Chapter 45
As Rose exchanged correspondence with his subordinate on Ezekiel’s behalf, she came to learn a little about Captain Mongkam as well. Mongkam had known Ezekiel for many years, ever since Ezekiel first enlisted, and was the subordinate he trusted most. Now, while Ezekiel remained in seclusion, he was also the adjutant temporarily commanding the “King’s Army” in his stead. In addition, Mongkam served as an intermediary, receiving Ezekiel’s orders and passing them down to the men, then taking the men’s reports, compiling them all at once, and sending them by letter.
“……It is said that the couple who fled the Valdemaera family had one daughter. Your conjecture was correct, Major.”
And he was still diligently tracking her movements.
Rose read Mongkam’s letter with a sunken gaze. Humans really must be creatures of adaptation. At first, whenever she read Captain Mongkam’s letters, she would tremble, not knowing when her true identity might suddenly appear, or draw several sharp breaths and invite suspicion. Now, however, she had grown quite used to this helpless despair.
“As it was from long ago, there were not many neighbors who remembered them, but some said they had heard the daughter was sent to a girls’ school with a dormitory. As their only daughter, it seems they raised her rather preciously despite their circumstances. However, as is usually the case with boarding schools, she left home and enrolled at a young age, so we were unable to find any neighbors who remembered the daughter’s recent face. Still, they all said she must have grown into quite a beauty. Even as a child, she was pretty and quite good-looking. Above all, the appearance of the woman we are tracking and that daughter are almost identical.”
Rose bit the inside of her mouth without letting Ezekiel notice, maintaining her composure. Perhaps she had bitten down a little too hard, for the faint taste of blood spread through her mouth.
“Chestnut hair, hazel eyes, a beautiful young woman who would have just reached adulthood……”
It was still all right. She had expected this much to be uncovered anyway.
“So the parents needed money and committed theft, and the daughter negotiated with him to clean up after them.”
Ezekiel was not shaken either. Since this was the result he had anticipated when giving the order, he remained calm.
Rose read the letter a little more slowly than her eyes scanned it.
“Her name was likely a nickname, but there were people who vaguely recalled it sounding like Liz or Lissy.”
If it was a name that could be shortened to Liz or Lissy, anyone could probably list a dozen on the spot. This, too, was not particularly remarkable information.
“Liz, Lisa, Lissy, Lizzy. They’re the most common nicknames for women’s names.”
“As for the school, judging from the fact that they once obtained a winter quilt from a neighbor to make padded clothing for their daughter, I suspect it may have been in the cold north. I do not know how many girls’ schools there are in the north, but since you happen to be in the north, Major, I thought it might not be a bad idea to start by searching the schools in that vicinity.”
But if all of this information were put together…… would it still be all right?
Rose retraced the clues Mongkam had found one by one.
A young woman in her late teens to early twenties who had attended a boarding girls’ school in the north,
who had a nickname similar to Liz or Lissy,
and who had chestnut hair and hazel eyes.
Seeing them gathered together all at once made the range feel sharply narrowed. This might be a little dangerous.
“The closest girls’ school I know of here is Milena Girls’ School, the one you attended. Surely she isn’t an alumna of yours?”
Ezekiel, who could not possibly know how Rose felt, lightly tossed out a chilling conjecture. Even if it was a joke to him, it was the truth to Rose. She could not bring herself to laugh.
“Rose, can you think of any students around your age?”
“Ah…… I’m not sure.”
She hastily changed her answer from “No” to “I’m not sure.” If she denied it too clearly from the start, it might look suspicious.
“I don’t really know. Perhaps it was another school?”
“How many students are usually at the school? About a hundred?”
Perhaps because he was from Cleris, his standards were certainly high. Schools with as many as a hundred students were extremely rare even across all of Astrie. Such a thing was probably only possible in Cleris, with its large population and abundant flow of funds. In particular, most schools in the provinces were small-scale institutions, with only a handful of students at the least and a few dozen at most.
“No, far fewer. Around thirty. If you count only the students currently enrolled.”
“Then you must know almost all their faces.”
Rose quickly realized what Ezekiel was asking with that intention. Through her, he was inquiring into Milena Girls’ School.
“……Most of them.”
“If you, who spent years at the school, say you don’t know anyone with that appearance, then she must not be at Milena Girls’ School. I doubt that’s the only girls’ school in the north.”
Ezekiel fell for her lie all too easily. Knowing the reason for that wholehearted trust made her heart ache.
“It’s something I’ve been wondering about lately. What exactly is a human being?”
The man, who had had far too much time to sink into thought, voiced a fundamental question.
“Rose, when I see that there are people like you, who do not forget past ties and come running at once to help me as soon as you hear news of me, while there are also people like that woman, who try to harm others without hesitation, I find humans truly strange. You and that woman have similar names, but your paths are entirely different.”
And every time Ezekiel struck at the heart of things like this, Rose became confused as to whether she should be grateful or miserable that he could not see her face.
How horrified would he be if he learned that the woman who had not forgotten their past bond and came running the moment she heard news of him, and the woman who had tried to harm others without hesitation, were one and the same?
“People have so many different sides to them. How could one ever know everything inside them?”
Even she found her own contradictions difficult to understand. These days, she was realizing, moment by moment, just how reckless her past self had truly been when she had come seeking atonement as she pleased.
Rose lowered her gaze to the letter.
“There’s still more news. I’ll keep reading.”
By the way, Major, has the person writing your letters for you changed from Mrs. Serva to someone else? The handwriting is lovely, and it seems like that of a young woman. I never thought you would keep anyone other than Mrs. Serva by your side. What sort of woman is she?
Her heart had already shrunk endlessly in on itself. And at such a time, of all things, Captain Mongkam had thrown out a burdensome question.
Rose quickly skipped over that part. She did not want to ask a question that would needlessly remind Ezekiel of who she was.
“The problem is that there are said to be troubling movements in Dabis. It seems intelligence may have reached them that there is something wrong with your personal condition, Major. Well, those Dabis bastards did suffer quite a bit because of us. In any case, there has apparently been talk that, because of the symbolic significance our company holds, it would not be good to leave the commander’s position vacant for long. I do not know how the Valdemaera family will account for your absence, Major. Of course, we do not want a new commander. Therefore, I intend to visit you soon and discuss the next steps. Please give me orders as to when would be convenient……”
Before she could even finish speaking, Rose first examined Ezekiel’s face.
He was coming? To meet him? Here?
Mongkam was the subordinate who had served as the central figure among the pursuit party that had scoured Astrie in search of her and her family.
A shock washed over her, no less severe than on the day she had heard recent news of Akenaus, who, after being threatened by soldiers of the 37th Regiment, had flown into a rage and immediately tried to come down to Derosa.
Back then, too, she had expected that if Akenaus appeared, he would recognize Rose at a glance and a storm of blood would follow.
Then if Mongkam appeared……
There was no way a soldier who had been continually questioning young women with a similar appearance would fail to pay attention to the strange woman who was closest to his superior. Had not Merlo, an errand runner from the main house, secretly watched her and gathered rumors simply because she was by Ezekiel’s side? Mongkam would monitor her every move more persistently and more suspiciously than Merlo.
“Would you remove that headscarf?”
Or perhaps he would ask her first, by the simplest method, in order to confirm her identity. Thinking about it, it was only natural. Aside from Ezekiel and Akenaus, he was the one who knew “that woman’s” features better than anyone. If he said, with a soldier’s sense of duty, that he wished to verify the identities of the young women working in the mansion, Ezekiel would have no reason to find the request strange.
Captain Mongkam was sharp-eyed, so he would not mistake colors the way Mrs. Serva had. If she submitted to his investigation, it would take no time at all for the lie that had reassured Ezekiel to be exposed. At least Akenaus had been stopped by asking the main house to intervene, but there was no pretext to stop Mongkam’s visit.
“Mongkam is coming?”
Looking at Ezekiel, whose face brightened with the joy of meeting his subordinate, Rose felt a chill run through her.
She was not ready yet. This was too soon.