In a flurry, the personnel quickly began clearing away decorations that were at risk of falling.
Liselotte took off her bonnet and handed it to an employee, then firmly pulled on Eren’s hand.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
She stared at his gloved hand for a moment.
‘She is debating whether to take off the glove or not.’
Eren could feel even that action and intention clearly.
In the meantime, the salon owner politely accepted the flowerpot Eren was holding and apologized.
“My apologies, Your Highness. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Eren lightly clenched his fist toward Liselotte, who was still staring at the glove.
“I am fine.”
Only then did the tension leave Liselotte’s eyes.
She spoke to them gently, but with deliberate firmness.
“No one is hurt, so we will let it go, but you should be more careful next time.”
“We were careless since nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Grabbing the flower by the stem with one hand, she popped it out, then handed the pot straight to an employee and said firmly,
“Throw the pot away, and plant the flower in the flower bed in front of the boutique. From now on, there will be nothing in our place that could possibly fall.”
At that somewhat extreme conclusion, Liselotte’s shoulders twitched.
For some reason, Eren had even anticipated that movement.
Even though he wasn’t in the middle of a subjugation, all of his senses were sharply focused on Liselotte.
“We are truly sorry. As an apology, we will prepare the items you tried on today and send them to your residence.”
“Oh, that is not necessary…”
In the exchange between the salon owner and her, every small gesture and expression was vividly clear to his eyes.
It was the same sensitivity he only felt when facing monsters.
Overwhelmed by the excessive amount of information and unable to make sense of it, Eren’s eyelids crumpled slightly.
Thinking he was angry, Liselotte grabbed his arm.
“Your Highness, let us go.”
There was no reason to refuse.
After leaving the salon, Liselotte walked along the streets of the Capital, chattering away.
“I am sure that when I lifted my head to put on the bonnet, I saw the flowerpot pushed deep onto the shelf, you know? Even if it fell, it wasn’t positioned to fall on me. Eren, you saw it too, right?”
She spoke without even taking a breath, then suddenly turned her head toward Eren.
Across from them, a group of priests walking while looking at parchment was making a commotion.
“Are you sure the location marking is not wrong?”
“That can’t be. Let me see it again.”
Snatch, as the parchment was yanked from a fellow priest, one of them staggered from the recoil.
They were at a fairly distant spot, but it grated on Eren’s nerves.
Eren swiftly pulled Liselotte toward him and hid her behind his back.
The staggering priest fell with a thud exactly where Liselotte had been standing.
The startled priests helped their colleague up and apologized.
“Oh dear, we are very sorry.”
When Eren stared down at them in silence instead of replying, the group of priests, perhaps feeling awkward, bowed their heads slightly and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Only then did Eren belatedly answer Liselotte’s question.
“I was watching you, so I do not remember.”
Liselotte protested in an incredulous tone.
“…You seem bad at distinguishing materials too.”
“I cannot tell them apart.”
Liselotte would pick out even the smallest details, but he had no such knack.
If one wore it on their head it was a bonnet, and if one wrapped it around their arms it was a shawl.
Beyond that, no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t tell what the difference was, but since Liselotte seemed pleased, he simply didn’t want to dampen her mood.
Liselotte scrunched the bridge of her nose briefly and let out a sigh.
“Well, it is fine. More importantly, why is today so…”
A maid passing by Liselotte’s side with a stack of boxes piled high staggered.
Eren skillfully lifted Liselotte by the waist with both hands and set her down in a safe spot.
“Aaah!”
Watching the maid spill the boxes onto the ground with a clatter, Liselotte asked seriously,
“Why does it feel like there are so many accidents today…?”
“Indeed.”
Perhaps because of that, Eren thought that this heightened sensitivity was due to the threats that had occurred in such a short span of time.
Liselotte ran a hand through her hair and sighed.
“I suppose there are days like this. Days when nothing goes right, when even falling backward breaks your nose. We should stop here today and head back.”
Even as she said that, she subtly moved closer to Eren’s side.
When he looked down at the warmth he felt beside him, she smiled bashfully, lips curling into a shy grin.
“The safest place.”
At those words, Eren suddenly felt a sharp twinge somewhere in his heart.
***
Three days before the third hearing date.
As Liselotte was sipping strong tea in her room, a magic circle appeared before her eyes.
She was beginning to feel accustomed to this magic that appeared without warning.
From within it, Virki popped his head out.
“Lise!”
“They say the Grand Duke’s estate is protected by magic tools, so why is it that they do not react to you, Lord Virki?”
At her casually tossed remark, Virki stepped fully into the room, dusting off his robe with a few pats and blinking.
“Because I made it?”
“Ah, I see.”
When Liselotte answered immediately, Virki trotted over to the front of the desk.
Gently gripping the edge of the desk with both hands, he leaned in and met her gaze.
“You see, Lise. The East is in complete chaos.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than, with a pop, a letter appeared in front of Liselotte.
[This is a notice from House Inhora.
Recently, rumors have been spreading that our House intentionally took part in fraud in the lawsuit between House Gloria and the Magic Tower, and we hereby issue this notice to correct them.
House Inhora has never been involved in any illegal activities.]
It seemed the aftermath was quite significant.
Yet strangely, there were no such signs visible on the outside at all.
Tilting her head, Liselotte asked,
“Even after sending out a notice like that, it is surprisingly quiet, isn’t it?”
“Oh, that’s because House Gloria is filing defamation lawsuits against everyone who brings it up! It seems they’ve received quite a lot of contact from noble Houses!”
“…What is this? Are they lacking in intelligence?”
At a time when they should be placating others, wouldn’t this only provoke even more resentment?
Merchant guilds couldn’t completely ignore the East, so even if House Gloria came forward brazenly, some degree of damage control would be possible.
However, most of those who had purchased magic tools were nobles.
Of course, they were not from families as high-ranking as the one ruling the East, but it would still be unreasonable to ignore all of them given their sheer number.
Even in the midst of this, Virki explained with a bright smile.
“I secretly sent a magician to the East and heard that Duke Gloria thinks that if he shuts people up with defamation charges, they’ll get scared and quiet down. After all, given enough time, rumors naturally die down.”
“I do not think so at all, but if that is what he believes.”
He was tangling his own fate with his own hands anyway, so there was no need to concern herself that far.
Setting aside the East’s blundering that held no interest for her, Liselotte propped her chin on her hand and asked him,
“Haa… more importantly, Lord Virki. Is there anything we could put forward as evidence that the East is short on funds?”
“Isn’t it obvious at a glance that money is draining away rapidly in real time?”
“I mean something that would remain as documentary evidence. Otherwise, at least something that explains why House Gloria is doing this in the first place…”
They needed to secure additional evidence before the next hearing date.
And it wasn’t as though they could simply sneak into House Gloria and steal evidence, after all.
At that moment. A knock sounded, tap tap.
“Your Highness. A letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
Click, the door opened as Hedmilton entered, holding up a letter stamped with the Imperial seal.
Blinking, Liselotte asked,
“If it’s an official document, shouldn’t you take it to Eren?”
However, Hedmilton replied firmly with a puzzled expression.
“It’s not that. His Highness the Crown Prince personally sent this letter to you.”
