Up until now, Ascan had no interest in women.

As he gained more power, there were plenty of opportunities to meet beautiful women, but he found romantic relationships to be nothing but a hassle, never once feeling moved.

Despite Ascan’s stone-like demeanor, Helsion tirelessly tried to introduce him to women.

But Ascan always made excuses and refused. Not only was he inherently uninterested, but he also couldn’t trust any woman associated with Helsion, which made him even more reluctant.

That wasn’t all. As the emperor’s favored captain of the guard, who had even been granted the title of count, Ascan had received countless marriage proposals from powerful families.

There were those who offered their daughters and others who suggested a night’s company, but he rejected them all outright.

He considered marriage unnecessary and didn’t even want someone to warm his bed.

The thought of sharing warmth with another person made him uncomfortable. The idea of exchanging saliva and exploring each other’s bodies felt utterly repulsive.

He didn’t know why. He just felt an instinctive aversion.

No matter what woman he saw, he had no desire to hold her in his arms.

It wasn’t that he lacked desire, but he had lived an excessively ascetic life.

He was also aware of the unsavory rumors circulating about him.

—Did you hear? They say the captain of the guard is impotent.

—What are you talking about? I heard his tastes are quite perverse.

—Tch, tch, you’re both clueless. The captain is into men.

He let all the absurd talk go in one ear and out the other.

He didn’t care what others said. He sometimes wondered if he had an obsession with cleanliness, but there was no reason or need to hide it.

Then, at a party, Helsion once introduced a woman to Ascan without his permission.

Ascan openly showed his displeasure, but Helsion casually pressed on.

—Just for today, let her sit beside you as your partner. You know what people are whispering about. Doing this much will quiet them down a bit.

Ascan didn’t care what others blabbered about, but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw the woman sitting beside him.

It was a woman with jet-black hair. Her glossy hair, cascading down to her waist, somehow caught his eye.

He didn’t know why, but he wanted to look at her a little longer.

Watching the woman sitting still like a doll, he strangely felt the empty void in his chest being slightly filled.

—Captain, shall I pour you some wine…

—No need for that. Just stay by my side.

For some reason, it seemed like the woman’s face flushed red.

Quick-witted Helsion noticed Ascan’s unusual behavior. Thinking Ascan might be interested, he sent the woman to him that night.

But Ascan sent her back without so much as touching her. What had caught his interest was merely her black hair.

‘Do I like women with black hair?’

The thought crossed his mind briefly but was soon forgotten.

It was true he was slightly more lenient toward women with black hair, but no woman had ever captivated him like Tanashia did when he first met her.

He could say with certainty that no living being had ever felt as beautiful as she did.

‘I thought I was an ascetic person all this time…’

Ascan stood by the office window, gazing at the artificial pond on the estate.

He recalled the kiss he shared with Tanashia there not long ago. No, it hadn’t left his mind for a single moment since that day.

He had always thought he had exceptional self-control, but he was wrong.

Once the spark was lit, it blazed like an unquenchable flame.

Tanashia’s sweet lips, her slender waist that seemed to fit in one hand, and her soft skin filled his mind so completely that he could hardly focus on work.

The parched thirst in his throat was nothing. Mere skin-to-skin contact wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

He wanted to become one with her, deeply and intensely.

“…Captain? Captain?”

Turning at the sudden voice, he saw Carlton standing in front of the office desk with a puzzled expression, having entered unnoticed.

It was unlike Ascan. To be so distracted that he didn’t even notice someone entering.

Ascan asked in a calm voice,

“What is it?”

“As ordered, we’ve moved the Kalsfeliber into the estate. When should we deliver it to Lady Brellof?”

“When her hand injury heals. I’ll give separate instructions for that.”

“Understood. We’re also investigating the perfume from Marquis Manoko. I’ll report back as soon as we have results.”

“Good.”

“I’ve also selected a few candidates for the workshop Lady Brellof will use. I’ve organized the details and left them for your review.”

Ascan nodded as he looked at the documents Carlton had placed on the desk.

It seemed like Carlton had finished his report, but he didn’t leave the office and instead stood there, staring at Ascan.

With a questioning look, Ascan asked,

“Is something up?”

“Captain, were you just thinking about Lady Brellof?”

Caught off guard by the pointed remark, Ascan couldn’t respond immediately.

Carlton, as if he’d already gotten his answer from Ascan’s reaction, spoke again without waiting for a reply.

“You two look good together.”

“…What?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you like this, and it’s really nice to see. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know. I wanted to tell you that many of the guards are rooting for you.”

Ascan felt his head heat up.

He hadn’t expected anyone to notice his feelings. Receiving unexpected support left him with a complex mix of emotions.

After a moment of choosing his words, Ascan replied in a low voice,

“…Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Speaking of which, Captain, we thought it might help, so we bought a book for you.”

Ascan had noticed Carlton hiding something behind his back, but he hadn’t expected it to be a book.

The title of the book Carlton cautiously held out was Eleven Ways to Win a Woman’s Heart.

It was well-known among the guards that Ascan had never been interested in women.

Seeing Ascan show a spark with Tanashia, some of the guards had secretly prepared this to help.

And Carlton was the one who brought the book on their behalf.

Ascan silently touched his forehead. He was both grateful for the guards’ sentiment and embarrassed by the situation.

“…Was it that obvious?”

At Ascan’s question, Carlton nodded emphatically.

“We already noticed back when we came to the Kalua Empire. You’re not the type to care for someone like that, Captain.”

Ascan thought he’d been as professional as possible, but it seemed others didn’t see it that way.

When did it start?

Was it when Tanashia showed up with a bomb on the day they were attacked by the late emperor’s remnants?

Or perhaps when she injured her ankle trying to take an arrow for him. That wound had kept bothering him.

No.

It was from the moment he first saw Tanashia.

From the moment their eyes met, her blue eyes locked with his, something had been different.

He had tried to ignore it, but she had been special from the very first encounter.

Ascan let out a soft chuckle. The irony that everyone around him had noticed while he himself was oblivious amused him.

“Alright, you can go now.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Carlton bowed and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, Captain. Earlier, Lady Brellof’s maid was secretly receiving a messenger pigeon…”

Ascan was already aware of this.

He was curious about the flood of messenger pigeons coming for Tanashia, but he pretended not to know.

As the eldest daughter of the Brellof family and the continent’s top arms dealer, it was only natural for information to come from various sources.

“I saw on my way here that they arranged a carriage from outside. It seems Lady Brellof is preparing to go out secretly, so I thought you might want to know.”

A dark glint flickered in Ascan’s eyes.

He hadn’t heard about Tanashia’s outing. Since the Manoko family had been targeting her before, he had asked her to inform him if she was going somewhere.

Yet she hadn’t told him and was planning to go somewhere unknown.

Ascan’s face hardened. It was the expression of a man with deep possessiveness.

It felt like she was dreaming.

After sharing a passionate kiss with Ascan, she couldn’t shake the floating feeling all day.

Come to think of it, even in her second life, she didn’t have much romantic experience.

In her previous life, she was too busy surviving to meet men, and in this life, Ascan’s confession from when she was young lingered in her mind.

After meeting a man like the final boss from the start, could she say that ordinary men no longer caught her eye?

‘I feel a little guilty.’

He might have lost his memories, but she hadn’t.

She vividly remembered Ascan as a boy, so it almost felt like she was preying on a younger man.

‘But…’

How could he be a younger man?

He was a beast of a man.

Even when she tried to pull back, breathless, Ascan wouldn’t let her go.

It was an intense, relentless deep kiss.

She recalled the hot breath, the firm embrace, and the strong arms that enveloped her.

How had he grown so much? There was no trace left of the boy he once was.

He was a full-grown man, dangerously sexy.

‘Ugh, I’m going crazy.’

Recalling that moment, she collapsed onto the bed. Her face flushed automatically.

They say late-learned habits keep you up all night, and she didn’t know what to do with Ascan constantly running through her mind.

Just then,

The door burst open, and Jerin walked into the room.

Seeing her collapsed on the bed, Jerin gave an exasperated look and said,

“Miss, I just got you up, and you’re lying down again?”

“Unless it’s something important, leave me be today.”

Jerin chuckled at her grumbling but soon waved a red piece of paper and spoke again.

“Unfortunately, an urgent message has arrived, Miss.”

She couldn’t ignore the red paper, which her informants used only for emergencies.

Grumbling, she got up and said,

“Did it just arrive?”

“Yes. I brought it as soon as I received it.”

She was currently tracking a suspicious person with Orland, without Zen’s knowledge.

A man named Kains, who had once worked in a mercenary group in the Kalua Empire.

Based on information from the original novel, he was likely the one who broke into the villa the day her mother, Charles, died.

The last information she had about Kains was that he was spotted near the capital.

Since she had asked her informants in the Kalua Empire to keep tracking his location, this message might contain his whereabouts.

With a serious expression, she held out her hand to Jerin.

“Let me see it.”

“Yes, Miss.”

She unfolded the paper Jerin handed her and quickly read the contents.

As expected, they had found Kains’s residence.

She immediately stood up and said to Jerin,

“I need to go there myself. Prepare for me to go out now.”

“What about Zen?”

She had kept the information about Kains hidden from Orland and Zen so far.

She briefly considered telling them but shook her head.

They’d find out if she met Kains today anyway.

It seemed better to inform them after confirming things. Orland was investigating Charles’s death from another angle, so there was no need to cause confusion.

“Keep my outing a secret from Zen. I think I need to go alone.”

“What about the captain…?”

“If you tell Ascan, Zen will find out. It’s better if I go quietly alone for now.”

“I’ll come with you, Miss.”

“It’s fine. You’re not trained in swordsmanship, so stay here.”

She appreciated Jerin’s concern, but as an ordinary maid, Jerin would likely be in danger.

She grabbed the magical engineering weapons she had brought from the lab. She could handle a former mercenary on her own.

Her only concern was the Manoko family.

The faces of Seruna and Luphilmo briefly crossed her mind, but she figured she could avoid them tracking her if she was careful.

With these thoughts, she said to Jerin again,

“Prepare a carriage at the back gate of the estate without anyone noticing.”

“Understood, Miss.”

Jerin left with a tense expression.

She finished preparing and headed to the estate’s rear garden, taking the most inconspicuous route to the back gate.

Soon, she saw the carriage Jerin had secretly arranged waiting. Thankfully, no one was around.

As she carefully boarded the carriage, the driver asked,

“Where to, Miss?”

“To the downtown area first…”

Creak, the tightly closed carriage door suddenly opened.

Startled, she turned to see, unexpectedly, Ascan.

He stood there, looking at her with an expression that seemed somewhat displeased.

“Ascan?”

She hadn’t expected him to show up here in a million years.

Ascan gazed at her surprised face and said in a slightly subdued voice,

“Where are you sneaking off to like a thief in the night?”