Yerin wasn’t particularly sure where she was headed. It was the first time that she was actually free to roam about the town without having to avoid her captain who would always scold her for shirking her duties as a member of the King’s Guard, but can anyone blame her? Standing around the castle and doing absolutely nothing but babysit the King and do random errands was boring, to say the least.

And so, now on one of the rare days that she can actually go anywhere she wishes to, she decides to spend the time just taking in the sights and go from there.

She had no particular plans for that day, if she knew she was free she would have scheduled a meeting with some pretty lass somewhere, but alas, her captain just came over her quarters that morning, informed her that she was relieved of her duties for the day, and went on her merry way to who-knows-where.

Sojung had practically kicked her out of the castle for reasons unknown, but she was not one to complain.

With her rapier fitted snugly in its sheath right on her hip, and her bright red cloak reaching until halfway her back flapping lazily behind her as she leisurely strolls down the streets, Yerin turns her head left and right, trying to find anything that would appease her boredom.

It was then that her eyes caught the sight of a beautiful maiden tending to a nearby flower stall.

Smiling at having found her purpose for that day, she gives herself a quick once over to make sure that she looked presentable enough and once she was assured that there was not a single ugly crinkle on her clothes and not a single hair strand was out of place, she strides over confidently towards the stall.

“How much for the rose?” she asks once she was within sight at the same time plucking out a single rose from the assortment of flowers placed all around. The stall keeper seemed surprised at her presence, but Yerin could tell that it was the pleasant kind of surprise.

“Chevalière, I apologize I wasn’t able to notice you…” the girl stutters with Yerin waving her apology dismissively.

“No worries, I wasn’t exactly loud of my arrival was I?” she smiles, a smile she has proven capable of captivating many and for that moment, it once more worked its wonders as she catches sight of the small blush that the woman sports upon her action, “How much for the rose?” she asks once more.

“Oh… It’ll be a three copper coins.” she replies after managing to collect herself. She thanks the woman once the coins were deposited, but was surprised when Yerin suddenly stretches her hand out to her, rose in hand.

“A gift for making my morning as beautiful as you.”

To say the woman was flustered upon hearing Yerin’s words was a serious understatement to describe her completely flustered appearance. She shyly receives the rose and thanks Yerin in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Yerin can only grin, finding it appealing at how she was acting but decides that she’s done enough and decides to bid her farewell and to have a great day ahead of her.

It was only right for Yerin to wish her that, after all her day was already becoming great as it is, and it’s just barely started.

---

Yerin was just returning from a day filled with adventure, which consisted mostly of her flirting with any beautiful woman she saw, when she sees a crowd just gathered in front of a home she recognized as the bakery that she frequents. She remembers paying the place a visit whenever morning training would take her away from having a decent breakfast.

Approaching closer, she could tell that there was some ruckus going on, if the yelling and screeching was any indicator. Curious, she approaches, pushing through the crowd who immediately made way for her the moment they realized who she is. Upon closer look, she could see the familiar face of a baron who owned a nearby stretch of land in the east. He stood in front of the stall, two guards by his side and another guard holding someone by the throat and pushing him down to the ground as the baron interrogates him about something that involves stolen goods.

Brow raised, she approaches further and realizes that the certain someone being held down was the local baker.

That wouldn’t do. If anything happened to him, she might as well say goodbye to good bread every morning.

“Good eve, baron.” Yerin announces her presence, causing the entire crowd to turn to her as she walks forward calmly, “What seems to be going here?”

“And who are you?” the baron inquires, looking annoyed. Yerin blinks, a little surprised that she wasn’t recognized. After all, the uniform and the cloak was already a dead giveaway as to her identity.

Yes, the bright red cloak with the kingdom’s coat of arms isn’t exactly that subtle.

Brushing it off, she was about to reply when the baron’s guard leans in close to whisper something to his ear, seemingly explaining to him who she is so she decided to just stay put and waited.

“I see… the King’s Guard?” the baron repeats, eyeing Yerin up and down as if finding it hard to believe that a woman would hold such a well respected position in the kingdom.

In terms of ranks, the King’s Guard is just what the name suggests, they’re knights under direct command of the king and so matters that concern the kingdom’s safety as well as the king’s protection are part of their responsibility.

Normal knights were usually nobles and common folk that had the skills needed for knighthood, but the King’s Guard were a chosen few of these knights who could be considered the most skilled amongst all knights. Being part of this group might as well guarantee anyone the rank of Viscount. As for Yerin’s case, she earned her position after having faced off against the captain of the knights and gaimed an overwhelming victory against the man.

In other words, Yerin was of higher rank than the gentleman she was currently staring at.

Thankfully, he seems to realize this and properly greets her, albeit reluctantly.

“But I wouldn’t wish to bother you with such a trivial matter, Chevalière.” he says, turning once more to the baker who was groveling at his feet, “I merely came to deal with a certain thief and wish to have my possessions returned.”

“Thief?” Yerin inquires, turning to the baker who shakes his head vehemently, trying to deny the accusation against him.

“I did no such thing! I swear to you, good sir.” he wept, however that only caused the baron’s guard who was holding his neck to be more aggressive with him.

“You’re not allowed to speak until I tell you to!” the baron says, “I have evidence that shows that you are the thief who entered my estate the previous night.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Baron, what is this evidence?”

He turns and nods to the other guard who approaches, showing her a small silver necklace with a huge diamond stone hanging from it. She could already tell from a glance that it would cost the baker’s entire home, if not his entire livelihood just to pay it off and the murmuring from the crowd surrounding them shows that they agree with her assumption.

“This is a necklace that I gifted my daughter for her birthday just a few days ago, and I’ve been told that someone had entered her room the previous night and made off with most of her belongings, one of which includes this necklace.” the baron angrily explains, his gaze turning to the man, “As per the rules of this kingdom, you will have to pay me back twice as much as what you have stolen.”

“But I swear good sir! I didn’t steal anything! I was just baking bread all night, I couldn’t have—!”

“Silence!” the guard shoves him harder against the pavement, and that’s when Yerin decides that things have escalated a bit too far for her liking.

First of all, the baron’s estate was half a day’s ride by horse at most, so for the baker to go all the way all over there just to steal a few jewelry while making sure he did not get caught was almost impossible. Not to mention she visited this spot just this morning and was assured that the bread were all fresh. If he spent the night stealing, he wouldn’t have had prepared enough bread to last until now and one look at the store and she could see it was properly stocked.

Yerin hums, how should she deal with this…?

As she mulled over her point of action, she sees a person from the crowd take a step forward and begin to address the noble, “Baron… sir, I was there the previous night. I invited him over for a drink but he says that he has to finish preparing for the following day. I even helped out in stocking his pantry for it so he couldn’t have been the one—“

“Would you like to be punished alongside him?” the baron threatens and that was more than enough to silence the civilian who immediately retreats back into the crowd upon hearing the threat. He looked towards the baker with an apologetic look.

Yerin couldn’t really blame him for doing so. The baron has enough evidence to pin the crime on the man. It was all that mattered.

But it didn’t mean that she was okay with it.

“Say.” Yerin speaks up again, turning to the baker but saw that he couldn’t properly look at her because of the guard’s hold on him, “Give me a moment, can you please let go of him first?”

The guard hesitantly releases his hold on him, allowing the baker to look at her properly.

“Thank you. Now you say you’ve never stolen anything?”

“None at all, I swear on my name Chevalière.” he insists.

“Criminals lie all the time, he will continue denying the claims!” the baron exclaims.

“So he says.” Yerin tells the baker, “You won’t deny that the item was found in your home?”

“I…” the baker seemed to hesitate, “It was there when I woke up, but please I—“

“See? What did I tell you, this man is a criminal!”

“And how do you suppose it got there if you didn’t steal it?” Yerin asks, and from the corner of her eye she could see the baron smirking, looking like he’s won.

It would have been easy to just assume that the baron was making false claims. It would also be easy to assume that the baker was lying, but Yerin knew the two people. The baron mostly just keeps to himself, while the baker was a person whose business is booming and would not succumb to stealing at his current state. None of the two looked like the kind of people who would openly start trouble like this.

“In the first place monsieur,” Yerin adds, turning to the noble, “How did you come to the conclusion that you would find the jewelry here? Did your daughter happen to see him stealing? Did someone see him?”

The baron seemed to hesitate.

“Well, no…”

“Then what brought you here?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turns once more to his guard and nods and they all watch as said guard approaches, holding out something in his hand.

“Ah.” Yerin smiles upon seeing the object. It was only a small item, but the meaning behind it and the effect of its mere presence was immediate. The entire crowd’s murmurs blew up into full on discussions they didn’t bother masking and the reaction produces a look of confusion from the both the baron and his guards, wondering what was going on.

“I was informed that the baker’s daughter owns a flower stall in these parts and that she is the only one who sells roses in this town.” the baron explains as Yerin takes the object in her hands.

Yerin just nods, smiling. It seems that the baron doesn’t know the meaning behind this. On the other hand, Yerin understood what happened, why it happened and who did the thievery. All questions were answered with just the mere presence of the object currently in her hand.

“Well baron…” Yerin tells him, “I’m sorry to tell you that the baker did nothing wrong.”

“What do you mean? Does that… rose have to do anything with it?” he approaches, curious.

Yerin turns over the rose in her fingers, painted pitch black on every petal down to its stem until the very tip. Not one part contains another shade of color besides the color of the pitch black night sky.

“It has everything to do with it.” she tells him and at his look of wonder, she explains, “It seems you’re both victims of the Black Rose.”