“You were the princess’s secret agent! Young master…! You’ve grown so wonderfully! The late head and lady must be at ease now!”
The old man wiped away his tears.
Nathaniel felt the pressure and let out an awkward, forced laugh.
“Hahaha! What do you think of me, old man? I may look like this, but I’m the head of the noble Presley family! There’s no way I’d be a gambler!”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
Pastel cheered.
“The head of the noble Presley family wouldn’t just be going in and out of gambling dens!”
“Absolutely! Our young master isn’t like that!”
“That’s right! That’s right! There’s no way he’d stake the mansion for a game of chance!”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes but still maintained a smiling expression, giving a fierce look as if to say, “Stop egging me on, you naughty little punk.”
Heh.
But Pastel was so naïve that she didn’t even know what a “naughty punk” was, so she just brushed it off.
It must be a compliment!
The important thing is that Nathaniel was our spy!
Amazing!
The competence of Governor Pastel, who had hidden someone she didn’t even know under the United Kingdom’s radical faction and cult as a spy!
Totally super, super ultra!
In fact, it was expected competence!
Since Sky Island geopolitically needed to keep an eye on the Demon Realm’s politics, having spies was obviously essential!
There might be differences in degree, but having spies was a given!
Heh, thinking about it, it was such an obvious outcome.
The Academy, which served as the administration of Sky Island, had downsized its spy agency after dismantling the Sky Island Governor’s office, and for some reason, they ended up completely abolishing it because they found maintaining it a waste of budget. The Knight Order of Sky Island, being a branch of the Empire’s Knight Order, only obtained information from the Empire’s intelligence agencies, resulting in a half-baked spy infrastructure. So, the fact that Sky Island had a crumbling spy infrastructure wasn’t important.
Thanks to Princess Elly, who boldly enrolled in the Academy and conducted spy activities, Pastel sharply felt the lack of a spy network, and the fact that she hurriedly created an inspection department wasn’t important either.
Though she had built an intelligence agency with Leonard, who had low moral standards, was competent, and seemed to like her, the fact that the only trustworthy friends suitable for operational use were too young was also not important.
While preparing to visit the Demon Realm, “Aaaah! Governor! Governor! I’m so flustered over the weakness of our Demon spying network! Wasn’t it a potential enemy nation?!” That past was no more!
Because we have a splendid secret agent here!
Nathaniel and the old butler briefly shared a reunion.
The butler, who had been looking after the young head, who had lost his parents and wandered into gambling, must have had quite a bit of emotional turmoil, as it had been longer than expected.
The splendid secret agent Nathaniel took on the breathless expression of a liar and sent a pleading gaze, but no bad person was here to intrude on their private time.
Pastel waited for the reunion to end, completing important tasks like taking a nap and eating cookies.
“Heh, this cookie is!”
A finger traced the chocolate embedded in the cookie.
One! Two! Three! Four!
“Four chocolates!”
This is a scoop…!
Scoop! Scoop!
Having completed her important tasks, Pastel sat in front of Nathaniel.
Nathaniel lay sprawled on the couch, exhausted, with his arm covering his face.
“I didn’t think the old man would be this happy…”
His voice was muffled.
Pastel hurriedly munched on her cookie, crumbs flaking onto her pink lips.
Nathaniel turned to look at her, squinting his eyes.
“Are you happy because you caught a fish?”
Pastel hurriedly mumbled through her cookie.
The cookie was swallowed.
“Yeah!”
I’m happy!
“Wow, what an arrogant fraudster.”
Nathaniel covered his face with one hand. He shifted from lying down to sitting up.
“I’m going to say this to avoid any misunderstanding, but I only said that in front of the old man. Do you really think I’d cooperate with Craft? That’s something to expect from a traitor.”
Heh, is that how it is?
Is that what it was?
Was naive Pastel too naïve to think she succeeded at persuasion?
Nathaniel sighed in frustration, his gaze displaying clear displeasure.
“By the way, what exactly do you mean by you saved the old man? When I asked him, he said he wasn’t sure.”
“Oh, that. The butler was walking and got struck by lightning. Since I happened to see it from the hotel terrace, I dashed down to save him!”
Nathaniel chuckled dryly.
“Then you carried the fainted old man to the confinement room and threatened me with that? Pressuring him with this and that?”
“I carried him to the hotel; I even put earplugs on him!”
That wasn’t a lie!
Pastel made a peace sign with her fingers.
Nathaniel crossed his legs, folded his arms, and lay back onto the sofa, staring silently for a while.
Ugh, the reaction wasn’t much.
This seems to have flopped.
The resentment towards the Craft family was stronger than expected.
What on earth did our ancestors do?
It didn’t feel as pronounced on Sky Island, but coming to the Demon Realm’s mainland, it was painfully obvious how poor their reputation was.
If this continues, I’ll have to contact Mr. Penguin, who is Elly’s close brother and a spy for the Empire, to borrow the Empire’s spy network.
Ugh.
It’s too scary to give the initiative to the terrifying Mr. Penguin.
Nathaniel changed his posture and sat properly again, brushing his face with one hand as he froze in that position.
A moment of silence passed.
His hand, barely covering his face, let out a voice.
“Thanks. Even if the old man is fine, if he had collapsed on the street for too long, it would have been a problem. I’ll help you but only within reasonable limits.”
Her pink eyes went wide.
As there was no reply, Nathaniel looked embarrassed, turned his head, and nervously fidgeted with the fabric of his chest.
“It’s kind of hot in here. Even for winter, the heating’s ridiculous. If you’ve got more to say, do it on the terrace.”
Nathaniel stood up and looked around the room cluelessly.
“The terrace, where is it?”
Pastel chuckled.
“Over there!”
Pointing to the terrace, which was clearly visible behind Nathaniel without any need to search for it.
“Oh, behind.”
Nathaniel turned awkwardly.
Pastel got up and rushed to follow him, her pink eyes sparkling.
“Weren’t you against Craft?”
Nathaniel hesitated. His ears reddened slightly, he brushed it off, and his steps quickened.
The breeze from the terrace whispered, and his voice slipped through.
“But I’m the head.”
Nathaniel offered no further explanation.
But Pastel couldn’t help but pause with her smiling expression unchanged.
Her pink hair swayed gently.
A soft smile slowly bloomed.
“That’s true!”
Thump thump, thump thump.
Pastel’s legs rocked with her feelings.
On the terrace, Nathaniel held a spoon, glaring at the milk ice cream. When the spoon tried to pierce through, it only scratched the surface, leaving marks.
“Hey, it’s frozen solid.”
Nathaniel expressed disbelief.
“Hahaha!”
Pastel, having playfully joked with her friend, laughed just because it was fun.
The abandoned spoon was tossed aside.
“You’re asking for too much. Just define whether you want me to kick out the hawkers from the council or expel the cult from the Demon Realm.”
Ah, right!
I was on the job!
Pastel hummed and swayed her upper body. Her pink hair danced.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I can find someone else!”
Then, the awkward parts of this relationship would be resolved!
Nathaniel’s expression twisted in confusion.
“What’s going on suddenly?”
His skeptical gaze scrutinized the girl. The girl with pink hair just giggled.
Nathaniel looked uneasy.
“If you’re not going to choose, I’ll guide you to the overlapping connections.”
“Guide me? Nathaniel will spend the whole day guiding me?!”
Her pink eyes sparkled.
“I can’t say it’ll be the whole day, but I will spend some time.”
“Wow! Wow!”
Pastel blushed and suddenly leaned closer.
“Where? Where?!”
Nathaniel flinched and stepped back.
He looked slightly taken aback, and once he realized the topic was his territory, he calmed down.
“The underground gambling den.”
A mischievous smile appeared.
“Hey, you know. You embarrassed yourself saying all those silly things in front of the old man, right? But among them, some of it was true. I wasn’t just idling; I was meeting someone at the rendezvous.”
Oh?
Pastel’s pink eyes widened.
An underground gambling den.
A gambling date?
A secret date at a gambling den…?
Heh.
Heck.
Pastel lost track of time and realized she was off work sometime later.
Upon arriving not at the lavender hotel but the pink hotel, she snapped back to reality.
She dashed and flung the room door open.
“Mr. Demon Lord! Mr. Demon Lord!”
The demon was pouring over blueprints of the planned city and city planning documents on the table.
“You cursed me, yet my claims are now half realized—”
“Mr. Demon Lord!”
Rolling his eyes slightly, the demon squinted at Pastel as if he had been concentrating.
“It’s a bit late. With that hair color, it seems unsafe to be out and about; hurry back next time.”
The demon took a sip of his cold green tea.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going out? Are you up to some mischief again?”
“That’s not important!”
The girl shouted with flushed cheeks.
“I think I’ve fallen for someone!”
I’ve found my type in bad people!
People who belong in prison!
But someone with a backstory and a warm heart for me…!
“What?”
The cup slipped from his fingers and fell. The sound of shattering echoed. The tea soaked the floor.
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