Ch.222222. For Countermeasures (1)

A day had passed. The first day was solely for rest, so I drank plenty of potions provided by the House of Arielt and rested. My physical condition improved considerably, and unlike yesterday, my legs had recovered significantly.

Potions can only help regenerate bones and regrow torn flesh, nothing more. Complete healing of nerves and functions would be in the realm of Divine Power.

‘It seems Arielt is quite concerned about me.’

I could feel the dense spiritual energy infused in them. These must be quite expensive items, yet they willingly handed them over.

As Friel mentioned before, Arielt is certainly taking a friendly stance toward us.

I finalized how to attack Ianet with Arielt’s help. Today at lunch, Friel Arielt, Sione, and I—the three of us—were scheduled to discuss the matter over tea.

After being lost in thought for a moment, I shook my head and got up.

“Well, it’ll work out.”

No. To be precise, it has to work out. The evidence in my possession is like a collection of massive time bombs. Ianet needs to prepare thoroughly.

I left my room and headed to Sione’s room.

Friel Arielt wanted to speak not only with me but with Sione as well. As that elf had said before—

‘Sione must have noticed all of Ianet’s schemes.’

It’s not entirely convincing, but completely dismissing and distrusting the insight of an elf who has lived for decades would be strange.

‘She said Sione seemed frightening.’

An incredibly unbelievable statement.

She frequently quarrels with Orna, or when speaking with Tania in her awkward continental language, she herself adopts that awkward speech pattern and rambles incoherently.

Or she sits blankly like a fool, and when our eyes meet, she grins sheepishly. Yet in the same situation, when she makes eye contact with Diolia, she belatedly tries to maintain her dignity as a noble daughter of the County.

How frightening could such a Sione possibly be?

‘I am a bit curious.’

With curiosity about the side of Sione I hadn’t seen—the one Friel had built up so much anticipation for—I knocked on her door.

Knock knock.

After the crisp sound of knocking on the wooden door, I opened Sione’s door without hesitation.

“Lady Sione. It’s almost time for tea with Lady Friel Arielt. Have you finished preparing?”

“Ah, Ray. Perfect timing. I just finished getting ready.”

Sione greeted me with a smile.

However, there was something awkward about her smile, and I quickly realized that this awkwardness stemmed from her attire.

Sione was wearing formal attire that she probably hadn’t worn in ages. Moreover, perhaps because she was used to wearing pants every day and had taken out a skirt after a long time, she seemed uncomfortable with the hem that fluttered with her every movement.

However, regardless of Sione’s discomfort with her clothing—

‘It suits her well.’

Black and white. The appropriate combination of achromatic colors created harmony, and the neat formal attire suited her quite well.

Since we would be talking in Arielt’s garden over tea, such black attire might seem dull amidst the bright flower beds. Well, today there’s also a separate conversation with Pleta arranged besides the talk with Friel. So wearing this wouldn’t be bad.

The only problem was that her subtly insecure attitude was preventing her from fully showcasing the beauty of that outfit, which was leagues better than the armor or workout clothes she usually wore.

I gave her some encouragement so she could be more confident.

“It suits you well.”

“Huh…?”

“The clothes you’re wearing. They suit you well. I packed them separately thinking you might need them. I’m glad I did.”

“Really?”

“Would I have packed clothes for Lady Sione that wouldn’t suit you?”

“Hmm—”

Sione suddenly gave me a sly look and began to stare at me.

“So Ray thought these clothes would suit me?”

I’m not sure what she’s thinking, asking such a probing question.

Usually when Sione makes this expression, she’s about to play some mischievous prank.

I bluntly cut off her teasing.

“Not just these clothes, Lady Sione would look good in a variety of outfits.”

“Huh?”

“Objectively speaking, Lady Sione is beautiful. Beautiful people generally look good in anything.”

All daughters from the County family are pretty.

Their beauty, which isn’t diminished even by cold eye corners, is their characteristic. Even Sion Sianella, the only male in the current County family, has a face like a male courtesan with cold eye corners.

Sione, who strongly inherited the blood of such a family. The only difference between her and her family members is that among the Sianella bloodline, she’s the only one with round eye corners, giving more of an impression of an innocent puppy rather than a cat.

However, Sione seemed very flustered by my objective statement of facts.

“Uh… uhh…? What did you say…?”

Regardless, I entered the room, pulled out a chair, and offered it to Sione.

“Please sit here for a moment.”

“On the chair?”

“Yes, your hair isn’t properly arranged. I’ll fix it for you.”

“…Alright.”

Sione approached the chair like a well-trained dog and sat down, and I began to arrange her hair.

After tidying up the stray strands and giving it some shape, the appearance of an archer who had been covered in blood and wearing armor until yesterday disappeared, revealing the dignified figure of a noble County lady.

“It’s been a while since Ray fixed my hair.”

Sione whispered, looking at her neat appearance in the mirror.

“We haven’t had time to leisurely arrange hair in the mornings.”

A life spent searching the forest for half-demon half-human traces instead of taking time to arrange hair.

There hadn’t been much opportunity to leisurely comb and arrange hair, so I hadn’t been able to help with Sione’s hair recently.

Sione nodded slightly in agreement with my words and continued.

“But now that we’re back in the city, from tomorrow—”

At that moment.

Knock knock—

Another knock echoed.

“Lady Sione and Ray, Lady Friel Arielt is calling for you.”

The stage for our conversation about Airine was finally set.

* * *

The black birds that had covered the sky yesterday were all gone, replaced by a clear rising sun and a cool breeze tickling the skin.

Under perfect weather, in the beautifully maintained garden of the House of Arielt. In the center was a small Western-style pavilion.

White marble columns rose up, connected by a dome-shaped frame. Ivy vines grew along it, creating a natural roof. In the center of this beautiful garden, we could see our host who had arrived before us, Friel Arielt.

“Then have a good time…”

As an elf appeared and departed, Sione and I approached Friel.

When we stood in front of the two chairs prepared to face Friel.

Only then did Friel greet us, stroking her blonde hair.

“Lady Sione and Ray. You’ve finally arrived. I’ve been waiting.”

“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting alone.”

“It’s fine. While it can’t compare to the Grand Elder’s garden… it would be hard to find a garden as vibrant as our family’s within the Great Forest.”

“At best, Chelnis’s garden might compare to ours. A desolate place like Ianet’s is no match.”

Friel naturally compared Ianet’s house to her own and smiled freshly.

“Please, Lady and Ray, take your seats. It would be good to lighten the mood a bit before getting into heavy topics.”

“Then excuse us.”

“Please, don’t mention it.”

While we sat down, Friel poured tea into the empty cups and prepared them for Sione and me. Finally, our conversation began.

“Lady Friel, are your injuries alright?”

“Ah, my injuries—”

“…You were quite critical. I’m concerned if you received proper treatment.”

“Thank you for your concern, Lady. Thanks to the kindness of many people yesterday, I can sit calmly and talk like this. I could do this all day. Then, how about Ray’s injuries…?”

Starting with inquiries about each other’s wounds from the previous battle.

The conversation between the know-it-all Lady Sione and the born gardener elf Friel continued at length about the garden’s flowers.

All I could do was quietly drink tea while listening to folklore and flower language from around the continent.

As I blankly watched butterflies flying around, thinking how nice it would be if Tania and Elvis were playing around, with Orna subtly taking Tania’s side to attack Elvis more.

Finally, the blonde-haired elf asked the question I had been expecting.

“So I’m asking…”

“If you mean a question.”

“The suspicious movements in the House of Ianet.”

Friel naturally crossed her legs and placed her elbows on the table. Lowering her posture and resting her chin, she looked up at Sione and asked sharply.

“Lady, I saw everything.”

“……”

“Every moment when Ianet subtly pushed our Chelnis and Arielt toward the enemy. I saw you watching with those blue eyes.”

Silence suddenly fell between them.

As blue-green earth-colored eyes and sky-blue eyes quietly exchanged glances.

“Lady Sione, you saw everything, didn’t you?”

Sione was now looking down at Friel with an expression that had grown cold.