Caught!

Tap, tap.

The security instructor’s receding footsteps and the frightened guard dog’s whimpers finally disappeared into the darkness.

Kairen and Elisia, pressed tightly together and holding their breath in the cramped, shadowy space beneath the stairs, could finally let out the breaths they’d been holding in.

“Haaah...”

“Haa... We made it...”

The two looked at each other and sighed in relief.

Kairen’s impression of Professor Daidalos, performed just as his brother’s note had instructed, had been the height of humiliation for the Grand Duke’s second son, who had lived his whole life with solemn dignity—but it had certainly worked.

“Heehee... It’s still so funny, even thinking about it. Kairen, how did you even think to make a sound like that?”

With the tension gone, Elisia giggled behind her mask, unable to hold back her laughter.

“...My brother wrote in the second note that I should do that. I didn’t know it would scare off the guard dog, either.”...