At some point, the young Imperial officer had left the pavilion and stopped a short distance from the two of them.

Roy didn’t turn around, but storm clouds began gathering in her dark-gold eyes. In a voice cold as ice, she said, “What, can’t bear to part with your Captain Uncle?”

From the way the captain addressed Kain, Roy easily figured out their relationship.

If the Manticore had been lying low at the garrison on Fran Island for who knew how many years, then he must have spent time with Kain when he was a child. It was only natural that they’d grown attached.

But the problem was, this man was part of the Black Crow Society.

Whether they were southern pirates or soldiers of the Empire and the Federation, everyone who knew anything about the Black Crow Society understood how cold-blooded and cruel its members were.

They were the kind of people who could slaughter an entire village of innocent civilians for some lofty, nebulous ideal, or burn a six-year-old girl alive for the sake of revenge. You didn’t need to guess what sins the people at the top of an organization like that had committed. They weren’t worth an ounce of sympathy.

“No.”

Kain followed the trail of blood on the ground until his gaze settled on the captain’s hand, still dripping blood. “I’m just worried about your hand. If you don’t get it treated soon, you might be left with lasting damage. So please, hurry up.”

Roy paused, then slowed her movements instead. The corner of her mouth curved into her trademark smile. “Isn’t there anything you want to ask him? Or don’t you think it’d be more useful to hand him over to the military alive?”

Kain was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to think about the past anymore. I just want them to die. That’s all.”

“Then farewell, my dear Mr. Manticore.”

Those were the last words the captain heard before losing consciousness. He wearily closed his eyes, a helpless, bitter smile the only thing left on his face.

So Bee Bat had really been right. The person accompanying the young master was actually…

Captain Roy.

At the moment the Manticore breathed his last, far beyond Roy and Kain’s line of sight, a black crow with blood-red eyes gave a few low caws, then beat its wings and vanished like the wind.

“Go ahead and press as hard as you like. I’m no delicate little noblewoman. A bit of pain won’t make me howl.”

Watching her second-in-command bandage her with exaggerated care, Roy grumbled in displeasure.

After ending the Manticore’s life, Kain took his captain straight to the castle study. They barged in on the major, who was happily savoring some fine malt liquor, and left him stunned for a good while. He only came back to himself when Kain told him to make room.

Under Kain’s almost icy commands and explanation, the major quickly grasped the general course of events and how serious the situation was. After panting his way to the infirmary to fetch a doctor, he hurried off again, still out of breath, to muster the soldiers.

To be fair, the major might be getting on in years and had grown rather portly, but he was still frighteningly efficient. A few barked orders were all it took to put the entire castle on alert. Through the study’s wooden window, they could see the gleam of kerosene lamps and the flash of polished blades.

As for the doctor, after Kain coolly refused his help, he had no choice but to hand over the disinfectant and bandaging supplies, then stand off to the side, watching with unease.

But the doctor’s worries soon faded. He realized that this young man, who could give the major orders at will, seemed to know exactly how to handle such a difficult wound.

Before long, white bandages covered the captain’s gruesome wounds.

“Well, I never. You know how to treat wounds?”

Roy turned her palm over, inspecting it from both sides, and said with pleasant surprise, “Does that mean we won’t need to hire a ship’s doctor after all?”

Kain paused while packing up the medical supplies, then sighed helplessly. “I only learned how to dress wounds at the military academy. I don’t know the first thing about anything else. If you don’t mind being bedridden with food poisoning, Captain, then sure, we can go with that.”

“Uh… then, maybe not.”

Thinking about how bad food poisoning could get out at sea, Roy sheepishly dropped the idea.

“Besides, I’m your second-in-command, not your prisoner. Don’t dump every miserable chore on me.”

Kain handed the medical chest back to the doctor and told him flatly, “You can go now.” Then he turned back to the captain and reminded her, displeased, “I’m your second-in-command, not your prisoner. Don’t dump every miserable chore on me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Roy wore an expression that said she hadn’t heard a word.

His headache was about to flare up again. Kain was just about to teach the captain a thing or two about respect when the door, which the doctor had just closed behind him, opened again.

The sweating major came in. He glanced around, saw there were no seats, and plopped himself right down on the desk, not even bothering to move the military reports trapped beneath him.

“I… I finally got everything sorted. That much running around was more exercise than I’ve had in the past three years combined.” The major grabbed the opened bottle of malt liquor and took a long swig. Only after catching his breath did he manage to complain, exhausted.

“How many years has it been since you last exercised properly…?” Kain frowned at the major, whose sudden entrance had interrupted his train of thought.

“About twenty.” The major puffed out his chest, looking proud, as if his two decades of laziness had somehow brought the Empire to its current greatness.

Kain didn’t have the energy to argue with him. He rubbed his temples and steered the conversation away from the major’s midlife crisis. “Finding the Black Crow Society’s mole in the military this time was pure luck. We also risked my life to draw out one of their big fish. If they still have eyes and ears in the military’s upper ranks…”

“You can put your mind at ease. For more than a decade, Governor Federo has been relentless in rooting out potential threats in the military. He’s wiped out the Black Crow Society’s spies, one after another. Only this enforcer, the one called Manticore, managed to stay hidden for decades—and even then, he needed help from those idiots in the Federation to slip through every purge.”

The moment the subject turned serious, the major sobered up.

“Good. I don’t want what happened twelve years ago to happen again.” Kain nodded, feeling a little relieved.

“Hey, did you two forget something?” The captain, whom they’d ignored for quite a while, folded her arms in annoyance and drew their attention back to her.

“Who exactly is this lady…?”

Looking at the bandages wrapped around Roy’s hands, the major remembered the blood he’d found while inspecting the scene. Only then did he realize he’d overlooked one crucial detail: who had fought the Manticore to the death?

It couldn’t have been the young master. Kain didn’t have a single injury, and the combat training he’d received at the military academy was nowhere near enough to make him a match for the well-prepared Manticore. That left only one possibility…

The one who’d killed the Black Crow Society’s third-in-command—an enforcer with formidable strength—with an unloaded pistol, or even with her bare hands, was the exquisite young woman standing right in front of him, as dazzling as a precious jewel. There was no way she was just some dance partner the young master had picked up.

So who was she, really?

As the major gave her a dangerous once-over, Roy’s mouth twitched. She forced out a guilty smile. “I’m… I’m…”

“That’s it!”

Roy suddenly hit on an idea and pointed at Kain. “I’m his fiancée!”