A Mischievous Laugh
When word came that Princess Yuril was in Ventus County, I looked over at Father, who was sitting in the same room — but he too wore an expression of complete surprise. Apparently this was the first he was hearing of it as well.
I turned my gaze back to Princess Aine, who gave an embarrassed laugh and began to explain.
To summarize what she told us: Princess Yuril had been conducting a secret inspection tour, accompanied by a sufficient escort. Of course, "secret" was a relative term. Every intelligence organization in the kingdom knew she was out on inspection — they simply couldn't pin down her exact location as she moved through the realm with just enough elusiveness to stay a step ahead.
The inspection of the barony where she was believed to have made contact with Duke Ignis had been one of those stops. Put another way, she had traveled the length and breadth of the kingdom — everywhere except the North, which she had judged too dangerous.
As it happened, Princess Aine had been about to lead her subordinates north for training, and their purposes aligned. So Princess Yuril slipped in among the troops, entered the northern territories, and was now here inside the county. As for her protection, Princess Aine had judged there would be no issue so long as the guards remained among her own people.
All in all, it was an astonishing coincidence.
Princess Yuril was currently staying in the annex of the mansion where the knight order was lodged. Deciding that the sooner we met her, the better, we followed Princess Aine toward that annex.
"Come to think of it, you've never met Yuril before, have you?"
"No, Your Highness. She doesn't tend to make many public appearances, so..."
"Well, that's true enough."
Princess Yuril Dria Palazinia stood first in the line of succession, yet she avoided public activity. There were all sorts of rumors as to why, but the actual reason was quite simple. People were after her life. Her half-siblings, to be precise.
"Personally, I would have preferred she stay out of sight until her safety was secured. But she's an incredibly stubborn girl."
"Haha... that must be quite a handful."
"Tell me about it. Even the Silver Snow Knights who are always at her side — frankly, I don't fully trust them..."
The Silver Snow Knights were composed exclusively of female magic swordswomen, and even so, they ranked among the top three knight orders in the kingdom in terms of strength. For this woman to call even them unreliable... she really was something else.
"U-um! Is it really all right for me to meet her too!?"
"What's there to worry about? You're a duke's daughter."
"Ah... r-right?"
Riel's anxiety had certainly improved, but her lack of self-esteem was still something we would need to work on, bit by bit. Just how badly must those servants have treated her, to reduce a duke's own daughter to this?
Before long, Princess Aine stopped in front of a door and spoke.
"And besides, it wouldn't hurt for you two to get acquainted ahead of time."
At Princess Aine's meaningful words, Riel let out a puzzled little sound.
"Huh?"
Princess Aine merely smiled, but I had a pretty good idea of what she meant.
"I have been waiting for you all."
A blonde woman sat waiting on the sofa in the guest chamber. Beside her stood a female knight in full armor, her face expressionless, posted like a sentry.
"Lady Riel Ignis, Lord Kyou Ventus. A pleasure to meet you."
The blonde woman greeted us with a bright smile. She had the same radiant golden hair and violet eyes as her elder sisters, but her demeanor was far gentler than theirs.
Princess Yuril Dria Palazinia — she was somewhat younger than her sisters, making her a year younger than me. She had appeared in the original novel as a supporting character, and was supposed to become our underclassman, one year below us.
Receiving her greeting, Riel and I hurriedly returned it with proper courtesy. Princess Yuril accepted our greetings with that same smile and invited us to sit across from her.
Once we were seated, Princess Yuril glanced toward the female knight standing at her side.
"This is Captain Meryl, who is in charge of my protection."
"Meryl Milliano, at your service."
The female knight, Meryl, bowed her head in greeting. Meryl Milliano — whenever talk turned to who among the kingdom's knights was the strongest, her name was always among those mentioned. There were plenty of formidable candidates, of course, but hers was a name that never failed to come up. She also served as captain of the Silver Snow Knights I had mentioned earlier.
"Hehe. I never imagined I would get to meet the heirs of two of the kingdom's most renowned houses all at once."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Once I leave the palace, my movements are rather restricted, you see. I do think it would be nice if I could go about freely every now and then?!"
Princess Yuril raised a hand as she spoke, her tone taking on a slight pout. Beside her, the knight Meryl cut the complaint down without mercy.
"That is a perfectly reasonable precaution."
Even Princess Aine chimed in that Meryl was right, at which Princess Yuril's raised hand drooped weakly.
After a brief exchange of small talk, Princess Yuril shifted the mood.
"Well then... I imagine the two of you are here regarding Duke Ignis?"
"That is correct. We were told you encountered His Grace in the Reime Baronate..."
At those words, the knight Meryl standing beside her muttered under her breath.
"We'll need to be more careful about our surroundings going forward..."
Well, that was only natural. Even a hint of Princess Yuril's whereabouts leaking out could be dangerous.
"It is true that I met Duke Ignis in the barony."
"Ah...!"
Riel let out a small gasp, her face brightening. She looked a little relieved. But Princess Yuril's expression darkened as she trailed off.
"However..."
"His condition appeared to be quite poor."
"...What?"
Riel's mouth fell open in shock. Even so, I had already found it suspicious that the Duke had been away from his territory for so long, so I forced myself to stay calm as I asked.
"Could you describe it in more detail?"
"He was alone — no guards, no attendants. His clothes were torn in places, and his appearance was an utter mess. To be honest, I did not even recognize him at first."
She said she had initially taken him for some kind of vagrant. Once Princess Yuril finally recognized him, she had the Silver Snow Knights detain him, and somehow managed to calm him down enough to hold a conversation.
"He... seemed frightened of something. Even as we spoke, he kept glancing around, unable to hide his agitation."
Duke Ignis, trembling as he scanned his surroundings, as though something were chasing him. Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Princess Yuril had wanted to protect him. She ordered her knights to take him into their care — but the Duke suddenly let out a loud cry.
Startled, the knights immediately clustered around Princess Yuril in a defensive formation, and in that opening, the Duke fled the scene. It had all happened so suddenly that the knight order, whose priority was securing the perimeter, ultimately let him get away.
"Of course, we were worried about him and searched the area immediately, but we were never able to find him."
"I see..."
"As his child, you must be terribly worried. I am sorry I could not be of more help."
"Ah... n-no! If anything, I want to thank you for trying to help him!"
Startled by the princess bowing her head in apology, Riel hurriedly bowed her own head in gratitude. As she did, she tightly clasped my hand beside her. I could feel a faint tremor in her grip, so I held her hand in return. Whether it helped her settle, the trembling gradually faded.
At any rate, it seemed certain that something truly unusual had happened to Duke Ignis. They had continued search operations afterward, but it was presumed he had already left the barony.
"Was there anything else unusual? Anything at all?"
"Anything unusual... hmm..."
Princess Yuril thought for a moment. It did not seem like anything in particular came to mind.
"Even the smallest detail would help. Right now, we need every clue we can get."
"Hmm..."
That was when the knight Meryl beside her raised her hand.
"May I speak for a moment?"
"Meryl, what is it?"
At Princess Yuril's question, Meryl hesitated briefly before speaking.
"I do not know if it is related, but the knights who conducted the search at the time mentioned something."
At her words, every eye in the room turned toward Meryl. She flinched slightly at the sudden concentration of gazes, then cleared her throat and began.
"During the search, several of the knights got lost in the forest."
"They got lost?"
"Yes. But looking back on it now, it was truly strange."
At the time, the Silver Snow Knights had thoroughly scouted and secured the surrounding area so they could protect Princess Yuril anywhere in the barony. Naturally, the forest the knights had searched had already been reconnoitered when they were mapping the local geography.
"The Silver Snow Knights were founded to protect the royal family. They are elites who have received thorough training in that regard. For them — and several of them, at that — to all get lost in the same place does not sit right with me."
At the time, she had scolded them — how could they make such a mistake, how lost could they possibly have been? But thinking back, the knights who had gotten lost had been confused themselves, saying strange things. That it was not a place they knew. That it was as if their eyes were seeing illusions and their ears hearing phantom sounds.
And while they were wandering, lost and disoriented, they had heard a laugh — as though someone were mocking them.
As if some unseen someone had been playing a prank.