“Usually, the subjugation party hired by the village in question goes first, right?”
“Right. But they came to the Ducal estate instead.”
“Sir Ail said the same thing earlier.”
“Nothing else?”
“Since it is so close to the Keilos estate, it seems there is no mercenary force stationed in the village. They just rely directly on House Keilos.”
“I see, but…”
Liselotte glanced sideways at the empty sofa in her room.
It was the seat where Eren usually sat, always staying by her side.
Today, he had been away for quite some time because of the subjugation issue.
That meant there was something that didn’t quite sit right.
If it had been just a simple commotion, Eren, who had been extremely sensitive about her security lately, wouldn’t have left his post.
Because of that, guards were packed tightly around the entrance to her room and beneath the windows.
Still, compared to this cumbersome number of people, having just Eren alone felt far more reassuring and comfortable.
They had been together so often. With that massive presence gone, the room felt strangely empty.
“They say you don’t notice someone’s presence, but you notice their absence.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
Shaking her head at Hedmilton’s question, Liselotte tilted her chin slightly.
“What are those letters you are holding? It doesn’t look like they came for me.”
Only then did Hedmilton slide the letters in his hand onto the desk in a loose stack.
“Recently, maids who quit their jobs at House Gloria sent me letters. I thought it might be good for Your Highness to take a look.”
It seemed he had brought them to grasp the situation.
When she opened the letters, an unexpected passage caught her eye.
Most of it was filled with ordinary greetings and complaints about House Gloria.
[Sir Hedmilton, it has been a while.
This is Rose!
I ended up leaving House Gloria too.
Apparently, among the maids, someone was charged with defamation just for calling it a ‘foolish House’.
I wished Lady Diana would stop His Grace, but she didn’t say a word. I clung to her, saying that if you were here, you would never have let the House become like this.
Then Lady Diana said, ‘Hedmilton will come back anyway. He likes me, you know.’
Is that true? I am sorry to ask, but there used to be such rumors among the maids at one point. You are not planning to return, right?
From your colleague, Rose]
Liselotte held the letter up, tilted it, turned it over, and even held it up to the sunlight.
After staring at it for a long while, she finally spoke with a serious expression.
“…Hedmilton. I am going to ask you seriously…”
“I have never had feelings for Lady Diana.”
Hedmilton asserted it firmly before she could even ask.
Perhaps feeling wronged, his expression grew even more bewildered as he defended himself.
“This is entirely Lady Diana’s one-sided claim. It really is.”
According to what Liselotte remembered from the original story, the time when he would fall in love had already long passed.
And wasn’t this also a point where Diana’s abilities could no longer be trusted?
Liselotte tilted her head.
“Have you ever told Diana you loved her, even as empty words?”
“Me…? Me…? How could I ever…?”
Hedmilton’s expression, frozen in shock with his eyes wide open, looked more sincere than ever.
“No. I was just asking.”
“You must not believe it. This is definitely mental manipulation.”
Worried that she might actually believe it, Hedmilton kept appealing his innocence to her right up until he left the room.
And so, the monster incident seemed to end as nothing more than a commotion.
***
It was an utterly ordinary day.
In the morning, she meticulously broke down the evidence Valen had sent and submitted it to the Central Court.
From House Gloria, there was only a single, consistent response to every piece of evidence.
[These matters are unrelated to the present case.]
They offered no other rebuttal whatsoever.
If no additional evidence or opinions were submitted in this situation, the case would move straight on to a hearing date.
Thanks to Valen, they had managed to buy some time.
Because of that, she felt a little more at ease.
Ail, his face brimming with excitement, looked toward the main gate as he explained,
“Your Highness. Do you know what day today is?”
“Yes. You told me.”
Despite Liselotte’s reply, Ail insisted on answering anyway.
“It is the day magic stones arrive from the Magic Tower! Improved magic stones, at that!”
He looked happier than usual, his expression bright with excitement.
Was it really that thrilling?
He had been unable to hide his anticipation just moments ago, but as soon as the carriage came into view at the main gate, he suddenly composed himself.
After glancing at the surrounding servants, he added in a very small voice.
“Since we need to check whether they work on you, Princess Liselotte, please speak up without hesitation if anything feels strange.”
After that, he glanced sideways, checking Eren’s reaction.
It didn’t suit Ail’s usual personality, but that was how bad Eren’s expression looked.
Unable to bear it, Liselotte poked Eren in the side.
“Relax your face.”
“…I have not said a word.”
‘But if you say everything with your expression, does it really make a difference?’
This was also because she possessed a special ability making the Word of Command not work on her.
Since she was different from others, it was to prevent any possible issues in advance.
Even though it was still within the Keilos estate, perhaps because they would be heading out into an open area, Eren had objected.
He had reluctantly agreed only after Ail countered that things would become even more difficult if security gaps formed.
At a distance, the guards appeared to be inspecting the carriage.
They had looked as though they would come in right away, but for some reason, the standoff dragged on for quite a while.
One of the guards blocking the carriage ran over in a hurry.
“Your Highness. It seems we should send the carriage back.”
“What is the issue?”
“Well… some lunatic came dressed as a woman.”
“…”
For a moment, silence settled in front of the lobby.
Liselotte asked cautiously,
“It is not a large woman who looks like a northerner, is it?”
“Yes. No. That is… down there… we checked. That is… yes.”
The guard clamped his mouth shut, apparently unable to bring himself to say more.
He hadn’t explained the method, but everyone understood.
‘Your job is rough too…’
She felt a surge of sympathy for him.
Suppressing his expression as much as possible, the guard continued speaking.
“There was a visible beard shadow, so when we asked about their gender, they said they were a woman. Later, when they were found out, they claimed they were a man but that it was simply their clothing preference.”
“From the North?”
When Eren asked, the guard shook his head.
“I believe they are from the East or the West. They are too small to be a northern man, but a man from another region would be about the same size as a northern woman. It seems they were counting on that.”
Eren made his decision without even turning around.
“Send them back. I will inform the Tower Master personally.”
Watching the guard salute and withdraw with his answer, Ail’s expression was calm.
He was smiling, yet for some reason there was a shadow over his face.
It seemed he was quite upset that the long-awaited magic stones were being sent back.
“…At this point, it looks like there is someone trying every possible way to get into the North.”
With things like this, it could no longer be brushed off as a mere commotion.
“The people who claimed they fled from monsters, you recorded them, correct?”
“Yes. As you ordered before, we secured their identities as well.”
“Go to the village and bring them in now.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t add anything further, but Liselotte had been thinking the same thing.
And she finally understood why Eren had been so sharp and insistent about personally handling the escort.
***
Click, click. The sound of teeth biting into fingernails filled the room.
The bright eastern sunlight streamed in through the window, but Diana’s expression, as she stared blankly at the flower garden beyond it, was dark.
Already looking frail and drained, Diana appeared even more pale.
Click. As the door opened, she screamed before even checking who it was.
“Any word for me?!”
Startled, Mirkena awkwardly fidgeted with her hands.
“Ah, there is nothing. Is there some contact you are waiting for?”
“Nothing? Not even a message asking for treatment?”
“Yes. There are plenty of complaints, though…”
“What does that have to do with me right now?!”
Diana rubbed her face as if exhausted.
She had even knelt, yet that person gave no response at all.
It meant they were watching.
From here, there was only one way for Diana to survive.
‘I have to kill Liselotte.’
In any case, Diana had no choice.
Either she would die because she failed to kill Liselotte, or she would kill her and receive that person’s protection.
Those were the only two options.
