Became the Imperial-Certified Mad Dog

The Boy and The Boy Ponder

As soon as they returned to the mansion after going out, Karma said he had something to take care of and left again immediately. He was probably heading to Serpe’s base.

Peri seemed a bit disappointed, but perhaps already used to it, she sighed once regretfully and obediently returned to her room. I left the packages bought from the market in front of the main building and followed her.

“You can put those cumbersome packages in your room.” “I can’t do that. Now that I’ve taken on the role of your guard, I must stay by your side as much as possible.”

“W-what’s with you suddenly… Yesterday you wanted to leave… Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because of this… Tch…”

Peri muttered in a small voice, conflicted about something, but I wasn’t feeling so optimistic.

‘Someone was definitely watching us.’

They were watching us while emanating killing intent.

‘It definitely wasn’t my imagination.’

I quickly turned my gaze toward where I felt the killing intent, but I couldn’t tell who had released it. Rather, there was nothing in the direction where the killing intent seemed to have come from.

But I wasn’t raised naively enough to dismiss it as just my imagination just because I couldn’t see anything.

Given how subtle the presence was, only detectable for a brief moment after feeling no killing intent at all until then, they probably hid themselves right away.

I don’t know why they made the mistake of letting their killing intent slip enough for me to detect it midway. Did they just want to see their prey’s frightened reaction, or did they have some purpose in letting me become aware of their presence? Or maybe it was just a mistake.

“Either way, I can’t ignore this.”

As I thought, the Grizzly guys’ deaths weren’t internal strife but silencing.

Since I don’t know their name or identity, I’ll call them X – the one who directed killing intent at me earlier. X or X’s colleagues must have killed Grizzly.

‘Then what exactly was their relationship?’

Was Grizzly simply an unrelated victim used as a shield, separate from Peri’s kidnapping? Or did Grizzly want to kidnap Peri and brought in X for help, only to be betrayed?

“…”

With so few pieces, I couldn’t even properly frame the puzzle.

“What are you thinking about alone?”

Peri, who was quietly enjoying tea and snacks in the study, glanced at my face and asked.

“…Was it that obvious?”

“…Yes.”

Though I tried not to show it, I must have been visibly troubled enough for even a child to notice.

“I was just worried about your safety, miss.”

“H-hmph! Don’t think I’ll forgive you just because you say nice things now…”

This isn’t just sweet talk – I’m genuinely worried. There’s someone watching right now who wants to kill you.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

While I’ve had plenty of experience tailing, chasing, and cutting others, I’ve never been followed before, so the path ahead seemed quite daunting.

You might think it would be simple to just reverse the saying ‘those who have been hit know how to hit,’ but it’s actually quite difficult in practice.

I should try to find someone in Serpe who’s good at guard duty and ask for advice.

“…Tch. Are you ignoring me?”

“Ah, sorry, I got lost in thought again.”

“Be honest, you weren’t thinking about me.”

* * *

Naturally, X didn’t launch any surprise attacks after we returned home.

The mansion remained peaceful until Karma returned in the evening. I followed Peri around like a shadow, occasionally enduring her provocations, but even that was trivial.

“You felt killing intent?”

After the sun had completely set and Peri had gone to sleep, I helped the servants with their final cleaning and then visited Karma’s office to tell him about what happened at lunch.

“Why are you only telling me this now!?”

“I looked around immediately after feeling the killing intent, but the enemy had already fled. And Peri was there, so I didn’t want to tell her and make her unnecessarily scared.”

“…”

Though she acts tough now, we don’t know how she would react to learning that her life is being threatened again, given how tender-hearted she is inside.

Understanding this, Karma stopped his scolding and silently acknowledged my reasoning.

“So you’re saying that even with Grizzly gone, assassins are still targeting Peri?”

“Could be you, could be me.”

If they’re targeting Karma, it’s simply an attempt to bring down Serpe directly. If they’re targeting me… the purpose is unclear.

It could be revenge from those whose limbs I cut off over the past month.

“Alright, I’ll keep it in mind. I’ll have to find a way to increase security in our territory, maybe have Galling handle it.”

Though lacking in strength, Karma showed his leadership qualities by immediately looking for ways to deal with the situation.

“Can I go now? I want to maintain my knife before bed.”

“Sure, go get some rest. Good work today.”

After parting with Karma, I took the luggage I had left at the main building to my room in the annex and unpacked.

After neatly folding clothes into the wardrobe and placing toiletries and towels within reach, I finished organizing. Then I laid out a mat to keep the floor clean and placed my Gurka, which had been at my waist, on it.

“Has the blade gotten dull?”

Using a whetstone from the blacksmith, I sharpened the dulled parts and polished the blade while maintaining my grandfather’s only heirloom.

After maintenance, the Gurka looked unchanged at first glance, but when I swung it lightly through the air, it felt easier to cut with.

Tools you entrust your life to need regular maintenance, no matter how minor, so they don’t let you down when needed.

Satisfied with the maintenance, I put the Gurka back in its leather sheath, cleaned up the floor, and went to sleep.

* * *

As if mocking my anxiety about when the enemy might strike, X, who had shown killing intent in the middle of the street, didn’t show themselves for a week.

“Maybe I really imagined it that time…”

It would be one thing if they were just undetectable, but even with Serpe’s members searching the duchy vigilantly, they couldn’t find anything suspicious. My confidence was getting dull for no reason.

“…Are you lost in thought again?”

“No, I’m not.”

Separately, over the week I grew accustomed to guarding Peri by staying by her side and came to understand her preferences and personality to some extent, but I couldn’t escape her provocations.

The funny thing is, if she were just an ill-mannered child, I could understand it, but she’s kind to everyone except me.

Not just to her father and adults, but also to servants and other children her age she meets on the street – she never shows any sign of looking down on them and maintains a gentle attitude.

‘So why just me…’

A child who’s nice to 99 people being mean to just one person, really.

* * *

‘I don’t like it.’

Sip. Peri frowned at the taste of the milk tea, which was made sweet and not bitter so even children could drink it.

The reason for her frown wasn’t because the milk tea tasted terrible. Though it tasted slightly different from what she usually drank, it had a softer flavor in exchange for being slightly less sweet, which was delicious in its own way.

‘It’s too delicious…! Why, why is he good at this too…!’

Yes, the reason she was angry was that the milk tea – which she had demanded the one-year-older boy guard make, thinking to tease him for acting like he was used to guarding her – tasted too excellent.

“How does it taste?”

“H-how dare you even ask!?”

“…Is it very strange? I put some thought into it.”

Though he barely showed it, there was a faint disappointment in Gul’s voice, suggesting he had been somewhat hopeful.

“Ah, it’s not terrible! Just, well, it’s okay… Just barely good enough to drink when bored…”

Though she wanted to tease him, she couldn’t bring herself to criticize such excellent milk tea, and moreover, seeing his disappointed expression somehow made her heart ache, so Peri hurriedly corrected herself.

“I see.”

Though her hastily revised evaluation was positive, Gul’s voice only lost its disappointment, showing no joy or sense of achievement.

‘It’s so annoying.’

More than anything else, Peri found this aspect of Gul incredibly irritating.

While being so devoted to her, perfectly handling tasks according to her preferences without being asked, he showed no happiness at receiving her praise or gratitude.

Gul prioritized her above anyone else in this mansion, but he expected nothing from her in return.

She hated that so much. It felt like torture to be made to have false hopes, only to have those illusions shattered immediately without even a moment’s reprieve to indulge in the fantasy.

‘Even though I want so much…’

The most humiliating part was that while Gul expected nothing from Peri, she was desperately craving his attention.

Though she despised him to death for drawing a line and refusing to give her sweet memories, she who had already been saved by him found herself looking back at him before she knew it.

If she couldn’t receive his interest and goodwill, she wanted to at least earn his hatred to get his attention.

‘If only we could be as close as he is with father at least…’

Though Gul maintained a businesslike relationship with her father Karma as well, she vaguely sensed there was something different about their relationship compared to hers with Gul.

That’s why Karma seemed frustrated whenever he saw Gul, and Gul intentionally avoided talking to her about Karma.

They probably had a bad relationship.

But since the opposite of affection is indifference, not hatred, from an emotional perspective, Karma was closer to Gul than she was.

She hated it.

She hated him so much.

She hated Gul for making her heart ache like this.

The young girl couldn’t possibly control such complex and sticky love-hate feelings that even adults would find difficult to handle, and though she knew intellectually it wasn’t the right answer, she couldn’t bear his indifference and kept tormenting him.

‘Ah… I shouldn’t do this…’

Instinctively knowing this path would lead their relationship to ruin, she glanced at Gul while making what must have been her countless regret, but…

“…”

The moment she gave him space, Gul was intently staring out the window, ignoring her.

Not just spacing out, but focusing on searching for something.

Realizing that what he was so desperately searching for wasn’t her, Peri fell into deprivation once again and

Crash-

“…I dropped the cup. Clean it up and bring a new one.”

Completely forgetting her regret from just moments ago, she interfered with him again to prevent him from focusing on anything but herself.