Chapter 74
As soon as our security meeting ended, we headed back. An urgent messenger had arrived, summoning me to see the Count.
I had been wondering why Etan-sama's guard had waved at me, but they left as soon as the meeting ended, so I never had a chance to speak with them.
When we returned to the estate, the Count wore a troubled expression.
"Captain Maxim, Reiji-san. Thank you for your hard work at the meeting."
"Not at all. It was my duty."
Maxim-san knelt before the Count, while I remained standing, as usual. I was employed by the family, but I hadn't sworn loyalty to it...
After we gave our report on today's meeting, I was told to remain behind, and Maxim-san left the room.
Even the head butler was absent, which was unusual... What was going on?
"Reiji-san, there are two things I need to discuss with you urgently today."
"Urgently... Is it about the presentation ceremony the day after tomorrow?"
"No... It is related, but not directly."
"?"
Seeing that I didn't understand, the Count flashed the Magic Eye of Judgment once.
"How much do you know about this very eye?"
"Yes. It is an eye that manifests special powers when magical energy flows through it, right? It is passed down from parent to child through bloodlines, and it can also appear as a throwback to an ancestor even when neither parent possesses one. However, some, like the Holy King's 'Holy Water Color,' never manifest through atavism... or so I understand."
"That's right. I told you about Eva's Magic Eye, didn't I?"
"Yes. The 'Magic Eye of Motivation.'"
It was supposed to stir the fighting spirit of anyone whose eyes met hers. I had never seen her use it, so even 【All Creation】 couldn't tell me how effective it was.
Still, for the young lady, rousing men's fighting spirits without using such a Magic Eye would probably be child's play... once she grew into a beauty in a few years.
"What about that Magic Eye?"
"It activated earlier."
"Activated... You were already able to activate it, weren't you?"
"I could, yes, but its effects were weak, and it consumed a great deal of magical power. That was because I had commissioned a renowned sealing mage to seal the Magic Eye."
"Sealed?"
What did that mean? This was the first I'd heard of it. Surely 【All Creation】 should have been able to detect a seal like that—but I'd looked at the young lady's eyes many times.
Or perhaps the sealing formula hadn't been applied to her eyes. If it was in the part of her body that supplied magical power, even 【All Creation】 wouldn't notice it without an extremely careful examination.
"...I've never told you about Eva's mother, have I?"
The Count spoke in a grave tone. I honestly didn't want to hear it—especially not about the young lady's mother at a time like this.
But it must have been necessary. The Count hated waste more than anything. He had decided that, at this particular moment, I needed to hear about the young lady's mother.
"Eva's magical power is extraordinarily abundant compared to that of an ordinary member of the Human race."
"Huh?"
I had never sensed that. Of course, I had never seen the young lady use magic, either.
Even so, veteran mages at the Adventurers' Guild, or seasoned mages serving in the Holy King's Knights, possessed so much magical power that it leaked from them, and 【All Creation】 could clearly sense it.
"That magical power was enough to activate Eva's Magic Eye when she was just a newborn. When uncontrolled magical power flowed into it, she ended up stirring the fighting spirit of the person nearest to her—"
No way—that meant...
I didn't want to say my guess aloud. It was obvious that this story led to a bitter ending.
"Her mother...?"
The Count nodded. I had spoken with him alone many times at our "report meetings," and I'd seen him nod countless times. But today's nod was more exhausted than any I'd ever seen, filled with helpless anger and sorrow.
"Adele—my wife—became so confused from the 'Magic Eye of Motivation' that she nearly lost consciousness and lashed out at the doctor who came to examine her. In doing so, she dropped Eva, who was still a baby. Fortunately, the doctor suffered only minor injuries, but Eva's arm was broken."
"That was... an unfortunate accident."
"That's right. An accident. No one was to blame. People like me, who possess Magic Eyes, aren't affected by them, and Eva had exhausted her magical power and fallen into a sleep like she'd passed out. ...But once my wife came to her senses, she panicked."
The Count paused, then spoke as though he intended to get all the unpleasantness out in one go.
"My wife was a fine woman. That was why she couldn't forgive herself and left the estate."
"But... didn't you call her back?"
"I did, many times. But even after the sealing art stabilized her Magic Eye, she never returned."
"Why not invite her to this Talent Gem presentation ceremony?"
"...If only that were possible."
Ah, so that's what this meant...
When the Count weakly shook his head, I understood.
She was no longer of this world.
"After returning to her parents' home, my wife seems to have suffered a severe decline in health, perhaps because she had only recently given birth. She died three years later. Apparently, she regretted what she had done to Eva until the very end. I should have used my power as a noble to bring her back, even if I had to force her to return—but by then, it was too late."
"Was her family a lower-ranking noble house?"
"No. She was a commoner."
The fact that the Count, who could navigate noble society as flawlessly as he did, had a commoner for a wife left me genuinely stunned.
"I wanted to avoid the needless confusion that would arise if I sent people from a noble house to a commoner's home, so I encouraged Adele to return of her own accord. But that failed. ...I never once told Eva about her mother's social status. So when Eva began talking about 'a society where commoners and nobles are equal,' I nearly stopped breathing. It felt as though she were blaming me, asking whether I might have saved Adele if such a society had existed... Of course, that's just my imagination..."
The Count smiled—but I had never seen a smile so lonely.