Unbeknownst to Me, I’m Secretly Dating the Emperor — Chapter 37

...UM, MISS RINA. YOU'VE BEEN WORKING SO HARD SINCE THIS MORNING...

ARE YOU PUSHING YOURSELF TOO HARD, BY ANY CHANCE...?

NOT AT ALL! I’M PERFECTLY FINE!

TH-THAT’S A RELIEF, BUT...

T-Take it easy..

Thanks for your concern~!

I KNOW I MUST LOOK STRANGE TO OTHERS,

BUT I HAVE TO FOCUS ON WORK LIKE THIS.

OTHERWISE,

I'LL KEEP THINKING ABOUT YESTERDAY...

AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO GET ANYTHING DONE-!!

EVEN AFTER RUNNING AWAY LIKE THAT YESTERDAY, THREE LETTERS HAVE ALREADY ARRIVED.

I HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ABLE TO READ THEM, LET ALONE REPLY...

Sir Rojas From Yesterday Was Too Dangerous.

NO, IT'S ACTUALLY FOR THE BEST.

I SHOULD JUST FOCUS ON WORK RIGHT NOW.

BLUE HAWK IS IN ITS BUSIEST PERIOD AS WELL...

...HM?

WHY IS THIS DOCUMENT HERE...

...LUCY!

BY ANY CHANCE...

IS MR. KYLUS IN THE OFFICE RIGHT NOW?

THIS IS....

THE ACCOUNTING INVESTIGATION REPORT ON DUKE CAMELOT'S FAMILY.

ISN'T THIS THE DATA YOU HANDED OVER YOURSELF, MISS DIAZ?

THAT'S RIGHT.

I WAS WONDERING WHY DOCUMENTS FROM A CASE THAT WAS CLEARLY CLOSED

STILL NEEDED INVESTIGATION, SO I TOOK A LOOK.

...YOU FOUND "THAT," DIDN'T YOU?

THE CAMELOT IRON ORE TRADING CASE.

ACCORDING TO THE RECORDS FROM THE PAST EIGHT YEARS,

CAMELOT HAS STEADILY INCREASED THE NUMBER OF MINE WORKERS.

WHICH NATURALLY MEANS THE MINE'S EXTRACTION VOLUME INCREASED AS WELL.

BUT STRANGELY ENOUGH,

THE AMOUNT OF IRON ORE THE DUKE'S FAMILY HAS BEEN SELLING REMAINED CONSTANT.

WHICH MEANS-

-THERE IS DEFINITELY ORE 'DISAPPEARING" SOMEWHERE.

WE HAD FIGURED THAT MUCH OUT AS WELL,

BUT WE ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY TRACKING DOWN THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE MISSING IRON ORE.

IT'S OBVIOUS THEY SECRETLY SOLD IT OFF SOMEWHERE,

BUT THE TRANSACTION DETAILS CAN'T BE TRACED AT ALL.

THE DUKE'S SIDE IS INSISTING IT'S SIMPLY A CLERICAL ERROR.

OF COURSE, PLAYING DUMB LIKE THAT... NO,

FEIGNING IGNORANCE...

NO ONE CAN DECEIVE THE EYES OF BLUE HAWK THAT EASILY.

THERE MUST BE A HIDDEN ROUTE.

...WHAT IF,

THEY HAVEN'T SOLD IT YET,

AND ARE STILL HOLDING ONTO IT?

...HUH?

IF THE ORE DISAPPEARED

AND WE CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHO BOUGHT IT OR WHERE IT WENT...

THERE'S A HIGH PROBABILITY THEY HID IT SOMEWHERE IN THEIR TERRITORY.

...MISS DIAZ. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED THE ENTIRETY OF THE CAMELOT ESTATE.

I'M NOT TRYING TO SAY THE INVESTIGATION WAS INADEQUATE.

I JUST REMEMBERED READING ABOUT IT IN THE ORIGINAL STORY.

IT'S NATURAL FOR PEOPLE TO NOT KNOW NORMALLY.

IN THE SCENE WHERE DUKE CAMELOT RUNS AWAY FROM THE EMPEROR'S KNIGHTS,

HE USED A CERTAIN SECRET PASSAGE HIDDEN INSIDE THE CASTLE!

THE EASIEST WAY TO CONFIRM THIS WOULD BE...

...MR. KYLUS.

I WOULD LIKE TO CHECK THE MAP OF THE CAMELOT LORD'S CASTLE.

...THIS IS THE MOST RECENTLY SURVEYED BLUEPRINT OF CAMELOT CASTLE,

AND THIS IS A BLUEPRINT OF CAMELOT CASTLE SURVEYED 100 YEARS AGO DURING THE OLD KINGDOM ERA.

CAN YOU SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

CERTAINLY...!

THE SPACE THAT EXISTED IN THE OLD BLUEPRINT,

IS NOT VISIBLE IN THE RECENTLY SURVEYED BLUEPRINT.

ARE YOU SAYING THERE'S A SECRET PASSAGE OR SPACE HERE,

AND THEY COULD HAVE SMUGGLED THE IRON ORE THROUGH THERE?

IT'S NOT ENTIRELY IMPOSSIBLE.

ISN'T IT WELL WORTH INVESTIGATING?

RIGHT, EVEN THE TINIEST CLUE IS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW.

IT'S TOO THICK TO BE JUST A WALL, AND IF IT WERE EMPTY, THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN BUILDING IT.

WHAT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT THEY JUST FILLED IT IN WHILE REINFORCING THE CASTLE?

I HEARD THAT KIND OF ARCHITECTURAL STYLE WAS BRIEFLY POP- ULAR DURING THE OLD KINGDOM ERA...

I STAYED UP FOR NIGHTS TRYING TO FIND THAT DAMN ORE CONNECTION.

TO THINK IT WAS A SECRET PASSAGE OUT OF NOWHERE, HONESTLY...

YOU'RE

IN-

-CREDIBLE, RINA~!!

HOW ON EARTH DID YOU NOTICE IT? INTUITION? ANALYSIS? OR A PREDICTION?!

FIRST, WE'LL NEED TO LOOK FOR A FIELD TEAM CAPABLE OF INFILTRATION.

I WILL ASK AROUND FOR SOMEONE WHO KNOWS THE CASTLE'S STRUCTURE WELL.

AT THIS RATE, GETTING OFF WORK EARLY TODAY IS OUT OF THE QUESTION~.

RINA...

WELL...

IT SEEMS YOU'VE GOTTEN QUITE CLOSE WITH THE MEMBERS IN THE MEANTIME.

YES, WELL... I SUPPOSE SO?

..Why are you calling me that all of a sudden?

I'M JEALOUS.

EVEN I, WHO HAVE KNOWN YOU LONGER, MISS DIAZ,

STILL CAN'T USE SUCH A CASUAL NAME...

...YOU CAN CALL ME RINA TOO, MR. KYLUS.

REALLY?!

OKAY. THEN, FROM NOW ON, RINA, PLEASE CALL ME KYLE TOO!

...IS IT REALLY SOMETHING TO BE THAT HAPPY ABOUT?

KNOCK KNOCK

UM, WELL.... RINA?

IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER LETTER HAS ARRIVED FOR YOU...

RIGHT, SIR ROJAS'S LETTERS...!!

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THEM BECAUSE OF THE IRON ORE!

TH-THANKS AS ALWAYS.

SIR ROJAS MUST HAVE BEEN JUST AS SHOCKED BY WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY...

I CAN'T JUST KEEP IGNORING HIM WHEN HE'S EVEN SENDING ME LETTERS LIKE THIS.

WHAT SHOULD I DO? IS IT OKAY FOR ME TO ASK TO MEET UP NOW?

AHEM!

IT SEEMS TO BE A LETTER REGARDING A RATHER URGENT MATTER.

OF COURSE, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF LETTER THAT IS!

*THIS MORNING

OR WHO SENT IT! NOR AM I CURIOUS!

SINCE YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING HUGE TODAY,

NO ONE WILL SAY ANYTHING IF YOU STEP AWAY FOR A MOMENT

DUE TO AN URGENT MATTER.

SO GO AHEAD, RINA.

KYLE REALLY IS TERRIBLE AT LYING ABOUT THESE THINGS.

...THANK YOU, KYLE.

EXCUSE ME, COULD YOU PASS A MESSAGE TO THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS LETTER?

IF IT'S ALRIGHT WITH HIM, IN THIRTY MINUTES...

TELL HIM I'D LIKE TO MEET AT THE PLACE WHERE WE LAST SAW EACH OTHER YESTERDAY.

MISS DIAZ!

SIR ROJAS...?

WHY ARE YOU IN SUCH A RUSH....

I'M SORRY.

I'M SO SORRY FOR EVERYTHING.

I WAS TRULY IN THE WRONG.