“Miyako Florence has disappeared.”
Klaus Reinhardt rolled his eyes at the report he’d just heard.
The covert agent serving the Reinhardt family knelt before the future head of the household.
“So, what you’re saying is… Miyako vanished from the royal capital of Ode on the very night I broke off our engagement…!?”
“Y-yes, that is correct.”
“How… how could this be…!?”
Klaus trembled.
Out of sheer delight.
Miyako Florence.
That woman had been the fiancée of Klaus Reinhardt. A man who should have been living a perfect life as an upper-class noble, incredibly wealthy, and perpetually popular with women.
But!
Not only had that country noblewoman shown no joy at his marriage proposal, she’d gazed into the distance and muttered:
“Oh, for real? Uh, yeah… Huh!? My apologies, I’m delighted!! Truly, I am!!”
“…Ugh, can’t we just pretend this never happened?”
How rude, Klaus had thought, but in the face of Miyako’s brilliance, beauty, and intelligence, he’d told himself, “That was an auditory hallucination, that was an auditory hallucination.” and continued living as her fiancé.
Every time he went to meet her at the time she specified, bird droppings would somehow fall on his head from above.
Every time he went to the meeting spot she designated, he’d somehow step in massive horse manure.
And as the final straw, he’d even fallen into a pit trap dug by who-knows-who.
He’d endured such misfortunes for months.
And then, and then…
The moment he finally couldn’t take it anymore and called off the engagement, she fled the royal capital as if running away…!
“Miyako… Could it be that all those incidents until now were just her hiding her embarrassment!!!!!!”
“…Huh? What did you say just now, Lord Klaus?”
“Miyako disappeared from the royal capital as if fleeing, right!? She must have been so overcome with sorrow and shame after I broke off our engagement that she couldn’t stand to stay! I see now. I thought her treatment and attitude toward me until now were strange, but to think it was all just her hiding embarrassment—a tsundere act, testing behavior!! Hah hah hah hah!!!”
The covert agent, secretly thinking, ‘Ugh, I want to quit this job,’ bowed his head even deeper.
“An innovative interpretation, I must say.”
Klaus laughed heartily. The agent thought about what he’d have for dinner that evening.
“We can’t just stand around, agent!”
“…Hamburger steak.”
“Hm?”
“Ah! My apologies, what is it, Lord Klaus!”
“Right. Find out Miyako’s current whereabouts immediately.”
“Y-yes, meaning…? Um, it’s already time for me to clock out.”
“Ah. Overtime.”
“Th-that’s…”
Without batting an eye, Klaus stole the agent’s future of eating delicious hamburger steak.
The agent swore to himself.
“I’m definitely going to change jobs.”
Completely indifferent to his subordinate’s feelings, Klaus gazed out the window and murmured dreamily.
“Miyako, wait for me. I’ll definitely find you.”
The fact that Klaus’s facial features were actually quite handsome, making the scene somewhat picturesque, only gnawed at the agent’s stomach.
A shiver ran down her spine.
“Hep-choo!”
“Eek, are you all right, Miyako!?”
On their way back from the hot springs, a huge sneeze.
What was that just now?
I felt something like a really unpleasant aura coming from the direction of the royal capital.
“Ooh. Sorry, Fuuka-chan.”
“It is rather chilly, isn’t it? If this happens every night, it wouldn’t be strange to catch a cold.”
The open-air bath felt absolutely wonderful, but it was true that they got chilled on the way home.
“Honestly, the fact that shack doesn’t even have a shower is the problem!”
“Hmm, well, it wasn’t originally meant for long-term stays.”
Miyako pondered about having an indoor bath.
If we had that, maybe I could make one myself?
“Well, but…”
She breathed in the scents of earth and wind, filling her lungs, and followed Fuuka’s back as she walked slightly ahead.
“This walk home is actually pretty nice, though.”
“I am not enjoying it!”
“Hehe, alright, alright.”
Tomorrow will surely be a good day too.
…Probably.