After returning home following her kidnapping, the very next day Camilla immediately had her attendant Dorman put in a request to an information broker.
She had them investigate Sky Orphanage as well as several fairly large orphanages in the surrounding area.
To see whether, like Dennis—Water Ghost Beth’s son—there were any children who had left an orphanage and then disappeared without a trace, or any who had been adopted out to people who did not, in fact, exist.
“Not much to show for it.”
However, when a few days had passed, the news that came flying in from the information broker was nothing special. Maybe because the scope of the investigation was too broad, nothing in it looked particularly useful.
“Ugh, forget it.”
Camilla flung aside the documents she had been holding.
“What good is it for me to be digging into this myself?”
Sickness goes to the doctor, medicine goes to the pharmacist. And crime should be handled by the police.
Everything had become a bother, so Camilla decided not to concern herself with this matter any further.
It did leave her uneasy not knowing who the bastards behind the fake Rania were, but the Duke of Sorpel was currently searching diligently, so surely they would be caught before long.
Only......
“Maybe I should have just told him that too.”
The one thing still weighing on her mind was Water Ghost Beth’s son, Dennis.
‘But there’s no way.’
How was she supposed to explain it? Say she saw it in a dream again? These were people with no ties to her whatsoever. No matter how she turned it over, keeping quiet was the best option.
KNOCK KNOCK.
“Come in.”
Just then, the door opened and someone stepped inside.
“Father?”
It was the Duke of Sorpel.
“How is your body?”
At that question, Camilla let out a small laugh.
“I’m really fine. The healers said I’m fine now too.”
Everyone who came into her room opened with that same question.
“Where have you been?”
“Right.”
Ever since the fake Rania incident, his expression had been persistently dark, but for once he looked to be in good spirits. Had something good happened outside?
“Where?”
“To pay a visit to the sick.”
“To pay a visit to the sick?”
No, but why would he be in such a good mood after visiting someone ill?
“They said that Jevillan fellow was feeling a bit under the weather.”
“The Duke of Jevillan?”
At Camilla’s question, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“He says his stomach hurts.”
“What?”
“They say you get a stomachache even when a cousin buys land, so imagine how much it must hurt when diamonds show up in a mine someone else bought.”
“Ah...”
Only then did Camilla burst into laughter as well.
Diamonds had finally been discovered in the mine she had previously won at auction.
Its value had already been more than proven just with the iron ore, and now diamonds had been found on top of that, so it was only natural that the Duke of Jevillan—who had lost the mine by a hair’s breadth in price—would be sick to his stomach.
‘What a shame, there are going to be blue diamonds there as well.’
Chances were the Duke of Sorpel would be paying another visit to House Jevillan before long, just to tease him a little.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Chris is handling things very well.”
“I’ll have to treat him to a meal sometime.”
“I’ll mention it to him.”
Even though it had come out that she was the owner of the Ghost Trading House, he was still handling all the public-facing activity on her behalf.
Of course, her opinion was indispensable when it came to overall business decisions or anything important.
“If you need help, tell me anytime.”
“Yes.”
“By the way, the gifts have piled up even more.”
The Duke of Sorpel’s gaze slid toward one side of the room. In one corner, presents were stacked high. Truly high.
“...Right.”
They had really piled up. Camilla answered in a distinctly reluctant tone.
Once word had gone out that the Sorpel young lady’s health was poor, countless gifts had poured in from all over.
The problem was that two-thirds of that mountain of presents had been sent by a single person.
‘Does he have a ghost attached to him that died because it couldn’t give gifts or something?’
None other than Crown Prince Edsen.
Just like last time, he had sent an outrageous amount of gifts, and Camilla’s head throbbed just thinking about it.
‘What kind of pretext is he trying to dig up this time.’
A sigh escaped her before she knew it. It was really something for gifts to be this unwelcome and awkward. Was that a talent too?
‘I should at least send a reply regarding the gifts, right?’
He might pick a fight over it like last time.
‘Ugh...’
Edsen, what is with this man suddenly making a fuss doing things he never used to. I’ve already got enough on my mind I could die.
“Camilla.”
“Yes, Father.”
“If it’s a bother, say so. This father will put a stop to it.”
The Duke of Sorpel let out a short laugh as he spoke, as if her thoughts had shown plainly on her face.
‘He’s not just saying that as an empty courtesy.’
In her mind’s eye she could already see the Duke of Sorpel marching straight off [N O V E L I G H T] to find Crown Prince Edsen the instant she nodded, so Camilla quickly shook her head.
“It’s fine, Father. I’ll handle it myself.”
Either way, he was the one who would someday inherit the throne. She knew very well there was nothing to gain from becoming estranged from him over something like this.
‘First, write the letter.’
As Camilla looked at the gifts sent by Crown Prince Edsen, the annoyance on her face all but dripped.
*****
KNOCK KNOCK.
“Your Highness, did you cough?”
Bell, Crown Prince Edsen’s attendant, spoke from outside the door as deferentially as he could.
‘Is he especially tired today?’
At this time of day, Edsen would normally have long since been up, so Bell tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Come in.”
A moment later, permission was granted, and the attendant stepped inside at once.
“...!”
As soon as he opened the door, he couldn’t move another step. The stench of blood rushed in and stabbed at his nose.
“Y-Your Highness!”
He hurriedly lifted his head, then froze once more.
In the room, where several corpses were sprawled on the floor, Crown Prince Edsen was slowly rising to his feet as if he had only just woken from sleep.
“Good morning, Bell.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I don’t think it’s...quite a good morning. What on earth happened here?”
Bell, who had reflexively returned the greeting, quickly shook his head.
“It’s not even the first time this has happened. Why are you so startled.”
“Don’t tell me, again...!”
“A guest came in the night wanting to play, so I played with them a bit.”
A short sigh slipped from Bell’s lips.
There must have been an intruder the previous night aiming for Edsen’s life.
“Why didn’t you call for someone.”
“It was too late at night. I felt bad about waking you.”
Another long sigh escaped Bell. His gaze went to the tightly shut windows.
“Then at least open the windows so the smell of blood can air out while you sleep—”
“You’re the one who told me to sleep with the windows firmly shut or I’d catch a cold.”
“...Yes, I am the guilty one.”
Letting out sigh after sigh, Bell immediately summoned people.
“Tell them to preserve the bodies carefully.”
“Sorry?”
“I have to send them to Mother.”
A chilly smile curled at the corner of Crown Prince Edsen’s lips.
“She put so much thought into sending gifts so her son could grow up well. I should send her something too. Make sure they get thrown in late at night.”
“Understood.”
After bowing his head politely, Bell glanced around the room, then lowered his voice a notch.
“This morning we received word from Gracia.”
“Did we?”
“They say a new emperor will soon ascend the throne.”
At Bell’s words, Edsen’s eyes flashed.
“So the civil war is finally over. Who’s the victor?”
“The second prince’s side, apparently.”
“Ha!”
The Gracia Empire. Known as the hegemon of the north.
The Gracia Empire, blanketed in snow all year round, had been thrown into loud turmoil by civil war for several years now, ever since the emperor’s sudden death had sparked a prolonged struggle for the throne between the first and second princes.
The issue was that the current empress of the Fable Empire had been secretly meddling in that civil war—on the first prince’s side.
And yet the one who had seized victory was the second prince...
“I’m curious to see my mother’s face when she hears this news.”
From what he’d had investigated, the amount of money the empress had funneled to the first prince’s side was astronomical. She must have been absolutely certain that the first prince would win.
“Now that she’s blown all that money, she must be on the verge of losing her mind.”
Bell watched Edsen chuckling and chuckling for a moment in silence, then let out a short sigh and took something from inside his coat.
“The Sorpel young lady sent this.”
“The young lady?”
What he handed over was a letter. Crown Prince Edsen immediately began to read it.
“...”
But as his eyes moved down the page, his brow twitched for an instant.
Soon his expression turned outright incredulous, and in the end he let out a snort of laughter.
“What is it?”
“This is a first.”
“Sir?”
“It’s completely soulless.”
The contents of the letter were extremely simple. It was filled, line after line, with all sorts of flowery phrases expressing gratitude for his gifts.
From beginning to end, you could scour it with your eyes and not find a single other thing.
“Bell.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“By any chance, was the sapphire necklace the item you placed on top when you delivered the gifts?”
“I believe so. That box was the smallest.”
“Ha!”
Of the gifts you sent, I liked the sapphire necklace the most.
This woman has clearly only opened the single present that was sitting on top.
She’d ripped one open at random to get ahead of the question of which gift she liked best among all the ones she’d received from him.
“Kgh, ha... hahahaha!”
Bell watched Edsen burst into laughter again and again, then quietly shook his head and went back to collecting the corpses.
