“To think you were a secret agent of the princess! Young master…! You’ve truly grown splendidly! I’m sure the late clan leader and lady can now rest in peace!”
The old man wiped away his tears.
Nathaniel felt a burden and let out an awkward yet spirited laugh.
“Hahaha! What do you think of me, old man? I’m the noble clan leader of the prestigious Presley family! I can’t possibly be a gambler!”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
Pastel cheered with a “Wow~!”
“The noble clan leader of the Presley family wouldn’t just come and go to a casino to gamble!”
“Indeed! Our young master is not that sort of person!”
“That’s right! That’s right! He wouldn’t wager a mansion on a single game of chance!”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes while keeping his laughing expression, giving a fierce glance.
It was as if he was saying, “Stop egging me on, you bad old man.”
Huh.
But Pastel was too kind and didn’t understand what “bad old man” meant, so he let it slide.
It seemed like a compliment!
The important thing is that Nathaniel is our spy!
Amazing!
Pastel Governor’s outstanding ability to hide someone he didn’t even know as a spy among the radical factions of the United Kingdom and the cult!
It was totally super-duper ultra!
In fact, it was supposed to be that way from the beginning!
Since Sky Island is geopolitically positioned to have to pay attention to the political situation in the Demon Realm, it was only natural to plant spies!
It’s just a matter of degree; having spies is a must!
Huh, thinking about it, it was such an obvious conclusion.
The Academy, which was the administrative body of Sky Island, had diminished the intelligence agency after the dismantling of the Sky Island Governor’s Office and even ended it, claiming it was a waste of budget. The Knight Corps of Sky Island was only getting half-baked information from the imperial intelligence agency since its original was the imperial knight corps. Therefore, it didn’t matter that the intelligence infrastructure owned by Sky Island was at a low point.
Thanks to Princess Eli who boldly enrolled at the Academy and engaged in spying activities, Pastel felt the shortage of intelligence networks quite tangibly and hastily created a supervisory department, but that didn’t matter.
He had created an intelligence agency with Leonard, who was low on morals, competent, and seemed to like him, but the actual friends who could be trusted enough to use as agents were quite young, making smooth operational activities troublesome—none of this mattered either.
While preparing to visit the Demon Realm, “Ahhh! The governor! The governor! I was embarrassed by the weakness of the Demon Realm’s spy network…! Wasn’t it a potential enemy country!?” there was a past like that!
But there is a wonderful secret agent here!
Nathaniel and the old butler shared a moment of reunion.
The old butler, who had been caring for the young clan leader wandering in gambling after losing his parents, seemed to have been through emotional turmoil for quite a long time.
The excellent secret agent Nathaniel had a face that looked like a liar, sending a gaze begging for rescue, but there was no bad person interfering during this private time.
Pastel, while waiting for the reunion to end, finished important tasks like napping and eating cookies.
“Whoa, this cookie is!”
He poked his finger at the chocolate embedded in the cookie.
One! Two! Three! Four!
“There are as many as four chocolates!”
It’s a scoop…!
Exclusive! Exclusive!
Having completed his important duties, Pastel sat in front of Nathaniel.
Nathaniel lay sprawled on the sofa, exhausted. His arm covered his face.
“I didn’t expect the old man who only nagged to be this pleased…”
His voice was muffled.
Pastel hurriedly munched with his puffy cheeks. The cookie crumbs clung to his pink lips.
Nathaniel turned his head and looked at him. His eyes narrowed.
“Are you happy because you caught the fish successfully?”
Pastel hurriedly munched again.
The cookie was swallowed.
“Yes!”
I’m happy!
“Wow, what a brazen trickster.”
Nathaniel covered his face with one hand. He sat up, changing from a reclining position to a sitting one.
“I’m saying this in case you misunderstand, but I only said that in front of the old man. You think I would cooperate with Craft? Such things are something only traitors should hope for.”
Huh, is that the case?
Was that it?
The innocent Pastel thought he had successfully persuaded Nathaniel too innocently!
Nathaniel shrugged. A look of discontent crossed his face.
“More importantly, what exactly do you mean by saving the old man? I asked the old man, and he said he didn’t know exactly.”
“That’s it. The butler was walking and got hit by a bolt from the blue and fell. I saw it happen from the hotel terrace and rushed down to save him!”
Nathaniel let out a hollow laugh.
“And then you moved the fainted old man to a confinement room and threatened me? Pressured him with all sorts of this and that?”
“I carried him to the hotel, and I even put earplugs in his ears!”
It wasn’t a lie!
Pastel made a peace sign with his fingers.
Nathaniel crossed his legs, folded his arms, and lay back on the sofa, staring silently for a while.
Ugh, the reaction was lukewarm.
This seems to be falling apart.
The resentment towards the Craft family was more solid than expected.
What kind of bad things did the ancestors do!
It didn’t feel as pronounced on Sky Island, but once he came to the Demon Realm’s mainland, the worst reputation was clearly felt.
If this continues, he would have to contact Mr. Penguin, Eli’s close brother and the empire’s spy, to borrow the empire’s intelligence network.
Ugh.
It’s too scary to give the initiative to the scary Mr. Penguin.
Nathaniel changed his position and sat properly again. He ran a hand over his face, then stopped as if to cover it.
A moment of silence passed.
A voice seeped through the gap of his covered hand.
“Thank you. Though you are old, the old man’s health is declining, and if he had been lying on the road for too long, it would have been a problem. I will help within reasonable limits.”
The pink eyes widened.
Seeing no response, Nathaniel felt embarrassed. He turned his head, looked around the hotel room, and nervously fidgeted with his shirt.
“It’s a bit warm in here. Even if it’s winter, the heating is strange. If you have more to say, do it on the terrace.”
Nathaniel got up and looked around the room in confusion.
“Where’s the terrace?”
Pastel chuckled.
“Over there!”
He pointed to the terrace that was clearly visible behind Nathaniel without even having to search.
“Oh, in the back.”
Nathaniel turned around, feeling sheepish.
Pastel stood up and hurriedly followed. His pink eyes sparkled.
“Weren’t you against Craft?”
Nathaniel hesitated. His ears turned slightly red and then shook off his hand, quickening his steps.
As the terrace wind brushed by, his voice was briefly heard.
“But I’m the clan leader.”
Nathaniel didn’t elaborate further.
But Pastel couldn’t help but pause with the same smiling expression.
The pink hair swayed gently.
A soft smile gradually formed.
“That’s true!”
*
Thump, thump.
Pastel swayed both legs according to her mood.
In front of the terrace seat, Nathaniel held a spoon and stared at the milk-flavored ice cream. Instead of piercing into the ice cream, the spoon merely scratched the surface, leaving marks.
“No way, it’s frozen solid.”
Nathaniel expressed disbelief.
“Hahaha!”
Pastel playfully told his friends and just laughed out of joy.
The spoon, abandoned from eating, was carelessly set down.
“You’re asking for too much. Make it clear first whether you want to kick the hawkish faction out of the parliament or oust the cult from the Demon Realm.”
Ah, right!
He was working!
Pastel hummed and shook her upper body left and right. The pink hair fluttered.
“You don’t have to tell me! I’ll just look for someone else!”
Then the awkward parts of this relationship would be solved!
Nathaniel’s expression turned strange.
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
His suspicious gaze scanned the girl. The girl with pink hair was just grinning innocently.
Nathaniel felt uneasy.
“If you’re not going to choose, I’ll guide you to the overlapping contact points myself.”
“Guide? You’ll be guiding me the whole day, Nathaniel?!”
The pink eyes sparkled.
“I don’t know if it’ll be the entire day, but I will spend some time.”
“Wow! Wow!”
Pastel blushed and suddenly leaned in.
“Where at?! Where at?!”
Nathaniel flinched and backed away.
After a moment of awkwardness, he seemed to realize he was in a conversation within his domain and stabilized.
“The underground casino.”
A sly smile appeared.
“Hey, you embarrassedly said all sorts of things in front of the old man earlier, right? But among those, there was some truth. I wasn’t just idly sitting around. I met someone at the contact point.”
Oh?
The pink eyes widened.
The underground casino.
A casino date?
A secret date at the casino…?
Ugh.
Ugggh.
Pastel lost track of time and, at some point, went home.
Upon arriving at the pink hotel instead of the purple one, reality suddenly hit her.
She dashed to the room and flung the door open.
“Devil! Devil!”
The devil was spread out with blueprints of the planned city and urban plans laid out on the table, examining them.
“You spoke ill of me, yet in the end, half of my claims are being realized—”
“Devil!”
As if he had been concentrating, the devil’s brows furrowed slightly.
“It seems you were a bit late. It wouldn’t be safe for you to wander around with that hair color. Next time, hurry back.”
The devil took a sip of cold green tea.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going out in the first place? Did you come back from doing something bad again?”
“That’s not important!”
The girl shouted, her cheeks flushed with determination.
“I think I might have someone I like!”
He was just my type of bad person!
Someone who should be locked away for others!
Yet for me, someone with a backstory and a warm heart…!
“What?”
The cup slipped from his fingers and crashed, the sound echoing. The tea spilled onto the floor.
