The accompaniment for the dance song they had to get through began. Since it was the last song, there were enough people to fill the dance floor.
Instead of Miss Talbot, the hostess, Mary Talbot took her place at the front of the line, and Duke Shodney came onto the floor holding Mary Talbot's hand. Was he her uncle? Though he looked older than his age now, Esperanza joined the group while recalling the Duke's appearance that would remain unchanged even thirteen years later.
Esperanza, who had been stepping to the music richly featuring string instruments, suddenly raised her head.
"Isn't this an incredibly long song?"
"Ah. It is."
"...You knew, didn't you? You should have said so earlier."
"Tell me if you feel like you're going to collapse from exhaustion while dancing."
When Cider teased her, Esperanza stepped back and glared at him.
"What, so you can abandon me and run away?"
"Or there's the option of carrying you gently back to the mansion."
"Ugh."
"Why that reaction? It's hurtful."
As if he were really hurt. Esperanza burst into laughter seeing him contort his expression as if truly wounded. She stepped quite cheerfully, then spun around following his lead.
A slow minor melody that was a variation of the opening theme flowed out. The black shoe tip moved maintaining about a finger's width distance from the white satin dance shoe's front.
If the shoes had eyes, they would have been flustered about their tips touching. However, the gentleman skilled in leading maintained that precarious distance without ever brushing against the dance shoe. The hand spread to support her back was also comfortable without any bothersome aspects.
Count Avondale probably wasn't the best dancing gentleman in Nine Holder. But after dancing with several gentlemen, dancing in his arms was the most comfortable.
And the Duke was the strangest.
Esperanza twisted her body slightly with a hopeful thought. Just as she was about to touch the man and woman dancing beside them, Cider raised his arm and embraced her shoulder.
"Careful."
"Thank you."
"Are you really okay? Making mistakes like this."
Esperanza pulled at the corners of her mouth, smiling just like Cider did.
"You did that on purpose."
"I wanted to confirm something."
Her suspicion became certainty. The Duke had deliberately pushed Esperanza. While his lead was indifferent, it wasn't so terrible as to make his partner stagger. After bringing up the charity talk, even the impression of indifference couldn't be felt.
Even the clumsy lead at the beginning—all of it, all of it had been calculated behavior. What had he wanted to know?
'My physical abilities? Reflexes?'
If those assassins had been in the dungeon, they might have seen Esperanza slaughtering monsters. But how impressive could reflexes confirmed in social dancing really be?
"Now that your confirmation is over, will you focus on the dance?"
A subtle voice brushed past her ear. Esperanza quickly raised her head.
The black shoes came between her two neatly aligned feet. The shoe tips pressed gently against the inside of her feet and spread them apart. While Esperanza was startled, the steps changed and they moved apart again to a finger's width distance. His face was as calm as if nothing had happened.
"Just now..."
"What?"
"What was that just now?"
"Who knows?"
Cider pretended not to know and raised their overlapped hands high.
Esperanza, who had mindlessly turned her body as directed without realizing it, immediately dug her nails into Cider's back as soon as she returned to her original position. Even so, with several layers of fabric, her nail tips would be dulled and it couldn't possibly hurt. Esperanza grumbled lightly.
"You just dropped to second place in my ranking."
"What ranking is that? I was first place originally, I suppose?"
Unexpectedly, Cider showed interest in this baseless comment.
"The most comfortable person to dance with. You just dropped because of that. Work harder."
"Who was originally in second place?"
There was a subtle competitive spirit in asking about the 'original second place' instead of the 'current first place.' Esperanza thought for a moment. Actually, she hadn't thought of a second place. Recalling her few former dance partners, Esperanza soon selected who would have been the original second place.
"Hmm. Probably an old Hunter colleague, I think. Though I only danced with him once..."
She had the memory of thinking he was good at everything since he was more skilled than Esperanza, who was experiencing social dancing for the first time. But even including the deducted points, he didn't seem better than Cider.
"Hmm. Is that so."
"For reference, last place is Duke Galliston."
"Is it that bad? I haven't heard that the Duke can't dance."
If a Duke of royal blood couldn't dance, rumors would have spread far and wide long ago.
"It's not that he can't dance. He deliberately pushed me."
"You just let that happen?"
"Then what should I do? Push him back?"
She expected to get a response asking if she was crazy, but Cider unexpectedly nodded seriously. He looked more displeased than Esperanza, who had been the victim.
"Or... I think we'll have a chance for revenge soon."
A chance for revenge?
Cider ignored Esperanza's question and put strength into the arm around her waist. Her feet lifted off the ground. It felt strange looking down at Cider. He gently set Esperanza down just like that. The music was ending.
"But why 'we'?"
"Because we're us."
What kind of answer was that...
But Esperanza didn't probe further either. Though no one could have heard their whispered conversation at such a close distance, almost touching each other, buried in the loud music, it wasn't a conversation to delve deeper into in a public place. They had more than enough time to talk about secret matters, so there was no need to be impatient.
After the last dance ended, they greeted Miss Talbot once more. Esperanza was able to see the remaining three of the five types of automatons Miss Talbot had newly purchased.
Charity, reputation...
Miss Talbot's reddened eyes looked more artificial than when she first saw them.
Lucinda Maxwell said goodbye, suggesting they gather together when Cordelia returned, and was led away by her mother, Mrs. Maxwell. Mary Talbot waved regretfully. Lady Purse grumbled with a mischievous face, saying "the type who only does exactly what they're told."
Edmund Saturn was nowhere to be seen, having left at some point. Had he been there when they danced the last dance? Seeing Mary dance with Duke Shodney, it seemed he had left before then.
"Esperanza. Where did you say that hat shop was?"
"What hat shop?"
Cider asked as they got into the carriage. Esperanza, unable to follow the suddenly divergent conversation, only blinked.
"No, never mind."
He didn't tell her to the end. Why he suddenly asked about the hat shop, what exactly this chance for revenge was. The party ended with nothing but questions.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
Alter District was made up of streets complexly intertwined like a maze, so first-time visitors were apt to get lost. Dangers lurked everywhere, opening their mouths to swallow lost sheep in one bite.
However, Esperanza crossed the streets with quick steps, as if she lived here. She didn't forget to check the map with sidelong glances from time to time.
Since she hadn't traveled many paths, it didn't take long to reach the dwelling where an undertaker once lived and where an information broker now resided.
Luke Havenly.
A sacred name that doesn't suit an assassin. Not even funny.
Esperanza opened the door without hesitation. The old door swung all the way open, hitting the wall and trembling.
"It's been a while, customer. Please come in."
A composed voice greeted Esperanza as if he had expected her.
There was no need to show any respect. This guy had no professional ethics. Someone who doesn't keep customer secrets can't be called an information broker, so this guy was just an assassin. What respect for an assassin?
"You know why I'm here, right?"
"Do you have additional requests to make?"
Jack, who had been sitting on the old sofa nibbling on cookies, waved his small hand. Esperanza patted Jack's head.
"How long have you been here?"
"All day today."
Understandable. Did he hear something from the Duke?
She looked at the information broker again, but he was just preparing another cup of tea without showing any disturbance. Bringing a child as a shield.
"Jack, want to wait at the bakery?"
When she pressed money into his hand, Jack narrowed his eyes.
"He told me not to go..."
The kid who knew how to calculate gains and losses in his own way hesitated between the woman who came occasionally and the information broker he met every day, then carefully shook his head. Esperanza sighed.
"Then you keep that money and wait outside the room."
That should be fine. Jack glanced around and slowly got up. The information broker nodded. As if saying it was okay.
Acting like a good adult, how pretentious.
"Please sit."
"Luke Havenly."
When his name was called, the pale face smiled faintly. A face showing bizarre contrast on both sides centered on the nose bridge whenever the light changed.
"Yes."
"Do you also take assassination requests?"
"...I am merely a simple information broker."
"I knew from the beginning that you were a former assassin. Though I didn't know you'd sell my information to the Duke. You have no credibility. What kind of information broker has no credibility?"
She was smiling, but her taste was terrible. If she hadn't made deals with this bastard from the beginning, if she had found a proper information broker even if it took time, wouldn't everything have been better than now?
The Duke wouldn't have paid attention to Esperanza, and the Mabelwood incident might not have happened. That much was still just speculation, but according to Cider's hypothesis, it was so.
No dungeon, no sudden injury to Alastair Renfrew. Perhaps they might have found the hunter who had sold the troll hide much earlier.
So it was all this bastard's fault. This bastard's fault for luring Esperanza here using Jack from the very beginning.
"My request is this. Kill Duke Galliston."
Luke Havenly's eyelids trembled. It was an instinctive reaction to unmanageable hostility. Even an assassin who thoroughly controlled limbs and breathing couldn't help but react with his eyelids.
"I don't take assassination requests, customer."
"Breaking something is okay though? Why did you make Alastair Renfrew into that state?"
Ah. She came knowing everything.
The information broker let out a low sigh. That sigh gave Esperanza certainty.
It was merely speculation that Cider had laid out while sitting in the reception room, but it matched piece by piece. Satisfying yet unpleasant. How did he get it all right?
The information broker repeated the same words like a broken phonograph.
"I cannot accept the request. If you bring requests related to information, I will accept them."
"What should I trust you with?"
Luke Havenly sealed his mouth tightly. He would have nothing to say about that part. Whatever request she made, he would run and tell the Duke anyway.
"Scared you'll be fired by the Duke? Your neck doesn't seem like it's about to be cut right now?"
I knew this would happen.
The pale hand twitched inside the old sleeve. At that moment, Esperanza aimed behind herself with a revolver she pulled from thin air. Bang. A bright blue magic bullet precisely hit and exploded the gun barrel embedded in the wall. However, her gaze remained locked on Luke Havenly's eyes throughout.
The revolver heated by magic power pressed against the information broker's forehead.
"You'll accept my request, won't you?"