I! Cleaner!

"Your invitation was downright stupid!"

After Leon's interview request was promptly rejected by the female reporter, he could only leave with a face full of regret. As he boarded the public carriage back to the Purification Bureau, the Black Goat couldn't wait to squeeze out from the carriage window. At first, he chattered a few words, then regretfully commented,

"If you wanted to set a trap to catch her, you could have just invited her to your place for the interview, or to the Ryan Family. Then, with both Senior Emma and the Red-haired Director aware of your plans, catching her would have been a piece of cake.

But you went ahead and invited her to the Purification Bureau for an interview. That woman is with the Rebels and under Aquarius, still badly injured and avoiding you all. How would she dare come to the Bureau to interview you?

Let me tell you, when you made that invitation to the Bureau, the reporter's face turned pale with fear. Once you looked away, she was sneakily glancing at you full of suspicion. It's clear she's already starting to doubt you!"

After a long barrage of chatter, followed by a stupidly foolish overall assessment of Leon's proactive invitation, the Black Goat smacked his lips, not yet satisfied, and said,

"Kid, now you realize how important I am, don't you?

If I could have gotten out earlier to secretly remind you, you wouldn't have alerted her. Now that this has happened, setting a trap for her in the future will be difficult. What a shame!"

*Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right about everything!*

Glancing sidelong at the Black Goat, Leon calmly replied while jotting down the recently acquired intelligence in his notebook,

"Do you think it's possible that I actually didn't intend to catch her?"

"???"

"A live spy with an exposed identity is far more useful than a captured dead one."

Leon replied without looking up as he continued writing notes,

"If she still has contact with the Aquarius Director, she could be used to send false intelligence. We might even be able to find Aquarius Director through her. Isn't that more useful than capturing her?"

*I suppose so…*

After mulling it over for a moment, the Black Goat nodded slightly but still protested,

"Since you're not planning to capture her, wasn't it unnecessary to mention the Purification Bureau? You invited her there, and now she's suspicious you're setting a trap for her, making her more alert!"

"It's a good thing she's become more alert."

Thinking about the intelligence he had just seen, Leon's brow furrowed slightly as he set down his charcoal pencil heavily, feeling the pressure as he spoke,

"After all, she's a Level One Cleaner. According to the Director, Senior Emma—as an Elite Level One Cleaner—is capable of destroying most of the Capital City in a day if no cost is spared. She could probably kill me in a flash.

A character as dangerously powerful and whose abilities are unknown, like her, carries enormous risk. Jerry's friends can track her movements, but they can't stop her from causing destruction. I fear only the Director could subdue her instantly.

Knowing the Director's situation, it's impossible for him to drop everything else and keep watch over her all day. So, the safest approach is to keep her alert and cautious without making her flee, all because she still has a sliver of luck in staying."

"..."

*In such a short time, you came up with all that?*

After hearing Leon's plan, the Black Goat smacked its lips, suddenly finding this kid somewhat unfamiliar.

Having gradually grasped some power and been influenced by both Emma and the red-haired woman, Leon had notably changed. He was no longer the raging fool he once was.

This sly dog was much more cunning now, scheming against others constantly. He was becoming more like those clever operators at the Purification Bureau, full of complex schemes. Even the ideas he excreted must be twisted as his mother's gnarled threads.

"Fine."

Harboring nothing but ill intent as he glanced at Leon's backside, the Black Goat curiously asked,

"What are you planning to do next? Head straight back to the Bureau to wait for Emma and that Red-haired woman to return?"

"Next…"

Pondering for a moment, Leon circled something in his notebook with the charcoal pencil he crafted himself, hesitantly saying,

"I'll first return to the Bureau to discuss the situation with Senior Jerry, then go find the Princess to break off the engagement."

...

The sun had set.

With the fading sunlight, the embers and smoke that followed the war swept through like streaks of deep gray, painting patches of shadow across the streets and alleys.

After several brutal battles, this once-bustling city had been reduced to ruins. On its crumbling streets, broken mechanical parts lay scattered. In collapsed buildings, fractured steam pipes weakly spewed grayish-white noxious smoke.

Dust, smoke, ashes, rust, blood, cries!

A desolate yet searing wind howled through the streets and alleys, bringing with it the acrid, smoke-laden, scorched scent that hung in the air, tormenting the tearful eyes of the survivors. It was as if the city, devastated by war, was mourning its own death.

*This is…*

Realizing the shattered city before her, a city she had been to only once, but knew all too well, had left Veronica, who now appeared six or seven years younger, slightly stunned. She couldn't help but bite her lip hard.

*This is my dream—the fractured city before me is the former county seat of Laine County, Cornwall City, which was utterly destroyed by war.*

During the homeland defense war six years ago, the Kingdom and the mechanical troops from the Ice Plains Nation Ashito clashed eleven times in Cornwall City, flattening the once-thriving metropolis. Even including those who had fled early, more than half of Cornwall City's residents were killed or injured.

Before her lay the aftermath of the sixth siege, the day before the seventh round when Ashito was set to counterattack. In the following two hours, she would experience the most intense nightmare of her life.

Despite the desperate resistance to move forward, the dreaming Princess found herself unable to control her actions, compelled to follow her former self, accompanied by numerous Guards and ten combat medics, toward the dilapidated factory at the end of the street.

It was a sugar refinery bombarded repeatedly. Cornwall's rainbow candy was once spread throughout the Kingdom, resembling myriad hues in children's dreams.

But after six sieges, this factory with sweet memories had half-collapsed, its bullet-riddled walls echoed with the remaining steam hissing in the pipes, surrounded by the shattered machinery's remnants.

In stark contrast to the bleak scene, the floor was covered in vibrant syrup, and within the warehouse that once stored these syrups hid dozens of civilians who hadn't managed to evacuate, hoping for an unlikely rescue.

The dreaming Princess heard the weak cries for help, anxiously directing the Guards to pry the door open, personally pushing aside the deformed door frame and rushing in first.

The sunset's glow streamed through the broken windows, casting mottled shadows in the half-destroyed room. A child, smeared in filthy syrup, clutched their doll, timidly glancing over at her, surrounded by thirty-some other survivors.

Seeing her target for this trip, the dreaming Princess sighed in relief, showing a gratified smile. Yet the waking Princess, fully aware that she was dreaming, looked at the doll in the girl's hand, its face shattered, eternally smiling in lamentation, and bit her lip tightly.

"Boom!"

With a tearing screech, hundreds of bombs filled with alchemical fuel streaked their ghastly white tails through the dark red dusk, tearing apart the evening sky, falling upon Cornwall City's streets. The sugar refinery with its half-collapsed structure was obliterated, its vivid syrup turning into a raging orange blaze.

"No!!!"

Just before the vivid flames could fully ignite, the sleeping Princess shot up from her bed, eyes wide open.

Though she managed to escape the dream, shaking off this nightmare that's tormented her for six years before that agonizing moment arrived, her thin nightgown was drenched in cold sweat, clinging to her skin, making her shiver uncontrollably.

"Hoo..."

After catching her breath for a while, leaning wearily against the bedhead, the Princess calmed her racing heart, not attempting to go back to sleep. Instead, she got out of bed, drank a glass of cold water that had long cooled, then sat at the desk, opening the documents pending approval, silently picking up a quill.

*The King of Nightmares' curse.*

*Every direct blood descendant of the royal family, once reaching adulthood, would be plagued by nightmares throughout their lives, endlessly reliving their deepest regrets and pain in incredibly vivid nightmares.*

*Yet, in a way, it's for the best.*

After approving the document at hand, the Princess looked back at the iron doll smiling on the shelf behind her, silently pausing before picking up another document.

*Though the King of Nightmares' curse is painful, it continually reminds me. It forces me to never forget everything from the past and always remember what I must do.*

...

As the Princess diligently worked, the pile of documents on her desk gradually diminished, while the oil paste in the lamp slowly vanished.

When a slight "crack" sounded, the lamp's glow flickered slightly, and a soft call from the maid echoed from the door.

"Your Highness? Are you still awake?"

"Not yet."

After trimming the lamp's wick to rekindle its dimming light, the Princess continued approving documents, warmly inquiring:

"What is it?"

"Princess Veronica… it's your dear… um… Mr. Leon has arrived. Do you want to see him now?"