Fallides jumped in startle, waving her hands frantically. Then she scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"In the past, I couldn't even dare to cry in front of the Captain......"
[In the old days, there were too many beings who needed the Captain's attention.]
Minte, who had been quietly listening from the side, supplemented Fallides's explanation.
[We couldn't afford to add ourselves to the Captain's concerns.]
"That's right. But now...... I think we've somehow claimed the Captain for ourselves, and honestly, I'm glad. Unlike before, it feels like the Captain now treasures only us specially."
It was a somewhat bewildering feeling. The Dullahans had always praised the Captain of the past, so I hadn't expected at all that there might be aspects where I surpassed her.
To confess more honestly, I actually envied that Captain.
The one who received such loyal devotion from these knights. The master of these noble knights who didn't lose that devotion even after losing their heads.
The fact that I couldn't equate her with myself made it even worse.
"I'm truly glad to have met the Captain."
Hearing Fallides's bright words, I quietly lowered my gaze. Somehow, my insides churned.
She didn't say she was glad to meet me 'again.' She said she was truly glad.
The words hovering on the tip of my tongue could not be spoken in the end.
* * *
That the Empress might collapse in 5 days.
When he received Annelie's message, Heinrich couldn't believe it at first.
After all, during regular check-ups, the Empress's personal physician had always pronounced her healthy with no abnormalities.
'Does this mean someone might attack her?'
In times like these?
Heinrich calmly sifted through those with motives to attack the Empress. If there was one major change in recent political circumstances, it was undoubtedly Heinrich's sudden rise to prominence.
Unlike the Emperor who showed lukewarm reactions regarding Maxel, the Empress appeared to quietly throw her weight behind Heinrich. So if someone harbored dissatisfaction, it was highly likely to be a Maxel supporter.
Even so......
'Someone loyal enough to harm Mother for Maxel's sake?'
Was there anyone who showed that level of fanatical loyalty to Maxel?
With doubts in mind, Heinrich hurriedly made his way to the Empress's palace.
Fortunately, the Empress had no particular schedule and welcomed Heinrich warmly. She then gladly prepared refreshments in the rear garden.
"Seeing you visit without forgetting your mother, I am deeply grateful to my prince."
"How could I forget to see you, Mother? It is simply my duty."
"That human hearts are not constant, this mother already knows well."
Heinrich knew that Maxel hadn't visited the Empress's palace in a long time. Maxel judged that the Empress wouldn't be of much help to him. This was due to the Emperor's nature of being wary of in-laws.
Throughout her life, the Empress's family had lived humbly in the imperial family. Yet even after so many years, the Emperor hadn't given them any real power.
The reason he chose the current Empress in the first place was precisely because of her humble family background.
Naturally, Maxel would have seen and learned from this.
"Not everyone is like that."
"Like your heart toward Roam's second daughter, you mean?"
"Mother......"
Heinrich cleared his throat with an embarrassed face. The Empress, who had been watching him kindly, turned her gaze to the flowers blooming in the garden.
"I thought you might be a bit more stubborn."
"Stubborn?"
"Do you know how happy you looked when your gaze was upon her?"
A faint flush crept onto Heinrich's cheeks. He had never heard from anyone else how he looked when watching Annelie.
Happy, he say. It was surprising that he hadn't hidden it so poorly.
"As a mother, honestly, she was...... a young lady who concerned me more than pleased me. But if you wished, I would have courted her actively. You two seemed to get along quite well too."
"Your words alone are enough to thank you for."
"I heard the story that she disappeared."
"Yes."
"She must have wanted it, and you must have granted her wish."
Heinrich said nothing. Yet the Empress smiled faintly as if she understood everything.
At her reaction, Heinrich asked quietly.
"Are you not angry?"
"Why would I be?"
"......His Majesty said that if she left of her own will, it would be mocking the imperial family."
Of course, it was Heinrich who had placated the furious Emperor. Would she really have disappeared so suddenly if it had been her own will? Aren't the gifts still piled up in her palace?
He had said that since there were suspicious circumstances, he would quietly investigate first.
Yet the Empress, who was asserting that she must have left of her own will, showed no anger at all.
"Because it was such an obvious choice, wasn't it?"
The Empress quietly gazed at a fully bloomed flower. It was a pale yellow flower shaped as if stars were layered upon each other.
With countless such flowers gathered together, the sight looked like a sky filled with starlight.
"How suffocating must this place be for her."
"......Mother."
"I understand. The feeling of hating this court that changes with every season."
It was the first time the Empress had shown such direct hostility toward the imperial family and the Emperor.
Heinrich was struck speechless and stared at his mother. The Empress was still looking at the garden.
"I desired true love. Not this imperial palace full of strife, but simply one person's constant love."
It was a very old piece of gossip. The woman the Emperor had wanted. But the woman who hadn't wanted the Emperor.
A tale like a fairy tale floating through the air of some tavern, its truth unknown.
"Such a futile old dream."
The Empress, who sighed quietly, withdrew her gaze from the garden. She drank her tea with a calm face and looked at Heinrich.
"It's fortunate that at least one child who resembles me remains."
It was a smile he had always thought was kind. But at this moment, Heinrich realized the Empress's smile wasn't kind.
"That you are a child who can respect the freedom of the one you love."
That wasn't peace, but a smile born of resignation.
"I'm glad...... that I resemble you, Mother."
At Heinrich's answer, the Empress's smile grew even brighter. Her voice now contained pure joy and delight.
"I'm thinking of visiting your maternal family soon. It's been a long time, so I planned to travel quietly, but would you like to join me?"
"Maternal family?"
"Yes. The date should be......"
The Empress paused to recall. After frowning and thinking for a moment, she finally remembered the date and spoke in a bright voice.
"It's 5 days from now."
Heinrich's eyes widened slightly.
He stared at the Empress, who was showing a girlishly excited expression, saying it was a visit after a long time. Then he lowered his gaze slightly and answered calmly.
"Yes, I would like to accompany you."
Through the gently rippling tea, Heinrich saw his own stiffened expression.
5 days later. His heart grew cold at those words.
* * *
Lilia stayed at the mansion just as she had confidently declared she would.
Furthermore, she treated everyone with consistently gentle and kind manners, as if she didn't want to offend anyone's sensibilities.
The servants seemed to easily open their hearts to this sight, and according to the Dullahans' spying, she was mainly garnering sympathy.
And once again, the villainess standing at the opposite end was me. It seemed my past image remained among the servants.
'I tormented Lilia so openly after all.'
In their eyes, I was clearly still 'the wicked second young lady.'
In the meantime, an atmosphere of avoiding me formed among the servants. Surprisingly, this wasn't created by Lilia.
"For my sister to do something like this. She must be truly desperate."
Even if the servants kept my existence confidential due to Mother's orders to keep quiet, her attitude was as if she would instigate them to spread bad rumors outside.
Of course, such childish machinations by my sister were the kind of thing Mother and Father despised. Especially for the Young Duchess to do such a thing, it was too vulgar, and Father's disappointment was considerable.
However, Father didn't call my sister separately to scold her. Instead, he only told me to endure it, saying 'she lost something she desperately wanted.'
"Endure it."
Because she lost something she desperately wanted, so I should endure it.
How could I not laugh upon hearing those words?
I smiled brightly and answered that I would. So easily.
Perhaps sensing the dignity befitting a Young Duchess in my answer, Father entrusted me with a small task as a test. It was to review the collateral relatives of Roam.
Since Roam was such a noble bloodline, there were cases where even collateral relatives were cast out according to strict standards, and he passed this screening to me.
Since Father would verify everything again anyway, it was simply meant to test how accurate my eye was.
The task itself wasn't particularly significant, and having expected this would be passed to me, I wasn't surprised.
'Actually, I was waiting for this.'
This was also necessary work for me. Because these documents......
"Annelie!"
Because they were documents Frigian sister absolutely had to see.
I glanced at Frigian sister who entered today as well without knocking, then turned my attention back to the documents.
Having heard I received work from Father, she approached my desk rudely with long strides.
"I heard you were given work, but just these trivial tasks?"
"Even if you don't monitor me, I plan to work hard in my own way. So don't worry and focus on cultivating your outer beauty. You'll be a bride soon."
At my words, my sister frowned. However, instead of getting angry, she glanced at the documents placed on the desk.
Where her gaze landed was precisely the very document I wanted to show her.
"What are these documents here?"
"As you can see, families to exclude from the collateral line."
"......Is that so?"
"Why? Do they not look like they should be excluded? To me, it seems not even a trace of Roam's blood remains in them."
"Indeed, there wouldn't be a trace of Roam's blood."
The Baron Kendall family written in the documents had strayed too far to be called the same bloodline, so they were definitely a family Father would filter out this time.
However, these people had wealth and connections built up over many years, using their status as Roam's collateral relatives.
Moreover, they lived prominently as local dignitaries in their region. This meant they had surprisingly considerable influence.
"Ah, come to think of it, Baron Kendall attended this banquet, so he must still be in the capital. I should process this quickly and deliver the news before he leaves."
Muttering to myself, Frigian sister's eyes flashed.
"......Shall I help you?"
At her eager response, I struggled to suppress my laughter.
Of course, you must help. That's why I let you see it.