Chapter 167
"Monica Norton, just who are you?"
Bridget's words brought Monica's thoughts to a halt for several seconds.
She'd been found out—Bridget had realized that Monica's left hand was injured, and that Monica was the person Felix was searching for!
Monica soothed her thundering heart as she thought.
—Just how much does Bridget know?
—Has she figured out that Monica is the Silent Witch?
In any case, asking a careless question could make her slip up. Monica pressed her throbbing left hand with her right and spoke in a trembling voice.
"...What do you mean?"
"Do you recognize this?"
Saying that, Bridget pulled something small from her uniform pocket.
Monica saw it and involuntarily cried, "Ah."
The object Bridget held between her fingers was an amber brooch—the magic tool Monica had improvised before the school festival to protect Felix.
Seeing Monica's reaction, Bridget narrowed her eyes and formed a faint smile with her lips.
"Yes, this is the item you dropped before the school festival. It looks like an ordinary brooch at first glance, but it is a splendid magic tool with a magic formula embedded inside... How does a girl mistreated by House Kerbeck possess something so expensive?"
"Ah, um, well... It's not anything that special..."
After all, it was just a cheap brooch she had bought at a stall and imbued with an auxiliary spell in about thirty minutes.
But Bridget snorted at Monica's words.
"I had my servants analyze it, and they determined that embedding such a powerful defensive barrier in such a cheap brooch is not something just anyone could do. This is an exceptionally expensive magic tool..."
"Eeeek..."
Monica was oblivious to the fact that, as one of the Seven Sages, her skill far surpassed that of other mages.
To make matters worse, she rarely handled magic tools in everyday life and knew little about their value. That ignorance had backfired spectacularly.
"Why were you, a girl mistreated by House Kerbeck, in possession of such an expensive magic tool?"
(I'm sorry, that's not it! I made it in thirty minutes...!)
Unable to answer honestly, Monica let her gaze wander, and Bridget pressed on.
"I have long wondered why a girl so out of place at Serendia Academy as you are would be at His Highness's side. So I came to a conclusion. Perhaps you are a bodyguard chosen by His Highness. That would explain why someone like you was suddenly appointed to the student council, and would at least explain why you possess a magic tool with a defensive barrier embedded in it."
Yet Bridget did not seem satisfied with her own theory.
Bridget narrowed her amber eyes and touched a finger to the space between her brows.
"...But if you are a bodyguard chosen by His Highness, that would mean House Kerbeck and His Highness are connected... That is far too unnatural. House Kerbeck is the greatest military power in the eastern territories, the foremost power in the East... Even His Highness, let alone Duke Clockford, could not easily ask such a house for cooperation."
Monica was secretly astounded by Bridget's words.
(N-no way... I had no idea House Kerbeck was that important...!)
"By the way, I hear you've been taken in from a convent by Lady Clarissa Norton, the former Countess of Kerbeck?"
What Bridget had brought up was the backstory Louis Miller had devised for "Monica Norton." She wasn't hiding it from those around her, and if anyone asked, she did indeed answer that way, but...
(I didn't even know the former countess's name... How does she know so much?)
As Monica grew wary, Bridget smiled sweetly.
"What was the name of the convent you lived in?"
"...Huh?"
"If you lived there from a young age, surely you wouldn't have forgotten?"
It wasn't that Monica had forgotten; she simply hadn't thought out the setting in that much detail.
As Monica faltered, Bridget continued speaking with the same smile.
"During winter break, I had the records of every convent in House Kerbeck's territory examined. Yet there was no record anywhere of a girl named Monica."
At last, Monica realized.
The people sniffing around House Kerbeck's territory during winter break had been Bridget's agents.
"My conclusion was that you are 'an intelligence agent sent by House Kerbeck.' House Kerbeck must want to investigate something about Prince Felix. You came to Serendia Academy for that purpose... Am I wrong?"
As Bridget urged her to answer, Monica wondered what she should say.
Bridget was almost certain that Monica Norton was a false identity.
But she hadn't realized that Monica was the Silent Witch.
(...What would Louis-san do in a situation like this?)
Monica pictured the face of the most cunning man she knew and the man most skilled at negotiations.
—The basics of negotiation begin by drawing out the other party's wishes. First, determine what they want.
At this rate, Monica would be completely swept along by Bridget's pace.
Monica swallowed hard, steeled herself, and opened her mouth.
"...What is your purpose, Bridget-sama?"
She would have preferred to draw the answer out more indirectly, but this was all Monica could manage.
Bridget frowned at Monica in displeasure.
"How rude, answering a question with a question."
"You brought me into this room because you want me to do something, don't you?"
With that, Monica looked straight up at Bridget.
Inwardly, she thought: I want to look away. I'm scared...
After several dozen seconds of staring at each other, Bridget was the first to look away.
"To put it simply, I don't care who you really are. I investigated you only because it could serve as leverage in negotiations."
"...Huh?"
"I have only one objective. There is one secret about His Highness that I absolutely must uncover. Cooperate with me for that purpose, Monica Norton."
Monica was completely caught off guard by the unexpected words.
"His Highness's secret? ...Um, what does that mean...?"
"I will tell you only after you swear to cooperate with me."
Monica was confused.
What secret about Felix could Bridget want to know?
To be honest, Monica had far too many questions about Felix herself, so it would be a lie to say she wasn't curious.
But she could not simply agree. After all, Monica was technically Felix's bodyguard.
"If I don't cooperate, are you saying you'll expose my identity?"
"That would certainly be easy. But honestly, I don't have enough power to make an enemy of House Kerbeck. This has nothing to do with House Shailbury... I merely want to know for my own personal reasons."
Only now did Monica understand why Louis had asked House Kerbeck for assistance with this guard assignment.
House Kerbeck was not merely a fun-loving family of talented actors. It was a tremendously powerful noble house—one that even House Clockford and House Shailbury could not afford to provoke carelessly.
Monica realized anew that being a count's house did not necessarily make it inferior to a ducal or marquis house.
(Bridget-sama is acting solely for personal reasons, so she doesn't want to make an enemy of House Kerbeck... If I pretend I'm acting on House Kerbeck's orders, maybe I can bluff my way out of this...)
As Monica began to hope that she might escape the situation, Bridget spoke while looking at Monica's left hand.
"His Highness is currently searching for a petite girl with an injured left hand. And you are trying to hide that you are that girl... aren't you?"
When Monica, a terrible liar, flinched and her shoulders jerked, Bridget immediately continued.
"'A girl with an injured left hand.' I do not know what that means, or why His Highness is searching for her. But you want to keep His Highness from learning that you're the girl he's seeking, don't you?"
"That's... well..."
As Monica mumbled, Bridget raised one finger and jabbed it sharply toward her.
"One week."
"...Huh?"
"In one week, I will make His Highness give up his search for 'the girl with an injured left hand.' In exchange, you will cooperate with me."
The terms of the deal, thrust upon her so suddenly, left Monica utterly bewildered.
But if she refused and Bridget told Felix that Monica Norton had an injured left hand, Monica would be finished.
So Monica asked cautiously,
"...Can you really do that?"
"Who do you think I am? Few people in high society can match me in the information war."
With that, Bridget lifted Monica's chin with the tip of her closed fan and gave her a beautiful smile.