CHAPTER 48……………………………………….
“Wouldn’t it be easier if we just changed who’s making the complaint?”
“Huh?”
“You said the bloodline of the Marquis of So is tainted.”
And the Marquis’s house was a family that had existed since the founding of the kingdom.
Families this old tended to value bloodline even more than gender.
“If we seize on that, it’d be easy to remove the marquis.”
Choosing a proper successor was also the head of the family’s responsibility.
Which meant that if there was a problem, they had to take responsibility for it and step down.
“Wouldn’t it be convenient to put the power in Miss Direna’s hands?”
If this process went smoothly, they’d gain the support of House Karen, the marquis’s family.
After all, it would mean that Yujire was the one who had effectively made Direna the marquis.
“That’s… no, it’s definitely possible.”
Yujire murmured with a thoughtful expression.
Laseil often proposed solutions like this—ideas no one else had even considered.
Sometimes those methods were extremely radical.
It was probably because the ghosts around them were so old.
“But will it be all right? There was an issue between you and Miss Direna at the ball.”
“Was there?”
“…Never mind, if you don’t remember.”
Sometimes it was hard to understand how someone could be this oblivious.
“Anyway, fine. More importantly, we have another guest to receive.”
Yujire muttered while glancing out the window.
Following that gaze, a familiar face came into view.
“Sir Sieren? Was there something else to investigate?”
“Who knows? Either way, it looks like we should go greet him.”
Laseil immediately headed out, opening the gates of the lord’s castle.
They hadn’t been apart for very long, but for some reason, it felt good to see him.
“Oh—Sir Jaen?”
The moment their eyes met, a flicker of panic crossed Irenes’s face.
“Weren’t you inside?”
“I saw you from outside.”
“…Is he uncomfortable after all?”
Up until just a moment ago he’d seemed perfectly calm, but his attitude had noticeably changed.
At times like this, Laseil found herself wanting to ask Irenes directly what he was thinking.
She had never actually acted on that thought, not even once.
“…Why haven’t I?”
Laseil fell into thought again.
This was surely the best solution.
She’d always avoided asking, afraid she’d get a negative answer.
“…Why was I afraid of that?”
At worst, a guess would just turn into certainty.
While Laseil was lost in thought, Irenes’s voice reached her.
“Sir Jaen? Are you all right?”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, keeping a guest waiting.”
“I’m the one who came to see you. Um… sorry, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier.”
Irenes asked, looking far more awkward than before.
“Were the castle windows always like that?”
Laseil turned her head toward the windows.
They were on the side where an unoccupied room was.
Handprints were smeared all over the glass.
“And were the trees always like that?”
The shadow cast by the tree was extremely strange.
It looked exactly like a person hanging from it.
“There’s no damage, so it’s fine to leave it as is.”
Laseil replied in a slightly brighter voice.
Realizing the reason behind Irenes’s reaction put her more at ease.
“…Pardon?”
Irenes, meanwhile, seemed even more tense than before.
“Don’t the residents complain?”
“They’re used to it, so it’s fine.”
When things like this first started happening, everyone had come by in shock.
But that didn’t last long.
As always, the residents adapted quickly.
“Some even say it feels lonely without it now.”
Compared to the territory’s other supernatural phenomena, it was actually relatively safe.
People no longer paid much attention to things like shadows moving on their own, the sound of a child crying for an hour, or strange marks appearing on trees.
There were even parents who warned their kids not to use it as an excuse to skip studying.
“…So you don’t need to worry too much.”
“But couldn’t it get worse?”
That was a perspective Laseil had never considered.
The supernatural phenomena in the territory had never changed that way before.
But with a new phenomenon added, it did seem worth considering.
“Of course, I can handle it—no, I mean, that’s why I’m here, so this isn’t boasting, it’s just—”
At that point, Irenes began stumbling over his words again.
It seemed he couldn’t organize what he wanted to say.
Meanwhile, Laseil had just recalled the question she’d been meaning to ask him.
“Sir Sieren?”
“Yes—sorry—yes?”
“Have you heard the rumors that Miss Direna has changed?”
“Miss Direna?”
Since he’d been in the capital, he might know more than Laseil did.
Irenes blinked blankly before answering.
“I’m not sure… ah, there was some strange talk going around.”
They said she’d completely changed overnight.
That she seemed oddly afraid of people.
Apparently, she couldn’t even properly meet the eyes of people she used to look down on.
“The rumors might be exaggerated, but that’s what I heard.”
“Do you think she’s really possessed?”
“I’d like to believe she isn’t… ah, Sir Jaen.”
Irenes, who seemed to have finally regained his composure, continued.
“If it’s all right, could you guide me around the territory once more? …It’s not personal feelings or anything, it’s just—”
Belatedly recalling what the knights had said, Irenes hurriedly added an explanation.
And immediately began to regret it.
‘That makes it sound like I’m drawing a line between us!’
Why was it that he could never speak properly whenever he stood in front of Laseil?
As he silently cursed his own lack of eloquence, Laseil’s voice reached him.
“Sure. I actually have something personal I’d like to ask as well.”
“…What?”
It was extremely rare for Laseil to ask Irenes a question.
And when she did, it was usually about House Lesean.
He’d never heard her ask something that could be described as “personal.”
“Shall we walk a bit first?”
“…Yes.”
Irenes stiffly followed behind Laseil.
He was so tense that he couldn’t even take in the scenery around him.
Thanks to that, he failed to notice the skull in the tree or the footprints appearing on the wall.
‘Is this about dark magic? The succession issue in House Lesean? Or maybe…’
All kinds of speculation ran through his mind.
But Laseil didn’t say anything until they were quite far from the lord’s castle.
“…This might be an impolite question, but I couldn’t find the answer on my own.”
Just as Irenes was on the verge of fainting from nerves, Laseil spoke.
“Have you ever been in a romantic relationship?”
“…Romance?”
He’d had more than enough unrequited love, but he’d never dated anyone.
“Or ever been confessed to?”
‘Should I say no? Or say yes?’
Irenes hesitated.
If he said yes, it felt like he’d be denying that Laseil was his first love.
But if he said no, he’d seem like someone with no appeal.
“…About three times, a few years ago.”
Before his thoughts could settle, his mouth blurted out an honest answer.
It was always hard to lie to Laseil.
“A few years ago…”
“Yes. Before I was pushed out of the line of succession.”
It was more likely they’d coveted the name of House Sieren than Irenes himself.
Though Irenes didn’t think of it that way.
‘Still, they chose me over other options.’
And unless he could read minds, there was no way to know their true feelings.
If any of those confessions had been sincere, it would have been rude to belittle them like that.
“I rejected them all. Uh—are you perhaps planning to confess to someone…?”
“Nothing like that. I just keep hearing about engagements.”
With the capital in the middle of the social season, there was plenty of talk about romance.
The duke’s knights often wrote about such rumors in their letters as well.
“I was just curious what that kind of feeling is.”
Then she’d be able to be sure what this feeling was.
An emotion you couldn’t name was far more unsettling than one might expect.
“Ah, you asked for a tour of the territory, didn’t you?”
Embarrassed, Laseil hurriedly changed the subject.
“That tree over there—lately, its leaves shake every night even when there’s no wind…”
It was called a tour of the territory, but it was closer to a horror experience.
Irenes quietly accepted the situation he’d brought upon himself once again.
