Chapter 28
The news anchor on the magic screen began reporting on the incident that had occurred in the Imperial capital, his face stiff.
[It has been reported that a terrorist attack involving necromancy occurred at the [Atelia Hotel] near the central fountain in the Imperial capital at around 9 p.m. approximately two days ago.]
[Fortunately, Saint Ariel of the Church of Light, who was visiting the Imperial capital for volunteer work, responded swiftly to the attack, preventing any major loss of life.]
[The Empire expressed its infinite gratitude to the Church of Light in the Holy Kingdom and offered its particular thanks to Saint Ariel for bringing this incident under control so quickly.]
[Please watch the Emperor's speech of thanks togeth---]
Click.
"Huh? I was watching it just fine. What's wrong?"
I said that while covering my flushed face with my hand and looking at Ariel, who had just turned off the magic screen.
"Saint?"
"...Abel. You really are something..."
"Ahaha. Sorry, sorry."
About two days had passed since the drug incident had come to an end.
During those two days, every news broadcast and newspaper in the Empire had covered Ariel's exploits at the hotel day after day.
A heretical power called necromancy had appeared in the Imperial capital.
But the one who had subdued that heretical power was a saint holding twin pistols?
Even I had to admit it was an irresistible news story.
Rustle.
As if to prove my thoughts, today's newspaper also featured a picture of Ariel leaving the hotel with twin pistols in hand on its front page.
Sacred garments that fluttered like an angel's robes.
Ariel wearing such garments was enough to inspire reverence all on its own.
"Ugh..."
But for some reason, Ariel hated pictures of herself wearing those clothes.
She merely squeezed her eyes shut, as though she were looking at an embarrassing picture of herself.
"So."
I lightly held out the picture on the newspaper's front page, which showed Ariel wearing a nun's habit known to have been modified for combat.
In fact, after everything had ended, this was only about my third meeting with Ariel.
The first had consisted of nothing more than a light conversation.
From the second meeting onward, we had exchanged quite a variety of stories.
We had started asking each other about our usual activities, our hobbies, and common interests such as our favorite dishes.
'Is she hitting on me?'
I considered that for a moment, but discarded the thought immediately since she showed no particularly affectionate attitude.
'Rather than affection...'
How should I put it? It felt as though she was trying to build a relationship with me for practical reasons?
Of course, considering her personality, those practical reasons probably weren't selfish desires of her own.
Anyway, after continuing to meet like that, something unusual happened at today's meeting.
Just as we were about to chat casually while reading the news and newspapers, her reaction to the newspaper on the table proved unusual.
'Huh...?'
It was a reaction unlike her usual ones.
Her reaction made me mischievous, so while continuing our conversation, I began testing what had caused her to react so strongly.
I tested everything—the broadcast, the news, and finally the newspaper that had first drawn out her reaction.
"Why do you hate it so much?"
Even after looking at the picture in the newspaper again, I couldn't see any reason for her to be so embarrassed.
If she disliked being exposed in the media, it would have made sense for her to react more violently when she appeared on broadcasts or in the news.
But only that single photograph in the newspaper was provoking such an intense reaction.
"..."
At my question, Ariel squeezed her eyes shut and avoided answering.
"Hah..."
When she continued dodging the question no matter how much I asked, I gave a short laugh and looked down at the newspaper in my hand.
Nearly every article in the newspaper was about Ariel.
There wasn't even a single line about the drug [Mirage], which was the actual reason she had gone to the hotel.
Of course, the story of a saint cleansing a hotel teeming with undead with twin pistols was bound to draw more attention than a drug bust.
It would have been a scoop any reporter would have salivated over.
But for the drug story to be absent from the articles and news to this extent?
There could probably be only one reason.
'They covered it up.'
Whether they had applied pressure or issued direct orders, my guess was that the Empire was reluctant to make this drug incident public.
"Well, given the timing, it makes sense they'd cover it up..."
Only a few days ago, there had been a terrorist attack involving the hijacking of an airship headed for the Empire.
In the middle of such an unsettled situation, would they really announce a drug incident as well?
Well, no matter how I looked at it, the story that a heretical power called necromancy had attacked the Empire, only for a saint to personally cleanse it, would be far more advantageous for calming public sentiment than a story about drugs.
At my mutter, Ariel, who had been covering her eyes with both hands and writhing in embarrassment, opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Ah..."
When Ariel's gaze reached the newspaper in my hand, she let out a soft sigh.
She seemed to have realized the meaning of what I had muttered.
"Because the Empire isn't exactly peaceful right now."
"Well, it's not exactly something that would be good for people to know."
"...Thank you for understanding."
"Hm?"
At Ariel's sudden words, I raised my head from the newspaper I had been reading and looked at her.
Understanding? Understanding what?
'Hmm? Surely not.'
"Ariel, did you perhaps think I was going to demand some kind of compensation from the Empire?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. It would be understandable... Especially since you were the one who revealed the existence of the organization that secretly supported the mage who created this drug, weren't you, Abel?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
Her words made perfect sense.
I had told Breck of the Nostra Family about the existence of the unidentified organization, and since Breck had ties to Imperial Intelligence, it was only natural for that information to reach them as well.
But I had asked Breck to conceal the fact that I was the one who had passed along the information.
"But I don't particularly want the Empire, already in turmoil over the succession issue, to take notice of me either..."
To be honest, I wasn't naive enough to think they knew nothing about me.
The moment I became connected to the Nebula ducal family, it was only natural that Imperial Intelligence would have started looking into me.
But being known merely as the Nebula ducal family's illegitimate child and being known as someone who had passed along important information were entirely different matters.
The fact alone that my name might start circulating in an imperial court already boiling over the succession issue was a problem.
Just imagining it was enough to give me a headache.
"Ariel, aren't you also having a headache over this succession issue?"
"Ahaha..."
Ariel, too, must have suffered considerably because of the succession issue I had mentioned, as she gave me a bitter smile that seemed to say she understood.
As a saint, she had surely been subjected to even more political contact than I had.
Even if she didn't want to become entangled in such politics, the title of saint was an attractive card to hold.
"..."
She must have been troubled by it to an incredible degree, because even her bitterly smiling face looked rather haggard.
"Well, enough with the troublesome talk. What brings you here today?"
"Ah... I heard you were leaving today, so I came to say goodbye."
Ariel said that with a small smile and continued.
"You worked hard, Abel. Thanks to you, we were able to put an end to this drug crisis quickly."
"I only solved it because I took the Nostra Family's contract."
It had literally been nothing more than a contract.
If the Nostra Family hadn't commissioned me, and if Master's shop hadn't been half-destroyed, I wouldn't have accepted it.
"Yes. Perhaps so. But without you, this drug crisis would clearly have continued for a long time, causing people to suffer. Since you brought it to an end so quickly, it is only natural that I should thank you."
"..."
After hearing her words, I said nothing and took a sip of the coffee on the table.
There was something I had noticed while talking to Ariel, though only every so often.
How should I put it? She would sometimes blurt out statements asserting certainty about the outcome of an event.
I first noticed it during our second meeting.
She had said something similar when we were talking about the airship hijacking terrorist attack.
'That's strange...'
Since she was the protagonist of a romance-fantasy story, did she know the future?
Or had she regressed?
'But I can't conclude that based on a remark like that alone...'
It was merely suspicious behavior and speech, nothing more. I didn't take it any further.
Taking both her attitude of trying to maintain a relationship with me and remarks like those into account, I had my suspicions, but there was no decisive evidence with which to confirm them.
Around the time I was thinking about Ariel, she continued speaking in a cautious voice.
"You're returning to the Nebula ducal family, right?"
"Hm? Well, yeah?"
"...Abel, there's something I need to tell you."
Ariel cautiously began to speak.
She told me how she had come to learn my name.
She told me about the existence of the Nebula ducal family's assassination unit, [White Shadow], which had come to her room in the Holy Kingdom.
And she even told me the contents of the letter [White Shadow] had given her.
The answer to the question that had puzzled me all this time—why she had known my name and approached me from the very beginning—was finally revealed.
"As time passed, the letter spontaneously combusted. I think they embedded a device that made it disappear after a certain amount of time."
"..."
"I'm telling you because it seems the head of the Nebula ducal family is keeping an eye on you."
Ariel didn't say it outright, but her eyes conveyed the message clearly.
She was telling me to be careful because the head of the household was watching me now.
After saying that, Ariel seemed to have finished everything she wanted to say. She drank all the coffee Mist had brought her and offered me one final goodbye.
"Ah, and the latest-model typewriter. Make sure you acquire one quickly once you return to the ducal estate. Understood?"
She left me with those words.
The house had grown quiet.
"Would you like some more coffee?"
"Yes, please."
As I slowly sipped the coffee Mist brought me once again, I thought about the duke who had leaked my information to Ariel.
Why had he disclosed my information, and why had he dispatched [White Shadow]?
.
.
.
'No, I really don't get it.'
There was no way I could understand what a lunatic was thinking.
But I did know one thing.
'The duke is keeping an eye on me... is that it?'
But common sense told me that he wouldn't show favor to someone who had inflicted internal damage on him, so the duke's interest was probably negative.
Even I regarded the duke who had killed me as a lunatic, even if that had only happened in a vision.
'What a headache...'
I had become entangled with a troublesome organization, and just when I was planning to become the head of the ducal family and launch a counterattack, things felt slightly more complicated.
Perhaps my appearance, sitting there and sipping coffee while lost in thought, looked strange, because Mist asked me as she brought out some refreshments.
"Master Abel, are you perhaps troubled by something?"
"Hm? No, um... Yes. I suppose I can tell you."
She already regarded me as her master.
Besides, even though Ariel had spoken cautiously just now, there was no way Mist hadn't heard that conversation.
I slowly told her about the current situation.
I told her that I was going to become the head of the household, but that the duke seemed to be taking notice of me for reasons that weren't exactly positive.
***
Mist watched Abel, who softly lamented that the situation had become complicated as he sipped his coffee.
'I think it will be fine.'
The duke disliked her master, Abel?
No, if anything, she thought he was more likely to like him than dislike him.
Considering the duke's temperament, she thought he would actually hold Abel in higher regard after seeing the mettle Abel had shown when he inflicted internal damage on him that day.
...
Mist, who was about to convey her thoughts, slightly frowned when she found herself unable to produce any sound.
Because of the duke's orders, she was under a restriction that prevented her from directly helping with the illegitimate children's succession issue this time.
It seemed that even telling Abel the duke viewed him favorably fell under that restriction.
'How frustrating.'
Whenever she thought about conveying information, her body automatically froze.
And because of another restriction, she couldn't approach Abel right now either.
The order to support or monitor the illegitimate children.
Because of this order, Mist was unable even to touch Abel first.
What maid would touch her master without an order while assisting him?
Mist looked at the nape of Abel's neck, where his loose-fitting clothes revealed a little of his collarbone, and let out a sultry sigh.
'This is a bit of torture.'
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
Thus, the two of them sighed at the same time.
Abel, thinking that the duke would view him negatively,
Mist, frustrated because she couldn't satisfy the desire welling up inside her.
It was truly a situation that could only be described as 'same bed, different dreams.'