"Laje Turin."
The moment I said the name, both Lixia and obsessed guy froze, staring at me in disbelief. They clearly knew who he was.
Lixia murmured to herself in confusion, while Sien immediately denied it with agitation.
"...Brother Laje?"
"What are you talking about?! There's no way it's Bro Laje!"
"Brother Laje," "Bro Laje"—they really did know him, and quite well at that. Seeing their reactions, the arrogant girl grew curious too.
"Shien, do you know this person?"
Obsessed guy turned to explain who Laje Turin was to the arrogant girl and the timid girl, but his voice was too low for me to hear.
Meanwhile, Lixia fell silent after that one word. After a while, she finally looked at me and asked to confirm.
"...Mr. Karen, are you referring to the third son of the Turin baron?"
"Yeah. You all know him?"
"Mr. Karen, I think you've been misled. Brother Laje is a border guard in Bares. There's no way he'd be here."
I was certain the boss hadn't lied to me. Those people only cared about money—they'd side with whoever paid more. And there was no way they'd been threatened. A baron is the lowest rank among nobles, with limited power—let alone a third son who usually has no inheritance rights.
But the shocking part was this—Laje Turin was a border guard in Bares?!
The gatekeeper hadn't mentioned anything about that.
Which meant Laje Turin might have come to the capital on leave—or after losing his job. And the only person I had clashed with at the border was the fox-eyed knight.
So Laje Turin… was the fox-eyed knight.
Unbelievable. I actually missed it. What a joke.
Now that I was sure, I refuted Licia's claim.
"...No. I went to his house. The gatekeeper said he went out and hasn't returned yet. That means he's here in the capital."
"..."
Lixia clearly didn't want to believe it, but she had no way to refute me.
Still, I wanted to confirm I hadn't made a mistake, so I asked her about the fox-eyed knight's most distinctive feature.
"Let me ask you something. Does Laje Turin have sharp, narrow eyes?"
"Yes."
Lixia nodded.
That sealed it. Laje Turin was the fox-eyed knight.
But why would he want to capture Lixia? Because of me? That didn't make sense—we barely knew each other.
Maybe there was another reason.
Still… in the end, this was probably my fault. The fox-eyed knight came to the capital after losing his job—and that led to Lixia getting dragged into this.
Right now, though, neither Lixia nor obsessed guy wanted to believe me. They had known him for too long—it wasn't something they could accept immediately.
"Lixia, I don't have proof. You can choose not to believe me. But you still need to be careful. The organization won't target you for now—but that might change."
Without evidence, even if I confronted him, he could just deny everything. The only option was to stay cautious.
And the organization only cared about money. I hadn't told the boss to reject his requests. If he got the funds again, he could easily try this a second time.
"..."
Lixia didn't reply. She just nodded silently.
Since she had nothing more to say—and neither did I—I figured it was time to leave.
"I've said what I needed to. I'll be going now… and sorry."
I apologized at the end. My actions had caused her trouble—but I didn't regret what I did.
Then I turned and headed back to Jacob and the others, waving goodbye as I left.
As soon as I got back, Jacob asked about obsessed guy's behavior.
"Karen, why was Shien so worked up the moment you approached him? What did you say?"
"Just think of it like a house dog barking at a stranger."
"Pfft."
"Karen, that's so mean."
"Haha, I like that."
Ethefelis, Grace, and Jacob all found it amusing. I wasn't wrong, was I? He started yelling the moment he saw me and didn't stop the entire time.
But Alice, not understanding, asked something that dampened the mood.
"Mr. Karen, are you calling him a dog?"
"No, just a metaphor."
Then Jacob brought up a new topic.
"Still, it's a good thing Miss Ethe hadn't left the academy yet."
"Yeah. But they know Laje Turin—and they're close to him. Because of that, I figured out who he really is."
"Who?"
"Lixia said Laje Turin is a border guard in Bales. But he's here now. So he's the fox-eyed knight."
Grace and Alice were surprised at first, but quickly accepted it. As for Ethefelis—I couldn't read her expression. Maybe she just didn't care.
Jacob, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all. He sounded like he had expected it.
"So it really was him."
"Jacob, you already knew?"
"I only remembered after seeing him earlier. And Miss Ethe… she's probably that superior's daughter."
So Lixia was the superior's daughter. That explained everything—the fox-eyed knight's motive was obvious now.
In the end, it really was my fault.
"I didn't even bother remembering their names… Ah, so that's why you told me to drop it."
I figured Jacob thought I'd go after the fox-eyed knight once I found out the truth—since I already disliked him. Though maybe he wasn't entirely sure at the time.
I wasn't completely certain what Jacob had been thinking, but if he tried to stop me, it was probably influenced by what Alice said earlier.
Jacob shrugged and asked in a resigned tone,
"Now that you know, are you going back to deal with him?"
"Nah. He's just a passing figure. Knowing who he is is enough. Let's just leave as soon as possible."
I had already been persuaded by Jacob. I didn't feel like settling scores with the fox-eyed knight anymore.
Better to just let it go.
Getting home mattered more.