It was a sudden apology.
“L-Lady Idette?”
“About what happened at the ball……”
Idette's voice trailed off. She paused for a long time, seemingly struggling to continue.
“I apologize for suspecting Lady Bianca.”
I couldn’t help but be quite surprised by what followed.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected her to apologize.
Momentarily dazed by the unexpected situation, I barely managed to respond.
“It's, it's alright.”
“……What?”
Idette’s eyes widened, as if she had just heard something unbelievable. Caught up in the confusion, I lost the composure I had been maintaining.
“I-I suspected Lady Bianca, you know? You could have ended up in an unfair position!”
Perhaps thinking I hadn’t grasped the situation, Idette, uncharacteristically passionate, continued speaking.
“If the false rumors had spread, it would’ve been too late to correct them……!”
“I-I understand that, but you’ve already apologized, haven’t you?”
“……”
“Realizing one’s mistake is an important thing.”
At that moment, someone’s voice filled my mind.
〈Everything you went through was entirely my fault.〉
Struck by the sudden memory, I was at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Idette kept talking.
“If I were Lady Bianca, I wouldn’t have let it go so easily. You would’ve been angrier with me! Even if not that……!”
Realizing she had gotten overly emotional, she suddenly stopped. Then, she silently brushed her arm and lowered her gaze.
“……I guess I just said it to ease my own conscience.”
An unfamiliar air settled over us. Feeling awkward, I rolled my eyes and spoke offhandedly.
“Do you want to become the Empress, Lady Idette?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without a moment’s hesitation. She seemed to regret speaking so quickly. As I waited in silence for her to continue, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“……A long time ago, my father told me. That I was destined to become the most noble woman in the Empire.”
Destined, huh.
A strange word, but come to think of it, it wasn’t entirely wrong. In the original story, Idette ruled as a great mage and became the Empress of the Empire.
That was Idette’s predetermined ending.
“To do that, he said we need to regain what we lost.”
It seemed she meant the power of Eileens.
Piecing together the scattered puzzle pieces, I asked her a question.
“How do you plan to get it back?”
“Well……”
Idette hesitated for a moment. Then, after a brief pause, she wore an expression of resolve.
“The Duke said he would help me.”
It was an unexpected title.
“Lady Bianca, do you remember what I told you before?”
〈I can’t explain in detail right now, but the Duke and I……〉
“We’re going to uncover the secret the Empire has been hiding.”
Did she mean restoring the name of the Eileens?
It was certainly something Idette, as their descendant, would do.
But if that happened…
It would bring about a situation my grandfather feared more than death itself.
“……And after that?”
“My role ends there. Recovering what was lost, and becoming Empress. What happens after that, I don’t really know.”
“……”
“After that, the Duke will fulfill what he wishes.”
What Ricardo wanted?
I remembered the last look on his face vividly.
Was that the face of someone with a wish?
He had said I looked like I was about to suddenly disappear.
But the one who truly hadn’t looked in the mirror was that man.
“……What does Ricardo want?”
“Well, hmm, since he respects Lord Harnen, maybe he wants to leave behind achievements as great as his.”
Idette replied lightly.
Elliot had said that Ricardo had something he ‘must do’ for the family. That he didn’t want it.
Someone like that couldn’t possibly want to resemble Harnen.
“Come to think of it, you came to see Peril, right, Lady Bianca? I’ve held you up for too long. You should go in.”
“Ah, Lady Idette.”
“Yes?”
“With this, your debt to me is paid.”
Idette widened her eyes in surprise and shook her head hastily.
“Th-There’s no such thing as that!”
Didn’t you just deny that yourself?
“If you really feel bad, then do me a favor sometime later.”
I clearly said it was okay.
“Of course! If it’s a favor from you, Lady Bianca, anything!”
Idette, unaware that she had fallen for my trick like water flowing, sighed in relief.
I did feel a little guilty, but having a debt owed might come in handy.
“Well then, see you later.”
I bid her goodbye and ran toward Peril, who was approaching us.
* * *
“You looked like you died on the way here.”
“You really have a way with words.”
The Magic Tower had looked like ruins from the outside, but once inside, people were moving busily.
The people performing their tasks looked like clockwork.
Some stirred a large cauldron with steam rising from it, while others assembled machine parts like in a factory.
“Delivery day is in a week, so everyone’s in a frenzy.”
Peril commented casually.
“……I didn’t realize people were working since the lights are always off.”
“There are always those suffering behind the comfort of others.”
“That’s true.”
“Watch out.”
At his words, I instinctively looked down and saw a rat scurrying away quickly.
“C-Can you catch that for me……!”
A boy with crooked glasses ran toward us in a panic, holding a butterfly net.
“Simon, what are you doing knocking over the boxes!”
“Uwaah, I’m sorry!”
……Even the marketplace would be quieter than this.
The boy, called Simon, flailed his net around with a terrified look on his face.
I-Isn’t something about to go wrong like this?
“Can’t you catch it with magic?”
“I mean, I can.”
“Then you should at least try……”
“I won’t.”
Peril shrugged with a pleasant expression.
“Rats are scary.”
Meanwhile, Simon ended up causing an accident.
Crash!
“Simon! You really……!”
He not only tipped over a cauldron but also swung the net poorly and shattered a wall decoration.
“Ahh! That painting I brought back from the desert……!”
Wails echoed everywhere as people scrambled to avoid the rat.
Of course, I wasn’t much different.
Should I bring in a cat from somewhere? Or could I even find one? My thoughts were spiraling when—
Thud!
Simon, who had been charging like a runaway train, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The surroundings fell silent in an instant. A chill ran down my spine as I turned to Peril.
“……”
He stood there with the butterfly net flipped over his head.
Don’t laugh.
Hold it in.
“Pfft……”
Despite my efforts, I couldn’t stop the laughter slipping through my teeth.
* * *
“I’ve committed a mortal sin……”
Simon, on his knees with his hands raised toward the sky, confessed in a voice barely above a whisper.
“……I won’t cause trouble ever again.”
“If you behave like this even in Orphen, it’ll definitely be a problem, won’t it?”
“N-No! In the kingdom……”
When Peril let out a deep sigh, Simon couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
“Huh, you're going to Orphen?”
“I told you the delivery date is soon, didn’t I?”
I naturally assumed he meant the Empire.
“Looks like I’ll have to find someone else to go to the Kingdom.”
At Peril’s words, Simon’s face stiffened completely. It wasn’t even my fault, but I ended up feeling awkward too.
“Go on. I’ll talk to Lily.”
“Yes……”
Simon glanced at me with an expression like he was about to cry.
……But what’s with that look like he’s blaming me?
It was a look that said I had taken his place.
Left speechless, my lips just moved silently, and Peril chimed in.
“Thanks to you, the Empire’s been quite noisy lately, huh?”
I shot Peril with a quiet glare.
“It’s all your fault, teacher.”
“A thank you should sound a bit sweeter.”
“……You knew this would happen when you sent me to Ricardo, didn’t you?”
“You’re just now realizing that?”
Peril smiled contentedly.
“I don’t get why you’re reacting like this. You hated that man, didn’t you?”
“T-That’s……”
“Then you should be thanking me for pushing you toward him.”
He replied with a laugh in his voice.