Father narrowed his eyes as he gazed at me.
"Are you saying you can resolve this problem?"
"It's a monster attack. Do you think I, a resurrected one, cannot handle it?"
Father did not answer.
And through that response, I could tell that Father did not trust the 'divine power' bestowed upon me in the slightest.
Even though I had resurrected after my head was severed and reattached.
It was a sort of habit. Anyone from Roam was the same. A habit of somehow seeking understandable interests in every relationship and phenomenon.
Father asked.
"Come to think of it, you also dealt with the Dullahan at the Imperial Palace. Has powerful strength come to you?"
"If I had such power, it would have shown itself long ago. This is simply an inexplicable 'divinity.'"
If I had powerful strength, there would have been no reason to suffer while being pursued by the pursuit squad.
Father would be thinking that way. That if I had power, I wouldn't have been swayed by the Imperial Family or Roam like this.
The symbolism of being a resurrected one was all I possessed, and that much could surely be wielded and utilized sufficiently in Roam. Naturally, the inexplicable and unrealistic 'divinity' would not have been in those calculations.
I had no intention of resolving Father's doubts. Because of that, I changed the topic with a casual tone.
"Surely you didn't mean for me to go and just put on a plausible act?"
"…."
Perhaps that was indeed the intention.
Father, who had been silent with an ambiguous face, spoke in a softened voice.
"It's because I'm not yet accustomed to you being God's resurrected one."
Father, speaking thus, seemed to find me unfamiliar.
It was somewhat amusing to see Father bewildered by my existence. To think that Father, who always felt like a wall, would show such a flustered appearance.
Pretending not to notice Father's emotions, I turned my gaze and spoke.
"Fortunately, a mage from the Magic Tower is staying at the Imperial Palace, so we should be able to seek their help. Since this attack is under suspicion of being magic, won't they also actively cooperate to clear their suspicion?"
In the past, the Magic Tower might have ignored this matter. Or like the previous Dekin case, they might have drawn a line calling it one person's transgression and withdrawn.
But this time, Zenon would step forward. He told me I could receive 'the Magic Tower's guarantee.'
I didn't think Zenon would have made an uncertain promise.
I continued speaking.
"Since things have come to this, I want to make it certain. I'm to become the Young Duke of Roam, so I shouldn't leave suspicions that I might be a fraud."
"I am pleased that you properly understand the position of Young Duke."
Listening to Father's dry commendation, I smiled faintly.
"Of course. Though I haven't studied as a successor for as long as my sister, I too have lived as Roam's direct descendant for a long time."
So isn't it natural for me?
"I know it all too well."
What brings shame to this house.
* * *
The resurrected one, who had remained secluded for a while, revealed herself again.
The imperial citizens, knowing nothing, thought she had appeared to subjugate the monsters of the Lindéa River, just as she had saved the Imperial Palace.
However, among the nobles, a rumor secretly spread that the resurrected one had been kidnapped by someone and barely escaped.
They said that if the monster attack incident hadn't occurred, she would have been imprisoned somewhere forever, and they secretly listed the families who would covet the resurrected one among themselves.
The first was undoubtedly Roam. They had the audacity to sneak the resurrected one out of the Imperial Palace, and the place most desperate to bring the resurrected one into their own house.
As if giving weight to their speculation, the Duke of Roam revealed that the resurrected one was staying at Roam.
The Duke expressed it indirectly by saying he had an opportunity to care for his own daughter, but no one took those words at face value.
"Caring for his own daughter. 'That' Roam?"
"Even a passing dog would laugh."
The noblewomen tittered, and the family heads fell silent.
This was especially so as the news of Frijian, who had married as if eloping in the night, had also become known.
"Goodness, there's never a calm day."
"They call themselves a proud noble house, but I don't want to be on the same level."
The nobles mocked with practiced ease. As they always had. That was what they did best, and what they greatly enjoyed.
The house that had never once been the object of mockery thus began to appear prominently on people's lips.
* * *
Father met with the Emperor two or three more times to discuss matters regarding my personal affairs.
Whether there had been some conflict of opinions in the process, Father's face was always full of fatigue when he returned from the Imperial Palace.
Upon returning, Father also had long conversations with Mother, and there too he went through an uneasy process and ended the conversation with an uncomfortable expression.
Minte, who had been sitting on the lush branches draped outside the study window listening to Father and Mother's arguments, conveyed every word of their conversation to me without missing anything.
'Mother has made up her mind to push Seiri as Young Duke.'
It was a conflict of opinion between Father, who wanted to present me as Young Duke, and Mother, who wanted to keep me merely as a member of Roam.
I couldn't be certain whether Mother had decided to accept Liliah's proposal. However, it was right to judge that at least regarding the matter of smoothly elevating me to Young Duke, she had changed her mind.
There would be various reasons. The rumors currently circulating in society would be one of them.
'In any case, she wants to show that Roam is lofty and doesn't cling to something like a resurrected one, is that it?'
She wanted to show that they weren't so desperate as to commit kidnapping just to bring a resurrected one into the house—that seemed to be the impression she wanted to give.
"Second Young Miss, it is time to depart."
A cautious call reached my ears as I was lost in thought.
I, who had already finished preparing to go out, calmly rose.
Today was the day I would appear before the Emperor again.
And... it was also the day I would meet the Magic Tower officials who would guarantee that the attack on the Lindéa River was the work of monsters.
"To think the day would come when the Magic Tower would vouch for a holy knight's word."
Ignoring Father's words filled with subtle emotions, I turned my gaze outside the carriage.
Since I had not officially gone to see the monsters, I could not receive the guarantee. Instead, Samuel stepped forward.
So he had left the Roam mansion early a few days ago. Since he was originally accepted as a guard with the understanding that he would be sent away once he felt stable within the house, it wasn't difficult to send him out again.
"Will you be alright?"
Right after I said I would send him away, he asked that.
His expression didn't change much ordinarily, but at that time, worry was unusually evident on his face.
"If you do your part for me at the Imperial Palace, it will be fine."
"But this place is..."
"Sir, you cannot continue to stay here forever while hiding your identity."
Parides had no connection to any human on this land, so it didn't matter, but Samuel was a person known to the public.
Even if it was fine for now since I was secluding myself in the Roam mansion, once I revealed myself before people again, surely someone faithful would recognize Samuel's voice or physique.
Fortunately, Samuel didn't seem to have any intention of arguing with me at length.
"I will see you at the Imperial Palace."
It was fortunate he didn't insist. If he had been stubborn about something unreasonable again, I would have had to struggle to find an excuse to separate him.
I said to Father:
"Once I receive the Magic Tower's guarantee, I intend to go to the Lindéa River immediately."
"...Will you be alright without knights?"
"It's better to go quietly. If I lead troops recklessly and provoke the monsters, causing an even greater disturbance, that would be terrible, wouldn't it?"
What Father wanted from me was to raise Roam's prestige, not to get entangled in unnecessary disturbances.
"I will attach a few Roam knights as your guard."
I, who was about to decline while saying it would be fine, gave up. Even this, if refused, might seem suspicious.
Glancing at Father who took my silence as assent, I moved my gaze a bit further.
In the carriage, besides me, Mother, Liliah, and Seiri were riding. Liliah, who hadn't come out of her room for several days, looked extremely haggard, as if to prove she had been ill.
Seeing her in such a state yet still insisting on going to the Imperial Palace together, Fresy's death must have been quite a shock to her.
Did she sense my gaze? Liliah turned her head. Our eyes met, and she opened her mouth with a slightly thickened voice.
"Do you really think there will be monsters at the Lindéa River?"
Liliah would know that Fresy died while following my trail.
I answered, pulling the corner of my mouth up crookedly.
"Yes. Since there have been people who met misfortune at the hands of monsters even after Her Majesty the Empress suffered an incident."
"You're saying... they were attacked by monsters?"
"Of course, I won't say the investigation results indicate they were different from the monsters that attacked Her Majesty the Empress. But they're still monsters, aren't they?"
Staring intently at Liliah's pale face, I spoke as if it were nothing.
"Who knows. Perhaps a real Dullahan has appeared."
My words probably sounded like sarcasm.
Father pressed his forehead and clicked his tongue briefly.
"The Temple made an unnecessary announcement."
The Temple's announcement made the imperial citizens tremble with anxiety, and this soon led to fanatical praise toward the resurrected one.
My value, having resurrected to stop the rampant evil, skyrocketed. This meant I could act even more willfully than now.
It also meant that Mother would find me unsatisfactory.
'Roam's thing returned to Roam?'
If I inflated myself to a size Roam couldn't handle, could they truly say they would take back what was Roam's?
A jewel too valuable to handle would only bring disaster if forcibly taken.
Would Mother, with her strong pride, desire me whom she couldn't wield as she pleased?
I glanced at Seiri, who was sitting right beside Mother with only her eyes rolling.
'Especially when there's a last resort that perfectly suits her taste.'
She wouldn't want to set me up as Young Duke, even if she didn't want to send me outside Roam.
Thinking thus, I lowered my head.