Chapter 30
Chapter 30
“Miss Aileen is here!”
“Miss Aileen!”
After nearly a week away because of the autumn monsoon, I returned to work—and froze the moment I opened the door and heard the burst of voices.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come!”
“Your ankle still hurts, right? Sit on the soft sofa and rest a bit.”
“Something to drink? It’s gotten colder lately—shall I bring you some warm tea?”
…What was this overwhelmingly enthusiastic reception?
Since the effects of the triangular roofs and the drainage channels had clearly appeared, I expected that even those who had been skeptical would change their attitudes.
Still, I hadn’t expected them to welcome me this intensely.
It was hard to believe these were the same people who had frowned and clicked their tongues when they first saw me on my first day at the Urban Development Department.
I stood there in a daze, staring at the employees, when Anton Brown approached with an unusually excited expression.
“Well, well, look who it is! Miss Aileen, the hero who stopped the autumn monsoon!”
“…Please don’t call me that. It’s embarrassing.”
If there were a hole in the ground, I would have crawled into it.
“You’re more shy than you look.”
“Seriously. If it were me, I’d be going around bragging that I saved Belheim.”
While I was listening to the pointless chatter, someone knocked.
It was a servant of the lord.
“Excuse me. The lord is requesting Miss Aileen.”
“Oh, then you’d better go right away.”
“I wonder what kind of reward the lord will give Miss Aileen.”
“Why are you the one excited about that? Don’t tell me you’re shamelessly hoping for a share of the leftovers.”
“Th-that’s not it! And I worked hard too, so it’s not wrong to hope for a little!”
I escaped the noisy office in many ways and followed the lord’s servant.
The path to meet the lord always made me tense, but today a tune naturally slipped from my lips.
After all, I wasn’t being dragged away without knowing why or summoned to be scolded.
I was going to receive a reward.
And not just any reward—it was the thing I wanted most.
My steps felt lighter than ever.
“My lord. Miss Aileen has arrived.”
I entered the office more confidently than ever before.
Even if he didn’t greet me as enthusiastically as the office staff had, I at least expected a friendly “welcome.”
But that wasn’t the case.
“……”
Calix Craubel sat at his desk and stared at me without saying a word.
His expression looked more serious than usual.
Anyone would think I came here because I did something wrong.
When giving someone a reward, he could at least smile a little. His personality was really strange.
“You called for me, my lord.”
Though I grumbled internally, I smiled brightly on the outside.
The lord, who had been watching me silently, slowly stood.
Then he walked over and stopped in front of me.
His hand moved to his waist.
Shing—
A chilling sound rang out. My vision flashed, and cold metal touched the back of my neck.
A sword…?
Calix Craubel had placed a sword against my throat?
My heart nearly stopped from the shock.
The cold metal pressed into my skin, and I felt a stinging pain.
It was a terrifying situation where the sharp blade could pierce my throat at any moment.
Yet strangely, the first emotion that surged within me wasn’t fear—it was confusion.
Why am I being treated like this?
I had done what he wanted, yet instead of praise, he drew a sword on me.
I couldn’t understand it at all.
But I couldn’t say anything, because Calix’s gaze was terrifying.
Rather than anger, he looked like someone being chased by something—his tension stretched to the limit.
“What exactly are you?”
As he pressed the blade further, it dug deeper into my skin. I felt blood begin to flow.
“Reveal your identity.”
“…You already know who I am.”
I had no idea why he was acting like this, but I had no intention of dying quietly.
“I’m Aileen, daughter of the hunter Tabin. I currently work at the Urban Development Department.”
I spoke as calmly and steadily as possible.
“If you require further explanation, please tell me exactly what you wish to know.”
Calix’s eyes narrowed.
His gaze was sharp, as if searching through me, but he didn’t seem intent on killing me immediately.
“If it’s not too much, I’d like to ask something as well.”
Gaining a bit more courage, I met his gaze directly.
“I’ve done nothing that warrants this kind of treatment. May I ask why you’re doing this?”
“……”
Calix simply stared at me without answering.
A heavy silence filled the office.
We looked at each other as if in a staring contest, until the first person to look away was Calix Craubel.
“Ha.”
He rubbed his face as if washing it dry, then lowered the sword.
I exhaled the breath I had been holding.
Calix casually tossed the sword onto the floor and rang the bell hanging on the wall.
The butler entered in response—and froze when he saw the blood flowing from my neck.
His eyes moved quickly, trying to assess the situation.
“Call Doctor Oswald.”
Calix ordered firmly.
After the butler left, silence filled the office again.
I wiped the blood from my neck with my sleeve.
Seeing the bright red blood made me feel slightly dizzy.
The lord didn’t even glance at me.
He simply sat on the edge of the desk, deep in thought.
This lunatic.
I knew he wasn’t entirely sane, but I didn’t expect this much.
I definitely needed to leave this place as soon as possible.
Not long after the butler left, a middle-aged man in a white coat entered the office.
It was Edgar Oswald, the lord’s personal physician.
He was also the one who had treated my ankle when the worm appeared earlier.
“Let me take a look at the wound.”
Doctor Oswald carefully examined the cut on my neck.
The disinfectant stung so badly that tears welled up in my eyes.
“Fortunately the wound is not deep. However, it may leave a scar, so I’ll give you some scar ointment.”
The physician told me to keep water away from the wound for a while and to apply the ointment twice a day before leaving the office.
Once again, I was alone with Calix Craubel.
I shot him a glare.
Unlike earlier, he was looking directly at me.
When our eyes met, he slowly spoke.
“I’ll… compensate you for the injury.”
He injured someone and now said he would compensate me?
“How will you compensate me?”
I asked sharply, incredulous.
“What do you want?”
“Well. Shouldn’t that be for you to figure out, my lord?”
Trying to pass the responsibility onto me like that.
When I pushed the question back to him, a deep crease formed between his brows.
“More importantly, explain why you suddenly pointed a sword at me.”
“……”
This time he flinched slightly before sitting on the edge of the desk.
“Originally, District 9 was supposed to flood during this autumn monsoon.”
Then he spoke slowly in a heavy voice.
“As a result, not only property damage but dozens of casualties were expected. Districts 6 and 8 were supposed to suffer similar losses.”
At first I wondered if he was talking about last year.
But the details didn’t match what I knew.
And he had said “this autumn monsoon.”
Yet this autumn monsoon had caused no damage at all.
“I tried everything to stop it.”
His story continued, increasingly incomprehensible.
“I requested the imperial family to send more mages to cast protection spells. I evacuated people. But nothing worked.”
Calix Craubel laughed bitterly as he looked out the window.
“In fact, the more I struggled, the worse the damage became. As if the goddess of fate were punishing me for trying to escape the threads of destiny.”
He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled before looking back at me.
“But this time was different. It was stopped without any damage.”
“……”
“So I became curious about you. Curious how you managed something I failed to achieve no matter how many times I tried.”
As I listened, one word came to mind.
Regression.
From what he said, it sounded like Calix Craubel was a regressor.
Did this novel even have that kind of setting?
As far as I remembered, it didn’t.
So what was going on?
Was it because he was the secondary male lead—and the final boss—that his background hadn’t been explained in detail?
“Now I want to hear your answer.”
His gaze was still sharp, but not as chilling as before.
“Who are you?”
What should I do?
Should I tell the truth, or not?
After hesitating for a moment, I slowly opened my mouth.