episode_0129

It’s not like I really didn’t expect anything.

I could guess what information Alice had found out. The memories of that time were still etched in a corner of my head.

In particular, it wasn’t easy to forget the face of the person who had crushed my face with his fist. If it hadn’t been my face under that fist, it would have definitely been Claire’s face, and if you add that thought to it, it’s even more unforgettable.

I tried to find that person in my own way. However, I did not borrow the power of others. It means that I did not use my power to twist things around like Alice, but moved quietly without others noticing.

And I couldn’t find it. In fact, I didn’t look for it for that long. That’s because in the changed time zone, he was a person I had never been involved with in the first place, so I thought, what’s the point of looking for him?

But… … It seems Alice thought a little differently.

“Here, you know?”

Alice asked me, looking at the scenery outside the carriage.

The scenery outside the window was beautiful and peaceful. There were no poppy fields, and there were no beggars on the roadside. Most of the people walking around were neatly dressed and ordinary-looking.

There was a river, not very wide, flowing, and a stone bridge crossing it. Beyond the bridge, there was a row of brick houses with the same uniform design that always appears in works set during the Industrial Revolution.

The carriage was heading towards the edge of a residential area. As if the river were the boundary line, there were a lot of brick houses beyond it, and this side was a grassland that was barely developed.

And I remembered that place.

There is a hill a little way from here. There will be a tall tree there. Even if someone cuts down the tree, the hill will still be there.

And I saw through the telescope from the tree that the Count’s carriage exploded. The people inside the carriage were torn to pieces. Several innocent horses were also caught in the explosion.

Now, there is no trace of it at all. That’s natural.

The overall shape hadn’t changed much, but the number of brick houses across the river had increased significantly. Some of the buildings looked different from what I remembered. The reason I was sure of that was because I had already walked around those buildings many times. I could even remember the interiors of some of the buildings accurately.

In particular, the one in the middle that seems to be particularly well managed compared to the other buildings.

I frowned slightly.

Is that building still being used for that purpose?

“… … .”

I wasn’t the only one with a stiff face. Mia Crowfield, sitting next to Alice, also had a stiff face.

Despite her somewhat youthful appearance, Mia Crowfield was about the same age as us.

He was old enough to remember clearly the day his father died, so he would know what kind of place this was.

But he didn’t say a word.

I was about to ask why he brought me to a place like this.

As I recall, the carriage stopped in front of that clean building.

There were already knights lined up at the entrance of the building. The inside of the building was probably the same. The police were also there, but they looked like they had no idea what was going on. And beyond the knights and police, the royal knights and the territory knights were standing in a confrontational posture.

The number of the Imperial Knights was smaller, but they were not pushed back in spirit. Although there was no basis for this, I somehow felt that even if the two sides fought like this, the Imperial Knights would win.

It must have been thanks to that spirit that the carriage was able to arrive here safely.

“Father is also very great.”

Alice got out of the carriage and spoke in a somewhat loud voice. Her gaze was directed at the ‘knights’ of the territory who were confronting the imperial knights.

“You can’t believe Youngji, who obviously hates you so much, is letting you form a private army like this.”

“… … Crowfield Estate borders the Kingdom of Belbourg.”

Mia Crowfield retorted to Alice, who was mumbling like that, but Alice shrugged and said.

“That doesn’t look like it’s ‘assisting’ the imperial army.”

“… … .”

Even Mia Crowfield couldn’t bring herself to refute that statement.

But Alice didn’t glare at Miakrowfield or make a hostile expression. Rather… …she just had the same expression she had at school.

Rather, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s an expression that seems slightly worried.

Alice turned her head and looked up at the building once more, then looked down again at Mia Crowfield and said.

“There’s probably information in there that you don’t want to know.”

“You don’t want me to?”

Alice’s words were met with a venomous glare from Mia Crowfield—or at least she tried to—at Alice.

“Before I came here, I heard that your father was much more of a father than mine.”

Alice spoke in a flat tone, hiding her emotions.

“Do you want to say that my father… … Count Crowfield, was doing something contrary to his image?”

As she spoke, Mia Crowfield’s expression became even more venomous than before.

I would have been like that too. If my father had done something bad and I didn’t know about it, and the father in my memories was just a kind and proud father. And what if he had been unjustly murdered?

If a person who is the daughter of the person who commissioned the murder came to him and said, ‘Your father is not as good a person as you thought,’ what would he do?

… … Thinking about it this way, it seemed like Mia Crowfield was really exerting all his might to exercise self-control. Perhaps the princess in front of me and the imperial knights surrounding us were helping him to exercise that self-control.

“Yeah.”

But Alice answered in a tone that was completely unconcerned.

“… … .”

Mia Crowfield’s expression reset to the peak of venom. Seeing Alice say such things without any remorse, she seemed to suddenly feel uneasy.

Mia Crowfield had also been living with Alice for the past few months, seeing her face and talking to her. And a few months was enough time to judge a person’s personality.

Mia Crowfield must know very well that Alice is not the type of person to joke about things like this.

“Would you still go in with me? It might hurt you a lot.”

“… … .”

Mia Crowfield’s head slowly dropped down, then suddenly shot up.

Her eyes were trembling, the corners of her mouth were slightly downturned, and her face was much paler than usual.

But the expression on his face was one of noble dignity.

“Like.”

Mia Crowfield said in a slightly trembling voice.

“If you guys act like that, I won’t avoid it either. My father is definitely not that kind of person.”

“… … .”

Alice exhaled very softly.

“Okay, then.”

Alice turned around and started walking. Mia Crowfield and I followed her.

The gentleman standing next to the door opened the door for us.

The inside of the building… … was clearly a building with proper windows, but it was very dark.

*

The only sounds we heard as we walked were the squeaking noise of the old wooden stairs and the sound of our own footsteps.

If there was someone who was subdued by the knights inside, I would have heard some complaints, but since there wasn’t even such a thing, I felt a bit uneasy.

I could see the figures of the royal knights standing here and there in the narrow corridor. Even though their attire was likely to make a creaking sound, they all stood motionless to greet us. How well-trained they were.

It didn’t smell like the last time I was there. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be used for ‘that purpose’ anymore.

“This way, Your Majesty.”

In a corner of the second floor, in front of the door of the smallest-looking room, a knight was standing.

As Alice, I, and Mia Crowfield approached silently, the knight opened the door for us just as he had when we entered the building.

And in it—

“How is it?”

As she entered the room, Alice turned her face slightly towards me. She didn’t turn around completely, but her expression was obscured by the side of her head, so I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she was making.

But the contempt contained in that voice could be clearly felt.

In the room, a middle-aged man was lying face down, under the knight’s lap. His arms were folded behind his back, under the knight’s knees. Although he looked relatively old, he was still physically fit, but he did not seem to have the strength to push off the muscle mass clad in plate armor and stand up.

… … When I saw it when I was young, it looked really scary.

There were a few books lying on the floor. They were novels that were praised as classic literature here.

And next to the book, a pair of glasses was lying cracked.