111 – Found (2)

“Hey… what in the world is that?”

“I… I’m not sure either…”

“Goodness… what kind of procession is this,

starting at such an early hour…”

Considering that the sun hadn’t yet reached its peak,

it was indeed quite early.

Yet the marketplace was already bustling

and overflowing.

All because of the diverse carriages that had

packed the streets from such an early time.

“Hey… is there some kind of event today?”

“Well… now that you mention it, there’s a banquet

at the royal palace…

“I think I heard they might open something…”

“What, a… banquet?”

The words, just barely escaping one’s lips,

are caught and carried to another,

and before anyone knows it, the small seed of rumour

blooms amidst the teeming throng.

“A banquet, you say…? Probably just something for those aristocratic wastrels to

revel in, the-” (gags) “-ugh!”

“Watch your tongue, man, or you’ll draw the ire

of those high and mighty, and then what?”

“But…has anything happened recently to warrant a banquet?

Especially now, with that…duke, things are unsettling enough…”

Since times past, the Royal Palace rarely

held any banquets at all.

Banquets were nothing short of a meeting place

where each noble could solidify their power and connections,

and with the Imperial Family constantly at odds with

the nobility and their authority, there was nothing to gain

from further strengthening their influence.

“The Emperor surely knows all this…”

A voice drifts from within

a white carriage, its material clearly of the highest quality.

Despite the unmistakable loveliness of the female voice,

there’s something about it that sends a chill down the spine.

“What are your thoughts, Isabella?”

Her voice sweeps over the girl

seated demurely before her.

She speaks the name of her daughter,

a girl with striking blue hair.

“Y-yes?!”

The girl, taken aback by the sudden address,

startles like a frightened kitten.

Even so, between mother and daughter,

was there a need for such excessive tension?

“Goodness, what use are you to me, so stiff?

You may relax a little, dear.”

“Yes… Mother.”

The woman attempts to ease her daughter’s nerves

by gently stroking her hair,

but instead, it seems only to aggravate

Perhaps she was being made anxious,

Even as she was being caressed, her eyes darted back and forth,

like a frightened cat.

“…Cute, our little daughter…”

“M-Mother, but…are we

truly going to the Royal Castle now…?”

At her daughter’s sudden question,

Without realizing, I slowly withdrew my hand.

My hand that had been so diligently

stroking that luscious blue hair.

“Why, is there something you don’t like?”

“N-No, it’s not that…”

Isabella couldn’t possibly say it.

The reason she was so desperately uncomfortable right now

was because of the person sitting before her.

If others saw it, they’d condemn it as absurd, a daughter made uneasy by her own mother,

but she truly didn’t want it this way either.

‘…If only I could get along with Mother

like other people…’

Even if she just looked upwards with her pupils,

she fell into her sight.

Her own mother, with an expression

devoid of any semblance of a smile.

Thinking about it, she always wore that expression.

Even on the day Isabella first

succeeded in casting magic,

or when she informed her of the news that she’d entered

the academy with grades superior to others,

even when she’d heard the fact that she’d become

the disciple of a master renowned throughout the Empire.

Her expression was always unwavering.

‘…It’s not that Mother dislikes me,

I know that much, but still…’

Objectively speaking, she didn’t think

she disliked her.

Just a moment ago, she was stroking her hair like this.

‘Still…there’s a distance… something…’

A distance that should never

exist within a family relationship,

that sort of distance…

Caught between myself and her,

how could I not feel ill at ease?

Whether she knew my inner thoughts or not,

Mother’s lips began to part slowly,

as if she had come to some realization.

“…Ah, yes, Isabella…about the marriage proposal,

I truly am sorry.”

“Yes…yes?!”

“…Was it not because of this?

The reason you seemed so uncomfortable.”

“Ah…that…that is…”

She tosses a completely unexpected subject

right in front of me, blunt as could be.

Yet, Mother’s expression as she brought it up

didn’t seem exactly pleased either.

Indeed, judging solely from the circumstances, it was as if our family had unilaterally

broken off the engagement.

And to none other than the Reinhardt family,

a house she despised most.

“Tch…I tried my best to maintain harmony with the family,

but with things having turned out this way…I am ashamed.”

“Ah…no, Mother, there’s no need for you to apologize─”

“I heard later…that you liked Allen

more than that child.”

“….”

“…It must have been an unwanted marriage.”

The way Mother looked at me with a somewhat bitter gaze

felt incredibly uncomfortable.

Allen? I certainly did like him.

To a degree incomparable to now.

Then, how about now?

Do I still…like him?

‘….’

I couldn’t answer.

I don’t know why.

I just…couldn’t answer.

“Madam, we’ve nearly arrived at the royal palace.”

“Very well, I heard you.”

Into the silence, which had stretched on, uncomfortably long,

the coachman’s voice intruded.

Only then was she able to exhale the breath she’d been holding.

Forcibly ignoring a nagging unease, that is.

*

“I found it.”

The words burst from Charlotte’s lips, having stormed into Jenison’s room first thing in the morning.

No prelude, no explanation,

yet that single utterance explained everything.

“Where is it, then?”

And that one sentence was enough.

Enough reason for Jenison to move.

His pupils gleamed black.

Like a black swamp brimming with venom.

Those black eyes sent shivers down the spine

of anyone who gazed upon them.

Those beautiful, yet dangerous eyes

were fixed upon Charlotte.

“…Um, could you promise me just one thing?”

“I believe I already kept my promise by not bolting yesterday.”

“Well…that’s true, but…

Haa…just one more time…would that be impossible?”

“….”

*Ugh…couldn’t you just agree, just this once!*

Did he even know?

Did he know what kind of person stood before him?

The daughter of a Duke who had never bowed her head to anyone,

but rather made others bow to *her*.

The Duke’s daughter, Charlotte, infamous for cleaning up all the trash within the empire under the protection of the Imperial Family.

The woman who led the spirits that lived in the shadows out for a purge.

These were all nicknames and aliases

that belonged to Sinoa Charlotte.

‘…For *me*, who is assisting you in every way possible…you’re really going too far—’

“…I will listen. On the assumption that Aria’s safety

is not at risk, that is.”

“Oh, really? Really, really?”

“Before anything else, let’s move to a different spot.

There are ears that shouldn’t hear.”

“Ah… understood.”

It was hardly a request a commoner would make

of a duke’s daughter, yet

she accepted the proposition readily.

Grateful even that he would heed

her suggestions at all.

‘In a situation where my family might be in danger,

him granting me this much time is a blessing, really.’

“So, what is it you wished to say?”

“Ah, that’s… well, we located your sister.”

“Where is she? Is she safe?

Are there any…problems concerning her well-being—”

The moment her sister was mentioned,

a torrent of questions spilled forth.

He thought she must care for her a great deal.

More so than he had originally presumed.

“Ugh… can’t you calm down a bit?”

“…Forgive me, please continue.”

“Well… we found the people who kidnapped her,

and we’ve located where she is.”

“…Then what is the problem?

Surely we can simply go in and rescue her—”

“It’s because where she’s being held is a place even *we*

can’t readily enter.”

His dark pupils

widened, ever so slightly, but undeniably so.

Probably out of shock.

Because within this empire, there were scarcely any

places the Charlotte ducal family couldn’t access.

“…You mean to say it’s impossible, even invoking

the Duke’s name?”

“Yeah, they’d never let you in.”

“…Tell me, where is this place?”

His wavering pupils once again

began to fixate directly upon him.

Eyes that felt as if they’d sooner

carve the answer out of him than be denied it.

Such were those eyes.

“No, I can’t tell you.”

“….”

“J-Just… calm down for a moment…!”

“….”

“It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose…

I’m just afraid you’ll bolt out of here the moment you hear!!”

“….”

“Anyway, she’s not hurt, not a hair out of place,

So going after the banquet is over won’t be too late… Gyaaah!!”

His arm, suddenly brandished,

Came crashing towards her,

And for a split second, it was clear she heard it.

The sound of a blade slicing through the air.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed the movement,

But it was far faster than she’d anticipated.

Even though she jerked her body back on instinct,

She couldn’t be sure she’d escaped it entirely.

“…?”

“…Can you guarantee it?”

But there was no pain.

Because he had stopped

His attack just before reaching her.

“..Huh?”

“On your life, can you assure me

That child is not in danger?”

Was it because of his dark puppet?

The blade, shining brightly in the light,

Looked even more blue today than usual.

“…Yes, I can assure you.”

It was half a gamble.

No matter how much Duke Reinhardt was rumored to be a

Cold-blooded, heartless man,

She held onto the hope that he wouldn’t be such a

Scoundrel as to lay a hand on his own daughter.

On that number, she staked everything.

In order to survive.

“If anything, *anything* happens to Aria…

I will kill you, no matter what it takes.”

“…Uh, yeah… That’s fine.”

As soon as she finished speaking, he turned away from

Turning his back, he re-entered the room.

And at that very moment, the legs that had held her perfectly well until then, buckled beneath her.

“Ugh… crazy b*stard… what was that all about, just like that…!”

She understood, yet again.

That she should not, under any circumstances, trifle with him.