Chapter 40: Background Investigation

After Ainola finished eating all the takeout food she had brought back, she wiped her mouth and said.

“Once I get the Eye of Wite, I should figure out a way to leave here.”

Even with a disguised identity, prolonged contact would inevitably lead to exposure.

More importantly, rather than being discovered by Anderson, Ainola wanted to see the look of shock on his face when she revealed her true identity herself.

That expression would surely be satisfying enough.

As for when to reveal it… probably around the time she obtained the Eye of Wite, right?

For an assassin, switching aliases was normal. No assassin could use the same alias until they died—unless they had a death wish.

“By the way,” the contact seemed to recall something, saying, “According to the information I’ve received, the Moon Shadow Society, due to their previous failed operations and being tracked by the Temple Knights, had to change their strategy for finding the Eye of Wite. As for what exactly that strategy is, I’m not too clear.”

The contact couldn’t find much information, but that was enough for Ainola.

As for the Moon Shadow Society’s other methods, what else could they be?

Nothing more than choosing from options like kidnapping, threats, seduction, ambush, and murder.

That assassin organization’s usual style was just that ruthless.

“If they target you, you must be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not weak.”

Ainola shrugged.

She wasn’t afraid of the Moon Shadow Society’s assassins.

If they did come for her, she wouldn’t mind showing them what it meant to see flowers blooming red.

“Ainola, remember one thing: It’s easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to avoid an arrow in the dark. It’s better to be careful.”

After giving her advice, the contact stood up and walked toward the bedroom.

Ainola yawned and also returned to her room, lying down on the small wooden bed.

Lost in thought, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

The next day, Ainola arrived at the church’s residential area early in the morning.

Her duties were now busier than before, so she had to work from early morning until late at night.

Especially since her residence was quite far from the Temple Knights, she had to get up even earlier.

By the time Ainola finished her disguise and entered the residential area, the sky was just barely light.

“Other people have an 8 AM start; I have a 6 AM start. What a miserable job.”

The young girl, once again disguised as Eleanor, sighed, then picked up the breakfast and knocked on the door of Anderson’s bedroom.

But at this early hour, Anderson was probably still asleep.

So Eleanor just knocked symbolically before pushing the door open.

For the nobles of the Glory Empire, servants weren’t even considered people, so coming and going like this was normal.

Though she didn’t know what Anderson thought, she assumed he probably wouldn’t mind.

Besides, she wasn’t going into where he slept.

Anderson’s bedroom was large, with a living room and a sleeping chamber.

When Anderson was sleeping, Eleanor would at most be active in the living room; she definitely couldn’t go into the sleeping chamber.

Otherwise, if she saw Anderson pitching a tent, wouldn’t that be awkward?

No, wait—it seemed Anderson couldn’t pitch a tent right now.

At that thought, Eleanor couldn’t help but show a pleased smile on her face.

Sure enough, happiness had to be built on others’ pain.

Thinking that Anderson couldn’t enjoy himself for these five months made Eleanor’s mood especially bright.

Even the upsetting incident of being touched and seen earlier faded quite a bit.

Eleanor picked up a broom, hummed a little tune, and walked out of the living room.

She had to clean the hallway first, then the inner room.

While she was cleaning, Lewis, hiding in the shadows, naturally spotted Eleanor’s figure.

Seeing that this young girl could come and go freely in Anderson’s room, with a very calm expression—even a bit cheerful—he found it very suspicious.

“Those two must have something going on.”

Although Anderson had explained to him earlier that Eleanor wasn’t his girlfriend, the way they acted like an old married couple now just seemed off.

Besides, hadn’t Anderson stripped this nun’s clothes before?

Lewis recalled the scene in the hallway, with Eleanor wearing Anderson’s clothes, her face flushed with shame, eyes teary—clearly something had happened.

“No, for safety’s sake, I need to investigate this nun’s background and origins first.”

Though mutual affection was nice, in the conservative Glory Empire, marriage and love had to be about matching social status.

If Eleanor’s background had any issues, the noble class would surely gossip.

So for Anderson’s sake, Lewis had to find out Eleanor’s origin.

If it was very bad…

Then he would have to observe their feelings.

Lewis certainly didn’t mind Anderson finding a girl who loved him back.

So if Anderson really liked her, he would find a way to elevate Eleanor’s status.

On the other hand, investigating her background was also to prevent foreign spies from infiltrating.

After all, whether on the surface or in the shadows, Anderson’s identity easily attracted the attention of spies, so utmost caution was necessary.

At that moment, Eleanor naturally knew someone was watching her, but her face showed no panic.

After all, Anderson was a prince of the kingdom; having some eyes on him was normal.

So she wasn’t flustered at all.

She even yawned, looking completely relaxed.

After finishing cleaning the hallway, she headed toward the cafeteria.

Taking care of daily needs naturally meant preparing breakfast.

Usually, she just went to the cafeteria to pick up breakfast; it wasn’t much trouble.

“Hello, can I get the breakfast for Room 304, please? Thank you.”

“Sure.”

The cafeteria staff handed over the breakfast.

But as Eleanor took the breakfast, she felt a chill run down her spine from behind.

It was as if some malicious gaze had fixed on her.

That kind of gaze wasn’t pleasant, but Eleanor could only pretend not to notice and keep walking forward.

After turning a corner, Eleanor finally looked back and said with narrowed eyes.

“Didn’t follow me?”

Such obvious killing intent clearly meant an assassin had infiltrated the Temple Knights.

As for who that assassin was, Eleanor thought the staff member who served her was highly suspicious.

Unable to judge for sure, Eleanor could only pretend nothing had happened and continue walking as if everything were normal.

Once she was far away, the staff member who had handed out the meal revealed a sinister look in his eyes.

“Hehehe~ Sorry, little girl.”

With that, he burned the poison he had on hand, destroying all evidence.

Now no one would know he had attempted to poison her.