THREE DAYS SINCE SIR LOGAN WAS ASSIGNED.
ADELE SEEMED TO TAKE QUITE A LIKING TO SIR LOGAN.
I'M NOT JOKING AT ALL.
IN THE CAPITAL RIGHT NOW, PEOPLE LINE UP OUTSIDE THAT DESSERT SHOP EVERY DAY.
HAVING SERVED IN THE IMPERIAL COURT UNTIL NOW, HE KNEW IMPERIAL TRENDS INSIDE AND OUT,
AND THE LINE LASTS FROM MORNING TILL EVENING?
OF COURSE!
SO HE KNEW STORIES ANY NOBLE WOULD NATURALLY FIND INTRIGUING.
ESPECIALLY A WOMAN UNABLE TO LEAVE THE PALACE.
IT WAS TRUE THAT SIR LOGAN WAS THE BETTER CONVERSATIONALIST.
WHICH IS WHY ADELE SMILED SO BRIGHTLY WITH HIM.
SINCE I'M LEAVING SOON ANYWAY, THEM GROWING CLOSE QUICKLY SHOULD BE A GOOD THING...
YET I FELT THE SHARP 'ILLUSION' OF A PRICK IN MY CHEST.
OH... CAPTAIN!
...SIR LOGAN.
HEADING BACK TO QUARTERS NOW?
YES. ATTENDING YOUR HIGHNESS MADE TIME FLY BY.
WEREN’T YOU BY HER SIDE ALL DAY YESTERDAY AS WELL?
EVEN SO...
...NO, IT’S NONE OF MY BUSINESS.
ALL I NEED TO DO IS RETURN SAFELY TO MY PEOPLE.
BESIDES...
SHE SEEMED TO HAVE HER OWN THOUGHTS ON IT...
BY THE WAY... AREN'T YOU HEADING TO YOUR QUARTERS, CAPTAIN?
THE QUARTERS AREN'T IN THIS DIRECTION.
...THERE'S NO NEED TO TELL HIM ABOUT THE STUDY.
I CAME OUT FOR ONE LAST QUICK INTERIOR PATROL.
MY, YOU CERTAINLY WORK HARD, CAPTAIN.
THEN I'LL ASSIST YOU.
THAT WON'T BE NECESSARY.
YOU'RE STILL UNFAMILIAR WITH THE PALACE LAYOUT.
RETURN TO QUARTERS.
AND...
NO INTRUDER WOULD EVER BREAK INTO THIS PALACE ANYWAY.
THAT DIRECTION...
...DON'T TELL ME, IS HE HEADING TO THE STUDY?
CAPTAIN.
IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE SEEN YOUR FACE.
...YOUR HIGHNESS.
ARE YOU ON PATROL ALL THE WAY OUT IN A CORNER LIKE THIS?
...IT NEVER HURTS TO BE THOROUGH.
YOU ALREADY KNOW VERY WELL, CAPTAIN.
THAT NO OUTSIDER WOULD EVER INFILTRATE THIS PLACE.
YOU EVEN KINDLY INFORMED SIR LOGAN OF THAT YOURSELF.
CAPTAIN, WHY HAVE YOU ONLY BEEN ON PATROL AROUND THE PALACE OUTSKIRTS THESE PAST FEW DAYS?
ARE YOU AVOIDING ME BECAUSE OF WHEN YOUR MAJESTY STOPPED BY?
OR DID I HAVE A LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN ALONE WITH SIR LOGAN?
...WHAT DO,
YOU MEAN...
...CAPTAIN.
DID YOU... TELL LOGAN ABOUT THE STUDY?
.....?!
...I DID NO SUCH THING, YOUR HIGHNESS.
...IT SEEMS SIR LOGAN FOUND OUT ON HIS OWN.
ARE YOU STILL PLANNING TO GO TO THE STUDY TONIGHT?
I BELIEVE SO.
THEN LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY.
TONIGHT, IN THE STUDY...
SHH...
WHO'S THERE?
...OOPS. I ONLY MEANT TO SURPRISE YOU AS A JOKE, BUT I MUST HAVE ALARMED YOU.
YOUR HIGHNESS SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED, SO I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU...
I HAD NO IDEA THE TWO OF YOU WERE HAVING SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME TOGETHER.
I FEEL A BIT LEFT OUT.
...OH, DEAR. DID IT LOOK THAT WAY?
HE MASKED HIS PRESENCE COMPLETELY AS HE APPROACHED HIS MASTER.
JUST LIKE A PREDATOR STALKING ITS PREY.
I'LL MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOU WHEN I GO TO THE INDOOR GARDEN THIS AFTERNOON.
IT'S NOT MY IMAGINATION. THIS MAN REALLY IS...
AH! YOU MEAN...
WHERE WE HAD OUR TEA TIME WHEN I WAS FIRST ASSIGNED?
THE TEA TIME WAS...
LIKELY JUST A FORMALITY SHE HAS WHENEVER A NEW ESCORT KNIGHT IS ASSIGNED.
SO THERE'S NO REASON TO BE UNSETTLED.
I'M SURE THAT'S ALL IT IS, AND YET...
...WHO IS IT?
A MAID WOULD STATE HER IDENTITY FIRST,
AND ADELE WOULD COME IN WITHOUT EVEN A KNOCK.
BESIDES, LATELY SHE HASN'T BEEN COMING TO THE STUDY.
I KNEW YOU'D BE HERE, CAPTAIN!
...SIR LOGAN? WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE...?
AHA~ SO THIS IS...
THE ‘STUDY’ YOUR HIGHNESS MENTIONED.
I ASKED WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE.
DID YOU COME TO READ BOOKS AS WELL?
BOOKS? HAHA!
I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR, CAPTAIN.
WHO COMES HERE TO READ BOOKS?
DON'T WORRY. HER HIGHNESS TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
...I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
IT FEELS LIKE WE'VE BEEN TALKING PAST EACH OTHER THIS WHOLE TIME.
SHE SAID SHE SPENT QUITE A DELIGHTFUL TIME HERE.
AND NOW IT SEEMS SHE WANTS THAT WITH ME, TOO.
SO WHAT I MEAN IS...
THIS FOOL... WHAT KIND OF TWISTED IDEA DID HE GET IN HIS HEAD...?
HER HIGHNESS SAID TO LET NO ONE INTO THE STUDY TODAY.
EXCEPT FOR ME, THAT IS.
THAT NIGHT.
PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE SINISTER VIBE I CAUGHT IN LOGAN'S EYES.
AS I LAY AWAKE LATE INTO THE NIGHT, THE NEWS REACHED ME—
LOGAN'S TONGUE WAS CUT OUT.
Three days have passed since Sir Logan's appointment, and he has quickly grown close to Adele; he makes her laugh with his capital stories and conversation. The Captain, thinking he will soon leave, finds this closeness good yet feels a pang in his chest. On night patrol he encounters Logan and His Majesty, hiding the secret of the Study. He grows suspicious of Logan's predator-like approach. At night Logan comes to the Study and makes suggestive insinuations. That same night comes the news that Logan's tongue has been cut out.
