Chapter 30 The Stalker and the Ant Counter
(Claus POV)
Nobody looks at me. Not like that.
People usually flinch, look at their boots, or just try to be anywhere else the second I walk into a room.
It's better that way. Makes the job easier.
But then there was Ilse. She didn't look away.
She didn't flinch. She just stared right through me with that weird, blank look, like she was bored out of her mind.
It was irritating. Actually, it was worse than irritating. It was distracting.
I sat at my desk, rubbing my temples. My head was still pounding from that ridiculous dance. I couldn't figure her out. One minute she's a spoiled noble, the next she's reciting Iron Pass logistics like she's a frontline commander.
"Benigno," I called out.
The guy materialized from the shadows in a second. He was my best shadow. Better than a ghost.
"General?"
"That Varannes girl. Ilse," I said, not even looking up. "I want her under 24/7 watch. Every place she goes, every damn thing she says, every person she talks to. If she so much as sneezes, I want a report on my desk."
Benigno blinked. "The whole household, General?"
"Just her. Don't get caught."
Ilse's POV.....
I knew it. I knew he'd send someone.
Claus d'Alen?on doesn't just let things go. He's the type of guy who'd burn down a whole forest just to find a single bug he didn't like. So, if I was going to be stalked, I figured I might as well make the spy's life a living hell. The next morning, I woke up feeling petty.
I walked out into the private back garden, tied my hair up, and started doing modern-day high knees and jumping jacks. In a full length skirt. It looked ridiculous. I kept checking the trees. I could feel eyes on me. Watching.
"One, two! One, two!" I counted out loud, flailing my arms like a maniac.
I did ten minutes of this, sweating, breathing heavy, making sure whoever was hiding in the oak tree had to endure the whole weird spectacle.
I could practically hear the spy's brain cells dying up there.
After that, I walked over to a patch of dirt by the fence. I sat down and just... stared.
I watched a line of ants carrying crumbs.
One. Two. Three. Four.
I pulled out a piece of charcoal and started marking the ground.
Five. Six. I did this for an hour. I didn't move.
I didn't do anything important. Just counting ants.
I imagine the spy was getting incredibly bored, probably questioning every life choice that led him to this job.
If they wanted to watch me, I'd give them something to watch.
They were looking for a mastermind, a spy, or a conspirator?
They could have a girl who clearly lost her mind instead.
Claus's POV....
I was sitting in my office, drinking cold coffee, waiting for the first report. Benigno walked in. The guy looked like he hadn't slept for three days. His face was gray, twitchy.
"Well?" I asked.
Benigno looked at me, then at the floor, like he was too embarrassed to speak.
"She's... she's very strange, General."
"I didn't ask for a personality review, Ben. What did she did?"
Benigno, my loyal shadow, sighed, a long, tired sound. "She spent the morning flailing her arms around like she was fighting invisible bees. Then she spent the next three hours sitting in the dirt counting ants. She didn't talk to anyone. She didn't meet anyone."
He hesitated, then pulled out a piece of paper.
"And when she finally left the garden, she went to the town square. She spent three hours today just standing in front of a bookstore, staring at a map of the city that was taped to the window."
I stared at him.
"That's it?"
"That's it," Benigno whispered.
I rubbed my eyes. What the hell was she playing at? Was she mocking me? Or was the girl actually losing her grip? It didn't make sense. She was a tactical genius in the ballroom, but now she was acting like a total lunatic.
"Keep watching," I growled. "There has to be a pattern. Nobody is that boring."