Amber's wild imaginings were naturally nothing more than wild imaginings. Once the half-elf had finished spouting nonsense, Gawain finally glanced coolly at this Disgrace of All Things. "Tell me, what do you think about what you heard today?"
"What I heard today?" Amber immediately stuck out her tongue, hunched her neck, and muttered to herself, "I just feel like everything I heard today could get me killed... The kind of thing where, in any other setting or with any other identity, I'd be silenced immediately..."
Gawain continued to watch the half-elf with a faintly amused expression until her face grew increasingly awkward and she could no longer keep up her act of playing dumb. At last, she had no choice but to speak in a low voice. "Actually, I noticed it a long time ago. The identity of an 'Outworld Wanderer' isn't entirely made up..."
"I know you noticed," Gawain said, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Of course you did."
Amber stared fixedly at Gawain. A few seconds later, her expression relaxed, and her usual carefree air returned. She smiled smugly. "Of course—I have the best-informed network on the entire Northern Continent."
"If my intelligence director couldn't piece together the truth from information gathered from all sides, then the Empire's intelligence system would clearly be facing its greatest crisis," Gawain said, letting out a soft breath. It was as though something in his heart had suddenly been set down. He felt somewhat relieved, but also curious. "Still... do you think Heti and Rebecca have noticed?"
Amber tilted her head, then raised it toward the distant sunset, letting the pale golden clouds reflect in her amber eyes. "I'd guess... from the day you walked out of that tomb, they never cared whether you really were Gawain Cecil. And now, that