The freckled, round-faced girl tugged Tales along by one hand while skillfully lifting her skirt with the other, revealing a pair of rough, thick-soled work boots that clashed utterly with her dress. She stomped up the stairs, quick, nimble, and practiced.
"Where exactly are you taking me—"
"Watch where you're going. I'm not paying for your injuries."
The instant she finished speaking, Tales stumbled. He had no choice but to focus on climbing the stairs, following Hilaire to the third floor of the Sunset Temple.
Tales had mixed feelings about the Eldest Miss of the Cavendil family, who had suddenly appeared the previous night. He did not even know what attitude he should take toward her.
Without a doubt, Cecilia Cavendish was nothing like the innocent, guileless girl in the portrait or the one Jann had described—or at least, not when she wore that icy, humorless expression.
As for her talent and enthusiasm for creating an atmosphere, diverting attention, and dressing up as a ghost to frighten people, those were far beyond what ordinary people could manage. She was truly in a class of her own. (Tales was still furious about it.)
Secondly, as Jann's sister, the secret identity she had revealed was truly shocking and unbelievable.
Yet considering the capabilities of the Kingdom Secret Bureau and the confident look on King Kessel's face, the truth—that the noble daughter of the Iris Family had been recruited by Revival Palace—seemed not quite so impossible to accept.
What was more, Tales remembered his official reason for coming to Emerald City and realized that this girl was the cause of it all.
But that was precisely the problem.
Tales composed himself and looked at the girl in front of him, who was dragging him onward.
That night, King Kessel, who had personally gone