“Even though I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“I know very well that Viscount isn’t the culprit. The Duke of Schwaben was with me long before the Count was murdered. Don’t worry. Even if I am sent away, I will testify diligently as a witness that the Viscount is not guilty. By the way.”
“By the way?”
As she spoke, Hannah’s gaze turned towards Valerie.
“Valerie, you are not related to the Duke, right?”
“Who?”
“The Grand Duke.”
“What…?”
“In fact, when the Grand Duke saw Valerie at the ball earlier, I don’t know how surprised he was. The two of you look so alike.”
“Is that so?”
It wasn’t just my eyes that saw it that way.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Do you really not remember?”
“What?”
“Well, your mother doesn’t remember the father of the child.”
“I really wish I could remember, truly.”
The memories from before I became Celeste. If only I had those memories, all of this would be solved.
“Wait, Viscount.”
“Yes?”
“If your mother doesn’t remember… you could just ask the father, right?”
“Huh?”
“Haven’t you felt it? The Grand Duke’s gaze towards the lord and Valerie wasn’t ordinary.”
“What?”
“I’ve learned through marrying off my five younger sisters. There’s a suspicious aura you feel from those taking away your precious treasures, a kind of intuition.”
“…”
“As I speak, I become more suspicious. Why did the Grand Duke come all the way here personally? Even if he is searching for the killer of the Duke of Schwaben under the Emperor’s decree, it’s unlikely that the Emperor’s authority would extend to this rural area. It should be the task of the knights and inspectors, not something the Emperor himself would do.”
“Hannah was clearly refining her thoughts well on her own.
“It’s certain, Viscount. If His Grace the Grand Duke comes tomorrow, I will find out about the past between you and him.”
There seems to be something strange in her eyes?
From past experience, when Hannah has this kind of look, no words can get through.
This is a big problem.”
***
Concerns inevitably become reality.
I glanced back and forth between the woman beside me and the man across from me. The tense battle of wits had been going on for an hour already.
“Sigh…”
Carlos and I sat facing each other again at the table from yesterday. Representatives sat on either side of us.
It seems that our side is at a disadvantage. At best, we have only me and Hannah, while their side seems to have at least a dozen.
One, two, three, four… silently counting the number of knights, I quickly shifted my gaze away as I met Carlos’s eyes.
I haven’t done anything wrong, so why does my heart race every time I meet Carlos’s eyes?
As the day broke, Grand Duke Albrecht, accompanied by the knights, effortlessly nullified all the defenses Hannah and I had prepared with a single gesture. How could this happen?
“Again, this is an imperial warrant with the emperor’s seal.”
Yes, it was because of that warrant! That genius lawyer, the one who could brush off any argument, had completely silenced Hannah with that warrant.
A mere aide could not obstruct a warrant personally stamped by the emperor.
During the time when Duke Schwaben was murdered, the only evidence of my presence in Urentum was testimonies from nearby residents. Therefore, even the claim of having the right not to be forcibly taken lost its power.
But Hannah was still holding her ground.
“If you refuse to cooperate with the investigation team, we have permission for forced execution.”
A big man next to Kyle, with a stern expression like my superior’s, extended the warrant forward. What was his name again?
“I am not refusing to cooperate. I just want to discuss the date and place…”
“We must proceed with the investigation promptly as this matter is urgent. That’s why you received a warrant bearing the emperor’s seal, isn’t it?”
“So, please don’t rush. Conduct the investigation carefully and thoroughly. It’s a serious matter.”
Well done, Hannah.
With such a big man pressing with such a cold face, anyone would cower, but our Hannah did not flinch at all.
Indeed, Hannah’s physicality was not one to easily submit. Fight, Hannah, do not yield. Our Hannah is the best.
Quietly, and fervently, I cheered for Hannah.
In the midst of the fierce confrontation between the two representing each faction without any compromise, Carlos observed the situation with his mouth shut, his forehead furrowed deeply with thoughts.
“…When are you getting married?”
A voice so quiet that it could be mistaken for a mishearing or a misunderstanding.
“Pardon me?”
Although it was a soft sound, it was enough to halt Hannah and the man’s conversation. The sudden question, out of place in time and setting, directed everyone’s attention towards me – not just mine, but even the gazes of the knights.
“I don’t recall any news of a marriage involving Viscount Louisette.”
A question thrown with Valerie in mind.
An impolite question with all context stripped away. It seemed I was the only one who grasped the underlying meaning within.
No, wait. Our quick-witted Hannah… she too began to understand Karl’s intentions and started to signal me discreetly.
Discussing personal matters like marriage, an extremely private topic, in a forum debating the Imperial decree? Perhaps it was a question prompted by Valerie, but to the knights who were unaware of the child’s existence, it might appear as an attempt to fulfill personal motives under the guise of public duty.
Regardless, Karl’s attention was fixed on my lips. It was as if all his focus was solely on what response would come from me.
“A-bubba.”
The interest of the knights that had gathered around me shifted momentarily in response to Karl’s gaze.
“Bababoo?”
It was due to an unexpectedly cute sound that did not suit the situation at all.
“Valerie, my dear!”
Hannah quickly rose from her seat. Behind her bustling figure as she rushed off somewhere, the puppy-like eyes of the awakened child approached.
“Babababa. Baba.”
A tiny toddler with hands barely reaching an adult’s knees stood by the door, looking bewildered as they clung to the door frame with chubby hands.
It was Valerie, who had been laid down and covered with a blanket in a guest room on the first floor, not on the second floor in her bedroom, who had woken up.
Probably afraid that the awakened child might startle, the door had been left slightly open. As if looking for her mother, Valerie seemed to walk towards the direction where the noise was coming from with unsteady steps that seemed like her first attempts at walking.
With a creaking sound, the door opened wide, revealing Valerie entirely. In that moment, someone gasped and took a sharp breath. Probably some of Karl’s knights.
“Oh, dear, why did you get up just now? You didn’t even cry. Oh my, what a good child.”
Hannah, who had run to the front of the guest room in a flash, swiftly lifted the child. Valerie’s face looked so small in Hannah’s sturdy arms.
“I-I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave Valerie alone.”
She held the child in her arms as Hannah returned to the table and sat down. The knights, as before, maintained their silence, but the atmosphere surrounding them had subtly shifted. Their eyes, tinged with a hint of bewilderment, darted back and forth between Valerie and me.
Yes, anyone could see the family resemblance.
Valerie and my purple hair would leave no room for doubt. This color was a symbol of the Viscountess Louisette.
As the knights finished their thoughts, deeper confusion and puzzlement spread across their faces.
“Papa, papa, daddy.”
Valerie reached out her hand and began babbling. The direction the child’s hand was pointing towards was on the opposite diagonal from where Karl was seated.
From a place where they had come to arrest a suspect, the child of the alleged unmarried suspect appeared. It was truly an unexpected turn of events.
Furthermore, the baby was calling an unexpected person “daddy.” It was their superior, with unmistakably similar features to the baby. The knights exchanged perplexed looks.
In the midst of an awkward and bewildering silence that briefly settled,
Knock, knock, knock.
“Are you in, madam!”
Someone had arrived.
“Madam!”
It was the detective. Of all times, it had to be now.
The knocking on the door caused Karl to momentarily freeze. In the dilemma of whether to go and open the door or to sit quietly and ignore it, a grim shadow fell over Karl’s face.
Of course, I could not fathom the reason for his anger, so I simply concluded that Karl’s angry expression was just a natural instinctive wariness towards a stranger.
“Madam, it’s me!”
As I pondered the detective’s next move while watching Karl’s reaction, the detective continued knocking on the door. It seemed pretending not to be at home was futile. It might be better to open the door and later send him away, pretending to visit. Reading my thoughts, Hannah nodded and stood up from her seat. I reached out my hand and handed Valerie over to Hannah.
“The child… is she… the father?”
“What?”
Karl mumbled something so softly that it wasn’t clear, but he remained silent.
