Detention Bound - 3
I glanced at the door any number of times while processing the documents. A few lines read, then a look; another few lines, then another look.
If I finish this paperwork, he'll come. Once the signature is done, that door will open. I worked under that hope, yet the door remained shut with a spitefulness that almost felt personal.
What's going on?
Anxiety made me fiddle pointlessly with my pen. Strange. Karl's usual hour had long since passed, and still there was no word.
At first I told myself he was simply busy and running a little late. Karl wasn't a machine; he couldn't arrive at the exact same time every single day.
But this was no mere lateness. Lunch had already come and gone.
And not a single message.
My gaze drifted to the communication orb resting on the desk. If only he had sent word that he would be late, or that he couldn't make it today—I might have felt disappointed, but not this gnawing worry.
Yet nothing came. Not even a single message, even past midday.
Should I contact him first?
The thought that had surfaced several times already rose again, but I shook my head and forced it down.
Karl would not fall silent without reason. If I assumed he was so busy he couldn't even spare a message, I simply couldn't bring myself to reach out first.
I get irritated when the orb rings while I'm buried in work. Karl would be the same. I couldn't disturb a busy man for no good reason.
Endure it.
I drew back the hand that had been sneaking toward the communication orb and steeled myself.
Yes. Just wait. If it was Karl, the more I trusted him and stayed still, the more apologetic he would feel and the harder he would try to soothe me. A little sulking then would be more than enough.
"He'll come eventually, even if late."
I muttered words meant for no one—or perhaps for myself—and began reading the next document.
And Karl still had not come by the time club activities began.
The moment club hour arrived, I made straight for the Baking Club room. The small disappointment that had lingered vanished in an instant.
He'll be there.
I bit my lip lightly and repeated it to myself. He would be there. He had to be. If—if Karl wasn't even in the club room, that would be no ordinary matter.
Karl remained at the Academy to keep watch over the royal students. That was precisely why he could not leave the club where those royals gathered.
If that same Karl was absent from the club? If something had prevented him from performing the very duty that kept him at the Academy—watching the royals—what on earth could have happened?
"Vice President?"
While I walked quickly, anxiety tightening around me, I ran into an unexpected figure.
"Vice Principal?"
It was so unexpected that I could only blink. He was someone who normally never left the vice principal's office; seeing him outside was rare.
The awkwardness of the encounter seemed mutual; he remained silent a moment before clearing his throat.
And the expression that flickered across his face in that instant was unmistakably pity.
Why?
Encountering the Vice Principal here was unsettling enough—and that expression of all things.
"Vice President. Heading to the Baking Club room, are you?"
While my body stiffened in bewilderment, the Vice Principal spoke first, as if he already knew and was only asking out of courtesy.
"Yes. I have something to ask of Inspec— of the Inspector."
Habit nearly made me use his name; I hastily corrected it to his title.
Hearing my answer, an even deeper pity settled over the Vice Principal's features.
No, just why.
"Go on ahead, then. You'll understand once you arrive."
"Yes, understood."
I offered a proper greeting and hurried my steps. Those words only amplified the anxiety already clawing at me.
You'll understand once you get there—ordinarily it would have sounded like nothing, yet today it rang with an ominous chill.
"───"
"──? ──"
The closer I drew to the club room, the more clearly I sensed the commotion.
I couldn't make out the words, but the voices were far from quiet. And unlike ordinary conversation, they were flying back and forth in rapid bursts.
Please.
The Vice Principal's reaction earlier, the members' agitated-sounding talk—now even if Karl was inside the club room, it was no ordinary matter.
I no longer dared hope that nothing had happened. Please let it not be a major incident. Please not another confinement like last time that would lock Karl away.
No—I would rather it end at the level of the previous confinement. Just so long as it didn't surpass that.
"Excuse me."
"So then—Lady Margeta?"
"Vice President?"
In my haste I opened the door without even knocking. Unladylike, yes, but I could hardly fuss over etiquette now.
I swept my gaze quickly across the club room and found the members staring back at me with startled faces.
He's not here.
The one person who mattered most was nowhere to be seen.
"S-Senior."
As I stood staring blankly at the room, Lady Luise carefully approached.
...Yes. He said I would understand once I arrived. I could simply ask Lady Luise. She would explain properly what had happened.
"Lady Luise. Someone seems to be missing?"
At my direct question she only darted her eyes about and could not bring herself to speak.
But when I continued to look at her in silence, she finally opened her mouth.
"Um, well, older brother..."
Yet she could not finish and closed her lips again. Looking closely, I saw that Lady Luise's eyes were brimming with tears; she was far from all right herself.
Please don't do this. What on earth could have happened to leave her like this.
"It's like this."
From the side came Young Master Erich's voice, accompanied by a heavy sigh.
"My brother... has been detained, they say."
Having spoken, Young Master Erich let out another sigh, as if the words had been ones he truly hated to utter yet had no choice but to say.
Seeing that, it was clear he had mustered considerable resolve to tell us.
"What?"
Yet the one who heard those words failed entirely to grasp their meaning.
What do you mean, detained? Karl has been detained?
...Ah. So it means he's been put under confinement again.
"Then, is he at the dormitory right now?"
I forced my reeling thoughts into order and spoke.
So that was it. That was all. Karl had been too embarrassed to contact me. The previous confinement had only just ended and already he had received another—of course he would feel that way.
Honestly, Karl. No matter what, making me worry is the greater offense. I'll have to scold him sharply this time. Ah, but since he is under confinement again, I mustn't forget to comfort him either...
"...He's being held in detention in the Imperial Capital."
My desperate flight from reality collapsed under Young Master Erich's single sentence.
Detained—detained? Not confinement, but actual detention?
Even assaulting a royal had ended with mere confinement. So an incident surpassing the assault of a royal had erupted?
"...Ah, aah..."
With the belated understanding of the situation, my body gave way as well.
"Senior!"
"My lady!"
Supporting hands and voices reached me from the side, but I could not properly hear them.
I... I...
The thoughts I had entertained while waiting for Karl in the vice president's office came flooding back.
Just trust Karl and wait. If it was him, the more I did so the more apologetic he would feel.
He would soothe me all the more for it, and then I would pretend I couldn't help but forgive him—that was what I had planned.
Without even knowing...
Without knowing Karl was in prison, I had been thinking such carefree thoughts.
Self-reproach crashed over me.
Seeing the lady sitting limply in the chair made my chest ache.
"Karl, Karl... I'm sorry, Karl..."
She had been muttering so softly it would have been inaudible without careful listening, and in the end she even shed tears.
I, of course, and the other members understood her feelings perfectly, so we deliberately pretended not to see. How could anyone remain composed when the person they loved more than anyone else was in prison?
Yes, I understood. I would have cried myself if the lady had not arrived when she did.
"The Inspector is currently under detention and will be unable to come for the time being."
When I reached the club room, the Vice Principal had been waiting in place of older brother. After leaving those difficult-to-comprehend words, he had swiftly taken his leave.
Once I understood belatedly, I nearly sank down the same way the lady had. But in that very moment she—who would be far more devastated than I—arrived, so I held myself together.
"What on earth happened?"
"Even the Ryutis incident only ended in confinement."
Soft whispering drifted from behind. They seemed to be speaking carefully so the lady would not overhear.
"Does anyone know anything?"
"No chance. Nothing even comes to mind."
At that, everyone nodded. If he had been detained when Ryutis was injured, we would have been sad yet still able to understand. But it wasn't even that—so why now, all of a sudden?
"We'll have to go see for ourselves."
Erich's low words drew every gaze—including the lady's.
I had been careful to keep my voice down, yet she had heard everything... Erich also looked flustered under her stare, but he carefully composed his expression and continued.
"Conveniently, the weekend starts tomorrow. I'll make a brief trip to the Imperial Capital."
"Then we too—"
"The high-ranking ones should stay put. What kind of spectacle would it be if royals suddenly visited the capital?"
Erich cut Ryutis off at once. This wasn't a long stay like during vacation; it was a same-day trip, and having royals along would only create complications.
The reasoning was sound, so everyone accepted it. I raised no objection either, since it did not exclude me.
"I'll go as well."
The quiet words of the lady who had been listening.
That, too, was something everyone had expected, so Erich simply nodded in silence.
I really, truly wished he would just leave.
"Still, it's a five-day vacation, isn't it? How do you feel?"
"I feel like biting my tongue and dying, so please just go back."
"Oh dear. If you die, someone has to remain to collect the corpse."
This crazy old man—please get lost.
Watching the Minister sneer right in front of my face, I could feel my mental fortitude plummeting in real time.
I had known. I had absolute faith that this man would come running faster than anyone else. I would have found it strange if he were late.
Because I was the same.
The Minister behind iron bars? Merely thinking about it for a month would be enough to make me laugh. The same went for him, no doubt.
Even so, I had not expected him to show up less than an hour after I was detained.
This is fucking awful.
Anyway, having anticipated exactly this situation, I had applied for no visitors for the day. With my current mental state I simply lacked the courage to face anyone else.
And the Minister knew perfectly well that the period right after imprisonment was when a prisoner was at his weakest. He had been inside before me; of course he knew.
So despite the no-visitors request, the Minister had applied for an emergency visit under the pretext of "Ministry of Finance business."
There's none.
Of course there was no business. It was nothing more than an excuse he had fabricated to see me.
Conducting a visit with a prisoner who had refused visitors under false pretenses—this was the sort of thing that required a disciplinary report. Yet the Minister had chosen to teabag me in exchange for writing one.
"The first day will be cold, but you'll adapt soon enough."
Crazy old man. Please get lost.