309 - Christoph's Summons and Giselle in the Punishment Room
The day after the intruder, the detached palace was a bit noisy, but little by little, everyday life returned to normal. Rather than the detached palace itself, the location being the hidden passage meant that a large-scale search could not be conducted, and it seemed to have ended without results. It was heartening that the quiet routine had returned, but there was one lingering regret.
...I wanted to see Leonyaldo-san in costume too.
Felicia had gone to the trouble of making costumes, but because the ghost commotion had Leonardo taking the lead in the search, the chance for Leonardo to wear a costume during the Divine King Festival period was lost. The reason being that it would be too ridiculous for only Leonardo to be in costume in front of the knights he had to meet for work.
...If I said I'd go on a date with him if he dressed up, would he wear it?
My costume is mandatory for winter, so I think Leonardo, as my guardian, could humor me and match. As I was thinking about how to get him to wear a costume, the goal itself brought the means to me.
Using the tea party invitation from Christoph delivered via Alfred, I pushed for Leonardo's costume under the pretense of guardian accompaniment. To Leonardo, who tried to decline the costume saying that even if he was a guardian, he also served as a guard, I begged that since I was always in costume in winter, we should match. When I finished with a kiss on his cheek, Leonardo's resistance crumbled.
...When I was first born into this world, I resisted even kisses from my parents, you know.
Humans get used to things the more they do them. Now I was kissing him on the cheek as part of begging my brother.
...Well, I wouldn't do it to anyone besides Leonyaldo-san, though.
Even though they are people I can be spoiled with, I wouldn't think of doing it to Alfred or Kalisa, so Big Brother is still special after all. Rather, Alfred will cooperate if he finds something interesting, and Kalisa will listen to most things if I ask. The only one who won't budge unless I kiss his cheek as part of my begging is Leonardo.
Even though Leonardo's costume was matching with mine, it wasn't nearly as round and plump. The matching parts were just the hood and jacket with an owl face, and from the neck down, while it had fur and feathers attached, the design was made for easy movement. Unlike my round little owlet costume, his had a sharpness more like an eagle or a hawk than an owl.
"Leonyaldo Big Brother is cool-looking, but not cute."
There were owl tail feathers attached too, but he couldn't achieve a round owl's body line no matter what. If I didn't insist that we were matching, it might not even look like a pair.
"...I'm being summoned by Christoph-sama in costume?"
"In winter, I'm in costume no matter who I meet."
It wasn't intentional, as if to say "now you understand a little of my embarrassment," but it seemed I had landed a retaliatory blow. Feeling slightly pleased, I took his hand and boarded the carriage before Leonardo could say he wanted to change clothes after all.
Leonardo's costume was quite well-received in certain circles. When we were shown into Christoph's private reception room, the first to greet us, Timon, fell silent.
...That was the face of someone who just barely managed to hold back a burst of laughter.
Next, the maid arranging the tea was captivated by Leonardo, and finally Christoph, who entered the room, burst out laughing the moment the maid withdrew. In front of me, Leonardo tends to be a bit of a mess, but apparently his work face was diligent and serious, and him being in costume was apparently quite rare. And on top of that, it was the overly elaborate outfit Felicia had prepared. The fact that I was there with him as a little owlet also seemed to hit his funny bone. Asking if I was a little owlet and he was a hawk mistaken for a parent bird, Christoph was unable to speak properly for a while.
"Ah... Leonardo... can't say no to his little sister's begging... is that... it...!"
He seemed to be trying to say something in fits and starts, but the sounds of suppressed laughter like "pukuku" and "pushuu" mixed in between, making it hard to hear. Still, I felt a little sorry for leaving Leonardo as a laughingstock, so I decided to try drawing Christoph's attention.
"Christoph-sama, Christoph-sama. This is the costume Felicia-sama made for me. Does it suit me?"
I spread my arms and spun around on the spot so the outfit could be seen well. When I added a little charm on top, his face, which had been holding back laughter, now broke into a grin.
"Cute, cute. Won't you become my child?"
"I must decline that offer."
I gave my usual sharp reply and moved on to business. After all, I hadn't come here just to make Leonardo, who had humored me with the costume, a laughingstock.
We talked about the progress of reviving Saint Yuuta Hiraga's secret arts, and I was praised for completing the Mustain medicine. When he said he would give me a reward, I politely declined. I had already received a reward from Ethelbert, I said. Since Kalisa was learning cooking from a chef who could make Napaji cuisine, I was planning to be able to eat Napaji food even after returning to Grenore.
"...Now then, I'd like to hear about the person who broke into the detached palace the other day."
"I told Leonyaldo Big Brother everything, but..."
After the business talk, the tea was changed, and the conversation shifted to the ghost from the other day. I had nothing more to say beyond what I'd told Leonardo, but if he wanted to hear it, I'd recall as much as I could and tell him.
"That ghost said he was the master of the detached palace from two before. At first he said he was the previous master, but when I pointed out that the previous master was the Eighth Princess Claudine, he corrected himself and said he was the master from two before."
He said he remembered dying, but also said he wasn't a ghost, I added, when suddenly something caught my attention.
...What was it? I felt like there was something bothering me back then too, wasn't there?
Feeling a catch, I searched my memory. When I couldn't recall it right away, I decided to remember things in order.
"I told him that if he was a ghost, he should act like a ghost and do as the talisman said."
"What talisman?"
"Ethelbert-sama wrote one for me before. It said, 'Show your face once in a while, you fool'... Huh? So that ghost is someone Ethelbert-sama knows? When he wrote the talisman for me, didn't he say something about it probably being used by a ghost...?"
I also felt like he said something about Ethelbert not being a bad person, so I could rest easy. When I said it was unsettling that someone I didn't know was coming and going from the detached palace where I was staying, he wrote me the talisman. That's how it went, I think.
"Ethelbert-sama has returned to his territory now, so if you want to go see him, it would be in the city of Gumons."
"...Did you tell him that my father was in his territory?"
"Well... I don't think I intended to tell him, but I do remember saying it."
Had I said something bad? I straightened my posture at Christoph's suddenly tense expression. Perhaps because his voice was a little similar to Leonardo's, I hadn't felt any wariness when talking through the door. I might have said more than I should without realizing it. Wondering what to do, I looked up at Leonardo for help, but Christoph looked up at the ceiling instead.
"Investigate my father's detached palace. That so-called ghost may have slipped in there."
...Huh? Is there a spy in the ceiling or something?
Like something out of a period drama, I thought, then immediately dismissed the idea, but then I remembered. Christoph is Ethelbert's son. If he's the son of Ethelbert, who went on a journey to reform the world influenced by the stories of a traveling retiree, then he might have hired a spy or two.
...Ethelbert-sama also seems to have people like the windmill guy and the dragonfly guy.
But the question of why Ethelbert's detached palace specifically must have shown on my face. Christoph told me that each detached palace has hidden passages. If they didn't find the intruder by searching from the exit, there was a possibility they had gone out into the royal castle from another palace.
"Ah... because I said Ethelbert-sama was in his territory, I ended up telling them that Ethelbert-sama's detached palace would be empty, didn't I."
"That's how it adds up."
And if the detached palace was really empty, it would be safer for an intruder to lie low there for a while. The security of an empty detached palace is nothing compared to one where people live.
"That ghost seemed pretty dopey, but it's actually quite smart."
"You thought it seemed dopey?"
"I did."
It was a carefree intruder who hadn't realized such an obvious possibility as locks being changed when the occupant changes. If they were really a thief, they'd be a pretty pathetic one.
"...Is it really a ghost?"
"Even if it is a ghost, if it really is the master from two before, then I would be happy. The master before Claudine of that detached palace would be my younger brother."
"The prince who was Christoph-sama's younger brother... that would be Rannvald-sama, wouldn't it. I heard he died of illness, but..."
Rannvald is supposed to be dead. There's a grave, and I heard before that a funeral was held.
...What is it?
"If it's this family line, wouldn't it not be surprising if there was some grand mechanism where he faked his death and set off into the outside world...?"
Rather, it's scary how possible it seems. It slipped out without thinking, but I was too blunt. To correct myself, I first apologized and turned my gaze back to Christoph, who had the most serious expression I'd ever seen on his face. The emotion I read from that face was...
"It could happen in my family line."
"I'm joking. I was just saying the first thing that came to mind as a joke."
"That's exactly the kind of bad joke our family makes."
...If you're aware of it, then fix it!!
I insisted it was just a joke, but once the possibility had occurred to him, Christoph apparently couldn't leave it alone. He looked up at the ceiling again, then ordered an investigation of Rannvald's grave.
The matter of the supposedly dead Royal Brother Rannvald possibly still being alive caused a quiet uproar within the royal castle. A quiet uproar apparently means that while the content could only be called an uproar, because the matter was so sensitive it needed to be investigated carefully, and the content couldn't be leaked to outsiders, only those who had been told the circumstances were investigating the evidence in great haste while maintaining a face of normalcy. Having reached a point where I could no longer really call myself a commoner staying at the detached palace, but since I was only a child, there was no way the investigation status would reach me, so my surroundings continued as usual.
And as for me, who was supposed to be living an unchanged daily life... I had come to the punishment room in the knights' quarters to restore that unchanged daily life.
...The structure of the room isn't much different from the punishment room at the Grenore Fortress.
Petrona and Giselle, who had gotten lost on the day of the Divine King Festival, had apparently been conducting a decoy investigation without my knowledge. When I found it suspicious that Giselle wasn't coming back even though she should have just been writing a reflection essay about getting lost, I asked Alfred and he finally told me the truth. The finishing touch to the undercover investigation I had proposed was being carried out on the night of the Divine King Festival.
...Using Petrona-chan as a decoy is too cruel.
The moment I heard about it, I lodged a fierce protest, but Petrona herself stopped me. They had spoken to both Elke and Petrona, and both had agreed to participate in this decoy investigation.
...She said the costume that hid her face with a hood was just right!
I'm sure Felicia hadn't made the costume with that in mind from the start, but knowing that behind my joy over the outfit Felicia had prepared, my friends were being put in danger...
...And Giselle too. It was an undercover investigation, so Giselle didn't need to get caught at all!
The reason I had left the detached palace, which was unusual for me, and come to the knights' quarters was to pull Giselle out of the punishment room since she showed no sign of returning. Apparently Giselle said that since her own relatives had been complicit in the kidnapping, she could no longer continue as my guard, and wished to be judged alongside her relatives. Alfred and the others had stopped Giselle, who tried to throw herself into prison, by placing her in the punishment room instead.
"Giselle was just conducting an undercover investigation as part of her guard duties. She bears no responsibility whatsoever."
As soon as I entered the punishment room, I launched a preemptive strike at Giselle, but her expression was dark. Normally, Giselle's spirits would lift if I flattered her a bit, but this problem was clearly deep-rooted.
"I knew they were fools, but I never thought my brothers and uncle would be this foolish. After all, it would ultimately be for the country if my family returned to being commoners."
Giselle, with a gloomy face, kept piling up charges on her own, saying that even being demoted to commoner status was too lenient and that they should receive the death penalty. I wanted to be the one feeling down. It was I who had lightly suggested "Wouldn't this be a meritorious deed?" and proposed the undercover investigation to Giselle.
"Even if it was for the sake of earning merit, no one gets finished off by an undercover investigation."
If you treat those who went undercover as criminals just because they participated in a crime as part of an undercover investigation, then the same investigation method couldn't be used next time. After all, if someone who participated in an investigation to gather evidence of a crime ended up being arrested as a criminal themselves, no one would want to cooperate with such an investigation.
"Let's think positively. Giselle's parents weren't complicit, right? This sounds cold, but how should I put it..."
I wanted to say something like "It's good that you've cut ties with your brothers and uncle who only accumulated debt like cancer cells in the family," but I knew saying it outright would be bad. I wanted to soften my words a bit more like a proper lady, but nothing came to mind. The price of having used words as I pleased because those around me were lenient with me had now come back to haunt me. My inability to comfort Giselle was due to my lack of learning.
"...I know. Just my brothers and uncle being gone would make my family's life easier, and if the people who keep creating more debt disappear, it would even be possible to pay it all off. But even so..."
Giselle said she couldn't feel that the crimes her relatives had committed had nothing to do with her. If she had been someone reliable enough to earn merit, perhaps her uncle and brothers wouldn't have turned to crime, she said.
...Giselle, I'm sorry. I think people of that sort will always escape to the easier path no matter what.
In this case, "the easier path" meant that rather than waiting for Giselle to earn merit someday, they would fabricate the merit themselves. The kidnapping incident that took place during this undercover investigation was a case of that.
But to me, her brothers and uncle were people I'd only seen in documents, but to Giselle, they were uncles with both good and bad memories. I could understand not being able to dismiss them so easily.
...Father chose mother over Bertrand-sama even so, didn't he.
Even at a time like this, my thoughts wandered to somewhere distant. I had come to bring back Giselle, who was blaming herself more than necessary, but I was thinking about my father in the sense that he had cut off blood relatives.
...And I'm trying to abandon Bertrand-sama too.
Even hearing he was my grandfather, it didn't click. In my life up to now, there had been no such person as a grandfather, and my parents had avoided the topic as much as possible. If asked whether Leonardo was my family, I would answer "yes" without hesitation, but with Bertrand, it was a little different. I couldn't answer "yes" reflexively, and even if I thought about it carefully, "yes" probably wouldn't come out.
...Is being cold-hearted in my blood?
The grandfather my father abandoned, I, his granddaughter, was about to abandon as well. I thought a little that not being able to see a suddenly appeared grandfather as my grandfather might be because of the influence of my previous life's knowledge, where the nuclear family had advanced, but I also felt that this might just be my true personality.
Being cold-hearted, I could not find the words to say to Giselle. No matter what words of comfort I spoke, they would sound false, but I also couldn't bring myself to tell her to cut them off. Simply squeezing out the words "it's not your fault" was all I could manage.
Time is up.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date. I'll be taking a break from the 16th update. I was defeated in battle against the seasonal change youkai.