Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Carcason
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"Ah... Yes. He was fine. He didn't even need any treatment, so he must not have been injured."
"I see. That's all I needed to know."
The man gave a light nod before turning away with an utterly impassive demeanor.
Enji watched his retreating back for a moment before calling out without thinking.
"Um, excuse me!"
Was this okay to do?
Chasing after the man in a panic, Enji ended up spilling every bit of information he knew.
"That person was wearing a ring, so when I asked, he said his husband works at the eastern gate. And he got off in Roadel. So........
He probably went to Carcason, or somewhere nearby."
It wasn't much in the way of information.
"Th-that's everything. That's all I know...."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
The man, who had listened quietly, bowed his head politely to the end before leaving.
"Then."
Hardin, the man called Hardin, also gave a light nod and followed after the other man, exiting the station.
Even after they left, Enji couldn't move from the spot for quite a while. Standing there blankly, clutching the box, Enji suddenly remembered something important.
'I remember now.'
Why the white sandalwood scent had felt so familiar.
White sandalwood was a rather expensive incense.
There was no way Enji, who had no interest in luxuries like perfumes, would know what white sandalwood was.
And yet, the reason Enji had asked his colleague about the scent was because of a passenger from a few days ago.
A woman who was quiet and had a somewhat shadowy aura.
The same faint white sandalwood scent as the man from just now wafted from her wrists and the collar of her clothes.
Enji prayed that he hadn't done anything unforgivable to that nameless passenger.
'Carcason.'
It was just like Juliet.
"My lord."
Hardin hurried after him, holding an umbrella. Even as they passed through the rain and climbed into the carriage parked by a quiet roadside, Lennox remained lost in thought.
Hardin folded the umbrella and boarded the carriage after him.
"The Festival of the Dead, I suppose."
Lennox could easily guess why Juliet might have gone to Carcason.
Several times, Juliet had casually mentioned the festival held in Carcason.
"They wear elaborate masks and march in procession. So death can't find them."
She hated noisy places, yet she liked festivals like that. But he had never given it much thought. She would say she wanted to see it someday, but never asked him to take her or if they could go together.
That was how Juliet Monad always was.
It was strangely unlike him not to have noticed sooner.
Looking back, it was a way of drawing a line. Instead of subtly hoping or giving expectant looks, Juliet was saying she would leave his side and do the things she wanted.
At some point, Juliet had placed him outside that line. And that line had clouded his judgment. Even though it was he who had driven the nail in, telling her not to expect more.
Lennox fiddled absently with the thing clutched in his hand.
It could be a coincidence.
Juliet might have simply come to the eastern gate to see the festival she'd always wanted to.
And by a truly unfortunate coincidence, the city where that festival was held could be the one where her former fiancé lived.
All of this could just be happenstance.
But Lennox knew how shallow his patience was.
He didn't want to entertain even the slightest possibility that this wasn't all coincidence.
"....My lord."
A flicker of unease crossed Hardin's face.
"Vicente Bowman."
"He's still in the east, correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
Hardin answered faithfully, but he couldn't hide his anxiety.
It had been a long time since Duke Carlyle had brought that name to the surface.
Vicente Bowman was the second son of Marquis Bowman, a fairly ordinary noble youth serving as an officer.
He was known to have had a decent reputation in the past, thanks to his fairly handsome looks.
In other words, he wasn't remarkable enough for Duke Carlyle to know of his existence.
And yet, the reason Duke Carlyle remembered Vicente Bowman, who was just one of the countless idle nobles scattered across the empire, was singular.
Because he had once been engaged to the only daughter of House Monad. To be precise, it was seven years ago, before Juliet lost her parents and her house completely fell.
Juliet had never told Lennox about that engagement.
It wasn't particularly surprising that the duke had no interest in his lover's romantic history.
Thus, the only reason Lennox learned that Juliet Monad had once had a fiancé was pure coincidence.
A few years ago, Lennox Carlyle had run into Marquis Bowman in the capital by chance.
Until then, Lennox hadn't even known what kind of family the Bowmans were. He'd never heard the name and had no interest.
But like all the other guests at that party, Marquis Bowman had tirelessly tried to win Duke Carlyle's favor.
"Come to think of it, we have something in common, Your Grace."
Marquis Bowman had tried to find some point of connection. His effort wasn't misguided.
In most social graces, finding common ground with the other person was basic etiquette.
However, the marquis's choice of topic was the worst.
"Juliet Monad, that is."
He foolishly uttered the name of the duke's lover.
But in any case, Marquis Bowman achieved his goal.
At that party, he uniquely monopolized Duke Carlyle's attention.
"We had arranged to marry her to our second son. Well, that's all in the past now.
Ha ha."
The marquis had hoped for a different kind of attention, but from that day on, Lennox Carlyle developed a profound interest in House Bowman.
"Vicente Bowman,"
To be precise, limited to Vicente Bowman, the marquis's second son.
"Find out where that bastard is and what he's doing."
Right after that party, Duke Carlyle had ordered Hardin to investigate.
Hardin had meticulously compiled a report on everything known about Vicente Bowman, without a single error.
At that time, Hardin hadn't even imagined that the investigation might be related to Juliet Monad.
The report stated that he was a fairly handsome officer who had once been engaged to the only daughter of House Monad and would have become her consort, inheriting the countship, had her house not fallen.
In simple terms, there was no way to discuss Vicente Bowman's unremarkable life without mentioning Juliet Monad.
Yet at the time, Hardin had considered it entirely separate.
For example, perhaps Duke Carlyle had ordered the investigation on the son to grasp some business weakness of Marquis Bowman.
Because the Lennox Carlyle he knew had no interest in his lover's past.
He used people without regard for means or methods, yet paid no attention to his lover at all. He didn't care if she had been someone's wife or had eyes for someone else.
Ruthless, or frighteningly fair—take your pick.
However, after that day, Lennox never had any dealings with House Bowman. He never even mentioned Vicente Bowman in passing.
Thus, Hardin had completely forgotten about Vicente Bowman over the past few years.
"Bring him here."
"Who do you mean, my lord?"
Just a few days ago. Right up until the master of the Blue Room, who seemed like he would stay there forever, was on the verge of fleeing the duke's residence.
And Hardin learned some rather surprising news about Vicente Bowman's current situation.
When he had last gathered information a few years ago, Vicente Bowman had been a promising young soldier with a decent career.
Not quite on the fast track to promotion, but steadily advancing along a respectable path.
Not exceptional, but from a solid family with solid skills—a talent who could aim for a good position in a few years.
In crude terms, a "rising star with a bright future."
But shortly after, Vicente Bowman suddenly veered off that standard course and was transferred to the remote eastern gate.
Sudden assignments to the east were extremely rare.
And the timing of Vicente Bowman's departure from the capital matched exactly the period when Hardin had delivered the information on him at Duke Carlyle's request.
Hardin couldn't shake the reasonable suspicion that Duke Carlyle was involved behind the scenes.
Moreover, upon recent inquiry, Vicente Bowman was revealed to be a severe gambling addict, drowning in debt, cut off from his family, and floundering.
Hardin was confused. His role was to execute orders faithfully, not to judge.
And yet, he couldn't tell if his lord's suspicion was justified or if he was blinded by momentary emotion.
"A wedding ring."
A well-shaped hand slowly tapped the window frame.
"Strange. I've never given her one."
Lennox knew exactly what he was angry about.
Three years ago, when he first learned of Vicente Bowman's existence.
What angered him most wasn't the clueless Marquis Bowman flapping his mouth or his pathetic son.
He was angry at Juliet, who had said nothing.
Three years had passed, but nothing had changed. She still made him the most anxious.
Juliet Monad's social circle was astonishingly narrow. Even in the north, there were no traces of her interacting with anyone.
In Juliet's excessively clean relationships, past and present combined, there was only one man she had ever had any connection with.
"......She never asks for more, my lady."
It would have been so much easier if Juliet Monad had been greedy.
He could have chosen to lose interest and discard her, or break her because she longed for what she couldn't have.
He slowly closed his eyes once and opened them again, and the man steeped in anguish was gone, replaced by his usual cold expression.
The man reflected in the clear window looked like a single, finely honed blade.
"Let's go."
"Where to, my lord?"
Lennox let out a sharp laugh before answering curtly.
"To Carcason."