Gideon soon gave Penny a short signal with his eyes.

"……Uncle, you don’t mean to tell me to leave, right?"

When she asked again with a baffled expression, Gideon nodded as if she were asking something completely obvious.

"That’s absolutely not happening! She’s my guest!"

"She seems to be my guest right now though?"

He gave a light chin gesture toward me, as if to say "isn’t that so?"

"Uncle and the aunts were the ones who entrusted me with the informant work!"

Before I could say anything, Penny finally started throwing a tantrum. As the sound of her wailing spread, the woman we had just met rushed in.

"What’s going on, Penny!"

"Huuaang!"

The woman, flustered, hurriedly took her outside at Gideon’s signal.

"Don’t mind her. She’s acting like that because she thought it was hers and then lost it. She may look mature, but she’s still a kid."

He seemed to be trying to show some consideration for me, who couldn’t take my eyes off Penny.

She didn’t seem like such a picky person though……

"Looking at how you're using such a young child, it seems you’re no less either."

I take that back.

I wanted to argue that Penny was the one who volunteered for the informant mission, but I swallowed my words.

‘There’s no benefit in getting into a war of nerves…….’

"I didn’t come here to request a commission."

"I know. You came to persuade me, not for a commission."

Gideon lifted the corner of his lips. But it was far from a pleasant smile.

"Lady of the Roygin family. Always meddling or doing something foolish, causing unnecessary trouble wherever she goes?"

How generously insulting.

"Bringing up your connection with my sister—well, the answer is obvious."

……What kind of misunderstanding was this?

And who was the one who mentioned Amy first, anyway?

I pressed my forehead.

"Just looking at you, it’s clear you’re not the type to act out of sentiment, so why would I try that kind of method?"

"You didn’t? Then what have I been hearing all this time?"

Gideon picked at his ear as if to say my words weren’t making any sense.

This is really unfair. I didn’t even say anything!

"Anyway, whatever you say, I’m going to keep living comfortably like I am now. If you’re planning to persuade me, you’ll just be wasting your breath, so stop now."

There was no explicit mention, but it wasn’t hard to understand what he meant.

He probably had an inkling about why I came.

But he wasn’t sure. Because of that, I also avoided the fundamental question and spoke around it.

"Comfortably?"

"Just a manner of speaking. I have a different ending in mind."

"I’m the same."

At my words, Gideon let out a mocking laugh.

"Your goal isn’t to live a peaceful life in the mansion? Not much different from me then."

"Yeah, I grew up too sheltered, so I sometimes make foolish choices. But at least I don’t do nothing like you."

"……"

"Which choice do you think you won’t regret later?"

When I lightly shrugged, a vein popped on Gideon’s forehead from anger.

"You want to become a hero of the empire like your grandfather, right? If that’s what you want, shouldn’t you do it by your own strength?"

"……What are you talking about?"

A hero of the empire?

If you want to get technical, isn’t that practically treason?

My words seemed to make Gideon realize the conversation had taken a weird turn, and he looked unsettled.

"Why do you think I want to be like Grandpa?"

"Are we, like, talking about completely different things……?"

It was at that moment.

"Tada! Look who Penny brought!"

Startled for a moment by Penny’s sudden appearance, I gasped at the figure standing behind her.

"……Bianca."

But Ricardo didn’t seem surprised, as if he already knew I was here.

* * *

Kicked out of the tent, Penny couldn’t contain her frustration for a while.

‘Sis clearly doesn’t trust me!’

Otherwise, there was no way she would have entrusted the request to Gideon, who slept all day.

Everyone treated her like a child, but she had already grown up.

She was one of the most prominent informants in the underground district and had never once failed a mission.

Well, except for keeping the auction secret.

But that was the first and last mistake.

‘I know what war is.’

Penny grumbled and kicked a pebble on the ground. The pebble rolled and came to a stop against a wall.

That’s when a brilliant idea struck her.

The reason Bianca had come to see her.

It must be to save her lover!

She had already heard the news that the House of Hessen had disobeyed an imperial order.

And since Bianca had stepped up to save even Peril, she would definitely rise up for her lover's sake.

What if she acted first?

‘I’ll get tons of praise from sis and ask for a lot of money too!’

Having finished her thoughts, she immediately transformed into a mouse.

Her comrades scattered throughout the capital weren’t just up to date on rumors—they were also specialized in tracking down someone’s traces.

In that sense, finding the Duke, Bianca’s lover, was a piece of cake.

‘There he is!’

……The only thing she hadn’t expected was that the Tower Master would be with the Duke.

"I really don’t get what you’re thinking."

Penny perked up her ears at Peril’s voice, but then turned her head at the sound of hooves coming from afar.

Someone was approaching.

And it was a huge number of knights!

Growing anxious, she stamped her feet in place, but Ricardo and Peril continued chatting calmly, seemingly unaware of the noise.

"Haa, I was so determined to stay out of politics… I really am too soft."

Peril brushed his hair back and held out his hand to Ricardo.

"Just so you know, I’m not helping you. I have a debt to repay to her."

"I believe I said the same."

Ricardo handed him something.

It was quite dark, so Penny narrowed her eyes and focused on the item.

"This was entirely my own decision. So no one can lay a hand on that woman."

"……Ah, I really should’ve just not helped."

Then, under the bluish sky, a sliver of moonlight flickered. For a moment, something hidden in the shadows came into view.

A doll and a bunch of junk, completely out of place in the scene. As Penny stood baffled, something came to mind.

‘He’s going to perform doll magic.’

The item a person cherished the most.

Doll magic was a form of alchemy that could breathe life into an object and mold it in the owner’s image.

It could imitate even the smallest habits, not just mimic actions, and was a type of alchemy banned long ago.

Because of that, very few people knew about it, aside from the underground alchemists.

Then Penny spotted a bizarre doll in Ricardo’s hand.

Just as she moved to get a better look at it—

"So you were going to take it this far……."

Ricardo’s sharp voice rang out. When Penny flinched in fear, Peril instantly grabbed her.

"What to do. I’d feel guilty killing her."

That’s when her eyes met Ricardo’s.

"You… don’t tell me."

Seizing the moment when he recognized her and was thrown off, Penny cried out desperately.

"You know me, right? The little kid sis used to dote on!"

There had never been a moment she wanted to see Bianca more than now.

"Take me with you! I’m a pretty capable alchemist too!"

At her words, Ricardo hesitated.

* * *

"……So, that’s how it happened."

After finishing the explanation, Penny puffed out her chest with pride.

Gideon, who had been silently listening, looked like he had plenty to say. But before he could say anything, Penny stood proudly in front of me.

"Well? I did great, right?"

Then she held out both hands to me, clearly expecting something.

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