~Chapter 65~
“Stop lying! You’re not that low on mana!”
“Philippa, I’ll have coffee.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
“Don’t change the subject! And don’t bring me coffee, Philippa!”
Despite my shout, Philippa just smiled warmly and went to the kitchen.
Damn it, I have no allies.
“Yawn, good morning…”
Just then, a sleepy Shiz came down to the dining room and her eyes lit up when she saw me and Aska.
“Mom! When did you come back? What about Ash?”
“Good morning, Shiz.”
I’ve been through so much.
This is tough… really…
“Wow, wow!”
Without knowing anything, Shiz happily ran over and jumped into my arms.
“Did you come by ship? How was it? Was it fun? Did you see any seagulls? Dolphins? Seals?”
“I don’t know, stuff like that…”
“Why don’t you know?”
Up close, I noticed Shiz had blanket marks on her cheeks. I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Ask questions later and go wash your face. Let’s have breakfast.”
“Tch, okay…”
I gently patted her round head and sent Shiz off to the bathroom.
I could already smell the coffee brewing, so Philippa must’ve started making it.
I hadn’t realized it before, but now I understood why nobles hire so many servants.
‘It’s so convenient…’
Before Philippa came, I felt bad about always giving Shiz takeout, and I struggled with bathing and putting her to bed. But since Philippa arrived, she took care of most of it.
‘I’ve hidden everything important, like the diary, in the basement…’
I wondered if Philippa might struggle doing everything by herself, but I was uneasy about bringing in more people.
‘No, maybe introducing someone from the Duchess’ side wouldn’t be too bad?’
Hmm, I’ll think about it more.
As I imagined bringing in another servant, Aska suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Ah, you scared me. Why?”
“Give me your hand.”
He was referring to the hand I had hurt while pulling the magic stone from the engine room the day before.
“You’re right-handed, so you couldn’t treat it by yourself.”
He took my right hand and carefully began to unwrap the bandages.
“Uh, thanks?”
“Still asking questions?”
“Because I’m confused…?”
He gave me a faint smile and finished tending to the wound. His hands were surprisingly skillful when wrapping the fresh bandages.
“All done.”
I checked the bandages carefully to make sure there was no strange magic placed on it. Nothing seemed off.
“You really don’t trust me at all, huh?”
“Ah, did it show?”
Aska pouted as if disappointed. I felt a bit guilty.
“Thank you.”
Philippa came back with fresh coffee and set it down, then Aska started flipping through the newspaper I had been reading.
It felt surreal to be sitting here with Aska this early in the morning.
‘Just a few months ago, just his shadow made me terribly uncomfortable.’
Every time I looked at Aska, I was reminded of everything I lacked.
Kind and gentle parents, magical talent, the honor of being the Morning Tower Master…
That’s why I tried to avoid situations where I had to be around him. The more I was with him, the more I compared myself.
But now, it didn’t feel so uncomfortable. In a way, it even felt… comfortable.
‘So this is what it’s like… living in a way that’s different from before.’
I found that thought strange and stared blankly at Aska. Then, I suddenly felt a bit out of place.
“Huh? Did you wear glasses?”
“You’re only noticing now?”
Aska pushed up his silver-framed glasses with his finger.
“My eyesight didn’t get worse, but I have magical blindness. I need them to read.”
“Ah…”
It seemed like the glasses had a function to block visible mana. I hadn’t noticed because there was no prescription.
“By the way, Rel, you’re in big trouble.”
“Huh? Why?”
Aska flipped to the bottom of the newspaper and pointed at the underlined part.
“Read the last line.”
Following his instructions, I read the underlined part of the article.
“Ah, the Investigation Bureau plans to conduct intense questioning of the relevant witnesses…”
As I read the content, my voice slowed down. Among the list of people to be questioned, “Relshiz Baltain” was clearly written.
“…I’m being investigated?!”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Ahhh!”
I screamed without meaning to, my voice echoing in the morning.
***
The sabotaged power system, the murdered engineer, and the crown prince who had been trapped in a warehouse after being drugged.
It was clearly an assassination attempt, and it almost succeeded.
The Investigation Bureau and the Magic Department immediately sprang into action, investigating the case.
The queen was surely involved behind the scenes, so how much progress they would make was uncertain…
The same day I read the article, the investigators came rushing to my mansion. Fortunately, they were all familiar faces.
“Good morning, Lady Relshiz!”
What was their name again? Nasha, Shion, Altr, something like that.
“Hello…”
Anyway, the Third Investigation Unit members greeted me with smiles. Behind them, Felix was staring at me intently.
“I heard the news, mage. You almost drowned in the sea?”
News travels fast.
“Yeah, I almost died.”
“Why didn’t you use your great magic?”
“I couldn’t. My magic was sealed.”
“…”
Felix fell silent. He looked a bit shocked.
It seemed like he had realized that “Relshiz Baltain” without magic was just a regular woman with poor physical strength.
“Did you come for questioning? Should I go to the Investigation Bureau?”
Felix shook his head.
“No. I just came to hear the story. I got orders from higher-ups.”
“What…?”
Felix gave me a strange look.
“Since you were injured saving the crown prince, they said we could do a simple Q&A at your residence.”
“That’s amazing, Lady Relshiz! You saved His Highness even with your magic sealed!”
“Yeah, it’s good you’re okay!”
The other investigators added their praise. They seemed to be worried about more conflict between Felix and me.
“Don’t worry about the questioning. You’re not a suspect. They’re just asking formal questions.”
Felix added, and his subordinates looked at him with disbelief.
“…Why is Felix being so nice to Lady Relshiz?”
“Shion, shush! If the mood is good, just keep quiet!”
“But it’s weird…! When someone suddenly changes, you should be suspicious!”
While they argued, I couldn’t stop thinking.
Aside from the fact that I saved the crown prince, I was a strong suspect.
I helped design the power system for the cruise, and my relationship with the crown prince wasn’t great.
And if there was anyone with enough influence in the Investigation Bureau…
‘Reyester.’
His offer to thank me wasn’t empty words. I had been worried that he might use this situation to frame me, but now I could relax.
Because when I returned home, I realized how much I had tormented the crown prince.
‘Didn’t I almost say it was a matching fate?’
Not only that, after jumping off the ship, he even begged me to save him.
‘Come to think of it, I know Reyester has a bit of an obsession with cleanliness.’
If he thought I was disgusting…
Well, let’s just stay careful for now.
“If it’s not an important investigation, it’s better if I leave now.”
Just then, a calm voice interrupted from behind.
“Shouldn’t you let her rest? She almost died yesterday.”
Felix’s usually calm face turned fierce in an instant. Aska, who had walked out from inside, smiled and waved his hand.
He was holding Shiz in his arms.
“Ah, it’s the investigator.”
Shiz’s face lit up with excitement. She waved her hands frantically. Though she had only met Felix a few times, she seemed unusually familiar with him.
“So, why is the Morning Tower Master here? Shouldn’t you be working to take care of the mage’s wellbeing?”
“I took some time off. I’m taking care of Rel and Shiz.”
Huh? He took time off? I didn’t know that. No wonder he’d been hanging around so much.
I awkwardly scratched my cheek, and the investigators behind me all looked at Aska with strange expressions.
‘Ah.’
Only then did I realize how awkward the situation was.
Aska Willovis, casually carrying my (not really) daughter in his arms…
