Not long after that.
The social circles were completely turned upside down.
“Did you say the Duke and Lady Bianca broke off their engagement?”
“Lady Bianca just stood still……?”
It was because of none other than the news of the broken engagement between Ricardo and me.
“But I heard a rather strange rumor.”
“What kind of rumor?”
“Well, apparently it wasn’t Lady Bianca who was obsessed with the Duke. Lady Danae said she heard directly from the Duke that he was the one clinging to her!”
“Oh my, Lady Danae isn’t the kind of person who would lie, is she?”
Before I knew it, the focus of the rumors had shifted to Ricardo.
People criticized Ricardo for cheating despite having a fiancée, and sympathized with me.
It didn’t take long before the fingers of blame pointed not at me but at him.
But in time, all of this would quiet down.
People would look for a new target.
‘……Still, this wasn’t what I wanted.’
Ricardo, are you seriously that much of a fool?
Did you really think I’d be grateful if you went this far?
“Still, the malicious rumors about you have died down.”
Cedric took off the glasses he was wearing. Then, as if tired, he pressed his eyes with his hand. I refilled his empty teacup.
“I didn’t expect people’s attitudes to change this much.”
“Be glad. Thanks to that, you’ll be able to find a good match.”
At Cedric’s dry tone, Grandfather immediately glared at him.
“You’re already talking about marriage prospects?”
“It’s just a figure of speech. I was worried about who would take that troublemaker, but it worked out.”
Grandfather let out a deep sigh and shook his head. Only for a moment, before glaring at Cedric again.
“More importantly, what are you doing taking care of government affairs here instead of your office?”
“……”
Cedric put his glasses back on instead of answering.
He had ended up moving his desk to Grandfather’s bedroom. Grandfather kept grumbling at his willful grandson, but he didn’t seem in a bad mood.
“Bianca, put off marriage as long as you can. The thought of living alone with your boring brother is just dreadful.”
“A grandfather who blocks his granddaughter’s path—Grandfather, you should be deeply ashamed.”
“See for yourself. Your brother can’t even take a joke.”
Saying that, Grandfather reached toward the window. But when Cedric and I both looked at him at the same time, he quickly drew his hand back.
I spoke firmly.
“Didn’t the family doctor say we have to burn incense for a while?”
“If you’re going to do whatever you please, why not just get rid of the family doctor altogether?”
“……Truly merciless.”
At our scolding, Grandfather finally lay down. Only then did Cedric, relieved, change the topic.
“By the way, I didn’t expect the House of Hessen to agree to the breakup so easily.”
Cedric’s gaze turned to me.
“……Didn’t you take care of it, Brother?”
Judging from the atmosphere that day, it was the natural course of action even without Cedric’s hint.
“There was a terrorist attack at the Imperial Palace. I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with everything.”
……That’s true.
“Never mind. I spoke unnecessarily.”
Cedric withdrew his words and took a sip of tea.
Then he realized there was no response from Grandfather. When he looked over at him, Grandfather was deep in thought.
He looked terribly serious, as if he were in the midst of a grave concern.
“Grandfather?”
At my call, Grandfather finally snapped out of his thoughts.
“Is something bothering you?”
“No.”
Grandfather forced a smile and shook his head. Then he continued in a joking tone.
“I was just thinking, what if Leon was paired with Bianca.”
……That wasn’t the expression you had just now.
“Didn’t you say just a moment ago that it was too early to look for a match for Bianca?”
“You’re too much, it was just a passing thought.”
Cedric furrowed his brow.
“Why, does the thought of becoming family with Leon suffocate you already?”
“It’s not like we’d see much of each other anyway.”
Grandfather looked like he knew exactly what Cedric hadn’t said out loud. Cedric glanced at me.
“And besides, her standards aren’t that low.”
“……Ha ha.”
He tilted his head, as if to say, isn’t that right?
* * *
[Come to the Tower.]
Later, when I returned to my room, there was a note stuck in the window gap.
It didn’t have a sender, but I immediately knew who it was from.
‘Why is Peril asking me to come to the Tower all of a sudden?’
I had never been to the Tower before. Since Peril fell asleep, the Tower had remained locked, only supplying the magical tools the Empire requested.
If he was calling me to the Tower, perhaps he was finally ready to let people know he had awakened.
“Young Lady, I brought the books you asked for!”
Just then, Allen came into the room carrying a mountain of books.
“Can you put them on the desk?”
“Yes!”
Allen let out a grunt as he set the books down. Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“What got into you all of a sudden?”
I answered with a light shrug.
The books I had asked him for were related to the Magic War.
Since the books published in the Empire were written from the winner’s perspective, they didn’t contain the information I wanted. Because of that, I had no choice but to purchase books from Orphen.
“If it’s about the Magic War, wouldn’t it be quicker to ask Lord Blua?”
“I don’t really want to ask Grandfather about the past.”
At my words, Allen fell silent for a moment.
“……I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”
“No! Thank you for being considerate.”
He scratched his cheek awkwardly and walked toward the bookshelf.
“There are a lot of useful reference books on the shelf too. Should I take some out for you?”
“Would you?”
Allen began pulling out books one by one from the shelf. Meanwhile, I sat down and opened a book.
“There should be many in the library as well. I’ll go check th—”
Thud!
Just then, Allen dropped a book.
“You okay?”
Startled, I asked, and he gave me an embarrassed nod.
“Jeez, what’s with me today, making all these mistakes……”
I walked over to him and picked up the book. But then, I noticed something had fallen out of the open book.
“Young Lady, I’m sorry. If you give it to me, I’ll put it back in its place.”
“……”
“Young Lady?”
His voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“I said I’ll put it back in its place.”
Allen tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“Oh, now that I think about it, something fell out of the book.”
“……”
“If it’s trash, I’ll throw it away for you.”
Allen reached out his hand.
“……No. It’s okay.”
In one hand, I held a dried, shriveled four-leaf clover.
I couldn’t hold it tightly for fear of crushing it, and quickly returned to my seat.
After tucking the four-leaf clover back into the page, I closed the book. Even then, I couldn’t calm the swirling emotions inside me.
* * *
“……Is this the place?”
No matter how I looked at it, it was a ruined castle.
Overgrown vines had grotesquely covered the gate and walls.
I couldn’t feel a single presence inside the Tower. There wasn’t even a light, so I didn’t think anyone was inside.
“Uh, excuse me……?”
When I called out timidly, my voice echoed back.
“You said to come here……?”
I wondered if the gate might be open and tried pulling it, but it didn’t budge.
Clank!
Instead, a spine-chilling noise rang out, so I gave up.
“Sigh……”
Was I really going to have to climb the wall?
Just as I let out a heavy sigh, the gate, which seemed like it would never move, began to open.
“Huh?”
Someone was coming out of the Tower, and her eyes widened.
It was Idette.
She seemed at a loss, as if she hadn’t expected to see me here.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who remembered what had happened the last time we met.
……Should I say hello?
Just as the awkward silence was dragging on, Idette clutched her skirt tightly and shouted.
“I-I’m sorry!”
Then, as if afraid of my reaction, she bowed her head deeply.