “But where exactly do my personal affairs and the heir lessons from three years ago fall under His Majesty the Emperor’s Normalization Decree?”
The air stiffened for a moment. Even the sounds of the morning market seemed to fade. Sera Klein did not answer immediately. Her expression showed neither offense nor anger. Instead, it was the first time she had truly looked at me.
“…A valid point.”
“……”
“That question falls outside the scope of the inspection.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Then you’re withdrawing it?”
“…Yes. I’ll apologize.”
Sera Klein said it so readily that it surprised me. I had expected her to push back with something like “It was merely a necessary question for the inspection.” This woman knew when to stop once she judged herself wrong.
“Well, it’s fine.”
I said. Sera gave a brief nod. That settled the matter for now. We turned toward the mansion in silence. Sera Klein asked nothing more. I said nothing more. And for a brief moment—just a moment—she seemed all right.
“……”
The instant the thought crossed my mind, I clicked my tongue inwardly. Get a grip. Sera Klein was not someone you could afford to let your guard down around.
In the original novel, Sera Klein—the Gray Sword. The woman who moved most quietly at Verka’s side when she began cleaning up the empire’s interior. The loud one had always been the protagonist, Verka. Exposing nobles’ crimes, shattering rotten justifications, and passing judgment in the empire’s name—that was Verka’s role.
But after the judgment was passed, the one who actually dragged people out, sealed doors, seized ledgers, and grabbed fleeing men by the scruff of their necks was Sera Klein. There was no mercy. She was precise, swift, and clean—whether the target was a ledger or a man’s neck.
As a reader, it hadn’t seemed bad. In fact, it had felt satisfying. “Finally, those worms are being swept away.” That was all I had thought. But looking back, I remembered the time they hauled in that duke. Even with the Emperor’s tacit approval, it was not something a mere inspector should have handled.
‘…And that Gray Sword is walking right beside me.’
I glanced at Sera’s profile. Her gray eyes were fixed on the road ahead, devoid of any visible emotion. That only made her seem more like a doll.
“Young master?” Sera asked without slowing her pace. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
“Do you inspect faces as well, Inspector?”
“If necessary.”
I turned my head away. Fine. I wouldn’t let my guard down. In the original story, she had been the kind of woman who could bring down birds from the sky.
**
Upon returning to the mansion, Sera Klein headed straight for her quarters, saying she would review the inspection procedures again. Review procedures. Apparently sleep wasn’t included. I swallowed the remark and quietly fled to my room.
After arriving, I collapsed into a chair.
“……”
With a rare moment of rest, I closed my eyes. Just five minutes. Let me rest for five minutes.
Knock, knock.
As expected, five minutes were not granted.
“Young master.” It was Roman’s voice.
I answered without opening my eyes. “Tell them I’m dead.”
“I believe you are still alive.”
“Then tell them I’ll be dead soon.”
“It would be difficult to relay that to the guest.”
I slowly opened my eyes. “Guest?”
The door opened and Roman entered. His expression was slightly stiffer than usual. Not good. When the butler showed emotion on his face, it usually meant trouble had arrived.
“Who is it?”
“Someone from the Arbina family.”
Arbina. My former fiancée had come. That alone was more than enough trouble—extremely troublesome, in fact. And of all days, today? The very day the imperial inspector was sitting in our house?
“……Roelyn?”
“Yes. Lady Roelyn Arbina.”
I leaned my head against the chair’s backrest. The ceiling came into view. ‘Unnecessarily luxurious.’ Yet it apparently couldn’t stop the misfortune falling from above.
“What does she want?”
“She said she would like to speak with you privately.”
“Privately?” What more could there possibly be between us that required privacy?
“Where is Inspector Sera?”
“She is in the drawing room with the Count.”
“And Roelyn?”
“I showed her to the small drawing room.”
That was fortunate. Putting the imperial inspector and my ex-fiancée in the same room would have been too cruel. To me.
“All right. I’ll go right away.”
I stood up.
**
When I opened the door to the small drawing room, Roelyn was standing by the window. The same face, the same smile as a few days ago. The problem was that I knew Roelyn a little too well.
‘If she’d really come just to joke around, she would’ve started teasing my face already.’ But she wasn’t. She was smiling, yet…
“It’s been a while, Cian.”
“We saw each other a few days ago.”
Roelyn gave a small laugh. Normally she would have fired back with another remark or two, but not today. She studied my face for a moment.
“Didn’t sleep?”
“…Can’t you tell just by looking? I’ve been a bit busy.”
“Hard to miss.”
“Anyway, what’s going on?”
Roelyn stepped away from the window and slowly took a seat. I sat across from her. Tea had already been placed on the table. The steam had mostly dissipated. I could roughly guess how long she had been waiting.
“Did you wait long?”
“A little.”
“How long is ‘a little’?”
“Not long enough for you to feel guilty.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
“Though it would be nice if you felt a little guilty.”
“…This is difficult.”
She had always been like this. Roelyn wasn’t the type to corner people. She would smile appropriately and step back appropriately. Yet sometimes she would drop a remark that was strangely difficult to answer.
“Roelyn.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know who’s visiting our house right now?”
Roelyn blinked. “We have a guest?”
“The imperial inspector.”
“……What?”
Roelyn’s surprise was genuine. I could see her eyes waver. “Why is the Imperial Inspection Bureau here?”
“Apparently because of what happened in Ramal before.”
“Already?”
“They said it would take a few days, but they showed up today.”
Roelyn fell silent for a moment. “…Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because I came on a day like this.”
“That’s true.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to agree so readily?”
Roelyn let out a short breath and touched the teacup. She didn’t drink from it—only brushed her fingertips lightly along the rim. I quietly watched her lost hand. I remembered that habit. Back when we were engaged, whenever the family elders casually brought up matters like our future residence, succession, or inter-family exchanges, Roelyn would sometimes tap the teacup like that.
“Something similar happened on our end too.”
After a brief silence, Roelyn spoke.
“Similar incident?”
“Our transport route was attacked.”
A short answer, but it was enough.
“Any damage?”
“Minimal.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“The larger merchant groups took a different route.”
I looked at Roelyn. “Only the larger ones?”
“Yes.”
That single word made the room fall slightly quieter. Good. This wasn’t a bandit problem. At least, not an ordinary bandit problem.
“Why are you telling me this? Your family should be able to handle something of that scale.”
“I have a small question.”
“What is it?”
“The Normalization Decree.”
At those five words, I fell silent for a moment. The Normalization Decree. Lately, it was the last phrase I wanted to hear anywhere near me.
“Why that?”
“We also have to submit a report.”
“You came to ask me about that?”
Roelyn removed her hand from the teacup as she answered. “How did you handle it?”
“We didn’t write ‘bandits.’”
“…I thought so.”
Roelyn looked at me for a moment before lowering her gaze slightly. “And you said the inspector came. Who is it?”
“Sera Klein.”
Roelyn’s eyes wavered ever so slightly. “The Gray Sword?”
“You know her?”
“She’s fairly well-known in noble society.”
“…I see.”
Roelyn gave a short laugh. It was a laugh, yet there was something strangely sharp about it.
“Cian, but the Gray Sword is a woman. And young, at that.”
“What?”
“No, I just…”
I stared at Roelyn for a moment. “…That’s oddly suspicious.”
“It’s just your imagination.”
Imagination, my foot. The position of “ex-fiancée” was strange. Even while pretending to keep distance, she occasionally exercised these odd rights.
“Did something happen with the inspector?”
“We just looked around the territory.”
“The two of you?”
“It was an inspection.”
“Right. An inspection.”
Roelyn nodded. Far too obediently. That was the face of someone who didn’t believe a word.
“It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“What was I thinking?”
“Don’t ask that question right now.”
Roelyn gave a small laugh. This time it was a more genuine one, though it quickly faded.
“Anyway, it seems like both you and I need to be careful.”
Roelyn stood and headed for the door. “Cian, that inspector… be careful.”
“…Are you jealous?”
Roelyn stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“It’s a warning.”
She finished speaking and opened the door.
Creak—
And Roelyn froze in place.
Someone was standing in the corridor outside. Pale blonde hair, gray eyes, posture perfectly composed. Sera Klein. Her gaze was directed at both Roelyn and me.