Chapter 42
When he rolled up the rattan blinds covering the windows, the blue waters of Ahan came fully into view in the distance.
The salt-tinged sea breeze swept through his tangled, stifling thoughts.
The Marquis of Ahan smoothed his hair with one hand and reread the imperial letter brought by his aide, Anatole.
[Regarding the Exile Organization Kardu]
[Including Piolkan, deputy commander of the Second Knight Order, who went missing during the Demon Realm War…]
[They are identifiable by black hoods with three intertwined golden snakes….]
[Since Kardu's leader, Tuang, and several high-ranking members have been captured in various regions, including the city of Bingsho….]
[Sender: Second Imperial Prince Roen Salierre.]
The letter was only a few lines long, but it was packed with information that dispelled all the lethargy that had settled over him after lunch.
“The three golden snakes are the pirates’ emblem, aren’t they? To think they were called Kardu.”
“So that sickly Second Prince was the one who uncovered it. How fascinating.”
The marquis recalled Prince Roen, whom he had seen before.
His extremely gaunt frame and pale face made him look more like a sick man than a prince.
He was such a wretched-looking prince that one might doubt whether he truly shared blood with Crown Prince Gabin.
“…Could Raimond or someone else have merely lent the prince their name?”
“If they were only going to lend him their names, there would have been no reason for the imperial family to go to the trouble of sending the prince here. Even if they needed time to wipe out Kardu, wouldn’t delaying it by just two or three weeks have increased his approval rating?”
The marquis lifted his glass to wet his throat before continuing.
“Second, does the prince have a support base strong enough to arrange something this large for him? Who in the capital would support Prince Roen right now? Raimond, at most, surely? In a situation like that, Raimond would know better than to do something that could deal him a major political blow by hiring other unreliable people. Besides, given that old geezer’s personality, he would never be the sort to scheme up something like this.”
The wind rushing through the wide-open window aired out the heavy atmosphere in the office.
“Lastly, doesn’t the letter mention the city of Bingsho? Didn’t the prince depart from Bingsho recently? Of course, I don’t think that sickly prince handled everything himself. Someone must have helped him. Someone like Chief Fulcare, for instance….”
“Is the Archmage really on the prince’s side?”
“I don’t know that either. As Countess Berthe said, the Archmage might be Charles’s spy. But one thing is certain. There must be another powerful figure beside the prince.”
“Do you think there’s someone besides the Archmage, Your Excellency?”
“Of course. If it was neither the Archmage nor the prince, who dealt with Kardu?”
The marquis placed his hands on the desk and rose from his seat.
Although the time he spent sitting in his office had been increasing day by day as he dealt with the territory’s affairs pouring in like a rising tide, he was still a knight at heart.
Since the man who would become his liege had brought Ahan an unexpected gift, he had to give Roen the proper reception, as a knight should.
“I’ll look around the city, so prepare the festival-related documents while I’m gone.”
The marquis donned a light robe he would not normally have worn and left the office.
***
The procession moved rapidly at first, then gradually slowed and came to a halt just before Ahan Castle.
Since the Marquis of Ahan had prepared a festival for the prince, they had to enter Ahan Castle in neat, presentable attire.
As the people waiting outside the castle rushed over to the pilgrims, their dust-caked armor was polished to a gleam, and the knight commanders’ worn cloaks were replaced with new ones.
Laughter rang out all around the carriages. How could they not laugh when they were receiving such lavish treatment in the middle of a grueling journey during which they could barely lift a finger?
By contrast, the inside of the carriage Blanc and Vieta rode in was as frigid as if the North’s chill had been brought inside. This was because of the official notice Blanc had sent throughout the Dikram Empire several days ago.
Since the credit for subduing Kardu belonged to Vieta, Blanc included her name in the official notice and showed it to her as soon as the draft was complete.
However, Vieta’s reaction was unexpected.
She asked Blanc to remove her name. Nor was she the only one; Fulcare felt the same way.
Thus, in the end, only Blanc’s name appeared on the official notice.
Blanc disliked having all the honor fall to him despite having done nothing.
“Vieta, couldn’t you at least explain why not? As you said, taking all the credit for subduing Kardu would help me become crown prince, but I feel terribly uneasy about it.”
Vieta, who had been staring vacantly out the window to avoid the awkward atmosphere, let out a sigh and looked at Blanc. Dressed in the formal uniform that only members of the imperial family could wear, Blanc’s face was rigid.
“Blanc, I told you before. So can’t we just drop it now?”
Though she was grateful that he continued to look after her without forgetting her, Vieta did not want to reveal her identity.
As Blanc had said, if she became famous, sooner or later people would discover that she was the hero Alicia, and under her pact with the goddess, she would be required either to kill that person or erase that person’s memories.
She wanted to avoid such a hassle.
“I even said I’d give you some other reward if you were uncomfortable putting your name on the official notice, but you said you didn’t want that either….”
“It was included in the escort job from the outset, and I already told you the amount I wanted. You don’t need to push yourself any further than that. So can’t we just let this matter go? It benefits you, too, after all.”
To be honest, it was not money that Vieta disliked; it was the excessive compensation and the imperial court’s praise that would come with it. She was receiving a pension as compensation for losing everything, but unless absolutely necessary, she wanted to avoid getting entangled with the imperial family.
Even though she and Blanc got along well, the goddess and the emperor were the ones holding her leash through the pact.
That was also why she had refused the emperor’s request brought by Fulcare before the pilgrimage without even looking at it.
“…Overboard?”
Blanc said in a voice heavy with sorrow.
“The amount you named is what an odd-job laborer could earn in about three days. Even if I were a fool completely ignorant of the ways of the world, I’d know that much. And you say it’s good for me, too…. Are you telling me to sit back and reap the benefits while you make me crown prince?”
“No, Blanc. I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I just have personal reasons, too.”
Vieta hurriedly tried to soothe Blanc. Even she thought her final remark had been a little too harsh.
“…And those personal reasons are something you can’t tell me?”
“I can’t tell you right now.”
Vieta glanced at Blanc, gauging his reaction.
Since Blanc was of the emperor’s blood, she had assumed he would happily accept all the credit, just as the emperor would.
She had never imagined that this issue would arise.
However, the prince she had thought merely frail and timid also had a stubborn streak and was rather inflexible.
“…All right. Since you don’t like it, I won’t bring it up anymore. I only wanted to be good to you.”
Perhaps he took it as her drawing a line between them, because Blanc’s voice was flat.
***
“Are you comfortable?”
After Blanc left, Vieta closed her eyes to sort out her thoughts, and a familiar voice reached her ears.
Fulcare gazed at her, a robe that looked unbearably hot draped over his white uniform.
“Aside from being bored and feeling like I’m going to die of heat?”
She had not noticed because magic had been running inside the carriage while she was with Blanc, but the magic cut out the instant he left.
Mages were not charitable enough to go to the trouble of adding magic for a single maid.
On top of that, the maid’s uniform she had just put on was a problem. Its long sleeves and stiff, completely nonbreathable fabric made her feel as if she were being roasted alive even while sitting still.
Fulcare grinned as though he had expected that and handed Vieta a fan.
“If you’re hot, at least fan yourself with this. It’ll activate on its own as long as you channel mana into it.”
Just as he had said, when Vieta slipped some mana into it, the bead attached to the end of the fan turned blue, and cool air flowed out. After she fanned herself a few times, the oppressive heat quickly disappeared.
“If you had something this good, you should’ve given it to me sooner.”
“Now you’re complaining even after I made one for you.”
Fulcare grumbled playfully, then returned to his place when the signal to depart sounded.
Vieta infused the fan with mana and turned her gaze toward the castle visible in the distance.
Once they reached Ahan, she would have to part with Laura for some time.
Why did time pass so quickly? Vieta hated that their parting had arrived so soon.
*
“Hmm?”
The marquis, watching the procession through a telescope from atop the castle, uttered a strange exclamation.
His gaze remained fixed on Fulcare.
The Archmage was inspecting the prince’s carriage. After peering inside for quite some time, he belatedly inspected the rest of the carriage before returning to his place.
'Something suspicious…?'
To everyone else, it looked like an entirely ordinary inspection of the prince’s carriage, but the marquis saw it differently.