Rumors Travel Faster Than Words
By the time we descended from the southern tower, even the air inside the imperial palace had changed.
The servants were far too quiet. The knights locked eyes more often than usual. Officials offered their greetings while sweeping their gazes over our party one by one as they passed.
Rumors traveled faster than feet.
The princess did not break stride as she asked the knight midway down the corridor,
"What of Edgar Roen?"
The knight who had fallen in behind her answered in a low voice.
"Your Highness, Deputy Keeper of the Records Edgar Roen's office was empty. One personal seal box and several record stamps are missing."
The lady asked shortly,
"And his residence?"
"Signs he vacated it before dawn. His name does not appear in the northern gate logs, but one carriage supply record does not match."
The princess's eyes narrowed.
"Where is the mismatched record?"
The knight drew a breath before answering.
"One of the northeastern envoy supply ledgers appears to have been forged."
I stopped walking without meaning to.
Of course.
The princess seemed to catch the reaction. She glanced at me once without a word, then continued on.
"To the reception room."
It was a short command.
The place we entered was different from the morning's conference chamber. This time it was deeper inside—an unofficial reception room with long windows. An old map of the northern and eastern border lines hung on the wall, and several new bundles of documents already lay stacked on the table.
The princess did not even sit as she unfolded one of them.
"Let us take stock."
The lady took her place opposite. I stopped a step later in front of the table.
The princess tapped the paper with one finger.
"Edgar Roen moved between the Records Office and the Barrier Keepers' Office, forging internal records and creating experimental gaps in the palace barriers."
The lady added,
"And he attempted to burn the materials stored in the southern tower archives before fleeing."
I spoke quietly.
"The problem is that he was not acting alone."
The princess nodded.
"Leo Benhardt was a pawn. Edgar Roen is at least mid-level management. There is every chance someone stands above him."
The room fell silent for a moment.
I looked down at the list of northeastern barrier lines spread across the table. The palace had been a rehearsal. The real target was the third northeastern line—and my territory sat right in the middle of it.
The princess followed my gaze.
"Lord Elberhart."
"…Yes."
"It seems you no longer have a choice."
I swallowed a weary sigh.
"Did I ever have one to begin with?"
The corner of the princess's mouth moved, just slightly.
"If you had, you would already have fled the capital by now."
The lady continued in a cold voice.
"It is far too late for that. If Edgar Roen has slipped away to the northeast, the third northeastern line is already in danger."
I slowly curled my bandaged hand into a fist.
"Then we should pursue him at once—"
The princess shook her head.
"Not blindly. We still do not know whether any of the enemy's people remain inside the palace. Move too hastily and we will only advertise that we have already noticed."
"Then what?"
"We change the pretext."
Her gaze shifted to the map on the wall.
"Officially: an inspection of the northeastern relay lines following the banquet hall barrier anomaly. Unofficially: the pursuit of Edgar Roen and the defense of the third northeastern line."
The lady answered at once.
"Your Highness intends to go in person?"
"I must. Without the cover of a direct imperial inspection, it will be difficult to take immediate control of the local knight orders and the Barrier Keepers' Office."
I looked at the princess.
"Your Highness means to travel all the way to the northeast yourself…?"
"Is there a problem?"
"Not a problem, exactly…"
I chose my words carefully and stopped. The princess moving in person meant the weight of the affair had grown that much heavier.
The lady added in a calm voice,
"I will accompany you as well. Since it borders northern defenses, the excuse is more than sufficient."
The princess spoke without so much as a smile.
"Lady Rubenheim has no need to invent an excuse. If the third northeastern line falls, the northern outskirts come next."
That much was true.
I kept my eyes on the map as I spoke.
"So I am to be both bait and guide."
The princess answered,
"Guide and principal party."
Just then a knock sounded from outside the door.
At the princess's leave, a knight entered and bowed.
"Your Highness. The draft of the official statement regarding the banquet hall collapse has been submitted. The reactions from the noble houses have also been compiled."
The princess held out her hand.
She took the documents and her eyes raced down several lines. Then she paused for the briefest moment.
"As expected."
The lady asked,
"What does it say?"
The princess set the papers on the table as if tossing them.
"The banquet hall barrier anomaly has been written off as 'instability in an aging relay line.' The problem is what comes after."
I looked down at the paper.
Summary of noble house reactions.
Exactly as expected. Rumors about the broken engagement between House Valter and House Elberhart being reversed. Even rumors that the princess had taken in a lesser noble. Nothing good in any of it.
The lady said coldly,
"They mixed faster than I thought."
The princess answered without concern.
"Because we left them free to mix."
I lifted my eyes from the paper and asked,
"Did you calculate even these rumors from the start?"
The princess looked at me.
"They are more than enough reason for you to be included in the northeastern inspection party. You are a material witness to the palace barrier anomaly and the first person to detect the relay line instability. The gossip is merely a bonus. For us, it is the perfect pretext."
The accuracy of it was almost unpleasant.
The lady turned another page and spoke low.
"House Valter has moved as well."
"How?"
"There are traces of the count's house inquiring after your schedule for returning to the border and whether you remain at the palace."
I was silent for a moment.
Serena might do that. But once the entire count's house began to move, the matter changed. It meant calculation had begun to mix with emotion.
The princess lightly tapped the edge of the table with her fingertips.
"All the better that there is no reason to delay further."
She summoned a servant.
"Have departure preparations complete by noon today. Keep the retinue to a minimum. Escort only from the imperial knight order."
The lady spoke at once as well.
"I will send word to House Rubenheim myself. Frame it as concurrent inspection of the northern borders."
The princess nodded.
Everything was rolling forward far too quickly. It seemed to be rolling properly, yet my head could barely keep pace.
I asked one last question.
"Your Highness, is it truly all right to depart while Edgar Roen is still at large?"
The princess's gaze sank low.
"The likelihood is high that he has already headed for the northeast. Whatever traces he left inside the palace, we can sweep them up ourselves. What matters now is resolving the next incident before it occurs."
The lady added,
"If we are late, the same thing will repeat on the third northeastern line."
There was no need to hear more.
I nodded quietly.
That was when it happened.
Another knock came from outside the door—this one more hesitant.
A knight entered, eyes lowered, and said,
"Your Highness. Lady Valter… has come again."
The princess looked at me very slowly.
This time I did not look away either.
She asked the knight,
"Alone?"
"Yes. She has dismissed even her maid."
The air in the room drew taut.
The princess considered for a moment, then said,
"Very well. Do not admit her—"
Her gaze settled on me.
"Lord Elberhart. I will give you five minutes."
The lady's eyes lifted by the barest fraction.
I asked back,
"Now… you mean?"
"Was this not a conversation that needed ending before departure in any case?"
I had no good feeling about it. But neither was it something that would end simply by running from it.
I withdrew from my place slowly.
When I stepped out into the corridor, Serena stood alone by the window. She looked thinner than she had that morning. The hem of her gray dress fell straight beneath the sill. The carefully composed face only made the night's heartache more plain.
She turned as I approached.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
I opened my mouth first.
"Lady Valter."
Serena glanced briefly at my bandaged hand, then raised her eyes.
"I hear you are going to the northeast."
It was the face of someone who had already come to confirm whether the rumor was true.
I answered shortly.
"I am."
"Is it dangerous?"
"It would be stranger if it were not."
Serena pressed her lips together. Then, with great difficulty, she said,
"…Could you not go?"
The words were far more desperate than I had expected, enough that for a moment I forgot how to answer.
I looked at her and spoke low.
"You know as well as I do, my lady."
Serena's eyes wavered.
"If I do not go, what comes next is my territory."
She curled her fingertips into her palm—the habit I had seen again and again.
"Then at least."
Serena swallowed once.
"Please say you will come back alive."
The corridor fell quiet for a moment.
I looked at her. I had not expected to hear such words at this point. Strangely, her plea seemed closer to fear than to lingering attachment.
In the end I said, very briefly,
"I have no intention of dying. Not yet."
Serena did not look reassured even after hearing it. She only wore the fragile face of someone who had managed to catch a sleeve just before it was too late.
I did not linger longer.
"I will take my leave now, my lady."
Once again Serena could not hold me back. Only, just before I turned, she said very softly,
"…This time, I will wait."
I did not stop walking. I did not need to ask what those words meant.
When I returned to the reception room, the princess and the lady were already finishing the departure documents. The princess asked nothing as I entered; she simply handed the last of the luggage to a knight.
"Already finished?"
"The business is done."
"Then we leave at once."
The lady looked at me as she settled her cloak over her shoulders.
"At last you are leaving the capital, Lord Elberhart."
I swallowed a hollow laugh.
"That remains to be seen."
Outside the window, the dull light of just before noon was settling. The trash of rumors that would remain behind me no longer mattered. If anything, I felt lighter.
The door opened.
The princess went first; the lady followed.
I looked once more around the reception room. All that remained on the table were the ordered documents and tea gone cold.
…So I really am going back.
I had thought I would leave as if running away.