I Become a Secret Police Officer of The Imperial Academy

Chapter 47

A faint dizziness came over me.

It felt like something… something I had experienced before. A fleeting sense of déjà vu, but all it left behind was an unsettled, nauseating feeling.

“Ellen, what’s wrong? Do you want to go to the theater too?”

Mother’s gaze sharpened slightly as she asked the question.

She was the kind of person who could immediately sense unease in others.

Even now, despite being fully grown, she still frightened me sometimes.

I shook my head and replied, “I think something I ate at lunch didn’t agree with me. I’ll be fine soon.”

“You didn’t drink again, did you?”

“I’m not some delinquent. I wouldn’t drink in the middle of the day.”

I was around fourteen when my parents decided I had learned everything I needed to and loosened their grip on me.

If I wanted something, they would provide it; if I wanted to leave and live independently, they gave me the money to do so.

Because of that, I started drinking and occasionally smoking cigars—or even opium.

Inside the carriage, we maintained the appearance of a normal family engaging in everyday conversation.

At least, that’s how it sounded to an outsider.

“Julian, I wonder if the guests were satisfied with how the recent issues were handled.”

“After a serious discussion with their daughter, they seemed content. Voices were raised, but they agreed to resolve minor problems swiftly.”

The faint smell of blood lingered, suggesting another nobleman’s daughter had likely had her fingernails pulled.

Why Julian put so much effort into things he didn’t even enjoy was beyond me.

“It would have been better if they had just been a bit more generous from the start.”

“They expressed their remorse by offering us control of the pub district.”

“That’s acceptable.”

It seemed like another tax collector had gone too far and ended up dragged underground.

Judging by the relatively lenient resolution, they were probably a low-ranking noble.

The pub district would be profitable enough—so long as the collectors didn’t get beaten to death by drunkards.

“Ellen, has anything noteworthy happened at the academy lately?”

“She’s been getting closer to that commoner senior, Theo, these days.”

“Ah, the one she mentioned meeting at the café?”

“Yes. He seems like the type who could join the Imperial Guard one day.”

“If he’s that capable, why not invite him over? It wouldn’t matter whether he came as a guest or someone we hosted.”

“There are still too many unresolved matters here to bring him home yet. Besides, he’s highly favored by the headmaster.”

“True. And that man does have quite the temper.”

The problem wasn’t the headmaster. Unlike Marco, that man would likely try to destroy our household if he learned the truth about it.

Still, it seemed they were planning to bring Theo to the estate eventually and assign him some work.

Our family was known for bestowing hollow honors on those with talent but without status or prestige, then putting them to use.

Some might call it exploitation, but I didn’t think it was entirely that.

We paid generously, after all.

Of course, it was often done by taking away their means to earn money elsewhere or setting up connections that would crumble if they lost an arm or a leg.

Alicia watched curiously, as if she wanted to know what we were talking about, but she was used to being excluded from these conversations.

She simply kept quiet, swinging her legs absentmindedly.

Occasionally, she would complain about feeling left out, asking what kind of work we did, if she could see the basement, or even just understand the topics of our conversations.

But those were things that could never be shared with her.

A child only needed vague hopes for the future to carry them forward.

Alicia, at least, had enough wealth and power to recover if she stumbled.

As long as she didn’t fall for the wrong kind of man, she would be fine.

Before I realized it, the carriage had arrived at its destination.

As they had said, our parents walked hand in hand toward the theater.

“Julian, where are you headed?”

“Mm, I should look at some jewelry since I’ll be getting married soon.”

“The money our parents gave us won’t be enough for that.”

“Who do you think I am? Don’t worry about money—just go have fun with Alicia.”

“And who do you think you are? A pushover who always loses to me in a fight.”

“I beat you last week!”

As I teased Julian, Alicia suddenly looked serious and asked, “What do you mean by ‘fighting’?”

Ah, I got carried away and forgot myself.

It would be better not to tell Alicia anything about family matters. She was too smart for her own good.

“Just verbal arguments, you know. Seeing who’s smarter or knows more. That kind of fight.”

She didn’t look entirely convinced, but she responded with her usual bright smile and an “Okay.”

“Only met her twice, and he’s already head over heels.”

Recently, Julian had gotten engaged.

It wasn’t out of mutual affection; our parents had simply deemed the other family ripe for assimilation and personally arranged the match.

For them, it was a kind of blessing—they could now flaunt their ties to the Speyer Family.

“…She is beautiful and cute, though.”

After meeting her once and going on a second outing alone, he’d fallen completely for her.

To be fair, even I thought she was stunning.

It wasn’t just Julian who was charmed—they seemed mutually smitten.

I should probably be grateful for that. If they didn’t get along, life would have been much harder.

She seemed a bit naive, but in a place like this, naivety could be a blessing.

As long as Julian handled himself well, she wouldn’t need to know the inner workings of our estate.

She already seemed quite frail.

“Her hair is blue, right? Get her a ruby necklace or a reddish topaz—it’ll suit her.

And for the ring, just go with the most expensive and elegant one.”

“Ah, yeah! Thanks, Ellen.”

Julian could be ruthless when dealing with people, but in moments like this, he seemed like an innocent young man.

“Seeing him like that is kind of…”

“Creepy, isn’t it?”

Alicia shook her head in disagreement, so I playfully pinched her cheek.

“No! Not that bad. Just a little unsettling.”

It couldn’t be helped.

I used to wonder why Julian’s ex-girlfriend had found him so unnerving despite his good looks.

Now I realized it was just a visceral reaction.

Maybe it was because I had seen all of Julian’s insides—not metaphorically, but literally.

After all, a week ago, I lost, and we ended up playing a gruesome game of “show your guts.”

I supposed our concept of “seeing each other’s worst” took on a very different meaning.

“Shall we walk?”

“Okay!”

We strolled through the bustling streets.

There weren’t any residential houses here.

The only places to sleep were hotels.

Because of that, there were no messy commoners getting into drunken brawls, nor were there any half-dead poor people wandering around.

The destitute might exist somewhere, but not here.

Looking toward the cabaret—well, the tavern area—I saw demons wearing collars and little more than underwear, swaying their hips and beckoning people inside.

They probably left the ones who didn’t mind being touched by passersby out front.

Out of curiosity, I once went there with Marco, but it wasn’t anything special.

All it involved was people watching women dance in underwear or with their chests exposed while drinking or eating.

Ah, the tobacco they offered was exceptional, though. That was about it.

What other street could be this extravagant?

Here, the impoverished and beggars whom the moderately wealthy found distasteful were nowhere to be seen.

Well, they likely couldn’t afford the toll to enter in the first place.

A tolerable world can only exist by shoving unpleasant sights into metaphorical trash bins and ignoring them.

“Ellen, why do you look like that…?”

“Like what?”

“You look a little sad.”

“Maybe I’m just hungry. Want to grab some snacks?”

“What kind of snacks?”

“How about some candy? We can pick up one of those romance novels you like or even catch a play.”

Honestly, neither option was particularly appealing to me, but watching Alicia enjoy them was always entertaining.

As I mulled over the idea, I pulled out a freshly trimmed cigar and lit it.

“Ellen, I heard those aren’t good for your health. Can’t you not smoke?”

“Geez, you sure ask for a lot.”

Still, since she asked, I should probably put it out.

I cut off the burning tip with a knife and tucked the rest back into my pocket.

The street was littered with scraps of paper, and a few people with dull, lifeless gazes were sitting around.

“I lead a pretty diligent and proper life, you know.”

“A ‘diligent and proper’ person who drinks every night and clutches their head in the morning while running late for school every day?”

“…I don’t really have a comeback for that.”

We stopped at a general store, where I bought two lollipops. I popped one into Alicia’s mouth and the other into mine.

It tasted like nothing more than a lump of sugar, but Alicia seemed to enjoy it.

Well, she did have an enormous sweet tooth.

After crunching through the lollipop, we wandered around looking for a bookstore.

There weren’t many books inside that caught my interest, so I left Alicia to browse while I stepped outside to smoke another cigar.

Before long, Alicia emerged with an armful of books, having finished her purchase.

I stubbed out the cigar on the ground and tossed it aside.

“Did you get everything?”

“Yeah! They had so many novels we didn’t have at home!”

“Good. Let’s get something to eat.”

“Let’s go somewhere that serves pudding for dessert!”

Pudding, huh?

I glanced in the direction of the restaurant that served pudding as a dessert.

Black smoke was billowing up from that area, faintly illuminated by the dim glow of gas streetlamps.