Find the One Who Abandoned Me - Chapter 91

This won’t be hard, right?

Thomas felt himself sinking into anxiety and fear. The beautiful, pale noblewoman before him was beginning to look more like a reaper than a human.

From that moment, Calliope began sweeping through the remaining assassin guilds, using his testimony as a lead. Her raids were so thorough that every targeted guild had to prepare for relocation. Even those who tried to secretly move their branches elsewhere in the capital, she somehow sniffed them out and struck them down too.

To them, she was death incarnate.

Calliope captured and interrogated uncooperative guild members, slowly collecting more information. And with every step, she confirmed that Thomas had been telling the truth.

She now sat in her office, legs crossed, scanning through a stack of documents.

“Is someone really out there kidnapping assassins for their own use?”

“We can’t say for sure, my lady. It’s possible the assassins coordinated their stories.”

“But even the ones we tortured said the same thing. You really think assassins are loyal enough for that?”

“Usually, they’ll never leak secrets about their own guilds. But other guilds? That’s a different story. I’d probably talk too, in their place.”

“Exactly. So maybe it’s not all lies.”

She tossed the papers onto her desk.

“Then who the hell is behind this?”

“We have no leads.”

“For now, let’s focus on the warrior-noble families. They’re the only ones who’d have any reason to target Isaac and me. I admit it’s a weak lead, but we haven’t exactly been racking up enemies lately.”

Jack looked up.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Isaac hasn’t.”

“Understood. We’ll start by investigating the martial houses and any families that might hold a grudge against you. That would put House Esteban on the list—are you alright with that?”

Calliope sighed.

“I can’t tell if you’re smart or just plain thick, Jack.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and waved him off. Still, she figured it was better to dig into any lead, no matter how thin. And when it came to this kind of work, Jack really was the expert—so letting him handle it was the most efficient option.

Taking a short break from her plotting, she turned to Susan.

“How’s Isaac?”

“Oh, he’s recovered quite well. He’s at the training grounds right now.”

“Seriously… Isaac can’t sit still for even a second.”

Susan’s face said exactly what she was thinking: Aren’t you the same, my lady? But Calliope ignored her and made her way toward the training yard.

Thankfully, Isaac had made a full recovery with no lasting damage and had returned to his normal routine. Case in point: here he was, shirtless in the cold, swinging a sword.

Wait—shirtless?!

“Isaac!”

Calliope shouted as she snatched Jack’s coat and dashed toward him. From behind came Jack’s confused protest—“W-Why mine?!”—followed by Susan’s amused voice: “Would you rather she took hers off instead?”

Ignoring them both, Calliope hurried over and draped the coat over Isaac’s bare shoulders. He paused mid-swing, blinking at her in surprise.

“My lady… when did you arrive?”

“Just now. But really—how long has it been since you recovered? And already you’re training half-naked in this weather?! What if you catch a cold?”

“I’ve never caught a cold before.”

“That’s not the point!”

Just then, someone cleared his throat behind them. It was Ant, captain of the Marquess’s knights.

“When training, the body naturally heats up. It’s not uncommon, my lady. Please, look around.”

Only then did Calliope glance around the training yard. She saw several other knights shirtless in the winter chill, steam rising from their bodies. She understood what Ant meant… but still eyed the coat over Isaac’s shoulders, unconvinced.

“Please don’t worry,” Ant added. “From what I can see, Sir Esteban has recovered splendidly.”

“Really?”

“And… Sir Jack’s coat is a bit small for him.”

Calliope looked at the jacket draped over Isaac. It was barely hanging on his broad shoulders, the sleeves clearly too tight. Ah. That’s what it was—any clothing would suffer just by being on him. She sighed and took the coat back.

“I was just so shocked seeing you shirtless as soon as I arrived…”

“My apologies. I’ll make sure to notify you next time before removing my clothes.”

Ant gave her a look that said, So what if I said I’d strip too?—but when he recalled the realities of a strict hierarchical society, he closed his mouth with a polite smile.

Calliope nodded and got to the point.

“I know time is tight, but I’d really like to go ahead with Isaac’s birthday party. Thankfully, we both recovered quickly, and if we start now, we should be able to pull it off without any issues.”

“Oh, there’s really no need to go to so much trouble for me—”

“There is. No arguments. Don’t worry about anything, Isaac—I’ll take care of it all. Oh, not that I’m trying to push you aside or anything. Do you have any favorite decorations? A theme? Anyone you want to invite? Should we host it at the Marquess estate? Or would it be more meaningful to hold it at your family’s house?”

Even with her barrage of questions, Isaac responded as meekly as a well-behaved kitten.

“I’ll gladly accept anything the lady arranges.”

“Perfect. Then I’d better pay a visit to the count’s house. Keep up your training. When do you return to the knights’ order?”

“My leave ends this week—I’ll resume duties on Monday.”

“Be sure to tell your fellow knights about the party. In fact, I’m giving you an assignment.”

Calliope grinned and held up all ten fingers.

“Ten. You have to invite ten knights to your birthday party.”

“Ten… knights?”

“Yes. You can do that, right?”

Isaac looked down at the ground in silence, then lifted his gaze with a resolute expression.

“I’ll do it.”

His eyes shone like someone who had just been ordered to slay a demon king. Well, Isaac was never known for being the most social person. Sure, he’d gotten along with some of the knights before—but things were different now. Even Calliope couldn’t be sure who would actually show up.

Then her eyes lit up.

Actually… it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bribe someone to dig into Isaac’s past service at the palace as a royal knight.

Isaac noticed her sudden spark of curiosity and looked at her, puzzled. She brushed it off with a smile.

“Alright then. Keep up the good work!”

“Thank you. Safe travels.”

Calliope gave him a big wave as she walked away. Isaac watched her leave, a faint smile forming on his lips when no one was looking.

He was grateful she was still so bright. Grateful she hadn’t lost faith in him. That simple relief wrapped around his heart.

He had tried to become the man she hoped for—but in the end, he’d been the one needing to be saved. A failure.

So all that was left now was to train, and train again—until no one could ever touch him. Until he could protect her, no matter what.

With a completely different look in his eyes—cold, sharp—he raised his sword once more.

Calliope now sat in Erben’s office, smiling sweetly. Something she couldn’t quite understand had just happened, and it amused her.

Erben sat across from her, visibly irritated, casting subtle glances at her while pretending not to.

“You’re telling me nothing has been prepared for Isaac’s birthday party?”

“Well, I mean—look, isn’t it kind of weird to expect we’d throw a party after everything you two just went through?”

“But we recovered quickly.”

“How was I supposed to know you’d recover this fast?!”

“We have multiple healers in the Marquess estate. You really couldn’t anticipate that? Or… did you just forget?”

At that, Erben finally snapped.

“Fine! I forgot, alright?! After all that chaos, who in their right mind would remember a birthday party?!”

Calliope tilted her head and made a little “hmm” noise. Technically, his excuse made sense. More than enough, actually. She half-smiled and began fanning herself with a folded fan.

“Well then, I suppose I can forgive a brother who was so worried he didn’t even come visit once.”

Erben shut his mouth. He had no comeback for that. If he said he was too busy, she’d just insult him more. Sometimes silence was the only escape.

“Then just prepare a gift. I’ll handle the rest like always.”

She rose from her seat unusually quickly. Erben, expecting a full hour of scolding, was almost giddy with relief.

Until she spoke again.

“Oh, and for the birthday gift, one of your fiefs will do nicely. Not a bad deal, right?”

“…What?”

“A territory. A small one. That should be fine.”

“You think transferring land is that simple?!”

“If it were simple, I wouldn’t be asking like this, would I? I’ll even clear all the debts with this gift. You’ll never hear another word from me about it. Just pick something suitable and send it over.”

“You seriously think land and debt are worth the same?”

“Why not? I’m not asking for something extravagant.”

With that, she walked over to his desk and pulled out a map. She pointed to a small fief at the southern base of the northern mountains. It wasn’t completely barren, but it wasn’t fertile either. A minor territory, occasionally troubled by roaming monsters.

“Give me this one. Not a bad pick, right?”

Erben groaned. The land barely produced tax revenue. No unique goods. No value—other than occasionally hiring mercenaries to clear out monsters.

Still, after a moment of thought, he sighed and nodded.

“…Fine. I suppose that one’s manageable.”

“Great. So we have a deal?”

“I’ll bring the transfer documents on Isaac’s birthday.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“…What?”

“We’re writing a formal contract now. A written promise that you’ll hand it over by his birthday. We wouldn’t want any last-minute regrets, would we?”

“…Right.”

“It’s not hard. Just a little signature. Let’s do that.”

“…Fine.”

“Haha. Thanks, brother-in-law. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“…Shut up, you little monster.”

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