Chapter 11
Raphael had collapsed, and I’d heard that Sir Agnes had been sent out on a mission.
And Schloitz—well, I didn’t give him a blessing…
There seemed to be a bit of unrest spreading in the military after the whole incident with Prince Madros being harshly rejected by me, but I didn’t know the details.
One thing was certain—Marc Hunt, the second-in-command, had become hard to find these past few days. I wasn’t sure if he was avoiding me on purpose or just busy with something else.
Could he be trying to win over Raphael right now?
With Raphael collapsed, this was the perfect chance to sway him.
I was thinking I might go visit Raphael when something unexpected happened.
“Hector?”
“My lady!”
When I heard a visitor from Lefevre had arrived, I was confused. But it turned out to be Hector. He was buried in paperwork as always, but he stood up quickly the moment he saw me.
“You look amazing in uniform!”
“Thanks. But why are you here?”
“Oh, I came about the Oparts. I thought I should see the Commander in person. And also…”
He leaned in and whispered,
“Sorry, but could I get a lock of your hair?”
“You still have Enrico’s?”
“It’s a little shorter now.”
“Oh my god…”
I untied the ribbon holding up my hair.
“Make sure to cut it evenly.”
“Yes, my lady!”
Seriously? He even brought scissors.
He’d clearly come prepared. And he wasn’t new to this either—he snipped the hair quickly and skillfully.
He carefully placed the hair into a cloth pouch he’d brought and muttered to himself.
“I hope I can use all of this, but… as you know, freshly cut hair is best for Oparts. I probably won’t even use a tenth of it.”
“Can you stop treating me like some kind of magical herb?”
“When did I ever treat you like that? I worship you.”
“You worship herbs.”
“No, I don’t! Besides, even though Enrico and I are both from Lefebvre, I definitely don’t worship him.”
Hector smiled mischievously.
“By the way, my lady. I heard Prince Madros proposed to you.”
“Yeah…”
In any case, it was a matter between families. It looked like the Madros family had even sent a formal marriage proposal to the Lefevre estate.
They followed all the proper etiquette, just changed the name of the bride-to-be so I wouldn’t be able to reject it outright.
“Enrico’s really upset.”
“Enri? Why?”
“He was grumbling for two days, saying that if he had gone, none of that would’ve happened.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“Tell him that even if he had come, it still would’ve turned out this way.”
“…What?”
Hector looked confused. I just smiled.
Then a voice called out from nearby.
“Hector Aisen. The Commander is summoning you.”
“Oh, I’ll go now.”
Hector stood up and, naturally, offered me his arm like an escort.
It’s a common gesture, but—
Something he said a moment ago nagged at me.
“‘Lord’ Aisen?”
“Yes?”
“That title’s wrong. You’re not a ‘lord,’ you’re a ‘young master.’”
“Oh… no, my lady. The title is correct.”
“…When did you inherit the title?”
“A few days ago.”
“The former Lord Aisen passed it to you? I didn’t know. Congratulations.”
“Ah, no, my lady…”
“Hm?”
“It’s not really something to congratulate…”
He added quietly,
“My father passed away four days ago.”
“…What?”
I stopped in my tracks, stunned. Since he was holding my arm, he also stopped naturally.
He looked down at me and asked,
“Is something wrong?”
What’s wrong?
“What do you mean, I didn’t hear anything about your father passing?”
“Well, of course you didn’t. I didn’t tell you.”
“No, but…”
I was at a loss for words. It made sense that I wouldn’t have heard about the death if I was stationed in the military…
“But shouldn’t you be in the Aisen territory right now?”
“The funeral is tomorrow.”
“…Wait, then shouldn’t you be there now?”
“I’ll go after I finish this.”
“Won’t that be too late?”
“Not completely.”
“You could’ve just sent Enri here. You should’ve gone to the territory first.”
Hector scratched his cheek.
“But then, my lady, I wouldn’t have been able to get your hair.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“My lady… may I ask why you’re looking at me like I’ve gone insane?”
“…”
“My lady?”
“Are you seriously asking?”
I glared at Hector, and he flinched.
“Just go meet the Commander quickly and get back to your territory. Seriously…”
What is wrong with this guy?
I told the officer nearby to prepare the fastest horse immediately, then grabbed Hector’s arm and stormed off.
Hector let himself be dragged, asking,
“My lady? Are you angry? My lady?”
“Enri…”
I couldn’t even get the words out from the sheer absurdity. I cleared my throat and tried again.
“Enri told you he’d attend the funeral, didn’t he?”
“I told him it was a family-only ceremony.”
Unbelievable.
“If you don’t say that, how else could I come here?”
His voice sounded so genuinely wronged, it made my head spin.
“I swear, if Enrico dissects you later, you’ll deserve it.”
“He’s way stronger than me.”
“Don’t touch my father either.”
“I would never. I’m a man who plans to marry you—how could I?”
I was speechless. The only saving grace was that my mother wasn’t from Lefevre, so this lunatic probably had no weird ideas. Also, my father was an only child, so we didn’t have many close relatives.
Wait. Why do I even have to think about this?
That innocent-looking face of his was beyond frustrating. And to make matters worse, his hair was a clear, refreshing sky-blue that made him look even more harmless.
“I didn’t plan on marrying you before, but now I really can’t.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because if I do, I feel like I’ll end up on an autopsy table.”
“What? I’d rather dissect my own hand than dissect you!”
“That’s even worse!”
I shivered.
“My lady! Why are you looking at me like I’m some sort of monster?”
We were arguing when suddenly, Hector grabbed my hand.
“Your hands are really cold.”
“Because of you! I got scared!”
“You get startled easily.”
How is this a small thing?!
He glanced at me nervously. I took a deep breath and pulled my hand away. He let go without protest.
Yeah.
Something had felt off.
Enrico had always hated it when Hector came to cut my hair. So why had he let him come here so easily?
I thought maybe Enrico was just too busy, or that Hector had thrown a fit he couldn’t handle…
But maybe it was because of the funeral. Hector used that excuse to come and take my hair.
Enrico…
How do you live with this lunatic?
Of course, Aisen is a very low-ranking noble family. They probably don’t have many retainers, and the funeral would be small.
But still—what kind of madness makes someone come all the way to the military just to get my hair, when their father’s funeral is tomorrow?
“Just see the Commander and go straight back.”
“But, my lady, I need your hair to research—”
I gave him a look, and he shut his mouth.
“I’ll go immediately.”
****
That day, Hector didn’t even last a few hours before I sent him back to Aisen.
My head was in a mess.
This world… it’s really a novel with a crazy title.
I needed to remember this.
It wasn’t a story about good and evil—it was a story where every place had people who were just unhinged.
Maybe Prince Madros is crazy too?
I tightened my grip on my sword. I went into my room and walked quietly to the bed. Then I stabbed the blanket with the end of my sheathed sword.
I checked the bathroom and wardrobe one by one. Once I was sure no one was hiding, I finally relaxed and sat in the chair.
Then I remembered what Hector had said before he left—something that stuck with me.
“My lady.”
“Yeah?”
“You seem really afraid of the Commander. You can’t even look him in the eye.”
“…Maybe.”
Hector had no idea what had happened between me and Schloidtz when we were younger. Enrico didn’t know either, so that made sense.
And yet, that crazy man—who seemed to care only about Oparts and the Lefevre body—noticed that I was avoiding Schloitz.
That alone felt strange.
“Then… since that might be difficult for you, I’ll try harder.”
“…?”
Hector saying he’d “try harder” made me even more nervous.
Even if I wanted to ask what he meant, I knew it was pointless. Once Hector shut his mouth, he never opened it again.
So I just pushed him out as fast as I could.
His bizarre behavior was frustrating, but thanks to that lunatic, it looked like we’d be getting new Oparts soon.
As long as they don’t say something like, “This time, the blessing must go on the lips,” it’ll be fine.
Though I had a feeling Enrico would prefer dumping the responsibility entirely on Schloitz instead.
****
Monsters.
They were the beginning, middle, and end of all tragedy in The Mad Beauty’s Demise.
Monsters destroyed living beings mercilessly—yet they were larger and stronger than any other lifeform.
They were said to appear mostly in places known as “the ruins of devastation.”
