How to Tame That Gentle Male Lead - Chapter 7.4
“Please stay seated. I’ll order my drink and come back.”
“Alright. It was worth coming early to wait. You’ve arrived earlier than our appointed time.”
“Hehe. Is that so?”
Resena approached the counter with a full smile. After ordering a café latte from the clerk, she returned to the table where Alken pulled out a chair for her.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. It’s my pleasure.”
Resena couldn’t help but smile as Alken responded courteously. After waiting a moment, the server brought her a cold café latte. The café was quite cool thanks to the ice magic stones, and as the cold latte flowed into her mouth, she felt rewarded for enduring the sultry weather outside.
‘Of course, I was wearing a magic stone that creates a cooling aura…’
She could still feel the sunshine and occasional hot gusts of wind, so she could imagine how intense the heat must be for ordinary people. Looking at Alken’s wrist, she noticed he also wore a cooling magic stone bracelet, showing his efforts to escape the heat.
“Alken. This is our first meeting since the ball, isn’t it? Hehe. It’s good to see you.”
“Yes, it is for me as well. Actually, I was the third person you danced with, so I thought you might have completely forgotten my face.”
Resena chuckled.
“How could I forget someone as decent as you, Alken? I remember you.”
Alken gave a bitter smile. He recalled how Resena had frowned deeply, seemingly displeased about dancing with him rather than Eldis.
But now, Resena showed no sign of frowning at him. Rather, her attitude was that of greeting a welcome acquaintance without a trace of displeasure, making Alken think the rumors must be true.
The rumors that the Arnasus’ daughter, who used to verbally and physically abuse her maids, had changed from a certain day onward.
“Resena, you look much brighter than before. It suits you much better.”
“Hehe. Is that so? If it looks good to you, Alken, then it must look good to others as well. That makes me quite happy.”
Alken wore a gentle expression.
“Actually, there have been quite varied rumors about you lately. Because of that, I was slightly worried when facing you. Whether it would be alright for you to meet with me.”
“What’s there to worry about meeting someone as good as you, Alken? I’m refreshed to meet someone I’m glad to see.”
Alken beamed with a broad smile.
“I’m relieved. How’s the drink? Is it good?”
“Yes, it’s nice. I specified meeting at a nearby shop, and it seems I chose well. They seem to use good beans, and the milk is rich and savory.”
“Indeed, I’m satisfied too. Americanos can easily become too acidic, but this one has moderate acidity and leaves a floral aroma in the mouth, making it smooth to swallow.”
Alken and Resena adjusted their postures more comfortably and faced each other.
Soon, Alken asked Resena kindly, as one would address a close acquaintance.
“Oh, by the way, Resena. Are you aware of the news that has turned the streets upside down recently?”
“What news?”
“I wondered if I should mention this… but I think it’s better for you to know and be careful. Please be cautious. These days, there’s a serial killer roaming the streets.”
Resena’s eyes widened.
“Since when?”
Alken continued.
“Rumors about it started circulating about a week ago. As you know, I come from the guard. Though I’m now the deputy commander of the royal knights, I still regularly visit the guard to check what rumors are spreading.”
‘I didn’t know Alken came from the guard. Though I suppose in “The Name of Love,” most knights do go through the guard… Still, since Alken is the first son of Count Rawley’s family, I thought he would have entered the royal knights directly. That’s unexpected.’
But this aspect also highlighted the man’s diligence. In other words, he was a professional who had experienced all sorts of hardships from the bottom up.
“Usually, everyone has normal expressions, but at that time, they were unusually pale. I thought it might be because their workload increased due to the rising theft cases of goods from Amarast, but when I asked in detail, that wasn’t it.”
“Then what was it?”
“People from the slums have been going missing for a month. At first, they thought it was nothing unusual since people disappearing from slums happens all the time, but now people have started vanishing like smoke even from the shopping districts, so the guard has been receiving many requests to find them.”
“Ah…”
Alken spoke in a low voice, almost whispering.
“And then, a witness appeared. A child who lives by begging in the slums saw a tall man who looked like a knight approach a woman and then disappear with her into an alley. The child didn’t think much of it at first, but realized it was strange since the place where the gentleman and woman disappeared was a dead end, so the child decided to follow them.”
“Yes, and then?”
“The child witnessed him stabbing the woman to death. And he killed her so cruelly that it’s difficult for me to describe, then carried the body over a wall. Since only a highly skilled knight could do that, the guard who heard the child’s story thought they couldn’t ignore it, so they reduced their shifts from three to two and strengthened security.”
‘It’s Tom Baker. No doubt about it.’
But she was concerned about the child. If the child could tell he was a knight, they must have seen his face up close, which would be enough to make them Tom’s target. Feeling worry rising within her, Resena asked Alken.
“What happened to the child? If they could recognize him as a knight, they must have seen his face up close. Wouldn’t that make them a likely target for the killer?”
“I thought the same thing and asked if they were protecting the child.”
“What happened?”
Alken shook his head.
“The child recognized him as a knight because he was wearing the guard’s sword. As you know, the imperial guard carries swords engraved with the black eagle, the symbol of the imperial city. Moreover, knights belonging to the guard have three straight lines engraved on their scabbards. That’s how the child knew he was a knight, but didn’t see his face.”
“Ah…”
“So there was an uproar in the guard. The guard captain immediately tried to silence everyone, saying that if word got out that a serial killer had emerged from the guard, the situation would escalate, but as you know, the knights of the guard aren’t exactly the quiet type.”
“I see…”
“I thought I should let you know so you could be careful, Resena. Always be accompanied by a knight, and don’t go to dimly lit places. So far, the serial killer has only harmed commoners and the poor, but we don’t know when he might shift his target to nobles.”
Resena nodded. Alken was seeing things accurately. Tom Baker had started his murders in the slums, but later he began wandering around noble houses, killing fallen nobles who couldn’t afford to employ maids or knights, to the point where a special task force was eventually formed to catch him.
“Thank you for telling me, Alken. I’ll be careful not to encounter the killer. By the way, since he’s a member of the guard, the guard must be in turmoil.”
“It was absolute chaos. But since they can’t stop patrolling, they’ve now made it mandatory to move in groups of three, so the killings should quiet down for a while. However… that won’t completely stop the serial killer. If he’s a knight with military experience and a long service record in the guard, he’ll always find ways to evade detection.”
Resena felt a chill at those words.
She found herself staring at Alken, and when she saw him give a bitter smile, she made an awkward expression. Alken took a sip of his drink and spoke in a low voice.
“It seems I’ve frightened you too much. I apologize, Resena.”
“No, Alken. You’re right. I… I just got goosebumps because your prediction seemed too accurate.”
“Seemed accurate… So you agree that the serial killer won’t stop at this rate.”
Resena nodded.
