The Path of Ruin-Chapter 105: Uncomfortable Encounter

When he suddenly saw the most beautiful girl he had ever encountered in his life, appearing before him out of nowhere, Kael felt his thoughts freeze for a moment. It was as if someone had silenced all the thoughts in his mind at once.

Feria Lockhend was also extremely beautiful and didn't hesitate to use it to her advantage, but the girl in front of him was several leagues ahead of her. He couldn't simply describe the girl he saw as 'beautiful'.

But then his wide eyes narrowed slightly. His surprise gave way to a discomfort that enveloped his entire body.

'Wait... what the hell am I thinking?'

He almost slapped himself to come to his senses, but he didn't.

At first, he felt as if his brain had almost melted, but now... he was coming to his senses. Being enchanted by someone's beauty, the resulting blurring and confusion in his thoughts, felt so uncomfortable that he was irritated with himself.

'Is this what being seduced feels like?'

It was definitely an experience he would never want to repeat, excessively uncomfortable. This would be the first and last time. He couldn't remember ever feeling this uneasy before, not even when he was facing death.

"Don't try to escape. As I said before, I have no intention of harming you, but I won't hesitate to do so if necessary."

He squeezed the girl's arm slightly. His fingers closed around her thin wrist. He applied just enough force to scare her a little.

But just by doing this, the girl's expression changed rapidly. Her lips tightened instantly, and her facial muscles tensed. Her eyes narrowed tightly, and her eyebrows furrowed sharply.

"Ngh...!"

When a faint groan of pain escaped from between the girl's clenched teeth, Kael quickly loosened his grip. He stared at the girl in front of him, unable to believe what he was seeing.

'Okay, you're weak, I understand that... but... isn't this a bit much?'

If just that little bit of force was enough to hurt her this much, he couldn't even imagine the pain she must have felt trying to dig up that box. Whatever was in that box was clearly very precious to her.

'Oh, well...'

At least he had achieved the desired effect, albeit a little more forcefully than necessary.

"Now, who are you? Why are you sneaking around the palace, and what's inside the box you dug up?"

The girl paused for a moment at what she heard, momentarily forgetting the pain.

First, her furrowed brows lifted slightly, then a look of understanding appeared on her face, as if something she hadn't noticed had suddenly occurred to her.

As she turned her crimson eyes to Kael's, her entire demeanor changed in an instant. Her shoulders straightened. Despite her soft, youthful features, she quickly took on an authoritative air, and the words that came out of her mouth carried that same coldness.

"Let me go, you're detaining a noble."

Even though his voice was low, it was commanding, yet pleasant to the ear. However, Kael ignored this and tilted his head slightly to the side, his eyes widening.

"Noble?"

There was clear surprise in Kael's voice. The girl smiled slightly, as if she had gotten exactly the reaction she wanted.

"Exactly, so let me go."

She tried to pull her hand away again to free herself. But when Kael's hand didn't even budge, she heard words she hadn't expected.

"Do I look stupid from where you're standing? There's nothing more obvious than you being a noble with that appearance and such a frail body. But that doesn't make the suspicious movements I saw earlier any more reasonable."

Under normal circumstances, dealing with a noble would be the last thing he would want to do. He currently had neither influence nor power.

However, right now, circumstances were not normal.

He was interrogating a suspicious figure. Under these circumstances, he could justify all his actions, at least as long as he didn't go too far.

The Empire was exceedingly generous and fair in such situations.

"So I ask again, why are you trying to hide yourself, and what is in that box? If you continue to act suspiciously, I will knock you unconscious and hand you over to the knights. You don't seem like you could pose much of a threat to me."

The girl said nothing, just stared at Kael. For a few seconds, only the sound of the wind could be heard.

"..."

It was as if she had nothing left to say.

"Well, fine. I'll speak."

She spoke through clenched teeth.

"But release my arm first."

Kael couldn't help but be suspicious at first, but then he did as the girl asked. He was sure she couldn't use eon. However, with all his attention focused on her, he could react to even the slightest suspicious movement he saw.

The girl quickly pulled back her freed arm, then rubbed the area Kael had just been gripping tightly with her fingertips. But he ignored it.

"I'm waiting."

The girl narrowed her eyes as if annoyed and gave Kael a rather stern look. But when she saw only cold stares in return, she took a deep breath and averted her eyes again. She remained silent for a while longer, as if thinking about what to say, but then, when Kael began tapping his foot rhythmically on the floor, she rolled her eyes as if giving up.

"I recently lost a... close friend of mine. We were investigating something that could be called a secret. That's why I just wanted to find what she left behind. But I didn't want to draw attention to myself while doing so. That's all, do you understand?"

"Hmm."

Kael became thoughtful. The girl watched him, seemingly confident in what she had said, showing no sign of tension.

But then...

"Prove it."

These two words echoed in the narrow street.

"Huh?"

The girl stared at Kael, her eyes almost twitching, her mouth agape. He, on the other hand, didn't care.

"Prove it, what you said. There was a note among the things you took out of the box. Show me the note, and the moment I'm sure its contents match your story, I'll let you go and pretend I never saw you. If you're innocent, you can be sure I won't tell anyone anything I read. I'm smart enough not to want to deal with a noble anymore. I know my place."

"..."

The girl couldn't find anything to say again. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again each time.

"If you're not hiding anything, if you're telling the truth, then you shouldn't have anything to be afraid of."

Well, actually, he knew there was more to it.

If she was really telling the truth, then most likely the note contained information about her private life. Not only that, but perhaps there was information that would put her family in a difficult position.

But he didn't care about any of that. His only goal was to pressure the girl in front of him.

"Ugh... bastard..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

The girl said nothing. She reached inside her robe and pulled out the box.

With that, Kael couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Come to think of it, he realized only now, but the box was completely hidden inside the girl's robe. No matter how loose the robe was, he would have expected it to be at least slightly visible from the outside, but that wasn't the case.

'Strange...'

But that thought only lingered in his mind for a moment, and he continued watching the girl.

After opening the box, she carefully took out the neatly folded note and opened it.

Kael reached out his hand, but the girl didn't immediately hand him the note.

"Wait."

She carefully tore off a small part of the note, then folded it so that only the first two lines at the beginning were visible. After that, she held the note towards him so that Kael could read it.

Kael didn't care much about what she was doing; he clearly understood that she didn't want to let him read the whole note. Therefore, he simply read it without trying anything. His eyes scanned the words quickly.

It didn't take long for him to realize that the torn part was the part addressed to her. She didn't want him to know her name or status.

'Anyway...'

The first sentence was about how the contents of the box were the only things left behind by the girl's mother. The next sentence seemed to be about her disappearance, but there was no further information because the rest of the note was folded.

The girl held the note for a moment before pulling it back.

"Are you satisfied now?"

The cold, stern expression on Kael's face gave way to a calm, obedient look in the blink of an eye. It was such a sudden change that even the girl opposite him couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing.

"Yes. Please also excuse my rudeness. Given the circumstances I encountered, I'm sure you'll find my actions toward a suspicious figure whose identity I couldn't confirm justified. I believe the evidence you've shown, and I apologize for disturbing you. As I promised, I won't tell anyone about anything I saw here."

It was such a professional response that he made it seem as if he was only doing his job by questioning a suspicious person he found inside the palace. There was no room for her to object to any of these words.

"..."

Though she seemed more disturbed than thinking about that.

"Stop acting. Be yourself. You've become overly unsettling all of a sudden. I prefer your previous attitude."

Her eyes narrowed uneasily, and her lips twitched as she placed the note back in the box.

"As you wish."

However, Kael still maintained a certain level of respect. The girl seemed even more uncomfortable by this.

"As long as you don't tell anyone you saw me here, I don't care what you do... you can go."

Kael bowed respectfully.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Then, without a moment's hesitation, he turned his back, put his hands in his pockets, and walked away through the alley as if everything he had seen had been erased from his mind. His steps were slow and calm.

The girl he left behind was staring at him blankly, but he didn't care. He didn't turn around, didn't say a word. He simply walked out of the alley, left the complicated area, and headed towards General Loukan's territory.

The eastern horizon was beginning to open up. The sun would rise soon. He had spent too much time here, and the only thing he wanted now was to sleep.