I Start with a Bad Hand!

“Raspberry.”

“Cream.”

Icarus and I whispered as we watched a noble lingering near the desserts from a distance. We saw his hand hesitate momentarily before reaching for a small cake topped with raspberries. I clenched my fist in victory. Yes! Beside me, Icarus let out a small sigh of defeat.

“Three to two.”

“Oh, let’s go again.”

“We agreed on best of three. You lost.”

Despite dancing again under everyone’s gaze and having a few drinks, time seemed to crawl. It was still only 8:55. Just five more minutes left.

‘After all that commotion, only 25 minutes have passed.’

People around us continued to glance our way. Although no one approached to start a conversation, quite a few nobles lingered nearby, curious about our conversation in a language they couldn’t understand. Initially, we tried to keep up a decent conversation for their sake, but eventually, we ran out of things to say. Now, we were just making idle bets on the actions of the nobles around us.

“What are you doing here?”

After dancing with Cedric, Irene came straight over to us and whispered. But I couldn’t tell her the truth.

‘How could I say we came to steal a memento from the mother of my senior’s fiancée?’

“I’m here as the Second Prince’s partner.”

“…Do you really think I’d believe that?”

No…. I couldn’t really expect that…. When I fell silent at Irene’s questioning, she looked at Icarus and me in disbelief. Icarus couldn’t stop his sly smile throughout the interaction.

‘What’s with this guy?’

Just then, someone called for Irene. She sighed and turned to greet the person, giving us a chance to slip away from her sharp questioning. On the empty terrace, I asked Icarus why he was laughing. His response was,

“It’s the first time I’ve shared more with ‘your’ friend than you.”

At that, I cautiously looked around and then lightly stomped on his shoe with my heel. Ouch! His cry was followed by his continued snickering.

Not only Irene, but Cedric also kept glancing in our direction. He seemed so preoccupied with us that he brushed off any approaching servants with annoyance. Even when conversing with other nobles who approached him, he barely maintained the conversation, his eyes frequently darting toward the back of my head.

‘But where is Evan? He’s nowhere to be seen.’

I sipped the champagne I was holding. Roxanne had also disappeared from my view at some point. As I grabbed another champagne glass from a passing servant, Icarus asked with genuine curiosity,

“…How many glasses have you had?”

“I stopped counting after five.”

Despite drinking so much, I felt no trace of intoxication. I had noticed before, but Dietrich’s ability to break down alcohol was impressive. Such a healthy liver. Thanks to that, I was enjoying an unusually pleasant drinking session. Just as I was about to take another sip from the new glass, Icarus snatched it from me and downed it in one gulp, grimacing.

“Ugh.”

He looked at me staring forlornly at the empty glass, then showed me the glass, trying to stifle a cough.

“What’s with you?”

“Seeing you drink like that made me curious. But how do you drink this stuff?”

Stupid kid…. I raised my hand to call the servant with the champagne again.

“Then ask for your own. Don’t take mine.”

As I naturally took another glass, Icarus took that one too. What the heck? I frowned up at him, and he had already downed the entire glass, giving me an awkward smile.

“What’s with you? You said it tasted bad.”

“Just bear with me. I’m nervous too.”

“…Nervous?”

“Of course. This involves the safety of the friend you care so much about. How could I not be nervous?”

Icarus muttered, holding the champagne glass with a strangely relaxed expression. He twirled the glass in his hand, the remaining moisture reflecting the chandelier’s light onto his face.

“It really tastes awful.”

His face under the light showed a trace of discomfort. Watching him for a moment, I soon looked away and responded.

“Then I’ll keep drinking and finish it off.”

Icarus’s comment had lightened the mood a bit, but the tension underlying our mission remained. We had to keep up appearances until the crucial moment arrived.

I ignored him and downed another champagne from the tray of a passing servant. He let out a low chuckle at my determination. Then, the clock in the small garden across the terrace from the duke’s mansion ticked.

“It’s 9 o’clock.”

“…Let’s move.”

Icarus and I leisurely began to walk away, feeling Cedric’s intense gaze burning into the back of my head.

“Where to?”

“The east, the rose garden!”

As soon as we closed the door behind us, we hurriedly headed east. The place where we were to create a distraction was the rose garden on the east side of the duke’s mansion, the farthest point from the west warehouse where Agnes was and the side door she would use to escape.

“You have 15 minutes to get in and out, right?”

“We don’t have a choice. We can’t communicate once we’re far apart, so we have to move according to the time… Besides, there’s a limit to how long we can drag this out.”

“Isn’t 15 minutes too tight?”

Agnes grumbled in a disgruntled tone.

“Yuri said the servants guarding the banquet hall would return to their positions at 9 o’clock. That’s the best time to move without being caught, before things get chaotic again.”

Agnes, with a serious expression, asked, “So I only have about 30 minutes in the west warehouse. What if I don’t find it within that time?”

“Then we’ll just be people who came and went from the duke’s house.”

Catching my breath as the scent of roses filled the air, I glanced around the park. Roses in this almost winter season—how do they manage it? It feels like they’re defying the natural order.

In one corner of the rose garden, there was an intricately crafted statue. Made of marble, it represented the first Duke of Elexion and glowed softly under the moonlight. The statue’s eyes were inlaid with gems that resembled the aquamarine symbolizing Elexion.

Looking up at the familiar statue, I recalled Yuri’s words.

“After that ‘incident,’ the Duke really did cast a protective spell on ‘that’ statue.”

“After that incident, a young servant touched it, causing quite a commotion. Though I didn’t expect them to check it in that manner,” Yuri had said with a bitter expression. I flexed my hand lightly, recalling her words.

“I heard he wasn’t seriously injured. Just a few scrapes…. But the alarm went off loudly, alerting the Duke, and eventually, the servant was expelled from the mansion with a severed hand….”

According to Yuri, the injuries caused by the protective spell wouldn’t be severe. The severed hand was a separate matter…. Just as I was about to punch the statue firmly, Icarus stopped my fist with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?”

I glared at the statue’s neck. The smooth surface showed no visible cracks.

“Has this statue’s head fallen off before?”

“What?”

“There was a time when kids knocked it over. I’m no expert in art, so I don’t understand why they wouldn’t just buy a new statue instead of fixing an old one… but it works to our advantage.”

Because the head once rolled off, there’s a protective spell here. To attract attention, we need to disturb it. Icarus’s face showed an indiscernible expression at my explanation. He sighed and pushed me aside, muttering,

“Should someone who holds a pen and shoots arrows handle their hands so recklessly?”

Then, with a playful look, Icarus placed his hand on his chest.

“It pricks my conscience to keep breaking things in other people’s houses.”

“…Break? Hey, wait. I didn’t mean,”

Before I could finish, Icarus kicked the statue hard with a strong force. Immediately,

Caw-! Caw-! Caw-!

The rose garden surrounding the banquet hall echoed with the shrill cries of crows. With a thud, the statue’s head rolled off.

“But then again, considering how much you cherish and protect that friend of yours, compromising my conscience isn’t so difficult.”

His red eyes gleamed with mischief and amusement as he smirked.