I Became the Second-in-Command in a Romance Fantasy Novel

“Aerin was someone who had worked in this world for decades.
Because of that, he could feel his own world collapsing.

‘…No.’
What kind of people are dark mages, anyway?
They seek forbidden knowledge, disregarding the universal rules of the world to pursue their own truth.
That’s why if you try to deal with them using common sense, you will never catch them.
They survive even in places where normal people couldn’t live.
And if you think one of them can’t do much, sometimes they cause major incidents.
You can’t even find traces of them by ordinary methods used to catch regular criminals.
That’s why the Empire’s Intelligence Agency and the teams specialized in dark magic and heretics have to roam the Empire, working their asses off.
‘What’s the use of their efforts…’

Of course, Aerin knew this was a special situation.
Evil beings hostile to the Empire, including dark mages, were infiltrating the Academy — the Empire’s future — to cause incidents.
No matter how big the Academy was, compared to the whole Empire, it was a limited space.
If something was happening there, it was bound to stand out.
Still, the Empire’s Intelligence Agency had a hard time finding those dark mages.
And even so, the number they caught was not that large.
But look over there.
They just stand still, and revolutionaries come up and fall down.
Dark mages come and fall down.
Of course, the enemies didn’t just come to fall down willingly.
Honestly, even if Aerin himself went out, he didn’t think he could beat that party.
‘Stronger than I thought…’

Daisy, the Saint, was a legendary figure that shook the world, so some combat ability was expected.
But her childhood friend, Violet, also had considerable combat skills.
Not just pure magical ability, but practical combat prowess as well.
‘Hmm.’
The Saint’s childhood friend, from the flower arrangement club.
That alone made me pay attention, but to have such ability too…
It felt like discovering an unexpected gem.

‘Don’t drool.’
A voice from beside made him frown.
‘Hey, she’s from the Empire.’
An Empire agent considering recruiting an Empire citizen, but there was no reason for a Leon person to say that.

‘Officially, yes.’
‘What?’
At the following words, Aerin couldn’t help but be shocked.
‘A spy planted by Leon?’
‘Ah, no, we recruited her first.’
‘What?’

At this sudden revelation, Aerin just blinked.
‘You say that so casually?’
Even an ordinary citizen could officially raise issues, but Violet was a noble.
Although a low-ranking noble on the frontier, the weight of the noble title was different.
Knowing that, Adam had kept the secret until now.
But…

‘Because it’s between us.’
Adam’s too casual words made Aerin frown.
‘No matter how close, there are lines you shouldn’t cross.’

No matter how similar the work, or even more so because of that, some lines shouldn’t be crossed.
When that was pointed out, Adam nodded knowingly and answered.
‘I sold my personal information to the Princess before.’
Indeed, that could be a problem.
But that and this were completely different issues.
After all…

‘I am, before anything else, a servant of the House of Jeyka, not just an agent of the Imperial family.’

Therefore, following my master’s orders was just what I had to do.
So…
‘Yes. I am the lover of the daughter of the House of Jeyka.’

Adam’s next words made the frown on Aerin’s face disappear and replaced it with a dumbfounded expression.
‘…Huh? That’s fake.’
‘It’s fake. But would you just say no to that if you were crazy?’
‘…Huh?’
That was true enough!
No matter how much the Imperial Princess asked, cheating on the Crown Prince’s fiancée, while dating the continent’s Saint, was not normal!
‘H-Had it been agreed upon…?’

No way the Princess would do such a crazy thing.
Aerin asked Adam sharply with shaking eyes.
‘Of course not.’
Thank goodness…

‘It wasn’t an agreement. She just said I had to do it no matter what.’
Cancel that.
No, damn it,
‘They said Aerin will take care of it.’
‘Ah…’

Why are all the people I serve like this?
Aerin sat down on the ground, silently screaming in despair.
Though the Empire had shown a pushover image before, that was just because it got tangled in a romance fantasy plot.
Of course, it was unfortunate that it would keep getting dragged in.
But underestimating the Empire was never allowed.
Otherwise, Leon would just be a pathetic country that couldn’t even beat a pushover Empire.
That’s why Violet — or more precisely, Boradori — being a spy ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) for our side was an inevitable future.
So a way had to be found to somehow smooth that over.
And the person who could help was Senior Lorelia.
Accepting a bit of dirt and playing the double agent role was necessary.
Even if Violet didn’t know, Boradori was an agent worth that risk.

‘Let’s get our heads straight now. The fun scene is about to start.’
‘Shut up. I need some alone time.’
Ignoring even the exciting battle between the dark mage and Daisy, Aerin who wanted alone time got his wish.
Agents sometimes had days when they wanted to be alone.
‘You really won’t watch? Daisy’s got a sword. This isn’t something you see every day.’

But even then, I had to speak to him ignoring that.
How could I resist watching Daisy with a sword?
It was the first time for me too, so I was a little excited.
‘…What?’
Even Aerin, who was going to scold me for having double allegiances (Empire and the Duke’s house), couldn’t resist the legendary sword-wielding Daisy.

‘Is that the one they say in stories? But what is that? It looks like weird octopus tentacles.’
‘Ah, that’s because the dark mage thought he was going to lose, so he stabbed two comrades from behind, sacrificed them, and summoned that. It’s roughly called demon legs.’
‘Demons serve the demon race, right? If they summon that much, it’s a high-level dark mage?!’
Watching Aerin fuss about whether it was okay to just watch, I sighed quietly.
‘What good is a high-level dark mage when the opponent is the Saint — the Empire’s top power.’
‘Ah.’
Historically, dark mages are countered by the clergy of the Holy Nation.
Though some ranks could be easy prey.
But Daisy was the Saint with the strongest holy power in the Holy Nation.
Aside from being the Saint, she was also a strong person herself.
Maybe even stronger than Prince Ellen when facing dark magic.

‘Just don’t try to understand, just watch.’
Like the legend spread in the Holy Nation, the light sword wasn’t sky-high huge, but it swung dazzlingly, and the unpleasant tentacles disappeared, making Aerin nod.
#2 Codename Boradori.
The fate of a discovered spy…

The moment Daisy’s sword cut through the air, light burst forth and the tentacles vanished.
‘N-No way!’

The corrupted mage Bael, the boss of this episode, screamed.

‘No way! How could the demon legs fall with one blow!’
Honestly, it was true.
Things with “demon” in the name weren’t easy to defeat.
But the hard counter to those demons was the Saint.
So it was possible to defeat them so easily.
Of course, if it had followed the original story, it wouldn’t have been so easy.
‘Certainly.’

The disappearance of Silence had a bigger impact than expected.
Silence was involved in almost everything in the Academy part and was called a villain bureaucrat by fans.
Originally, he should have appeared in this episode, preventing Swordmaster in the confused Academy.
Without Silence, the enemies seemed uncoordinated.
And Daisy, having grown beyond the original story, was resolving the incident without help from other romance fantasy male leads or the Swordmaster.
‘I’m still… still alive! I…!’
Bael shouted that he wouldn’t end like this, but unfortunately demons weren’t cheap.
He stabbed the hearts of two dark mages, sacrificed them to summon again.

‘Wait, why me?!’
That was the price for answering the call, and demons were known to grab one more as a souvenir on the way home.
‘W-Wait! Spare me!’

Splat!
The octopus-like tentacles wrapped around his torso, and he disappeared into abyssal darkness.
‘…Huh?’
Daisy was startled, but I tapped her shoulder after seeing all traces of dark magic disappear.

‘It’s over.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
Normally, Silence who had escaped the Swordmaster would take the remaining remnants and disappear, ending the matter.
But since I already had Silence in my hands, it was truly over here.
‘But what about the cleanup…’

Daisy sighed deeply looking at the warehouse trashed by the demon summoning.
‘No need to worry.’
Even if this commotion happened on the outskirts during the Academy festival, no one came.
That meant the Empire’s agents already controlled the area.
If we wait a little, they would know the incident ended and send people.

‘They’re already here.’
‘Huh?’
At my words, Daisy opened her eyes wide and looked where I was looking.
‘Adam?’

Was Adam the only one Daisy could see?
It felt suspicious.
No matter how much a fake boyfriend had a higher chance of marriage than a real one.
I felt a little weird, but on second thought, Daisy didn’t know the person beside her well, so maybe that was natural.
Aerin Klein.
Mentioned often in the original as a supporting character on Prince Essid’s side.
Honestly, in the original, he just appeared, took orders from Prince Essid, and disappeared.
According to Adam, he was someone who had a hard time on the Empire side.
So, what was his surname now?
Klied? Right?
‘What brings you here?’

Unlike Daisy who headed to Adam, strangely Aerin came to me.
What was that?
It felt odd.
Our boss didn’t even seem to glance at me…
‘I’m Aerin Klied.’
‘Ah, yes.’
Aerin Klein — no, Klied — greeted me with a smile, and I nodded reluctantly.

‘Can we talk somewhere privately?’
At his whisper, I looked for the boss.
‘……’

With a face like “Go well,” I could only frown.
Damn it, you said you’d save me!