When Eunice, Ximena, and Lara got together, they laughed and joked saying that they probably should make a gathering of the troublemakers of Hautean. What’s interesting is that Eunice and Ximena spent money so well that they were treated as the best customers in the world by the merchants.
They arrived at a tailor-made boutique in the luxury shopping district.
“Young Lady Dvonn! Oh my, Young Lady Swavy is here too!”
Soon after, the designer came running barefoot, got in between Eunice and Ximena, and crossed arms with them.
“It’s been a while since you came here! I was afraid that you’d had enough of my dresses!”
The designer was so outgoing. His smiling face was filled with kindness.
Eunice giggled and pointed behind her.
“You’re wrong. Don’t flatter us today, we brought you a more spectacular customer today.”
“Who?”
The dress designer’s attention belatedly reached Lara who was getting off the carriage.
“Oh… Young Lady Bailey?”
He looked at Lara with his mouth open.
Lara—who wore a bright blue dress that fluttered whenever the winds blew, a black umbrella, a hat decorated with laces—approached the designer and greeted him.
“Hi?”
“I can’t believe the daughter of Thousand Gold Isadora will wear my clothes!”
He screamed.
“Come in, I will make you whatever you want!”
Thousand Gold Isadora was every merchant’s dream in Hautean. Needless to say, her daughter, Lara, was a huge customer for them.
“Let’s go in.”
Lara reached out her hands to Eunice and Ximena.
Eunice shouted.
“We’re not kids. Why should we hold hands? It’s so embarrassing.”
However, both of her hands were soon held by the strong Ximena. Eunice got stuck between Lara and Ximena and went into the store with her fingers clasped.
“Is there a type of dress that you want, milady?”
The designer asked. Then, the three ladies answered at the same time.
“Something fancy.”
“Something fabulous.”
“Something crazy.”
Lara told Konny not long ago.
She would show up in a shocking dress that would make Konny beg Lara to come back to wearing ordinary dresses.
Now it was the time to keep that promise.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
After ordering dresses, underclothings, hats, and shoes, Lara took Eunice and Ximena to a fancy restaurant nearby. Not only have they bought clothes for her, but they’ve even helped her to choose more clothes, so she was going to treat them to dinner as a thank you.
The two ladies did not stay still even in the restaurant.
There were a lot of upper-class people who came to eat there, and Eunice muttered that it was just in time.
It was early in the evening. It was a time when there were a lot of people watching for the barely legal young noblewomen to get together and drink their heads off. But Eunice did not care. Sitting in the center of the restaurant hall, she ordered the most expensive and strong wine and drank until the nape of her neck turned red.
Ximena said to Lara that just being with them had already branded her as a troublemaker.
Lara answered that that was exactly what she wanted.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Now that she has prepared the dress, it’s time to go see Demian. Leaving the drunken Eunice to Ximena, Lara went to the arena on her own.
The arena was quiet because there was no match going on. Except for the security guards and a few wardens, few people came in and out. Lara stood in front of Demian’s door, taking deep breaths twice.
Unlike in the past, they got off on the right foot, but it was still nerve-wracking for her to meet him. As soon as Lara, who was ready, raised her hand and tried to knock, a laughing voice was heard inside.
“Come on in.”
How did he know that I’m here?
As soon as Lara opened the door and went inside, she asked Demian.
“Were my footsteps that loud?”
“No.”
“But how did you know I was here?”
“Because I'm waiting for you.”
He was really good at saying something misleading.
Lara went to a chair and sat there, it was a little bit away from the sofa where he was sitting. It was neither too close, nor was it too far away.
Demian just stared at Lara’s actions.
“I’m here today to make a suggestion. You might think it’s bothersome…”
“It’s not.”
“There will be a huge banquet on the Tender River soon. It’s a banquet hosted by nobles supporting Prince Sidhar, but the Princess will also attend.”
“And?”
“There will be an assassination attempt.”
Lara told him about what would happen at the banquet.
“Black sorcerer will appear and attack the Princess.”
Demian did not take his eyes off her.
It felt like the air in the room became a little hotter every time he blinked.
“So?”
Demian asked.
Lara’s suggestion was from now on.
“I was invited to the banquet, and I want to bring you as my escort. They must have already known that you’re not a slave, so it is not impossible for me to bring you there.”
“You want me to rescue the Princess?”
“Yes. Then, the Princess will give you a big reward. She is still young, but she’s someone who thinks on a large scale and is a smart person.
“Why should I do that?”
Demian did not seem interested, it was as if he did not want to do it.
He sat nonchalantly and just looked at Lara persistently.
“Because,”
Lara chose her words carefully.
It would be nice if she could just say that one day Prince Sidhar will covet Demian’s skills. He will somehow get his hands on Demian and try to use him. To avoid the Prince, he would better be the savior of the Princess who stood at odds with the Prince.
“Because the black sorcerers are the bad guys.”
What Lara chose was general justice.
Black sorcerers acquired powerful powers through contracts with demons. What they wanted was demon worship, carnage, war, and chaos.
Lara continued with a perfectly ordinary reason.
“So strong that you and the righteous me would need to join forces to save the Princess.”
“Lara.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want me to do that? Do you want me to save the Princess who will be in danger and destroy the bad black sorcerers?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then.”
Demian easily agreed.
He did not seem to believe Lara, but seeing that he just moved on without asking anything, he must have thought that it was nothing.
That’s a relief.
Lara smiled unconsciously.
She would make him a hero. Not a slave who would be chased away after being taken advantage of, but a hero who was respected by anyone.
That was Lara’s first atonement for Demian.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
It was late at night.
Demian stood by the window and watched Lara’s carriage move further away. He seemed relaxed and easy-going when he was with Lara. But when he was left alone, he looked like a completely different person.
His gazes were cold and his heart beat anxiously.
“Lara.”
She knows me.
He still did not know how that was possible, what’s certain was that Lara knew about him. He was suspicious from the first time he saw her.
Someone ordinary could not feel Demian’s murderous spirit, but only Lara kept her guard on and walked on eggshells around him in the arena. She recognized his skills at a glance even though he pretended to be a stupid slave and gave him expensive weapons that were not used in the arena.
When he told her that he had been granted immunity from the Crown Prince of Tarragon, she felt Demian was unfamiliar, as if she had never seen him before and she looked like she had never heard about the immunity before.
Still, Demian was half in doubt up until there. He thought that was not possible because she was not in his memory.
But Demian realized it from the conversation a while ago.
Lara knew Demian.
She told him to save the Princess from the attack of the black sorcerer.
Black sorcerer as strong. Someone that was sent to assassinate the royal family, in particular, must be specialized in the battle against a great person. Even talented knights could not find and punish black sorcerer who was preparing to attack while hiding themselves. This was because magic was a long and complicated process, but once it was used, it was difficult to counterattack it.
Of course, all this was not applied to Demian.
Dark magic did not work on him.
How did Lara know I can easily defeat the black sorcerer?
And how did she know there would be black sorcerer at the banquet?
“Haa.”
Lara was very suspicious, but his heart was beating for her again. He did not know himself. Demian laughed because he was unfamiliar with himself.
When Lara was not around, he was engulfed in anger like a starved and frozen monster. But when Lara was around, he was drowsy like a stuffed lion in the middle of the day.
So he could not leave her.
He could not even be far away from her.
The terrible sense of loss that had dominated and tormented him all his life had disappeared when he was with Lara.
“Lara.”
It was a name as soft as the tongue in his mouth.
He thought of her from morning to night. He kept waiting for when she would visit him. He paid attention to the ridiculous arena schedule and kept his ears to the ground whenever someone passed by the door.
Demian had never experienced anything like this before.
For him, women were just difficult and complicated. He never had a relationship that was more than just a comrade.
But Lara was different.
She was special, very special.
Despite looking like she was hurtful, she showed guilt whenever she saw him. While being polite and caring about others, the villainess façade really looked good on her.
He would never get tired of looking at her.
Demian’s comrades would yell at him if they saw him now, saying that a miracle had happened. If they had found out that he—who had always kept a distance, not only from women but any human generally—showed such great interest in someone, they might seek out a religion belatedly.
Black sorcerer, huh?
Lara asked Demian about his reason for coming to Hautean.
But he did not answer her back then.
“Demian, the black sorcerers have their eyes on the Hautean Kingdom. I heard that they are already deeply related to the nobles there. Black magic does not work on you. Can you find out what happened there?”
Because he was a spy sent by the Crown Prince of Tarragon.
