“Did you happen to know?”
The words he’d said before they left for the Gracia Empire suddenly came to mind.
‘How about taking this ruby ring with you as well? It suits you very well, my lady.’
‘Everything suits me.’
‘You never know, right?’
‘Know what?’
‘This ring might bless you with a new encounter, my lady.’
‘What are you talking about?’
The way he’d made such a point of packing that ruby ring when they were gathering travel supplies now grated on her nerves strangely, lining up with the current situation.
A new encounter... that was that bastard?
“So you really did know?”
“I always wish for your happiness, my lady.”
So he had known.
“Ha!”
Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?
Considering he was the one who personally managed her soul, of course he’d know better than anyone about her biological father.
“So, my lady, how was your meeting with that gentleman—”
“Dorman.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll give you five seconds.”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re still in front of my eyes after five seconds, Zeno is going to come into my body. And he’s going to beat you senseless until you die.”
“Ghk!”
“One, two—”
“If you need anything just call me anytiiiime!”
As Dorman bolted out of the room, Zeno, standing beside her, clicked his tongue in regret.
Watching the two of them, Camilla let out another long sigh.
“You could at least tell me things like this in advance.”
Ravi and my biological father are both ali...!
“Wait a second.”
Something was off.
Red eyes... it’s the trait of those who bear Escra blood.
“...Ravi doesn’t have red eyes.”
If Duke Escra’s words were true, then what about Ravi? There was no way he’d been lying in that situation, so then what?
Don’t tell me Ravi is...
WUUUUNG— WUUUUNG—!
Just then, the communication orb she’d left beside the bed started blaring noisily.
Camilla stared at the orb with slightly dazed eyes for a moment, then cautiously connected the call.
『Hey! What are you doing that you’re not answering at all?!』
Ravi.
『Do you know how many times I’ve tried to reach you? Where the hell are—』
“Brother.”
『...What?』
He, who’d been yelling at her for not picking up right away, faltered.
『What’s with your voice again? Did something happen?』
“......”
『I’m asking you what happened! What is it this time?』
When she couldn’t manage any reply, worry seeped into his tone. Strangely, that voice made the stiffness in her body slowly melt away.
I really am crazy. To feel like this over that guy’s voice.
“It’s just... ha...”
『Hey.』
When she let out a laugh without meaning to, Ravi’s voice grew even more serious.
『What’s wrong with you?』
“Nothing...”
『Nothing what?』
“Nothing... I just suddenly... feel like I miss you, Brother.”
『......』
The communication orb went quiet. If she could see his face right now, she was pretty sure she’d be looking at a very dumbfounded Ravi.
He was probably thinking something like, Did she really lose her mind after almost dying?
『Wait there. I’ll come get you.』
“What?”
But the words that followed were completely unexpected.
『Father and His Grace are getting ready to go and bring you back. They said once they track down whoever’s behind this mess, they’re leaving right away. I’m going too, so wait.』
“...You’re not busy?”
『I’m not busy.』
What a ridiculous lie. This from the man who always complained about why a day only had twenty-four hours.
Camilla couldn’t help it; laughter burst out of her again.
『You’re laughing right now? You almost died and what are you so happy about that you keep laughing?!』
“Good question.”
Why was she laughing?
Something warm was welling up from the tips of her toes, constantly nudging her toward laughter.
『Camilla.』
“...!”
Just then, another very familiar voice came through the communication orb. Camilla unconsciously swallowed at that voice.
“...Father.”
『Are you all right?』
At that single, short question asking after her, her chest suddenly tightened. Feeling her eyes heat, Camilla bit down hard on her lips.
Since when did I become such a crybaby?
For some reason, it felt like she kept showing this man nothing but tears. Maybe she really had gone crazy.
『Camilla.』
“I’m all right, Father.”
She forced the words out as calmly as she could, but Duke Sorpel seemed to pick up on the tiny tremor in her voice.
『I’ll come get you soon.』
“No. I really am okay.”
『Camilla.』
“I have to wrap things up. I need to finish things properly before I go.”
Yes, finish things.
If she just went back like this, she felt like it would bother her for the rest of her life. Whether she wanted it or not, he – the existence called her biological father – would just keep circling in her head.
『Hey! Is your business really what matters right now? After what you went through, you’re saying you’re going to stay there? Get a grip!』
Ravi cut in again. Having misunderstood the word “finish” as referring to business with the Gracia Empire, he shouted angrily.
『Start getting ready to come back right now!』
“Don’t worry. I’ll stay in touch often.”
『You...!』
“I’m hanging up.”
『Camil—』
Camilla gently set the communication orb down to one side and rose from her seat. There was one more thing she needed to look into now.
“Ravi...”
Why his eye color was different from hers.
As the suffocating feeling surged back over her, deep sighs kept slipping out of her mouth.
*****
“Hmm.”
Early in the morning, having gotten up earlier than anyone and stepped outside, Butler Rube suddenly stopped walking. Something had snared his gaze.
There was a single box sitting all alone in front of the residence.
Coming closer to the box placed dead center before the front gate, as if begging to be noticed quickly, he lightly furrowed his brow.
The smell of blood.
A very familiar scent was wafting from the box. At the metallic stench that pricked his nose, Rube scanned the surroundings for a moment.
There should have been people on watch all through the night, so the fact that the box was only now being found by him meant...
Sensing no particular presence nearby, Rube went straight to opening the box.
“......”
His face slowly stiffened as he looked inside. In the bloodstained box was a face he knew very well.
Marquess Gabuel.
There was writing in the box as well.
He is the one behind it.
No further explanation was necessary. It was obvious what he was being named the mastermind behind.
Rube could also roughly guess who had killed Marquess Gabuel and loaded him into the box to send to House Sorpel.
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue once, he closed the box and picked it up, heading for where Duke Sorpel was.
“Marquess Gabuel?”
“Looks like he had a lot built up against Lady Camilla.”
“What do you mean, built up?”
“The Mana Stone business for one, and exposing his daughter’s disgrace so thoroughly that she can’t even show her face anymore.”
“He tried to kill someone over something that petty?!”
“He’s always been the type to hold grudges for a long time.”
Rube added lightly.
The number of people who’d fallen for Marquess Gabuel and then disappeared or died was considerable. There had never been enough proof to punish him, but everyone knew all too well whose work it had been.
Of ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) course, this time it seemed he’d picked the wrong opponent.
“So he really was the one behind it...”
Duke Sorpel stared coldly at Marquess Gabuel, already dead and boxed.
It was a bitter shame that he hadn’t been able to track him down and kill him with his own hands.
“The ones who killed Marquess Gabuel are probably them.”
“Most likely.”
The assassination group Khan.
Lately, House Sorpel and the Imperial Family had been tracking down and eliminating Khan’s branches within the Fable Empire one by one. Most likely, they’d handed over their client themselves in order to cut off the tail.
“They’re saying we should stop touching them any further.”
“Looks like they decided it was better to get rid of one Marquess Gabuel than to face us and the Imperial Family at the same time.”
“Their trust rating with their clients is going to hit rock bottom.”
Killing your own client – that was nothing like Khan’s usual way of doing things.
No matter what, protecting the client had always been their iron rule.
“Or maybe this bastard just panicked first and made a move.”
At Duke Sorpel’s words, Rube also gave a small nod. To his mind, that seemed highly likely as well.
“In any case, a quick decision. I’d planned to see this all the way to the end.”
He himself was like that, but the Imperial Family – especially Crown Prince Edsen – had been extremely proactive in this matter as well. They’d shown no intention of stopping until whoever was behind it was revealed.
“Report this to the Imperial Family.”
“Yes, sir.”
Butler Rube closed the box holding Marquess Gabuel’s head and moved it off to one side.
If anyone else saw, they might complain that it was too shabby an end for someone who’d wielded quite a bit of power within the empire.
He brought it on himself.
He clicked his tongue lightly in his heart.
“By the way, how is the young lady?”
“She says she’s going to stay there a while longer.”
“After going through something like that?”
“Who’s going to break that girl’s stubbornness?”
Thinking of Camilla, Duke Sorpel let out a long sigh. He wished he could go there right now and bring her back himself.
“I can’t understand why she insists on staying there.”
“Shall we put some people on her?”
“That would be best.”
He shouldn’t have been satisfied with just sending escort knights; he should have placed people on her covertly from the start. He had truly never imagined she’d go through something like that in the Gracia Empire.
Duke Sorpel clicked his tongue repeatedly at his own complacency.
“She said she’s fine, but...”
The faint tremor in Camilla’s voice kept bothering him. Was there something else, something he didn’t know about yet?
“As quickly as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
The look in Duke Sorpel’s eyes as he gave the order sank heavily.
*****
“Memory loss?”
“Yes.”
“Ha...”
Once, it had been the most common trope imaginable, but now, the moment it showed up in a drama, it brought down every imaginable curse and complaint about how overused it was – that kind of memory loss?
At Count Alton’s explanation, Camilla could only let out a string of empty laughs for a while. It was absurd.
“There was an accident.”
“What kind of accident?”
“A long time ago – eighteen years ago, to be exact. There was a group that attacked His Grace Kais while he was visiting the Fable Empire on business.”
The fact that the group in question was Duke Escra’s own younger brother was already common knowledge among those in the know.
Unhappy that Kais had been designated as heir to House Escra, the younger side had taken advantage of his trip abroad to attack him – and had succeeded.
“Not long after, we received word from the knight escorting him that His Grace had suffered a severe injury to the head... and then contact was cut off.”
After that, everyone who had been traveling with Kais had been found dead.
But there was one body they never managed to find: Kais Escra’s.
Those who clung to hope searched for him for a long time without much to show for it.
Tracking his movements in a foreign nation – not in the Gracia Empire but another country – had been anything but easy.
On top of that, they’d had to move even more covertly to keep the younger brother’s side from finding Kais first.
“About a year later, he returned on his own.”
Everyone had rejoiced that Kais was safely back, but he couldn’t remember anything about the year he’d been missing.
