Chapter 163
"To think you were the Princess's secret agent! Young Master…! You have truly grown up splendidly! The late Family Head and Madam can rest easy now!"
The old man wiped his tears.
Nathaniel felt a sudden wave of pressure and let out an awkward, forceful laugh.
"Hahaha! Old man, what did you think of me? I may not look it, but I'm the Family Head of the noble House Friesli! There's no way I'd be a gambling addict!"
"That's right! That's right!"
Pastel cheered, "Wow~!"
"There's no way the Family Head of the noble House Friesli would frequent a Gambling Den just to gamble!"
"You are absolutely right! Our Young Master is not that kind of person!"
"That's right! That's right! There's no way he'd put the Mansion up as collateral for a single game of gambling!"
Nathaniel kept his smiling expression but rolled his eyes to shoot her an intense glare.
It was a look that seemed to say, stop egging him on, you bad bleep.
Gasp.
But because Pastel was so kindhearted, she didn't know what vocabulary "bad bleep" belonged to, so she just let it slide.
It must be a compliment!
The important thing was the fact that Mr. Nathaniel was a spy on our side!
How surprising!
The competence of Governor-General Pastel, who had hidden a person whose name she didn't even know as an Intelligence Agent within the United Kingdom Radical Faction and the Church, is evident!
It was totally super-super ultra!
In fact, it was a predetermined competence!
Because Sky Island was geopolitically in a position where it had to pay attention to the Demon Realm Political Circles, planting an agent was a given!
There might be a difference in degree, but having an Intelligence Agent was a matter of course!
Gasp, come to think of it, it was a very natural result.
It didn't matter that the Academy, which was Sky Island's Administration, had downsized its intelligence agency after the dissolution of the Sky Island Governor-General's Office and then abolished it altogether because it was a waste of budget, or that the Sky Island Knights were a half-baked organization that only received information from the Empire's Intelligence Agency since their original form was the Empire's Knights Order, meaning Sky Island's own intelligence infrastructure was at rock bottom.
It also didn't matter that Pastel had acutely felt the lack of an intelligence network thanks to Princess Ellie, who had proudly enrolled in the Academy and acted as a Spy, which led her to hastily create the Inspection Department.
It didn't matter that she had created an intelligence agency with Renard, who had low morals, was competent, and seemed to like her somewhat, but found smooth operational activities perplexing because the ages of the Friend Friends she could trust enough to use as agents were too low.
While she was preparing for the Demon Realm Visit, the moment she exclaimed, "Waaah! The Governor-General! The Governor-General is bewildered by the poor state of the Demon Realm Intelligence Network…! Weren't they a potential Enemy Nation!" did not exist!
There was an excellent Secret Agent right here!
Nathaniel and the old man butler shared a brief reunion.
The butler, who had single-handedly taken care of the young Family Head as he wandered and fell into gambling after losing his parents, must have suffered a great deal of emotional distress, as the difficulties took longer than expected.
The excellent Secret Agent Nathaniel put on the suffocating expression of a Liar and sent a look begging for salvation, but there was no bad person here who would intrude on private time.
While waiting for the reunion to end, Pastel completed important tasks such as taking a nap and eating cookies.
"Gasp, this cookie!"
Her finger pointed at the chocolate embedded in the cookie.
One! Two! Three! Four!
"A whopping four chocolates!"
It was a scoop…!
Scoop! Scoop!
Having finished her important tasks, Pastel sat in front of Nathaniel.
Nathaniel was sprawled on the sofa, completely drained. His forearm covered his face.
"I didn't know the old man who only ever nagged loudly would be this happy about it…"
His voice was hoarse.
Pastel hurriedly chewed with her stuffed cheeks. The Cookie Crumbs on her pink lips twitched.
Nathaniel turned his head and looked at her. His eyes narrowed.
"You must be having fun now that your bait worked?"
Pastel hurriedly chewed.
The cookie was swallowed with a gulp.
"Yeees!"
It's fun!
"Wow, what a shameless swindler."
Nathaniel covered his face with one hand. He raised his lying body and changed to a sitting posture.
"I'm saying this in case you're misunderstanding something, but I only said that because I was in front of the old man. Do you think I'd cooperate with Kraft? Go expect that from a traitor."
Gasp, was that it?
Was that how it was?
Had the naive Pastel too naively thought, 'Persuasion successful!'?
Nathaniel wiped his face. A disapproving look came his way.
"More importantly, what exactly do you mean by saving the old man? I asked him, and he said he doesn't know exactly."
"Oh, that. The butler was walking when he was struck by lightning out of the blue and collapsed. It just so happened to be a sight visible from the Hotel Terrace, so I hurriedly jumped down and saved him!"
Nathaniel let out a hollow laugh.
"And then you brought the fainted old man to the Confinement Room to threaten me? Pressuring me by saying you did this and that to him here and there?"
"I carried him on my back to the Hotel and even put earplugs in for him!"
It wasn't a lie!
Pastel made a V-sign with her fingers.
Nathaniel crossed his legs. He folded his arms, sank deep into the sofa, and stared at her wordlessly for a while.
Ugh, the reaction was subpar.
It seemed this was a bust.
The animosity toward the Kraft Family was stronger than expected.
Ancestors, what kind of misdeed did you really commit?
It was less noticeable on Sky Island, but when one came to the Demon Realm Mainland, the rock-bottom reputation was distinctly felt.
If this were the case, she would have to contact Mr. Penguin, Ellie's close older brother, subordinate, and spy for the Empire, to borrow the Imperial Intelligence Network.
Waaah.
It was too scary to give the initiative to the scary Mr. Penguin.
Nathaniel changed his posture and sat up properly again. He wiped his face with one hand and stopped, as if covering it.
Silence flowed for a moment.
A voice leaked through the gaps of his covering palm.
"Thank you. Even though the old man is hale and hearty, he's up there in age, so if he had collapsed on the street for a long time, he would have fallen ill. I'll help you within boundaries."
Her Pink Eyes widened.
When there was no response, Nathaniel felt embarrassed. He turned his head and looked around the hotel room, needlessly tugging at the collar of his shirt.
"It's somewhat hot in here. Even if it's winter, what's with this heating? If you want to talk more, let's do it on the Terrace."
Nathaniel stood up and looked around the room in a daze.
"Where is the Terrace?"
Pastel laughed, "Hehe."
"Over there!"
Her finger pointed at the Terrace that was blatantly visible right behind Nathaniel without his even needing to look for it.
"Ah, behind me."
Nathaniel turned his body in embarrassment.
Pastel stood up and hurriedly followed him. Her pink eyes sparkled.
"I thought you hated Kraft?"
Nathaniel hesitated. His ears were about to turn slightly red, but he shook as he brushed them. His pace quickened.
A voice could be briefly heard, as if carried on the Terrace wind.
"But I am the Family Head."
Nathaniel didn't explain any further.
But Pastel couldn't help but freeze with her smiling expression intact.
Her Pink Hair fluttered.
A soft smile gradually formed.
"That's true!"
#
Thump-thump, Pit-a-pat.
Pastel swung both her legs in tune with her mood.
In the seat across from her on the Terrace, Nathaniel held a spoon and glared at his milk ice cream. When he tried to stick the spoon into the milk ice cream, rather than sticking into it, it only scratched the surface and left a mark.
"No, it's frozen solid."
Nathaniel was dumbfounded.
"Ahaha!"
Pastel, who had secretly told a friend to play a prank, just laughed in amusement.
The spoon, having given up on eating, was carelessly set down.
"You're asking for too much. First, make it clear whether you want the Hawks or the Church. Are you trying to push the Hawks out of the Council, or are you trying to expel the Church from the Demon Realm?"
Ah, right!
I was in the middle of working!
Pastel hummed and swayed her upper body from side to side. Her pink hair fluttered.
"It doesn't matter if you just don't tell me! I'll find someone else on my own!"
Then the troublesome part of this relationship would be resolved!
Nathaniel's expression turned bizarre.
"What's this? Why are you suddenly acting like this?"
A suspicious gaze examined the girl. The girl with pink hair was just grinning.
Nathaniel felt uncomfortable.
"If you're not going to choose, I'll just guide you to a Rendezvous Point where the two overlap."
"Guide me? Nathaniel is going to guide me all day?!"
Her Pink Eyes sparkled.
"I don't know about all day, but I'll spend some time."
"Wow! Wow!"
Pastel flushed her cheeks red and abruptly thrust her face forward.
"Where?! Where?!"
Nathaniel flinched and dodged backward.
He was slightly flustered, but then calmed down, seemingly realizing that the topic of conversation was his domain.
"The Underground Gambling Den."
A sly smile hung on his lips.
"You know. Earlier, you said all sorts of embarrassing things in front of the old man, didn't you? But there was some truth in it. I wasn't just playing around. I was meeting people at the Rendezvous Point."
Huh.
Her Pink Eyes widened.
The Underground Gambling Den.
A Gambling Den date?
A secret gambling den date…?
Gasp.
Gaaasp.
Pastel lost track of time and clocked out at some point.
She suddenly came to her senses when she arrived in front of the Pink-Pink Hotel instead of the Borabora Hotel.
She sprinted hurriedly and opened the Guest Room door.
"Lord Demon! Lord Demon!"
The Demon was in the middle of examining the blueprints and urban planning documents of the Planned City spread out on the table.
[You cursed it so much, but in the end, my argument was half-realized—]
"Lord Demon!"
Perhaps because he had been concentrating, the Demon's brow furrowed slightly.
[You are somewhat late. The security doesn't seem good enough to wander around with that hair, so hurry back from now on.]
The Demon took a sip of the completely cooled green tea.
[Why did you leave without telling me in the first place? Did you go and commit some Misdeed again?]
"That's not important!"
The girl shouted with all her might, her cheeks flushed red.
"I think I have a crush on someone!"
My type was bad guys all along!
Someone who, to others, deserves to be locked up in prison!
But to me, someone with a backstory and a warm heart…!
[What?]
The cup slipped through his fingers and fell. A shattering sound rang out. Tea water soaked the floor.