Broken Shackles
"Under arrest? Wait just a moment, Lady Ophelia! Where is your proof?!"
"Someone has already testified that knights bearing the crest of House Coutelli fled with a female student thrown over their shoulders. If you wish to lighten your sentence, Count, I suggest you stop lying immediately."
"Absurd! What does a single rumor matter when my knights can simply deny having kidnapped anyone?"
Count Coutelli was not a man to be cornered easily.
It reeked of sheer brazenness, but the formal charges used as legal justification to storm the count's estate and seize him were kidnapping and attempted murder. Yet because those accusations rested entirely on verbal testimony, the lack of definitive physical evidence threatened to tie Ophelia's hands. Words could be spun from whole cloth; that was precisely why Junon's group had not sought formal aid from the authorities in the first place. Without concrete proof, anyone could invent a story, and anyone could be bribed into perjury.
To secure an open-and-shut case, the victim herself had to step forward and testify. Yet no matter how thoroughly the estate grounds were searched, she was nowhere to be found. It seemed as though there was truly no way to prove the count had abducted Henna or tried to murder her, until—
"Very well. Then allow me to present the evidence. Do you recognize this?"
Ophelia held out what she claimed was conclusive proof: a single blue hair ribbon.
"A... ribbon?"
It was an exceedingly plain blue ribbon, bearing not the slightest hint of luxury.
For an instant, the count opened his mouth to scoff at her for trying to intimidate him with worthless rubbish, but the moment he realized what it was, he sucked in a sharp, ragged breath.
"The vacant lot past the right side of Lebrant 8th Avenue, leading behind the clothing shop. You know that place well, do you not?"
"..."
"Of course you do. That was where the victim was cornered, and in the ensuing struggle, this ribbon fell to the ground."
At Ophelia's cold elaboration, the count's face twisted into an ugly grimace. He had already taken measures to clean up that alleyway; he was certain no one could have traced it back to him.
"A witness from the Lewen Merchant Guild came forward, testifying that this very ribbon—an undeniable piece of evidence—was dropped at the scene. Not only did you brazenly deny the charges, but you even plotted to shift the blame onto innocent parties. With such aggravated crimes, Count, you will not escape being stoned by the commoners."
What had begun as mere circumstantial suspicion now rested on incontrovertible proof. Count Coutelli, who had sought to pin his sins on others, had nowhere left to run.
"We found the hidden chamber, my lady! Judging by the ropes and gag left behind, someone was unquestionably imprisoned here!"
"Are the rescued individuals unharmed?"
"Yes! Thanks to a Close-range Interception Vanguard student who held up the collapsing ceiling in the basement, no one was injured. The victim did not appear to suffer severe harm after her abduction either."
"Then our priority is to wrap up matters here. Arrest every single one of them! Let not a single accomplice escape!"
Before long, this shocking scandal would sweep across the entire Principality like wildfire. The disgraceful revelation that Count Coutelli had attempted to sell off his illegitimate daughter through a forced engagement; his chilling ruthlessness in dispatching armed knights to abduct her when she refused; his brazen audacity in kidnapping her close friend, Henna, to send a blackmail letter when brute force failed; and finally, the sheer barbarity of trying to silence the hostage through murder to bury his own misdeeds. The citizens of the Principality would boil with collective outrage.
Yet the matter was not quite finished.
"Where... where is she...?"
"Please calm down, Guildmaster. The search is still—"
"Forgive me. I can't... I can't bear this any longer!"
She was here. The child Lewena had searched for so desperately, yet could never find. The daughter kept hidden away in the clutches of high nobility, ripped from her sight so that an affectionate gaze could never fall upon her again. Lewena could not hear the staff urging her to wait while the search concluded.
"Senior, are you all right? You told me not to worry, so I stayed back, but..."
Catching the sound of a young girl's voice from nearby, Lewena snapped her head toward it.
That child...!
According to her executives, an engagement ceremony had been underway in the estate, and the prospective bride was almost certainly her lost daughter. And before her eyes stood a young girl dressed in an exquisite gown.
The mother who had spent years mourning her missing flesh and blood rushed forward without hesitation and pulled the girl tight against her chest.
"I found you... I finally found you..."
However, the girl immediately slipped out of Lewena's grasp, taking a step back with wide, bewildered eyes.
"Uh... Wh-who are you?"
"R-right. Of course you wouldn't recognize me. Of course."
How many years had passed? No matter how sharp a memory might be, years had turned into decades. It was only natural she wouldn't recognize her mother's face. If words were not enough, she simply had to show the token.
"Do you see this? It's practically the only keepsake I had left of you, so I still carry it everywhere. The one you wore when you were little..."
Rolling back her sleeve, Lewena displayed the blue ribbon tied around her wrist and continued through trembling lips.
"Back then, tying your hair back suited you so wonderfully... and now, seeing it cascade down like this, you are truly beautiful."
She had shown her the ribbon from her childhood; surely she would understand now. Clinging to that desperate hope, Lewena reached out and gathered the girl back into her embrace.
"Huh? Um, e-excuse me..."
"I'm so sorry. You've grown up so wonderfully, yet I took far too long to find you."
"Um... ma'am, I really have no idea what you're talking about."
"It doesn't matter if you can't remember. I will never let you go again."
"Well... I've never really worn hair ribbons in the first place..."
"That's understandable. You were far too young to remember, and that's all right. Even so... even so, I..."
For a mother who had not seen her daughter in over ten years, simply holding her child in her arms was overwhelming enough to drown her in tears. But something about this reunion was fundamentally mistaken.
"If you are looking for your daughter, she is elsewhere. That is not her."
"...What?"
"Take a closer look at her hair. It might look similar at first glance, but don't you notice it's far brighter?"
From a distance, the two might have seemed alike, but up close, the difference was unmistakable. It was not ash-grey, but radiant, luminous silver hair.
"And that blue hairband—she tied it into a ribbon whenever she bound her hair, didn't she?"
"How could you possibly know...?"
How could he not? In his previous life, she was a rival he constantly tried to surpass, and in this life, she was one of the few friends who walked alongside him at the academy.
"I'll lead the way. To where your daughter is."
What was the real reason the Lewen Merchant Guild had come to the academy after securing the contract for this year's festival? It was never merely to supply goods.
In the previous timeline, even after failing to secure the festival bid, the Lewen Merchant Guild had stubbornly lingered on the outskirts of the capital—holding out until they were teetering on the verge of financial ruin. All to find a single person. A young girl roughly his age. That was the sum total of the clues they possessed.
Stories of a middle-aged woman desperately combing the city for someone with almost nothing to go on had occasionally become tavern gossip among students. Yet despite her desperate efforts, she had never found her, and on the day torrential monsoon rains swept through, the Lewen Merchant Guild vanished from the capital without a trace.
This time, it would never end that way.
"...She is in here?"
"Yes."
This was the clinic. Outside each patient room, a nameplate hung beside the door. Yet the name written there was so wildly distant from the one Lewena knew that her bewilderment was inevitable. It belonged to an entirely different person than the child she had sought for all these years. Junon was claiming that two completely mismatched names belonged to the exact same person.
Still, there was undeniable proof. In the past, he had even untied that blue hair ribbon from her hair and taken it himself; there was no way he could fail to recognize it, identical in every way save for its length.
The hospital door opened. The girl, who had been anxiously staring out the window from her bed, turned her head.
"Junon! Are you—"
The voice worrying for her friend cut off abruptly. Two pairs of eyes, both framed by the same ash-grey hair, locked onto each other. Neither could pull their gaze away.
In a room where neither could tell whether this was a dream or reality, the silence was so profound that even their breathing seemed to fade. Neither breathed a single word. Before long, the soft scrape of footsteps filled the quiet room as someone stepped inside. And then, the sound of the door clicking shut to leave the two alone.
The door closed, and the footsteps halted.
"I see... You... you haven't changed one bit since you were little..."
"M... Mom?"
"Yes. My daughter... it's your mother..."
"Really...?"
"Come here, my child. Shall I read you a story while you rest your head on my lap, just like when you were little? Or... shall I tie this ribbon into your hair, the one you've kept all this time?"
The silence did not return. Listening to the soft sobs that filled the room and spilled through the door, Junon pulled his back from the wall. Beside him, the junior who had trotted along after him stood on tiptoe and whispered a question. It was a question anyone who had met both women in that room would inevitably ask. And a simple nod of his head was more than enough of an answer.
Upon hearing it, Renias looked back toward the hospital room, pressing a hand against her chest as her eyes welled up with emotion, murmuring how wonderful it was.
I think so too.
To reunite a mother and daughter who had been torn apart by those villainous schemers was an achievement of immense worth.
From within the room, a name entirely different from the one on the patient chart could be heard. Now he understood why Lewena had never been able to find her.
"...Vile bastards. They changed her name so she could never be tracked."
No wonder she had remained undiscovered, no matter how desperately they searched in the previous timeline. Kidnapped as an infant before her mother could even raise her, she had grown up bearing the name Sylvia Coutelli. But today, having lived for over a decade as nothing more than the count's puppet, her true name had finally surfaced, and she was at last freed from her shackles.
"Adele Alicia... so that was your real name."
From now on, I will call you Adele, not Sylvia.
With the count's estate thoroughly resolved, it was time for things to return to how they were. Having dragged Senia into this mess and even received her help, Junon knew there was no way she would simply let it slide. He hadn't doubted she would lend a hand, but what she might demand in return was the real issue. Being the most calculating, unpredictable member of Tembris made him all the more uneasy.
Yet contrary to his expectations, Senia had departed leaving behind only a single parting remark:
A debt. Not knowing what she would demand was what made it so nerve-racking.
"Senior. Don't you owe me a debt too? Hehe."
...Come to think of it, there had been one more person who helped. When he asked if she wanted him to accompany her for the remainder of the festival, Renias had shaken her head, casually insisting that should naturally come as a bonus. Unlike Senia, Renias's motive was refreshingly simple: she just wanted a reduction in her training intensity.
Naturally, Junon had no intention of granting that.
"..."
Pausing in her tracks, Senia glanced back toward the clinic and sank into thought. Though she had been dragged around, the outcome was far from bad. While luck had certainly played a part, Junon had poured everything he had into it.
Junon.
Ever since she first met him, he had been an anomaly. Recklessly charging into battles with zero chance of victory like a fool; opening his mouth and dragging his battered body back into the fray even when yielding for just a moment would have spared him physical torment. Every time, he must have felt the immense wall standing before him, yet he threw himself forward without giving up.
This incident was no different, yet the result had been vastly different from the past. Despite being dragged into a far more agonizing predicament, he had found the answer. Though Ophelia's timely arrival had been a stroke of good fortune, could anyone else have drawn out this exact outcome?
Senia shook her head, answering her own question. Absolutely not. What Michel had shared was merely the tip of the iceberg.
"Who else would ever think of infiltrating a count's estate with only three people?"
To put it in combat terms, he had assigned an aggro drawer and an ambush striker. This was on a completely different level from Unique Magic that merely read mana threads, projected attack trajectories, and spotted weaknesses. This was the ability to orchestrate the entire board.
The dogged tenacity never to surrender in the face of despair, the sharp perception to read the battlefield instantly, the decisive judgment to counter any crisis, and the mental fortitude to balance reason and emotion without losing either—he was undeniably born to occupy the supreme commander's seat.
Yet even realizing this changed nothing.
"...If the man himself refuses, what can I do? He seems to have his own reasons, anyway."
Even if he was the ideal fit for the most vital position missing from Tembris, they could hardly recruit someone who actively sought to distance himself from them.
Swallowing her regret, Senia turned her steps once more.