“…As expected.”
The sunlight reflected off the white cloth, sparkling. Karl, narrowing his eyes and staring at the bed, slowly tucked his revolver back into its holster.
“So you caused such an uproar to hide this.”
The bed was completely empty.
“Grand Duke.”
Matthias hurriedly entered behind Karl, his gaze also fixed on the vacant bed.
“It seems the Grand Duke Toskur is not here.”
“I can see that myself. Just as I expected.”
The knights who had initially blocked Karl rushed simultaneously into the bedroom. The demand to move aside, backed by drawn weapons, left them unable to stop Grand Duke Albrecht any longer; yet guilt and fear for disregarding their lord’s orders weighed heavily on their faces.
“The Grand Duke Toskur is not here.”
After a moment of quietly contemplating the empty bed, Karl turned to face the knights of Grand Duke Toskur.
“Why isn’t your lord here?”
“Ah, Grand Duke Albrecht…”
One knight, appearing to be the leader, hesitantly spoke up. Well, let them attempt any excuses. I’ll at least hear them out. Karl’s blank expression suggested as much.
“How dare you block the way of Grand Duke Albrecht with falsehoods. All of you, kneel!”
Filled with rage, Matthias forced all of Franz’s knights to their knees.
“To falsely accuse and deceive Grand Duke Albrecht, to brazenly resort to force in his presence—these are not crimes to be taken lightly.”
“We were wrong, Your Grace. Please forgive us.”
The leader, having grasped the situation, immediately bowed down, pressing his forehead to the ground. Seeing their leader submit caused the other knights to follow suit.
“If you think a few words will earn you forgiveness, then it’s no crime at all.”
Karl’s cold gaze remained fixed upon them. His eyes seemed devoid of both anger and pity, making the knights even more terrified.
“If you confess where your lord is now, I might consider being lenient.”
“W-We do not know. We were only told that Grand Duke Toskur is unwell and had ordered everyone to announce that he is in seclusion.”
“Then I have no reason to spare you. I must hold you accountable for the crime of deceiving me.”
“We apologize.”
“Still, they are trained knights; the punishment inflicted on your bodies will not make you speak.”
“…….”
“Do you know what kind of interrogation the imperial investigation unit conducts to get the answers they want from a criminal?”
“I… I do not know well.”
“Most people fear pain inflicted on themselves the most, but a very small minority does not. Those are the types like the knights here. When interrogating such individuals, it’s more efficient to touch upon the lives of those they care about, rather than inflicting direct harm on them.”
It refers to family, relatives, friends, lovers. If there’s anyone precious to you, the clear yet indirect threat of causing harm until the desired answer is obtained made the leader knight’s face pale.
“Matthias.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Take them all away.”
“Yes! Take them away!”
At Matthias’s command, the knights of the imperial investigation unit tightly bound all of the knights from Duke Toskur and dragged them away. As Karl had expected, they were seasoned fighters and wore troubled expressions as they were taken, but they did not utter a word.
“From now on, we must do everything possible to track down the movements of Duke Toskur.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“First, deploy troops to every roadway leading from LaHart to Otaka Duchy.”
Having confirmed Franz’s absence, simple suspicion turned into fact. The sudden disappearance of Celeste, and the likewise missing Franz. This could not be mere coincidence.
I was strongly convinced that tracking Franz’s movements would lead to discovering Celeste’s whereabouts. I anticipated any movements he might make before the electoral vote, but I didn’t expect him to act like this…
“I never thought such a defiant person would go this far. It’s largely my fault for not being suspicious and vigilant enough.”
“That is not the case, Your Highness. I will do everything I can to track down Duke Toskur’s movements as quickly as possible.”
***
The ground shook with a thunderous explosion, and only after the thick smoke cleared did my vision gradually brighten.
The sudden attack had overturned four carriages in an instant, and the agents were captured by the attackers before they could even assume a proper fighting stance. The one who attacked the Ministry and our group was none other than,
“It’s been a while, Celly.”
It was Franz. His casual remark and the smile on his face sent chills down my spine. A wave of shock and fear surged through me.
Seeing him was alarming because he was someone who shouldn’t be here, and it was a face I never expected to see.
“How did you get here?”
“Is that all you can say after so long? I’m a bit disappointed.”
What nonsense. His smug smile was sickening. Behind him, I saw Clovis, bleeding while blocking the bombardment.
“What’s the reason for attacking innocent people?”
“Who said they’re innocent?”
“Why are you doing this to these people? What have we done?”
“It’s all just a difference in perspective, Celly.”
What was he talking about? My face twisted at his nonsensical responses. Did he really want to make jokes in such a serious situation?
“To me, doing good might seem like a crime worthy of killing to someone else.”
“Why are you doing this…?”
Franz quickly destroyed all the wheels on the carriages, overwhelming us before we had a chance to counterattack. My hands were bound behind me, and he even tied my feet together to prevent any chance of escaping while tied up.
“At least you should provide first aid to the injured!”
Clovis was bleeding profusely from his head. Many knights were groaning in pain, but Franz showed no mercy, roughly tying their injured limbs with coarse ropes.
“I don’t care whether they live or die.”
“Are you going to let them die? Why are you doing this?”
I couldn’t comprehend Franz’s intentions. I didn’t understand why he came all this way to cause such chaos.
“I’m not expecting you to understand, Celly.”
Glancing briefly, I rolled my eyes to check the opposite side and saw Leev hugging Valerie. Though her hands were free because she was holding the child, her legs were bound to prevent her from escaping.
Valerie, cradled in Leev’s arms, was quiet and not crying. I worried about the silent Valerie since the carriage overturned.
What if she was hurt in the explosion, is she alright? I couldn’t help but wonder if another unforeseen danger had arisen for Valerie, whose body was already showing unusual signs. As endless worries filled my mind, Franz grabbed my chin and turned my head toward him.
“What are you looking at? You should be looking at me when I’m talking.”
“The child isn’t crying. Please, at least check on her condition.”
“Why should I do that?”
“What reason do you have not to? If there’s an injured person in front of you, shouldn’t you feel compassion or pity? No matter how much you might have hurt her?”
There would hardly be a calm mother in front of a fainted child. The moment I saw Valerie collapse and the knights injured, my reason had already flown far away. If I could, I wanted to punch Franz in the face.
“I have no sympathy for someone I want to kill.”
“Why are you acting like this, really…”
Such a vile expression. Seeing such a face made me feel disgusted with my past self, who had thought he was handsome.
“Why am I acting like this? Go ask your illustrious husband, Selly. I don’t know if he can answer that.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s because that fool Karl was greedy that this happened.”
“What do you mean by being greedy? Isn’t it you who’s being greedy?”
Franz’s face, which had been pretending to smile all along, finally slightly frowned. But soon, as if he hadn’t heard anything, he smoothed his furrowed brows and showed a vacant smile.
“Greed? Is it greedy of me to demand my rightful place? Then what should we call someone who takes away from others?”
“Who says someone has taken yours? Do you mean to say that Duke Albrecht has taken yours?”
“Of course. Right now, all I’m doing is reclaiming what was taken from me.”
“What do you gain by hurting people?”
Franz fell silent. The cynicism that filled his face faded somewhat, replaced with a calmer gaze. It seemed he had something to say but suppressed it inside.
