My Former Disciple Wants Me as His Bride

A great many things happened in the span of a few short seconds.

First came the sound of children laughing as they ran past behind her, followed by a warm, comforting heat enveloping Eris’s body.

“Both you and those children could have been badly hurt, Miss Eris.”

Unlike Eris, who was startled and flustered, Ciel’s voice remained perfectly calm.

“I-I’m fine, yes… Thank you.”

Only after confirming that Eris was unharmed did Ciel release the arm he had wrapped around her waist.

“It seems I took the teasing too far. I apologize.”

It wasn’t exactly a situation that required an apology from him, but Eris was in no state to point that out.

Gathering the scattered remnants of her composure, she abruptly turned her head to the left.

“…I-I was paid a fair amount to protect you, Lord Ciel. I’m simply doing the job I was hired to do.”

Even as she said it, the back of her hand still burned faintly with lingering warmth.

The truth was, Ciel’s appearance remained every bit as dazzling as ever. Her claim that he wasn’t her type had been an obvious lie. Still, if she could help it, she intended to keep her distance and make sure he never discovered how she actually felt.

She had been hired to monitor Ciel and sell whatever information she gathered to her employer. In her position, harboring feelings for him was a luxury she could not afford.

“If my staying at the residence makes you uncomfortable, we can discuss it again after the people assigned to protect you arrive. For now, I’m only doing what’s necessary to keep the person under my protection safe.”

At Eris’s firm words, Ciel replied in his smooth voice.

“You’re right. I actually do need an escort. I was only testing you, Miss Eris.”

“Testing me?”

“…This sort of thing has happened far too often. People deliberately planting beautiful women beside me as spies, hoping they can manipulate me through them.”

The bitter smile on his lips drew a quiet sigh from Eris.

“I apologize. From now on, I won’t treat you as though you were one of them.”

Eris composed herself and shamelessly nodded.

It wasn’t as though she had no ulterior motives beyond serving as his escort, but at least she genuinely hadn’t intended to seduce him into bed. She was therefore entitled to accept his apology with a clear conscience.

* * *

The residence was far too secluded for such a distinguished guest from the great Empire.

Thick carpets lining the corridors swallowed every footstep, while softly burning candles cast long, eerie shadows across the walls.

Still, Ciel himself seemed pleased with the place, saying he liked how peaceful and quiet it was.

That was fortunate, but….

“Why did it have to be Ciel?”

Eris walked carefully down the long corridor, unable to hide the troubled look on her face.

Unless this was some cruel joke played by the gods, there was no way such a coincidence should have happened.

To think the day would come when she would once again have to sell information about a Silverion.

‘Where… did everything start going wrong?’

As Eris retraced the past in her mind, a sigh slipped through her red lips. Lamenting her situation would accomplish nothing when there was no way to turn back time.

It was far too late to tell Prince Lakan that she no longer wanted the job after all the confidence with which she had accepted it.

Besides, she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to abandon Ciel after discovering that he had truly come to the Kingdom of Celis alone.

‘I suppose I have no choice but to keep going for now.’

By the time she finished sorting through the situation in her head, she had already reached her destination. Standing before the tightly shut door to the young duke’s room, Eris took a deep breath.

Knock, knock.

“Lord Ciel, it’s Eris.”

There was no answer.

The silence was almost embarrassing after all the time she had spent rehearsing what she ought to say to him.

“I brought you a change of clothes and something to eat.”

Still no response.

‘Well, if he didn’t hear me, that’s his problem.’

Avoiding Ciel as much as possible would be better for Eris anyway. She needed time to straighten out the thoughts his sudden reappearance had thrown into chaos. Until she could face him rationally again, keeping her distance seemed like the sensible choice.

Having finished justifying herself, Eris was about to set the platter of fruit and cheese, along with the clothes she had brought, down outside the door when a voice abruptly resurfaced in her mind.

‘Just how far are you prepared to go, Miss Eris?’

The suffocatingly authoritative voice sent instinctive wariness crawling up her spine.

Once again, Eris reminded herself that she had entered this residence because she had accepted an enormous sum of money to carry out a mission.

‘If our honored guest loses his life while he’s in this kingdom, don’t expect to keep yours.’

What were the chances that Ciel would be attacked by some unknown assailant on his very first day in the kingdom?

After running through every possible scenario in her head, Eris finally steeled herself and pushed open the door.

“Lord Ciel?”

The room was empty.

Eris’s eyes darted quickly around the spacious chamber.

The windows covering one entire wall were firmly shut, with no sign that anyone had broken in. Everything inside the room was perfectly neat as well, as though it had only just been cleaned.

That left only one place she could think of.

“Let’s not go that far.”

Entering his room without permission was bad enough. Peeking into his bathroom on top of that would be crossing a line.