CHAPTER 55: CH 55: SAVING LIE

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The driver sounded irritated when he asked this, but Canari did not even mind that. She felt like she had suddenly hit the jackpot when she heard what the driver had to say.

"Excuse me, but I have a few questions for you. If you agree to answer me, then I will pay you for it."

She told the driver while slipping a gold coin into his hand.

The driver flinched but did not look away from the coin or reject it. Instead, he softened his face while still making a reluctant expression.

"Fine, I will help you out... as long as it is not too bothersome for me. But remember, I cannot disclose sensitive information about our clients."

The man told Canari, and she nodded. This was a formality she knew how to get around.

"It’s fine with me. I don’t need to know anything specific. I just want to know what you did today."

She asked the driver, and he suddenly understood what Canari was trying to do.

Magic bound the drivers to not be able to tell anything about their clients. But here, he was not talking about the clients but about his own day, and the magic felt confused. This was a legal loophole that he could exploit.

"Ah, miss—! You cannot even begin to guess the kind of day I had....."

In the end, the man talked about anything and everything. But Canari got the most important information out of him — Cane’s location and the fact that he was definitely in this city. She just needed to find him harder.

She paid 2 extra gold coins to the driver for his efforts before she headed toward the inns. That was the only place that was safe for Cane to be in.

Canari would head out and find Cane. And once she did, she would be able to get her revenge at all costs.

__________

Cane woke up slowly, only to feel a now-familiar weight against his side. He looked at the body beside him, only to find that Ai had rolled over to him during the night.

Her presence by his side was not unwelcome, but it was a little uncomfortable. More specifically, his arm had fallen asleep, and he needed Ai to get up so that he could take it out.

"Ai, wake up."

Cane shook her, but she did not wake up. So he pulled her body up before taking his arm out and stretching his body.

Ai opened her eyes seconds later, almost as if she had woken up because of him. She rubbed her eyes as she looked around with a dazed expression before her gaze finally landed on Cane.

"You can sleep more if you want to."

Cane told Ai, but she shook her head and stood up.

"No, it’s fine. I should get up now as well. It’s getting late... unless you don’t want me to for some reason..."

"That’s fine. Since you are up, come and help me out."

Cane told her, and Ai headed toward him. He could not even begin to understand how him telling Ai to "sleep some more" could transform into her thinking that he did not want her to be awake...

And he quickly decided that he did not want to understand how a woman’s brain worked.

He suddenly recalled what he wanted to tell Ai, and he quickly spoke up.

"Ah, one of my friends will be joining us today. I agreed to help him... er, her... let’s go with them for now... anyway, we will have another person join us for some time."

Ai suddenly paused and gave Cane an almost blank stare. She looked a little disturbed just thinking about someone else joining and taking Cane’s attention away from her.

But then she quickly caught herself and coughed to hide her nervousness.

"Alright, I got it. Was that all you wanted to tell me?"

She forced these words out and marveled at how natural they sounded. Cane just gave her a blank stare and did not say much. They both left for breakfast, but there was an uncertain feeling around them.

The inn felt far too quiet, and Cane paused before he entered the room. Ai stopped as well, but not in time to avoid colliding with Cane’s back.

"What is going on—! Is something wrong?"

Ai asked as she looked at Cane. But he signalled for her to be quiet as he pointed outside.

"Something feels... off about this place. We should be careful as we head out. Or maybe we should choose another place to eat at?"

Cane asked more to himself than to Ai.

"Is someone... after you? Should I go out instead?"

Ai asked, and Cane paused before he shook his head.

"No. People who know me also know about you. Sending you out alone won’t be any more useful than going out alone."

Cane told Ai, and she nodded. There was a pregnant pause before Cane grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the back door.

He almost made it out when the manager of the place noticed him sneaking out and decided to call out to him.

"Customer, where are you heading? This is the staff-only area. You should not be here."

He told Cane with a suspicious glance in his eyes. He had been formal until now, but Cane could tell that he was losing confidence and goodwill with the staff.

"I... someone is following us both to try and end our lives. We ran away for love, but my lady is from a rich family and her parents don’t approve. Please, can you help us out?"

Cane immediately shifted to his acting mode. He was so fast that even Ai felt like she was getting whiplash.

The inn owner looked uncomfortable as he pulled back and gave the pair a look. But he could not find what he was looking for... or perhaps he did, because he did not stop them from leaving any further.

Cane had successfully fooled that man with his lie.