Chapter 11
“…Miss… Lady?”
As soon as I stepped inside the innermost part, I saw a familiar woman. She looked like a mess. Her hair, once neatly done when I first saw her, was now disheveled. But her face—her gentle face—was still the same. Hebe clung to the iron bars with both hands, reaching out to me with an expression of disbelief.
“Hebe!”
I called her name and stood in front of her. Hebe crouched down to meet my eyes. Blood was matted on her forehead. Did they hit her on the back of the head and not even treat her afterward? She looked like she was in a lot of pain. I stared at her, worried.
“Hebe! Are you okay? You got hit on the head and they didn’t even treat you?!”
“Yes, it’s me, Hebe. Oh, kind lady… You’re worried about my head before anything else! But are you alright, miss? You’ve regained consciousness! Oh God, thank you. I’ve been so worried in here!”
Hearing her gentle voice brought tears to my eyes. Even though she was hurt too, she worried about me first. I was just so glad she was alive.
“I’m fine. The moment I heard you were wrongly imprisoned, I came to get you.”
“To think you’d worry about me when you yourself are probably still not well. That’s not right, miss. Of course I’m fine. Everyone here is only investigating because they’re worried about you. Naturally, I should be questioned too.”
She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. Poor Hebe still believed it was just an “investigation.” She hadn’t realized yet that Saldir had brought her in as a suspect. I held her hand tightly.
“Are you okay? I’ll get you out of here right away. I’ll make sure you’re treated.”
And then, I saw tears spill over from Hebe’s eyes. Her entire body began to tremble. Knowing exactly what she was feeling, I tried harder to grip her trembling hands through the bars. I could feel her shivering.
“Thank goodness? I don’t even deserve to be treated. If you hadn’t woken up, I was going to die with you.”
“Don’t say such horrible things…”
“But if I had lost you… My family lives in the Duchy of Sielcar, and I have a young son… I would have gone mad from the guilt…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, but I could guess what she was about to say. And soon, she began sobbing uncontrollably. I looked at her crumbling in front of me with sorrow.
If… just maybe…
If what Komet said was true—if I really was Verdette Sielcar—and if I really had been kidnapped by those men and abandoned in the alley… If everything I went through yesterday was something I had truly experienced as a child…
Then the people around me must have been tormented by guilt like this during my absence. Ironically, seeing Hebe cry comforted me deeply. When I was a child, wandering the back alleys with Myra and Anna, I truly believed no one loved me.
That even if I died, no one in this place would bat an eye, that they would walk past my body like it was just trash on the roadside. But… in truth, I had people like this. I had lived a life surrounded by good people like her.
Could this really be the life I had lost?
Did that man—and Komet—really return this life to me?
“…Hebe.”
I held her hand tightly. My throat choked up for some reason. As I tried to open my mouth while gripping her hand—
“Stop.”
A voice, a man’s voice I had never heard before, suddenly rang out.
I instinctively turned my head toward the entrance.
Standing in the doorway where I had come in was a handsome man dressed in a white ceremonial uniform. His hair was a mix of red and orange-blonde that reached his shoulders, and his eyes were the same earthy brown as Saldir’s. But he was far more striking—his features were stronger and more refined. If Saldir grew up, he would probably look just like him.
Albrecht Sielcar.
That must be my eldest brother.
The heir of House Sielcar. At twenty years old, already of age, he seemed to be fulfilling his duties as successor of the duchy.
Behind him stood knights in armor marked with the Sielcar crest, and Saldir, who had brought me here. When had he moved to that position?
“…”
I instinctively looked him up and down. I had a strong gut feeling that he was far more skilled than Saldir. And it didn’t seem wrong—he looked calm and experienced.
The man approached me slowly and looked down at me.
“Verdette, this is not a place you should be.”
“…”
He spoke briefly and then looked over at Saldir behind him. I could sense Saldir stiffen. That alone told me how strict the hierarchy between Albrecht and Saldir was. And that same hierarchy probably applied to me too. Maybe I was expected to lower my eyes and obey him without question.
But—
“I came to rescue my nanny.”
I looked up at him directly.
“My nanny doesn’t belong in here. I brought the real culprit myself, so please release her.”
“…The real culprit?”
Albrecht raised an eyebrow at my answer. He looked at me as if wondering, What sort of discipline should I give this little girl to make her behave?
After a moment, he spoke again, face expressionless.
“…Are you referring to the personal doctor Saldir carried in?”
I nodded emphatically, and Albrecht tilted his head slightly.
“But we’ve already received a credible internal report saying your nanny is the culprit. She was the last person with you when you were kidnapped, and she let you go off alone. On top of that, there were tips from inside the estate suspecting her.”
“Who made that report?”
I frowned and asked back. Albrecht’s brows furrowed. He glanced sideways at the adjutant standing to his left—a tall, dependable-looking man—who leaned in and whispered something into Albrecht’s ear. The moment he heard it, Albrecht’s expression changed.
“…It was Verdette’s personal doctor who reported it.”
“Told you so!”
I clenched my fists.
“My personal doctor is the culprit. She burned incense that suppressed my powers and made me lose them. She manipulated everyone into thinking I was just a tantrum-throwing child. She clearly said, ‘If this girl’s powers are suppressed, the day of the kidnapping will go smoothly.’ And this—”
I stepped up to Albrecht and emptied my pockets. Out came the incense pouch and a wasp-shaped brooch.
“What’s this?”
“These are things I got from checking the doctor’s bag—evidence. That medicine is what she gave me, so a chemical analysis will tell you exactly what it is. And the brooch—”
I looked him straight in the eyes.
“The man who kidnapped me used this brooch as a communication device. I took it after I knocked him out. Then, while going through the doctor’s bag, I found she had the exact same brooch.”
Albrecht listened without a word, his expression unreadable. He didn’t smile or spout nonsense like Saldir. Though their faces were so alike, I couldn’t guess at all what he was thinking. Compared to Saldir… maybe he didn’t welcome me as much.
But still—I couldn’t stay silent just because of that. I looked him in the eyes and held out the evidence.
