RETURN OF THE FEMALE KNIGHT

18. They Looked Amazingly Alike

Days passed. Lalisa planned to head to the capital city before the date of the ball. Jungkook had urged her to come quickly, and it was natural for her to go where he was. She was also afraid something would happen to him in her absence.

Before she could leave, however, she had made the final preparations to make sure the household would run smoothly without her there. It had taken her longer than expected to sort out the paperwork and coordinate the employees, and Lalisa hadn't been able to go to bed until near morning for the past several days.

"Mmm."

Lalisa rubbed her stiff eyes and pushed herself out of bed. She went to sleep very late last night, or in other words, early enough that the sun was already rising out the window. She had another busy day ahead of her, and she had no time to delay because she had to leave for the capital with Roseanne as soon as possible.

Lalisa rang the bell on the table and Nayeon entered the room.

"My Lady, are you awake?"

"Yes. I'm going to bathe right away, so please prepare."

"Yes, My Lady."

Nayeon gently bathed Lalisa with her hands. Nayeon had been pale with shock for a while after Dahyun was dismissed, but fortunately she soon returned to normal. Perhaps she blamed herself for what happened. It was a very different reaction compared to Dahyun's resentment against Nayeon until the end.

In any case, the rumors about Lalisa, which caused quite a stir in the household, had died down in the past few days. The rumors didn't gain much traction outside, and fortunately it didn't spread to high society and instead ended it quietly. Nayeon suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, My Lady. The Count left for the capital last night. He said something urgent came up."

"...I see."

As the head of the Fourth Order of the Knights, Hyunbin spent most of his time at a mansion residence in the capital. This time though, their schedules had aligned, and Lalisa and Roseanne planned to travel alongside him to the capital. It seemed that something urgent had already taken their father away though. She felt sorry that she missed the chance to be with him, but in his line of work it couldn't be helped.

She finally finished her morning preparations, then immediately sat down at her desk to catch up on her work.

*

*

*

She immersed herself in the documents and took food and drink in her office while time passed her quickly. It didn't feel that way, though, as she exercised every time she took a break. It was when the room was silent, save for the scratch of her pen, when–

Knock knock.

There were a couple brief taps on the door. Lalisa lifted her head and looked towards it. There was no reason for anyone else in particular to disturb her, so she had an idea to who the visitor was. However, she spoke as if to a servant as a precaution.

"Come in."

Then the door swung open with a slight creak, and the face of the man she had been expecting came into view. He had dark blue hair and pale white skin. It was Jimin.

"Welcome, Sir Kasha. Did you find out what I asked for?"

Lalisa was no longer curious as to how Jimin infiltrated the castle, as she had seen it before.

"Yes. Please take a look."

Jimin strode over to Lalisa and held out his report. He didn't ask why she wanted this information. Lalisa liked that about Jimin. Of course, his ability to get the job done was what she liked the most.