Episode 11

The moment I heard his name, the realization that struck me made my body go rigid before I knew it.

‘Good heavens! It was him! The person who killed Rene Blair!’

I didn’t think they’d first met like this in the story. Could this be… the original’s force of inevitability? Was it trying to make Rene Blair meet that man no matter what, and then kill her?

He had been looking behind me—more precisely, at Anastasia behind me—when he glanced at me, then lifted his gaze again.

Soon after, the sharp click of heels rang out, and the hand not being held by the man was suddenly tugged. Startled, I looked back to find Anastasia pulling on my hand.

Huh? While question marks were practically spilling over my head at the incomprehensible situation, Anastasia murmured with a face colder than usual.

“That was my mistake. Rene did have an invitation.”

Her golden eyes, which had always felt warm and gentle, were now nothing but cold. That gaze was not directed at me. It was directed at none other than the man, and it felt terribly unfamiliar.

Anastasia showing hostility toward someone?

Still bewildered, I lowered my gaze halfway and looked at what was in her hand. As she had said, there was an invitation. One with my name written on it, no less.

There really is an invitation for me? What kind of situation is this now?

“Ah, is that so?”

The man’s voice answered from right beside me. At some point, he had come all the way to my side. Anastasia’s grip on my wrist tightened sharply.

I don’t know much, but I do know one thing. Anastasia dislikes this man.

I wanted to search my memory to see whether she had disliked him in the original, but the contents were still hazy.

Still, this much was certain. With Anastasia’s personality, there was no way she would openly dislike someone. I could tell just by the way she treated me.

I grew curious about what on earth had happened between this man and Anastasia for her to reveal her hostility so plainly.

The man continued in the same relaxed voice.

“But even if she has one, there’s no rule saying she can’t accompany me as my partner, is there?”

“There isn’t.”

“Then that’s settled. Would you let go of that hand? I’d like to go in now.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Because…”

Anastasia, who had been speaking with the man, pulled me close again. For an instant, her scent rushed up and pricked the tip of my nose. It was a fresh, soothing fragrance.

“Rene will be accompanying me. Sir Fergus, you’ll have to go alone.”

Huh?

I was the only one surprised by her words. She was going to accompany me? Me, of all people?

I was someone who had hit you only a few weeks ago, and yet you’re going to accompany me? Anastasia, just how broad-minded are you!

“If that’s the case… it’s a pity, but it can’t be helped.”

Contrary to my expectations, the man gave up quickly and let go of my hand. Once the firmness and warmth I had felt against my palm disappeared, the strength drained from me all at once. It seemed I had been tensing my entire body without realizing it.

Only then did I finally understand.

I had been nervous. It seemed it was because I had come face-to-face with the very person who killed Rene Blair.

When I glanced up at the man, he moved away without even looking at me, showing not a trace of lingering attachment. For some reason, the place he headed toward was not the banquet hall, but the opposite direction.

What the heck? He acted like he was going to enter the banquet hall any second.

Still, it was a relief. The place where Rene Blair died was inside the banquet hall, and if that man wasn’t entering it right now, then I was at least a little farther from death. And I was planning to leave as soon as I entered the banquet hall anyway…

Watching him grow farther away, I realized anew that he had broad shoulders and a sturdy build. Well, of course he’d have a good body, considering he was the sort of man who killed dragons as casually as eating meals.

Naturally, my eyes went to the sword hanging at the man’s waist. The sword in its sheath looked like nothing more than an ornament. But that ornament-like sword was probably what he used to kill Rene Blair, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

“As expected… I want to go home quickly.”

“You’re going home?”

When I muttered in fear, Anastasia spoke to me. Having briefly forgotten she was beside me, I was startled and shook my head.

“No, not right now. In a little while.”

“Ah…”

Was it my imagination that Anastasia’s face seemed especially dark at my words…?

With Anastasia’s sigh as the end of it, an extremely awkward silence settled between us. To change the atmosphere, I pointed at the invitation.

It was baffling that she had an invitation I had never received, but all’s well that ends well, right?

“Anyway, there was an invitation, huh? Haha, I guess Reuden really did take it.”

“…Let’s go in first, Rene.”

“A-are you really going to go around with me?”

Instead of answering, Anastasia clasped my hand and walked toward the door. I was a little flustered by her more proactive behavior than expected.

“W-wait, Anastasia. Weren’t you supposed to check invitations here?”

“That doesn’t matter anymore, so it’s fine. It’s not as if I have to do it myself.”

Then why were you going out of your way to do it?

I wanted to ask, but I didn’t bother. If Anastasia didn’t want to do it, what could I do?

That wasn’t the problem. Come to think of it, I was going to a banquet with my favorite! Suddenly, thoughts of giving up on going straight home and having a cozy cup of tea with my favorite began to surge through my mind.

That thought lasted only a moment before the doors to the banquet hall opened. Then, as if a transparent barrier that had been blocking the sound vanished, the clamor struck my ears.

The banquet hall was so magnificent and vast it seemed as if every kind of jewel had been poured into it, and it was packed with people. Seeing this dazzling, lively place made my heart swell for some reason.

I hadn’t even known it, but I… guess I had a fantasy about the event called a banquet.

That was when something dampened the overwhelming sight.

Tiriring.

It was none other than the sound related to a mission. But unlike usual, the sound did not end in a simple chime and instead rang a little longer.

Huh? That’s not the mission success sound.

Since I had naturally assumed I would have succeeded in the mission, the sound I had just heard made me extremely uneasy.

Mission Failed!

“Since you entered after receiving an invitation, it does not count as barging in.”

They say ominous premonitions are never wrong.

At the thunderbolt-like words, my thought process stopped, and my head went cold. But only for a moment. As if I had never frozen at all, anger shot all the way to the top of my head in an instant.

Are you kidding me right now? I even lied! I got in! And it’s mission failed?

That wasn’t all. The sound rang once more, and a new window appeared beneath the mission failure window.

A penalty will be given due to mission failure.

-Penalty: High fever-

-Duration: Half a day (11 hours 59 minutes)-

“You crazy son of a…”

Just as I was about to spit out a string of curses, I remembered Anastasia’s presence and clamped my mouth shut. At the same time, my head grew dizzyingly heavy, and pain flared. It felt as if someone was continuously pressing down on my head.

Ah, this is seriously damned, isn’t it?

* * *

“Then I shall see you again tomorrow, Marquis Blair.”

Reuden watched the count, who was moving away with a meaningful smile, with sharp eyes. To be precise, he was looking at the pitch-black cane the count held.

Only for a moment. Then, as if tired, he slowly blinked and turned his head while drinking a low-proof wine. Then he furrowed his brow sharply and stared intently at a certain spot.

“Haa.”

He let out a deep sigh. The place his gaze reached was where those who had just entered the banquet hall stood.

“That’s Lady Rene, isn’t it? And beside her is… Anastasia?”

Horatia, who had previously delivered a red-waxed letter to Reuden, murmured indifferently nearby.

Unlike usual, she was dressed in a resplendent gown, her long violet hair intricately braided and pinned up.

Whether Horatia was muttering beside him or not, Luden did not spare her the slightest glance. He simply continued to look at the two of them with displeasure in his eyes.

No—more precisely, at one of them. Her, dressed more sedately than usual, and for some reason looking unusually pale.

‘You said you weren’t coming. You told me not to worry.’

After sulkily muttering to himself, he clicked his tongue and handed the glass he was holding to a passing attendant. Seeing this, Horatia, who had been sipping her drink, asked casually.

“Are you going over?”

“Yes. If she does something insane here too, there’ll be no fixing it.”

“If she were going to do something insane, she would’ve done it already. Such as slapping Anastasia across the cheek.”

Her words had a point. And yet, for some reason, the two of them had entered together in perfect harmony. Not only that, they were even holding hands.

It was not as though the sight was unfamiliar. It was simply laughable. Now, after all this time?

“You can never tell what’s going on inside that child. It’s too early to feel relieved.”

Just as Luden was about to head straight toward the two of them, Horatia tilted her head and spoke.

“By the way, she looks strangely pale. Is she ill?”

“……”

“I’ve never seen anyone look that pale before. I heard she collapsed last time. Could she still be unwell?”

That could not be. She had not been that pale even this morning. Seeing as the bruises were not visible, she had probably put on heavy makeup to hide the marks of her foolish self-harm.

Luden judged it rationally.

“Oh. She seems to be sweating, too. Is Anastasia supporting her right now?”

“……”

“Look at that. She’s even staggering.”

And yet, why was it that the more he heard, the more she seemed ill?

After staring for a moment at Horatia, who was saying unnecessary things beside him, he finally let out a sigh. Horatia went one step further.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“Worried?”

At a word he had been hearing often lately, Luden’s brow furrowed slightly. All at once, he recalled what his younger sister had said not long ago.

‘Oh, why? Are you worried your one and only little sister’s been getting beaten up somewhere?’

Worried. Me, about that child?

As if he found the thought laughable himself, Luden let out a hollow laugh.

“Of course I’m worried.”

“……”

“Not about that child. About Solen.”

Muttering the last words so quietly they were barely audible, he saw the two of them move away and hurriedly set off after them. In the end, it seemed he was going to them after all.

However, he had not gone far before someone stopped him. It was a noble, and though Luden glanced at the two as they moved away, he could not leave the spot.

Horatia looked at Luden’s back, smiled faintly, and then raised her glass to her lips again.

Within her slightly narrowed eyes, her violet pupils gleamed bewitchingly. Those eyes were filled with an inexplicable delight.