Sorry
"Hmm~ Hmm~ ♪"
Rosewin, riding in the carriage, was humming a tune while applying her makeup.
"......."
Meanwhile, the female employee sitting across from her stared blankly, then frowned and rummaged through her pocket.
"Don't you dare smoke."
Rosewin, in the middle of her makeup, snapped firmly at the employee.
"This one's magically treated, good for the body..."
"Still no."
"No smoke comes out ei—"
"Still no."
The employee, trying desperately to persuade her, finally slumped back in her seat with hollow eyes and closed them tightly.
"What's wrong with you lately? Something happen?"
Rosewin, still fixing her makeup while gazing into her hand mirror, glanced at her and asked. The employee replied in a low voice.
"...Something did happen, but you don't need to worry about it."
"I see."
Rosewin nodded briefly at those words before focusing back on her mirror. The employee stared at her intently.
"Ah, there it is."
"Huh?"
"Over there, the detective agency."
She pointed to a shabby building in an ordinary alley they'd just entered after leaving the back alleys.
"Ha."
Rosewin let out a hollow laugh.
"Seeing it in person, it's ridiculous."
With that, she crossed her arms and began to speak.
"You have to bluff moderately. Advertising a rundown dump like that as a detective agency? Hilarious."
"......"
"And they think a place like that competes with our information guild these days? I don't buy it. Must be a scam operation. The owner's identity isn't even public kno—"
But Rosewin, who'd been ranting on, had to stop mid-sentence.
"That person... is that who I think it is?"
"...Lady Bywalk is the marquise's wife?"
Marquise Bywalk, who dominated the empire's social circles, was just emerging from the shabby building.
"Wh-what."
Rosewin, stunned by the sight, muttered in confusion.
"Why is she there..."
"She probably commissioned them, so she's leaving."
"I know that!"
Rosewin yelled at the employee, who still had those hollow eyes.
"Even if we tried to recruit her for our guild, she wouldn't join... so why is she coming out of there...!"
"Because it's better than our guild..."
"...Watch your mouth."
"No, nothing."
Glare intensifying at the employee piling on, Rosewin exploded in frustration.
"Stop the carriage!"
"Pardon?"
"I'll pay you, just wait here!"
As Rosewin huffed and tried to step down from the carriage, the employee grabbed her and asked,
"Where are you going?"
"Scouting the competition."
With that curt reply to the employee, Rosewin strode toward the shabby building. The employee watched her go.
Click.
The employee, with a resigned expression, stuck a cigarette in her mouth, lit it, and muttered.
"...She's lost it, for real."
"Ahem, ahem!"
Rosewin cleared her throat upon entering the shabby building.
"Is anyone here?"
At her question, the fox ears sticking out from behind the counter perked up.
"Greetings, human?"
Miho, who'd been dozing, emerged with a sleepy face and began speaking.
"What brings you here?"
"...A fox beastkin, huh. Interesting."
Rosewin eyed Miho curiously for a moment, then cleared her throat elegantly and spoke.
"I'd like to speak with the detective directly, if possible?"
Miho stared blankly at Rosewin, who was hiding her identity under a special robe she used for stealth missions.
"A guest that weirdo human would like."
Muttering that, Miho stepped out from the counter and began guiding Rosewin and the employee.
"This way..."
"Hello~! Nice to meet you!"
But before Miho could finish guiding her to the reception room, she burst in.
"Yes, greetings."
"...Tch."
Rosewin, seeing the detective whose face was concealed by cloth enchanted with protective magic, sat down with a disappointed look.
"...Miss Rosewin."
".....!"
But she froze in place when the detective called her name.
""........""
A brief silence followed.
"Wh-what are you..."
"Have a seat first. Standing like that is uncomfortable for both of us."
"......."
Rosewin, trying to make excuses to break the silence, hesitated and sat down at the detective's words.
"I-I'm not Rosewin..."
"You seem anxious lately?"
"Pardon?"
The detective, eyes narrowed, began her deductions.
"Looks like man trouble... jealousy, maybe? Or insecurity?"
"...Wh-what are you talking about!"
"Feeling those emotions over a man you don't even have... you're quite the interesting one."
"What the hell!!"
The detective calmly explained to the shouting Rosewin.
"Dark circles under your eyes, nails bitten to the quick. Hair's dry and frizzy. That alone tells me you've been suffering mentally for days."
"So what does that have to—!"
"Then what's the reason? Someone in your position can have anything she wants, and you just became a hero's companion, your 'lifelong wish.' Why suffer like this?"
".....What?"
As more sensitive info emerged, Rosewin panicked, but the detective pressed on.
"By process of elimination, the only thing that could reduce you to this—even the emperor couldn't fix—is a 'romance problem.'"
"......."
"Am I wrong?"
"Wr-wrong!"
As Rosewin yelled, the detective tapped her fingers on the desk thoughtfully.
"Definitely jealousy, then."
"Wh-what?"
"No engagement ring or anything, so not lovers. But a romance issue means... unrequited love stolen by someone else?"
"Bullshit! Unrequited my ass—"
"Oh? Not that? Then the one you had your eye on got taken."
"No!"
"Or... you pushed him away, and he won't come back?"
Rosewin flinched at those words.
"You thought of him as your toy, something to control and play with subtly. But he suddenly leaves and doesn't return, so you're panicking, right?"
Rosewin fell silent at that. The detective cleared her throat.
"But what if you never had him to begin with?"
"...What?"
She continued coldly.
"What if it was all your delusion? Or you threw away the last chance yourself?"
"Wh-what..."
"What should you do...?"
"Who the hell are you?"
Fear creeping in unconsciously, Rosewin asked. The reply was simple.
"A detective."
"...L-let's talk this out."
After a tense standoff, Rosewin finally spoke.
"You seem to have a huge misunderstanding..."
Her voice trembled as she tried to explain.
"Oh, right... I had a reservation."
The detective suddenly clapped, as if just remembering, and asked Miho, who'd been beside her all along.
"Miho, when did Lady Serena say she'd come?"
Miho made a baffled face, cleared her throat, and replied.
"Ahem, in... about five minutes, human."
Rosewin's face paled at that.
"I-I think I should go now."
"Pardon? You came first, it's fine. If needed, we can..."
"N-no, no. I'll head out then."
Ignoring the detective trying to stop her, Rosewin left the room sweating profusely.
"".........""
Silence filled the room.
"Phew, feels refreshing."
The detective muttered with relief in that moment.
"So..."
She glared at the employee who'd stayed and been watching her.
"...Who the hell are you?"
She asked in a low voice.
"So sharp... If she were even half as clever..."
But ignoring the question, the employee—
—swish.
Quietly channeled Moon Mana toward the detective, Serena, and muttered while waving her hand.
"Using Moon Mana on me? That's a bit sad."
"........."
Serena and Miho quietly slumped over the desk.
"Sorry, but... you can't figure out who I am right now, Serena."
Confirming that, the employee turned to leave the room.
"By the way, when will the Subjugation Curse lift?"
She glanced lingeringly at Serena.
"Sun as DLC with age restriction? Said it was lifted..."
She muttered curiously.
"...When's it happening?"
"We've arrived~!"
"Sigh."
Rosewin, who'd fled the detective agency in a hurry and ridden back in silence, let out a deep breath at the coachman's words upon reaching their destination.
"Me... jealous?"
Followed by a cold voice.
"Don't make me laugh. Me, over Frey? Ridiculous. That'd never happen."
Though her trembling voice didn't match the chill, she muttered to steel herself anyway.
"What are you doing! Hide already!"
"...Sigh."
She grabbed the arm of the employee who'd finally succeeded in smoking in front of her, hopped off the carriage, and quickly ducked into the bushes.
"Eek..."
Rosewin grimaced briefly due to her innate germaphobia but soon fixed her sharp gaze on the mansion grounds.
"What are you doing?"
"Seeing what Frey's prepared."
"Pardon?"
"So oblivious. Duck your head."
With that, she pushed down the employee's head.
"...Huh?"
Her eyes widened.
"Frey...?"
And soon, Rosewin's expression darkened rapidly.
"So soft..."
"Hic... Hngh..."
Frey was stroking the head of a red-haired girl.
"Wh-what?"
The girl, burying her face and chest in his embrace, trembling as she clung to him, was—per Rosewin's intel—Irina Philiard. One of those who supposedly hated Frey.
"........"
But Irina was clearly coquettishly seducing him as a woman.
"...What is this."
Rosewin's face twisted like she'd eaten shit.
"Th-that doesn't matter, Frey's just..."
She forced a smile and muttered, but—
"...Ah?"
Seeing Frey's face lit with a genuine, bright smile, her eyes wavered.
"......!"
After staring dazedly for a while, Rosewin suddenly panicked and crouched lower.
"...Why now."
"Al-almost made eye contact with that bitch."
"Pardon?"
"Lulu. She looked this way with those Demon Eyes. My robe has top-tier protective magic so she can't see, but still."
After hiding for a long time like that, she peeked out and resumed spying.
".....!"
Seeing the three now in the carriage, her jaw dropped.
"Lu-Lulu?"
"...Master."
Lulu, straddling a flustered Frey, was trying to undress.
"Like this, me..."
"Where."
"...Eek!"
Lulu, glancing sideways suspiciously while trying to say something to Frey, collapsed rigid as Irina coldly flicked her hand.
"Ah."
But to Rosewin, watching through the carriage window from the bushes, the scene looked utterly distorted.
"A......"
She stared blankly, making dazed noises for a moment—
—swish.
—and unconsciously stood, slowly stepping forward.
—Step, step.
With each step closer to the carriage, her expression darkened sharply.
"...F-Frey?"
She timidly knocked on the carriage door.
""........""
Silence flowed.
—Crash!
A brief commotion sounded.
—Creak...
The carriage door slowly opened.
"Hmm...?"
Frey, cheeks flushed with an innocent look, stared at her blankly.
"......Hm."
Rosewin glared briefly at Lulu, adjusting her clothes behind him, then puzzled over the ears on Irina's head beside her, who wore a cold expression.
"...What brings you here?"
At Frey's question, she frowned and spoke.
"Your surprise event's too much."
"...What?"
"Fine, you win."
Ignoring Frey's baffled face, she pulled documents from her bosom.
"I found what you commissioned. So take it and let's call it even..."
She sighed those words, but—
"Sorry, Rosewin."
Frey cut her off with a dark expression. She tilted her head.
"Right now, I don't want to see your face."
"Pardon?"
"And that won't change going forward."
At those words, Rosewin showed panic.
"I don't think..."
Hearing Frey's next words, she began to look dazed.
"...I can like you anymore."
".......Ah?"
Strong sunlight shone down on them.