“Tell it, then. All of it.” Park Noah dared, gritting her teeth, and then let go of the collar of Adrian’s shirt.

Adrian caught her arm and whined, “Hey, I’ve been cleaning up all for you these past few days, and you’re repaying my generosity by being so mean? I don’t even want much. Just once a week. You don’t like that either?”

“....”

“Let’s meet and do something fun. Let’s just accompany each other in the name of bringing back memories.”

“....”

“Why do you look at me as such a filthy fellow? I’m trying to offer a win-win negotiation. I see that dragon up close, and you learn from me how to control its mana.”

Adrian’s babble was the most amusing to Park Noah. Unable to quench her interest, albeit suspicious, she asked. “Do you really need to? Why do you like Mu so much?”

“All wizards fear dragons. It’s a dragon that came back to the world after five hundred years of disappearance. How could I not be interested in such creature as the Minister of the Magic Department in Laurent?” He grinned, placing a soft pat on Park Noah’s cheek.

“What do you say, a second deal?” He stretched his arm outward.

At the corner, Kyle Leonard stood with his arms folded, observing their ‘secret’ exchange. Park Noah glanced over her shoulder briefly and then muttered.

“..I’ll think about it. So keep your mouth shut for now.”

“Well, according to your orders.”

Although there was no explicit confirmation, Adrian’s eyes gleamed in triumph while the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smirk as if he had won what he wanted.

“If my face and name appear on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, it will be all your fault. You’ll never see a dragon’s tail, let alone a dragon. Do you understand?” Park Noah threatened, narrowing her eyes at him.

“My Ellie has a pretty threatening face, too. All right, I promise.” Adrian raised Park Noah’s right hand and pressed his lips softly against the back of her palm. Then, he let go of her before she could snatch her arm back, and bid his farewell.

“I’ll see you at Tezeba, then, Eleonora. Oh, don’t stare so fiercely. Sir Leonard, I can return to Lunazel now.”

“Please return as fast as you can. There’ll be a car waiting outside.” Kyle Leonard replied formally.

Park Noah breathed a sigh of relief. However, it could only last so long.

“..Then, Miss Noah. Let me see.”historical

“Yes, yes..”

Shortly after Adrian left, the cold-hearted investigator changed his attitude and began to pour an earful of lecture.

“No matter how disconnected she has been from the world, Miss Noah hadn’t even looked at the newspaper in the last two years? The faces of the ministers of each department appear on the front page of the newspaper every day. Haven’t you seen his face? Are you uncivilized?”

“..Do you know I feel like a piece of crap when I talk to you?”

“What if anything happened to you? I just wanted you to get to Battuanu without a fuss, but.. Usually, you don’t like to lift a finger, but why do you have so many events going on?”

If I stay still, I will get this nagging for a month, Park Noah thought. She quickly frowned and touched her forehead. “Oh, my head..”

“That doesn’t work anymore.”

“I’ve been feeling chilly since morning. I just want the butler to take care of me.”

“....”

“I was really sick. Don’t you feel a fever?” She grabbed his hand and pressed it against her cheek and the back of her ear. It was the investigator’s usual way to check her temperature.

Kyle Leonard paused for a moment and not long after, exhaled a sigh. He then held the back of her neck firmly with one hand, feeling the heat. “Have you been to the hospital?”

“Yes, I’ve got the medicine, but it’s not working.”

“Hand.”

“Hand!” Park Noah repeated, stretching her arm.

Kyle Leonard grabbed her wrist and checked the flow of mana. Park Noah, too, could feel her irregular pulse.

“You used Mu’s magic. What happened to the Minister..” Kyle Leonard narrowed his eyes, looking directly at Park Noah.

“Oh, I couldn’t help it! If I didn’t borrow Mu’s power, I was going to be assassinated. Then I was trapped in the bedroom, so I was forced to get help from Mu because I tried to subdue him. That’s all.”

“If you didn’t know it was the Minister, who the hell did you think it was?”

“I don’t know, but he was my sleeping partner.”