Chapter 9: Aleck [2]

“Is something wrong?”

Hans could help but sighed inwardly as he looked towards Julies.

’Somthing is wrong? In fact, everything is wrong.’

He wanted say that as soon as he heard those words but he calmed himself down.

Screaming like that will only tranish the reputation of the Draken family.

“No it’s nothing. Everything is okay now. You can go outside of North territory Tommorow. Now get out of my office.”

Julies blinked, clearly surprised by how quickly the conversation had ended.

No lecture.

No threats.

No ten-minute tirade about family name and disgrace.

Just a flat dismissal.

“…Right,” he muttered. “Thanks, sir.”

Hans didn’t reply. His fingers were already laced together beneath his chin, his eyes fixed on some point on the desk that didn’t exist.

Julies hesitated at the door, just long enough to feel awkward, then turned and slipped out, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Silence.

Hans sat still for several long seconds, the composure draining from his expression bit by bit until only raw irritation remained.

“…Damn it all,” he muttered under his breath, pushing himself up from the desk and walking to the window.

Beyond the frosted glass panes, the snow-covered northern landscape stretched endlessly, a silent white wasteland that felt more suffocating than peaceful.

He pressed a hand to his temple, eyes narrowing.

“That idiot really found a sponsor.”

It wasn’t the signature itself that bothered him—though the name scribbled at the bottom of the travel form didn’t exactly reassure him either.

Aleck.

Hans couldn’t keep his curiosity.

He just needed to know.

He needed to know why ’Her signature was here.’

Without missing a moment, Hans stood up with sudden force, the chair legs screeching faintly against the stone floor. He grabbed the travel form from his desk—his eyes fixed not on the signature, but on the seal pressed beside it.

It wasn’t a knight’s crest.

It wasn’t a steward’s sigil.

It was her seal.

Subtle. Easily overlooked. Just a faint distortion in the mana signature around the wax. But Hans had spent enough time under Lady Draken’s command to recognize it immediately.

A stylized dragon spine—coiled tight like a serpent—barely visible unless you knew what to look for.

Aleck.

No surname.

No title.

No official record of rank in the estate’s registry.

But now it all made sense.

That voice.

That mana.

That impossible level of clearance.

Aleck wasn’t just some wandering knight who happened to take an interest in Julies.

Aleck was her.

Lady Alice Draken.

The infamous daughter of the Duke.

It was the name she used when she wore her full armor pretending to be male—faceless, nameless, moving among the ranks like smoke. It was a way to keep the title and the person separate. Around strangers, around enemies, even around certain allies.

Of course, within the Duke’s household, everyone knew who Aleck really was. But no one—no one—was allowed to speak it aloud.

Doing so meant death. No warning. No trial. Just a silent disappearance.

And that’s why Hans felt a cold sweat breaking out across the back of his neck.

Because if Julies really had her seal…

That meant Lady Alice had personally authorized his departure.

But why?

Why him?

As far as Hans knew, Lady Alice wasn’t the type to take interest in nobodies.

She wasn’t one for charity.

She didn’t improvise. She didn’t gamble. She planned—down to the last bloody breath.

Hans wants to know her intention, with that thought Hans stood up and decided to head towards Lady Alice Draken room.

Hans didn’t bother to put on a coat.

The northern winds would bite, the frost might cut, but none of that mattered now. His mind was too loud, his pulse too fast. His boots echoed through the empty corridors of the Draken estate as he walked—no, stormed—through the stone halls, the travel form crumpled in his hand.

He didn’t need to be told where her room was. No one in the estate ever forgot.

It was on the third floor of the east wing, past the warded hall, beyond the blackwood doors that were guarded more by fear than by men. No servant walked there unless summoned. No knight dared to knock without a reason carved in steel.

Hans didn’t care.

Not now.

The hall outside her room was quiet. No guards, as usual. No torchlight. Just the faint hum of mana in the air, almost imperceptible—unless you knew it was there. A boundary. A barrier. A warning.

He stopped in front of the door.

His knuckles hovered over the wood for a second longer than he meant them to.

Knock —!, Knock—!

Then he knocked—twice.

Not loud. Not soft.

Just enough to be heard.

Seconds passed.

Then the door clicked.

Not opened.

Just unlocked.

That alone was more terrifying than any shout.

Hans took a slow breath and pushed it open.

The room inside was dark. Not because there was no light—but because the curtains were drawn, the air still, and the mana thick like smoke. Cold silver light filtered through a sliver in the drapes, casting long shadows across the floor.

And there she was.

Seated near the hearth, back to the door, one arm draped lazily over the side of the chair.

Her armor was off. She wore a dark undershirt and breeches, a book resting open on her knee.

Lady Alice Draken.

Even without her armor, she radiated danger—like a blade unsheathed and left on the table.

She didn’t turn around.

“You’re either brave,” she said, her voice low and sharp, “or very, very stupid.”

Hans swallowed. Hard.

“I saw your seal,” he said. “On the form.”

Silence.

Then the book closed with a soft snap.

She rose, fluid and unhurried, and turned to face him.

No mask. No helmet.

Just cold blood-red eyes that gleamed like steel under moonlight, and a face that could’ve been sculpted from ice.

“What of it?” she asked.

Hans straightened. “I need to know why. Why did you allowed him to give permission to leave the North My lady? You know the rules.”

Her gaze didn’t falter. Not for a heartbeat.

And then—unexpectedly—she smiled.

But it wasn’t warm.

It was the kind of smile you saw before someone pulled a knife.

“Curious little Hans,” she murmured. “Still pretending to be neutral. Still pretending you don’t play sides.”

Hans stiffened.

Alice stepped closer, just enough for the mana in the air to prickle against his skin.

“You think I gave him that seal as a favor?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

She chuckled. Softly. Dangerously.

“No,” she said. “It wasn’t charity. I just wanted to see if he would come or not at North within one month, before the Evolution ends.”

“…And if not?”

“Then he will consequences. As well as his family.”

Hans swallowed hard at those cold words of hers.

“…But for now I need to clean up the bugs who comes from outside here.”

Bugs…. It means those people who come here to become her servent.

Alice dislikes outsider who entered the north.

…And that’s why as Aleck she was going to clean up those…filthy pests herself.

Julies was no exception to this.

He was just like others…pest.

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