Lis stared blankly at the assassin sprawled across the rooftop in a pitiful heap. The sight held his interest for only a moment before he turned away with obvious indifference.
Returning to his bedroom, Lis lay back on the bed.
Not long after, Eil quietly entered the room.
Her breathing was slightly uneven, as if she had been running all through the forest searching for Del.
Afraid of waking the young master, she held her breath as she gently placed Del onto the bed before silently crossing the room to the candlestick and extinguishing the flame.
But after finishing everything she had intended to do, Eil unexpectedly walked toward the bed instead of the door.
She waved a hand back and forth in front of Lis's closed eyes, her suspicious behavior making it seem as though she was testing something.
In the darkness, she stood still for several moments, carefully listening to his slow, even breathing.
Only after confirming several times that he had truly fallen into a deep sleep did she finally step away.
A moment later, the faint sound of a window being opened reached the room.
Wrapped in the silence of the approaching dawn, Eil's nearly imperceptible footsteps vanished through the window in an instant.
"..."
A few moments later, Lis slowly opened the eyes he had kept tightly shut.
Beneath half-lowered eyelids, his violet eyes, glimmering with an uncanny light, lazily drifted toward the slightly open window.
So...
Eil had noticed there was an assassin on the roof.
He had nearly stopped the man's breathing completely, believing no one would detect him.
An assassin really is an assassin, Lis thought. To notice something that subtle...
"...Why did she go?"
Even if she had sensed the assassin's presence, Eil had no obligation to deal with him.
More importantly, she was hiding her true identity.
Yet she had willingly risked exposing herself just to take care of him...
"He's still alive."
Had he known this would happen, he would have simply killed the assassin himself.
As Lis sat up, Del—who had appeared to be asleep—snapped open his crimson eyes.
His fluffy tail swayed as he faithfully followed after his master.
Whoosh! Thud!
A heavy impact echoed from above the terrace, somewhere along the roof.
There, moving with the lightness of a feather, was Eil.
Apparently irritated by the maid uniform covered in layers of frilly lace, she had casually hitched the skirt all the way up to her thighs.
The bizarre appearance suited her surprisingly well.
Her long silver hair fluttered beneath the night sky, sparkling like scattered stars under the pale glow of the waning moon.
Grr...
Seeing the assassin charge at Eil, Del bared his teeth with a low, threatening growl.
Lis quietly rested a hand on the back of the fox's neck.
"Shh, Del. Not yet."
If the assassin managed to injure Eil, he intended to send Del in immediately.
No matter how capable Eil was, her opponent was still a fully grown man with a much larger build.
He was fast as well—far beyond the level of the riffraff they had encountered in the Black Forest.
Thud!
Then, without warning, Eil swung a thick sword sheath that seemed to have appeared from nowhere and mercilessly slammed it into the back of the assassin's neck.
He's already half dead. She doesn't need to go that far...
There wasn't the slightest trace of mercy in her ruthless attack.
"Will... will we ever meet again?"
"Who knows... But if we do, I don't think I'll be an angel anymore. So... let's never meet again."
The memory flashed vividly through Lis's mind.
"...Just as I thought."
His lips, tightly pressed together until now, slowly parted.
Those merciless strikes.
Those utterly heartless kicks, devoid of even a shred of compassion.
Watching every one of her movements without missing a single detail, Lis quietly covered his mouth with one hand.
"She really is an angel."
The corners of his lips curved upward behind his fingers.
Just then, Eil suddenly turned her head.
Her sharp gaze locked onto the terrace, filled with unmistakable tension as though she had sensed someone's presence.
Grrrr!
With a subtle gesture from Lis as he concealed himself in the shadows, Del wagged his tail energetically before hopping out into view.
"...Ah, it was just Del."
Relief softened Eil's voice as it drifted quietly through the stillness of the night.
A moment later, she yanked the sash from the unconscious assassin's waist.
Using it like a ribbon, she neatly tied his wrists and ankles together as though wrapping a present.
Then she swung him overhead and hurled him far into the distance.
"Wow... he flew pretty well."
Hearing Eil's innocent remark, Lis blinked slowly while staring at the spot where the assassin had once been.
...It doesn't seem to be her first time throwing a person.
After cleaning up every last trace of the incident, Eil crouched beside Del and vigorously rubbed the fox's head.
"Del, what you saw just now is our little secret from Master, okay?"
"Grrr..."
The plump little fox let out a low, contented rumble in response.
Tap. Tap.
Tap-tap-tap.
In the dim hours before dawn, while the pale moon still lingered in the sky, a discreet tapping against the window stirred Eil from her sleep. Rubbing her heavy eyes, she rolled over with a groan.
"Mmm... What is it...?"
Turning her head, she spotted a raven with crimson eyes perched neatly on the windowsill.
Still half-asleep, Eil dragged herself out of bed and opened the window. The raven dropped the object clutched in its beak with a soft thud before flapping its wings and vanishing into the brightening sky.
"...Seriously, Death."
She sighed as she pinched the letter between her fingertips, careful to avoid the sticky saliva dripping from the bird's beak.
"I keep telling him not to send things in a raven's mouth."
With a bitter smile, she unfolded the damp letter.
Report received. Feedback is as follows:
1. Submit a written explanation regarding how the maid we dispatched somehow became the target's personal attendant.
2. Observe the fox's appearance in greater detail. In particular, confirm whether its red eyes emit light.
3. Conduct a thorough investigation into the target's combat abilities.
P.S. Do whatever it takes to earn the target's trust.
"A... A written explanation!?"
Eil's eyes flew wide open at the unexpected punishment.
The drowsiness that had weighed on her only moments ago disappeared completely.
She hadn't expected praise. Things certainly hadn't gone according to plan.
"But this is going too far!"
She had stayed awake before sunrise to finish that report, and this was what she got in return?
She genuinely couldn't figure out what she'd done wrong.
If someone had to take the blame, shouldn't it be the thorn that just happened to be lodged in Del's paw at that exact moment?
"What kind of absur—"
She froze for a moment with a dangerous look on her face.
Then, as if nothing had happened, a perfectly pleasant smile spread across her lips.
She casually tossed the letter onto the reddish candleholder.
The thin paper immediately caught fire, curling as the flames consumed it with a series of soft crackles.
"Mmm... Eil doesn't know anything about that."
With her mind conveniently wiped clean of the matter, she changed into her maid uniform.
Today would be her first official morning duty.
Waking the young master.
Knock. Knock.
There was no response.
It seemed Reece was still asleep.
Quietly, Eil turned the doorknob and stepped inside.
"Hm?"
But the bed was empty.
The only one in the room was Del, his blazing crimson eyes gleaming as his tail lashed back and forth irritably.
"Del, where's Young Master?"
At her question, Del fixed his gaze toward one corner of the room.
Just as Eil turned to look—
"...!"
Reece stepped out of the bathroom.
He stopped dead the instant he saw her.
Holding Del in her arms, Eil blinked at him before giving a polite bow.
"Good morning, Young Master. You're up quite early."
"...Eil... why are you here?"
His reply came awkwardly, almost stumbling over itself.
Eil tilted her head, looking as though she'd been asked the most obvious question imaginable.
"My first assignment is to wake you up, Young Master."
As she answered, her gaze remained fixed on him.
Reece had only managed to cover his lower body.
His toned upper body was completely exposed, and his damp hair still glistened with water.
Yet Eil neither blushed nor looked away.
She simply stared, calm and unbothered, as though seeing a half-dressed man was something she had long since grown accustomed to.
"...Eil."
Reece let out an embarrassed sigh.
"Could you... stop looking at me?"
"Yes, Young Master."
Without hesitation, Eil nodded and turned around.
She obeyed the order immediately, seemingly without understanding why he had asked in the first place.
Reece hurriedly grabbed the nearest robe and threw it over himself before letting out a short, strained breath.
Running a hand roughly across his now-pale face, he took a moment to compose himself.
After a while, he finally spoke.
"...It's fine now."
Almost as if she had been waiting for permission, Eil turned back to face him.
"...Young Master."
Something about her expression had changed.
Her eyes were unusually serious.
Slowly sweeping a sharp, scrutinizing gaze over Reece from head to toe, Eil's face grew solemn before she finally opened her mouth.
