My Former Disciple Wants Me as His Bride

By June, the sun over the Kingdom of Celis had grown considerably hotter. The sky was as clear and deep as a glass of blue crystal, while a refreshing breeze rustled through the lush greenery.

Eris strolled leisurely across the square, admiring the tender new leaves sprouting from the trees. Despite having a long-term assignment ahead of her, her steps felt light rather than heavy, as changeable and carefree as the summer weather.

‘I just need to finish this job properly.’

It wasn’t particularly different from the work she had done until now, but since the commission had come from a highly esteemed prince, the pay was certainly generous.

Once she pocketed a sizable sum and finished taking care of a few personal matters, she planned to leave this kingdom behind and finally live as freely as she pleased.

“I thought I’d have to keep working for at least another five years.”

Aside from the royal family’s mercenary commission, she had recently secured several lucrative contracts through the information guild she secretly operated.

She had already reached the financial goal she had set for retirement, and only now were her days beginning to feel a little less like a constant race against time. The thought that this might even be her final commission made her feel lighter still.

“I wonder what sort of illustrious person I’ll be meeting.”

Lakan Valerius, the second prince of the Kingdom of Celis, had asked her to receive an honored guest traveling from the Tervanne Empire and serve as his escort so that he could enjoy his journey in comfort.

If only that were all there was to it.

A task that simple would hardly warrant the enormous reward she had been promised.

The true purpose of the commission was to keep the guest under close surveillance and determine whether he had come to Celis for a genuinely ‘innocent’ reason—or whether he intended to cause trouble or do anything that might harm the kingdom.

Eris herself had some ‘information’ she wanted to extract from this distinguished visitor from the Empire, so she had accepted the commission without much hesitation. The problem came afterward.

Blinded by the enormous reward, she had neglected to ask for any information about the guest she was supposed to escort.

By the time she remembered, she had no further opportunity to meet Prince Lakan in private, and somehow the appointed day had arrived without her ever learning who she was looking for.

“What exactly am I supposed to do?”

The sight of the sprawling harbor only made her feel more helpless. At this rate, finding the person she was supposed to escort might very well prove to be the most difficult part of the entire assignment.

With the ship yet to arrive, the harbor was strangely quiet, as though still sunk in a deep sleep. Those waiting for passengers sat wherever they pleased on wooden crates scattered around the docks, shoulders drooping listlessly as they passed the time.

“Fruit pudding! Come get your fruit pudding! It’s sweet and delicious!”

While Eris wandered among the shabby stalls with little more than makeshift tables, hoping to kill some time, a young boy caught hold of her arm. The grubby child smiled brightly as he held out a packaged pudding.

“Did you make this yourself?”

“Yes!”

“You’re quite talented.”

Eris had never been particularly fond of sweets, but seeing such a young child working so hard made it difficult to simply walk away. She readily bought a pudding from him.

Leaning against a wall, she scooped up a spoonful. Tiny pieces of tart fruit burst pleasantly between her teeth. Even if it hadn’t contained real fruit, she would have been more than happy to pay what she had.

She was glancing around, thinking she ought to buy a few more if she happened to see the boy again.

At last, the blast of a ship’s horn rang through the harbor, rousing it from its slumber. Eris immediately pushed herself away from the wall.

“The ship’s here! Everyone, get moving!”

“It’s a ship from the Tervanne Empire!”

“Ships from Tervanne have been coming in pretty often lately, haven’t they? I heard another one arrived just a few days ago. When I was a child, we were lucky if a Tervanne ship came even once a year.”

The vessel arriving from the Empire was enormous.

Eris rarely had reason to visit the harbor, and for a moment, she could only stare at its sheer grandeur. A flicker of the same excitement she had felt when first setting foot in the Tervanne Empire stirred within her.

Its pitch-black hull was sheathed in smoothly forged steel, while masts soaring dozens of meters into the air bore sails embroidered with a golden lion and laurel wreath, the symbols of the Tervanne Empire. They billowed proudly overhead as though deliberately displaying the Empire’s might.

Even the marble railings along the ship’s sides and its intricately carved statues seemed to have carried the Empire’s extravagant splendor across the sea with them.

“This is going to be impossible.”

Eris muttered under her breath as she surveyed the passengers waiting to disembark.

The crowd was every bit as overwhelming as the enormous ship itself, and as though word had spread that a vessel from the Tervanne Empire was docking, spectators had begun pouring into the harbor as well, filling the docks with noise and commotion.

Was she really supposed to find the distinguished guest she had been assigned to escort in the middle of all this?

Eris widened her eyes and carefully examined each person coming off the ship, one after another. Yet the imperial travelers who appeared to be searching for someone quickly found whoever had come to meet them and disappeared into the crowd.