* * *

Rose was exhausted. Yesterday's meeting with Karl had left her that mentally drained.

'The Monarch of Magic really is persistent.'

Karl had asked for her cooperation in eliminating the Misty hours with an affable chuckle. Invoking the welfare of London's citizens, he had brought in the Crown Prince and Duke Robert and even offered tangible benefits. That was no longer a request. It was closer to coercion, cutting off her escape before pressing his demands.

Fortunately, the weak-willed Crown Prince Edward had remained hesitant and neutral to the end. Had the royal family sided with Karl as well, Rose would have found it even harder to hold her ground. Of course, enduring a full six hours of discussion with Karl had already left her utterly spent.

'I'm so tired. Truly.'

Rose sighed. Having gone more than two days without a wink of sleep and endured that torturous discussion, she had reached the limits of her endurance in a matter of days.

That was why she found herself looking toward the window. It was only an unconscious gesture, however. She soon shook her head and looked away.

'However tired I am, the work still needs doing.'

Steeling her wavering resolve, Rose forcibly relieved the fatigue in her body with psionics and worked through the reports piled on her desk one by one. In truth, this was all familiar to her; it had merely grown a little more severe. Sacrificing sleep to make time, suppressing her fatigue with psionics so she could work—she was used to both.

Whether as Countess Seaserpent, the Seven Dragons Society's Blue Dragon Princess, or the chairwoman of Jǫrmungandr, Rose always had a mountain of work to do.

To make efficient use of the mere twenty-four hours in a day, she had no choice but to grow accustomed to going without sleep or rest. She had lived that way her entire life, ever since hatching from her egg and recalling the most basic knowledge and manners.

... Though, considering that, she did seem to have become rather too accustomed to sleeping soundly lately.

'Oh, dear.'

Rose looked troubled. She had tried hard to focus on her work, only to realize that her gaze had drifted back to the window during a moment's distraction. Why couldn't she close it when there would no longer be any music coming from the garden?

After sighing over this behavior she could not understand herself, Rose finally rose and picked up her sword.

'Perhaps a short patrol would help relieve my fatigue.'

She ignored the fact that going on patrol while so much paperwork remained was tantamount to fleeing her office. Patrolling was also her duty, after all. And since she hadn't been out for the past few days, it really would help refresh her spirits.

ZING.

Rose summoned her psionics and leaped across space. From her office to a rooftop. From a secluded alley to a square. From a factory chimney to a bridge.

Crossing space as naturally as breathing, she inspected dozens of places in barely a few minutes. It was a wondrous feat only she could perform, one that even the Archduke of Teleportation, reputedly the world's foremost spatial-type player, could not imitate.

It allowed Rose to accomplish a great deal: rescuing a child from a burning building, transporting people injured in a traffic accident, subduing an escaped pet monster, and more. In less than an hour, she resolved over a dozen problems. Even a movie superhero would have admired her exploits.

"Thank you so much!"

"You saved my life."

"It's the countess! Countess Rose is here!"

Everywhere Rose appeared, she was met with cheers and thanks, which she acknowledged with a courteous smile before leaving. She had certainly earned a short break, but she never slacked off. Protecting London's citizens was her duty. Above all, each warm welcome or greeting gave her renewed strength even when she had none left.

'... Why?'

That was why her expression grew increasingly conflicted as she continued her patrol.

'Why does it feel as though something is missing?'

Of course, people's gratitude still made her happy, and each good deed gave her fresh energy. Yet the absence of her former satisfaction wore her down.

This wasn't what she had wanted, Rose thought. Rather than something invigorating, she had wanted a comfortable, cozy diversion that would gently settle her spirits instead.

Yes, if she had to give an example...

"Hey, Countess. What are you doing here?"

"Huh?"

Rose looked back. Her eyes widened at the sight of the person watching her with a rather odd expression.

"What are you doing here...?"

"Just stepped out on an errand."

"Oh, were you sightseeing?"

"Something like that."

Watching the black-haired musician shrug, Rose accepted his explanation. Come to think of it, there was nothing strange about a foreigner exploring London in his spare time. Especially somewhere like this clock tower.

"Anyway, I don't think you've answered my question yet."

"I was out on a short patrol."

"Patrol?"

"As I mentioned before, House Seaserpent is responsible for London's public safety."

"Hmm..."

'Is this just a coincidence?'

Limon eyed Rose suspiciously as she politely explained that patrolling London was a natural duty of the head of her house. Then he glanced at the positions of the clock face and mirror and nodded. At least she didn't seem to have been following him or seeking out the Magic Hall.

"Well, good luck with your patrol, then. I'll be off."

"Pardon?"

Rose looked taken aback, as though he'd said something unthinkable. Limon asked uneasily, "What's with that look? Did you need something from me?"

"Oh, well... If you're sightseeing, I thought you might need a guide. If you don't mind, I'd like to show you around."

"... You're offering to be my tour guide? You, Countess?"

"It would be terrible if a guest of our house had an accident while wandering London alone."

"London's public safety didn't seem that shitty to me."

"There are plenty of dangerous places in London, too."

Limon looked even more dubious as Rose asserted this with a perfectly earnest face. She had just told him she was responsible for London's safety. How was he supposed to take this bizarre admission that it was terrible? He couldn't begin to decide.

'Has she noticed something suspicious about me and decided to dig into my background?'

'No, the Blue Dragon Princess approaching me herself would be too obvious for that.'

'She is from the Blue Dragon Clan, so she might simply be doing me a kindness...'

"All right. Show me around, then."

After briefly puzzling over a question that even all his years of experience couldn't answer, Limon finally nodded. There was no need to invite suspicion by refusing her kindness, and he saw this as an opportunity as well.

'The Blue Dragon Princess would make a decent informant.'

Yu Na-gyeong would have demanded to know what kind of insane idea that was, had she heard it, but Limon was serious. If Rose wanted to approach him, there were plenty of ways to exploit that opening. He also had something he wanted to check.

Once he actually began sightseeing with Rose, however, Limon couldn't help questioning his judgment. Was it because everywhere they went, people gave him looks that said, Who the fuck is that guy, walking around with our countess?

That was a very minor issue. The real problem was that Rose had a fatal flaw as a guide.

"Someone's fallen into the water!"

"Please excuse me a moment."

"Take your time."

Five minutes to rescue the drowning person.

SCREECH!

"I'm sorry I disappeared so suddenly. It was an emergency..."

"Don't worry about it. You can't let an accident happen."

About ten minutes to appear in front of a vehicle on the verge of crashing, prevent the accident, and deal with the aftermath.

"Waaah!"

"Um..."

"Let's go together."

About twenty minutes from fretting over a lost, crying child to obtaining Limon's permission and finding the child's parents.

By this point, it was hard to tell whether she was giving him a sightseeing tour or taking him along on patrol. Perhaps she realized that herself. After the same thing had happened five times, Rose finally bowed her head deeply before Limon.

"... I'm truly sorry. If you wish, I can call someone more suitable to guide you."

Limon quietly studied the princess, who had frankly admitted her lack of aptitude as a guide, then asked bluntly, "Why?"

"Pardon?"

"What are you sorry for?"

"I volunteered, yet I haven't been able to guide you properly, have I?"

"Because you were helping people. And I agreed to or gave you permission for every one of those things. I'd be an asshole if I complained about it."

"But..."

Rose couldn't hide her dismay. Limon asked her firmly, "Let me be direct. If it happened again, would you stop yourself from doing the same thing?"

"... No. I would probably do it again."

"Then don't apologize. You apologize when you think you've done something wrong, not when you've done what you believe is right."

"..."

Rose was speechless. She had expected Limon to be irritated, not to say something like that. She could have understood it if, like other Londoners, he were swallowing his annoyance and saying something kind out of deference to her.

But Rose could tell that Limon truly had no complaints. Had he felt even a little displeased with her, he wouldn't be lecturing her like this.

'A lecture... Yes. That's what this is called.'

Realizing anew that she had been lectured, she wore a curious expression. Since birth, Rose had been loved and revered by everyone, and she had performed everything she learned to perfection. Even Lucas, her close aide, and the elders had offered her candid counsel, but never a lecture.

Receiving one from Limon, who looked at most her age or slightly older, was bound to feel strange. It wasn't unpleasant, though. If anything, it was rather...

"Hey, Countess. Just to check, are the servants serving sentences at your house free to go out?"

"Not freely, no. But we sometimes permit servants convicted of minor offenses to leave, depending on their circumstances."

After answering earnestly, Rose belatedly wondered why he'd asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Why else? Because of that bastard over there."

"...?"

Rose followed Limon's gaze. In a corner of the street they were passing, she saw a man scowling fiercely at someone. She had seen his face only once or twice at most, but that was enough for her flawless mind to recall him.

"Max Powell?"

Rose's face hardened at the sight of the thief who had robbed a stall and fled, leading to her first meeting with Limon. It wasn't merely because she recalled Lucas's report that he had tried to assault Limon. It was because of the strangely hostile yet familiar air of the person talking to Max.

Of course, even a thief could have friends. But this particular person should have been an exception.

Because...

"Hey! What are you going to do about this? You said they'd let me off with a warning right away, but thanks to you, I'm the only one who got caught and is suffering through this shit!"

"That's because you resisted arrest. How many times did I tell you? You needed to surrender immediately and show remorse."

"If you know so much, why didn't you do the stealing yourself, you bastard?!"

"Don't be ridiculous. How am I supposed to steal my own merchandise?"

... The person Max was talking to was none other than the street vendor he had robbed.