Carriages filled the space outside Baron Rainer's castle.
No new banquet was about to begin. The nobles had come to ask how he had escaped Young Miss Olmedo's clutches.
Baron Rainer didn't know either. He had only a few guesses. Had the "gift" he'd sent pleased Lord Annan? But Annan had returned it... What if he told anyone and the grudge-holding Young Miss Olmedo came after him again?
The baron's tight lips frustrated the nobles. They couldn't afford to offend Young Miss Olmedo, but surely they could afford to offend him?
In the middle of this, a servant rushed in and announced that a City Guard Officer had arrived.
The City Guard was the Minister of War's domain, and Young Miss Olmedo was the Minister of War's nephew. That made the City Guard Young Miss Olmedo's domain too.
Seizing the chance to ask the nobles to leave, Baron Rainer summoned the officer.
The officer had indeed been sent by Annan. Following his instructions, he got straight to the point. "Do you know the Blade of Freedom?"
"What do you mean?" Baron Rainer asked cautiously.
"Would you like to join the Blade of Freedom?"
Baron Rainer stared like a beaver caught gnawing on a log, wondering if Young Miss Olmedo had frightened him into hallucinating.
"Uh... I didn't catch that. Say it again?"
The officer took a deep breath. "On behalf of the Blade of Freedom, I invite you to join us."
This time, Rainer heard him clearly.
He wanted to cry for help. Why was he so unlucky? Yesterday he'd run into people hunting the Blade of Freedom, and today he'd run into the Blade of Freedom itself?
"Baron Rainer, why do you think I'm standing here?" The officer remained perfectly composed, like a proud member of the Blade of