Chapter 81
To Monica, Isaac was the indirect perpetrator responsible for her father's death.
If Monica had made Isaac's true identity public, she could have restored her father's honor. Yet she did not.
All to save a friend with whom she had gone out at night only once.
Monica had given up both her right to revenge and the restoration of her father's honor to save Isaac. How much had she borne to reach that point?
──A secret deal with the Empire. Monica, who was so bad at negotiating.
As Isaac stood rooted to the spot, stunned as though he had been struck over the head, Yuan shrugged and spoke.
"The 〈Silent Witch〉 fulfilled her promise to our side. But lately, that fake has been coming and going from the 〈Silent Witch〉's place, hasn't he? Well, that's unsettling."
So the Empire had been keeping a close eye on the 〈Silent Witch〉's movements all this time.
Then they tracked down the Sazandoll residence... and noticed a man going in and out.
"If the fake prince seduced the 〈Silent Witch〉 and manipulated her at will to start a war... then surely we can't just sit back and do nothing, can we?"
Isaac almost burst out laughing.
Suppressing his true thoughts—Me, seducing Monica! Unfortunately, my master isn't so easily seduced—Isaac pondered.
Despite his agitated heart, his mind was frighteningly clear.
"The Black Lion Emperor, your master, is most concerned with whether the Kingdom of Ridill wants to go to war with the Empire, isn't he? The Empire is currently too beset by internal turmoil to have the luxury of warring with the Kingdom of Ridill. There have already been three coup attempts this year, counting those that never succeeded."
Yuan showed no sign of agitation at Isaac's words.
Heidi's expression likewise gave nothing away, but agitation seeped into the air around her.
The coup attempts had not become public knowledge, so she was probably surprised that Isaac knew about them.
The current emperor was rumored to have assassinated the previous emperor to take his present position.
He had many enemies within the country, while the southern and eastern parts of the Empire were constantly at war with other peoples and nations.
Put bluntly, the Empire currently couldn't afford a war with the Kingdom of Ridill. If anything...
"You know there are talks of marriage between the Black Lion Emperor's younger sister and our First Prince. The Empire wants the Kingdom of Ridill's help. The Black Lion Emperor probably thinks I might interfere with that, doesn't he?"
Isaac suppressed all his emotions and lowered his gun.
He then pasted the Second Prince's gentle smile onto his face and spoke.
"Rest assured. I do not want war, nor do I have the power to incite people."
"The first half is true, but the second half is a lie. If you set your mind to it, you could easily incite those around you, couldn't you?"
"You're overestimating me."
Beside Isaac, Nero muttered under his breath, "Wow, that's super shady."
Please be quiet while I'm discussing serious matters. I really mean it.
Keeping that thought tucked away in a corner of his mind, Isaac continued to smile calmly at Yuan.
"I am sincerely glad to have established a connection with the great Black Lion Emperor. Though I am retired, please feel free to call upon me whenever you need assistance."
Yuan placed a hand over his chest and bowed to Isaac, who maintained his position as Second Prince and his friendly attitude.
"...I shall inform my master, Your Highness."
"I'm glad you understand so quickly. Ah, one last thing."
Isaac raised the gun he had lowered and aimed it at Yuan again.
The expression vanished from his handsome face, and his blue eyes, filled with dark anger, glared at the face identical to his own.
Thus, not as the Second Prince but as his retainer, Isaac Walker, he commanded:
"Never use that face again."
Despite the intense anger in his voice, Yuan was not cowed. He merely stroked his own cheek.
"Good taste, don't you think?"
"I've been dying to pull the trigger this whole time."
Every morning, whenever he looked in the mirror, Isaac checked his own face to see whether he could smile with the face of the gentle prince Felix had wanted.
The man before him now wore an ugly expression on the face of the gentle prince Isaac had admired. Could there be any greater humiliation?
Seeing Isaac's genuine anger, Yuan laughed playfully and said, "My, how frightening," then kneaded his face.
His face twisted and warped back into the nondescript man's face from earlier. Surely this wasn't his true face either.
What must it feel like to be able to remake one's face so easily?
As Isaac wondered about that in the back of his mind, Yuan spoke.
"Hey, fake. This is merely a question out of curiosity..."
"What is it?"
"What would you do if I told you I could restore your face to its original form?"
It was a foolish question. He didn't need to think about it.
Even if he restored his face, he could not redo his life.
"To discard this face would be to abandon all responsibility and run away. Even if everyone else forgave me, I would never forgive myself for that."
Isaac would continue living while bearing Felix's name.
That was the only thing he could do with the life he'd been spared.
＊ ＊ ＊
After finishing their conversation with the fake Second Prince, Yuan and Heidi boarded their hidden carriage and began the journey back to the Empire.
It was deep night and visibility was poor, so the carriage proceeded at such a slow speed that it could hardly be said to be traveling at all.
Leaving the driving to Heidi, Yuan sat beside her, resting his cheek on his raised knee as he pondered.
The fact that that fake had detected their presence was a considerable blow. On top of that, his pride as a spy was in tatters.
...But they had gained a fair amount as well.
(He had more information than we anticipated. He must have his own network of spies. He'll be dangerous as an enemy.)
The most frightening possibility was the fake prince joining forces with the 〈Silent Witch〉.
If the fake prince's information-gathering ability and charisma were combined with the 〈Silent Witch〉's combat ability... they would be a dangerous pair to have as enemies.
They would need to keep an eye on the fake prince's movements from now on. If possible, it would be good to get hold of one of his weaknesses.
When acting as the Second Prince, that man put on such a perfect performance that even Yuan the spy had to marvel.
Yet beneath that facade, there were cracks.
The 〈Silent Witch〉 and the real Prince Felix—those were the cracks in that man's facade. It was Yuan's nature, whenever he found such a crack, to want to pry it open with his fingertips.
Yuan and Heidi, too, were people who had discarded their own faces.
They had struggled and clawed their way up from the very bottom... then discarded their old faces and claimed their current positions.
(I don't know what circumstances led that fake to discard his face, but...)
Surely he too had seen despair in the darkness at rock bottom. He must have had his own circumstances.
Even so, Yuan felt neither empathy nor sympathy.
The darkness Yuan had seen and the darkness that fake prince had seen were different things, so comparing them was meaningless.
＊ ＊ ＊
Even after Yuan and Heidi had departed, Isaac stood rooted to the spot.
The sky he gazed up at blankly was covered in thick clouds, and no stars were visible.
Instead, something white was visible in the sky. Snow.
"Brr, it's cold... Hey, Sparkles. Let's get home before yours truly goes into hibernation again."
Nero complained as he rubbed his arms.
Isaac did not answer him. He lowered his gaze from the sky to his feet and bowed his head.
White snow silently accumulated on his thick golden hair and flamboyant crimson formal wear.
What filled Isaac's heart now was longing for Monica and guilt.
"You knew that Monica made a deal with the Empire two years ago, didn't you?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, something like that happened."
"...Does Monica resent me?"
"How should I know? Ask Monica yourself."
It was a fair point. But if he could do that, he wouldn't be suffering.
Every time he learned what Monica had borne for his sake, a powerful longing scorched his heart, while at the same time forcing him to realize the weight of his own guilt.
His feelings only swelled and grew stronger with each passing day. In the not-too-distant future, he would surely no longer be able to contain them.
To Isaac, standing there with his head bowed, Nero spoke in a careless tone.
"If it was the Monica who had just arrived at that academy, she might have gone over to the Empire's side without a second thought. She didn't give a damn about being one of the Seven Sages. Heck, she was always saying that the mission itself was, 'No way, I hate this, I wanna go home.'"
"You're probably right."
When Isaac replied weakly, Nero continued, "But..."
"Even if it meant making all sorts of people her enemies, saving you... that was something Monica decided for herself. I didn't really care either way, but Monica decided on her own to do it."
For timid Monica, how much courage must that have required?
An unwanted, crushing responsibility had been forced onto that small body—and still, Monica smiled at Isaac and reached out her hand.
Isaac turned his back to Nero, brushed the snow from his hair, and covered his eyes with one hand.
After he had stood that way for a while, Nero darted around to stand in front of him with the quickness of a cat.
"Oh, you're crying. You really are."
What an unpleasant dragon.
"...Could you keep what happened today from Monica?"
"As hush money, bring me a roast bird, fried fish-paste dumplings, and booze."
Isaac lowered the hand covering his eyes and muttered with a tearful smile, "You're cheap to buy off."
The snow had not stopped. It was beginning to fall in earnest. I wonder if Sazandoll was getting snow tonight too.
Hoping Monica wasn't feeling cold, Isaac began walking.
He glanced down without thinking. The white of the snow and the color of the earth were jumbled together, as though reflecting his heart.