Proof (6)
Proof (6)
"......."
"......."
After Bella took Berati away.
We remained seated in that spot for a while. Alice let out a long breath, as if the tension that had been wound tight inside her had finally released. Claire and Leo, caught up in something neither had anticipated, still wore dazed expressions.
And then, as though she could no longer endure the silence that had stretched on, Alice finally,
"Argh, honestly!"
shouted.
Then she turned sharply toward me and spoke.
"Say something!"
"What would you like me to say?"
When I asked in earnest, Alice replied as if frustrated.
"You know, like that it was too dangerous for the imperial princess to be there, or why I even chose that kind of operation when it was something you could've resolved even if I hadn't been there."
"Are you hoping I will scold you, Your Highness?"
"No, that's not what I meant......."
Alice's eyes darted about, and with her face flushing slightly, she spoke.
"Of course."
I answered Alice as if throwing cold water on her.
"It is obvious that someone else could have done it even if it hadn't been you, Your Highness, and that an unexpected variable could have left you seriously injured."
"......."
Having heard my words, Alice's shoulders slumped.
It was probably just my imagination, but the white rabbit ears she was still wearing on her head seemed to droop a little lower as well.
"However, that does not mean what happened today becomes something you did not do, Your Highness."
As I added those words, Alice lifted her head again, her ears twitching slightly upward as well.
In truth, to create the situation we had just been in, there had been nobody else besides Alice and me anyway.
Lucas was currently in the middle of an escape. Well, he hadn't exactly fled—maybe he was simply away from his post for an extended period. In any case, it was impossible to assign work to someone who wasn't present. Even if he could have taken the job, Lucas's face was far too well-known. Berati would likely have recognized him and fled early on.
Jaden was impossible for the same reason.
Bella might have had an easy time extracting information, but her face could not be exposed. So at the very least, someone else had to make the arrest. And to arrest Berati, who was almost always surrounded by crowds of civilians, we needed to lure her somewhere with less risk of collateral damage if a fight broke out.
But if Bella did that job herself, her face would be revealed to Berati. We could solve it by killing her, but that would only increase the Holy State's vigilance.
The remaining sibling was in the same boat. He had a role similar to Bella's and was already conducting intelligence gathering in another country.
That left only me, and Alice.
I was someone the Holy State was extremely wary of, so they couldn't carelessly ignore me. On the other hand, they considered Alice an inconsequential existence, which made her one of the people who could serve as bait.
The Holy State had personally witnessed the moment I became the "emperor's plenipotentiary representative" ahead of Alice.
And perhaps, they may have made a critical misjudgment right there.
That Alice would not be able to ascend to the position of the next emperor.
...... Well, it was understandable.
The current emperor was, by any measure, an eccentric person. Though in the end the blood wasn't shared, legally there was no difference in status among the imperial princesses and princes. One of them had gone so far as to become a knight commander and was actively serving, and another was serving as the emperor's plenipotentiary representative at a young age.
Those who hadn't heard the "personal conversations" shared directly between the emperor and his children...... well, it was an easy mistake to make.
The point was that at the very least, Alice had been the perfect person to draw aggro.
Berati would have been caught even if it hadn't been Alice, but what the imperial family wanted was to siphon the Divine Treasure away without Northwood's knowledge.
To extract Berati without the Northwood ducal house finding out, nothing else could be allowed to go wrong. If Alice hadn't stepped forward as bait like this, the situation would have become a little more complicated.
The imperial family probably still didn't know exactly what it was that "the Holy State wanted."
"You did well. Drawing out the result is a skill in its own right."
And so I said that to Alice.
"R-really......?"
"Yeah. Though the fact that you were dressed as a bunny girl the entire time you were threatening her does bother me a little."
"......."
Perhaps out of jealousy, Claire, who had just managed to collect herself at the sound of our conversation, remarked as much. Only then did Alice seem to realize how profoundly embarrassing her outfit was, and she hurriedly uncrossed her legs.
"Th-the other side was a bunny girl too, so it doesn't matter!"
But even as she said that, Alice quickly got up from her seat.
*
"Yeah. There were no other troops."
We returned to the lodgings and talked a little more about the matters we hadn't been able to discuss in front of Leo and Claire.
"So what you're saying is, it was a bluff."
Listening to Alice's confident pronouncement, I nodded.
Of course, no matter how strong the emperor's authority was, deploying troops inside Northwood was a separate matter. And requesting that the Northwood forces themselves move was an even bigger problem.
It wasn't as though no troops had followed us from the imperial capital, but those troops swaggering around Northwood was yet another separate issue entirely.
It was also fortunate that Berati had refused to properly reveal the purpose of her visit until the very end.
Leo and Claire weren't the type to go blabbing about what they'd heard in front of others, but the best method still was for no one else to hear it at all.
"...... You actually know a lot of things, don't you?"
When I remained silent, Alice asked me cautiously.
"Yes."
"Hmmm."
But Alice merely hummed in response and didn't ask about anything further.
"Though I don't know how you come to know such things."
As Alice said that, she gestured to the table in the middle of the spacious room. Four chairs were arranged around a small round table.
Even if it was just a guest room in the duke's residence, it seemed to be prepared to receive guests like this.
Then again, even high-end hotels probably came with about this much preparation.
When I pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, Alice took a seat facing me and spoke.
"Even if I ask you how you knew it, you wouldn't tell me, would you?"
"......."
I thought for a moment. How should I answer?
"The method by which I learn such things is my greatest talent. I cannot casually share it with just anyone."
"Right. Well, I have a secret or two that I don't want to tell anyone else either."
I was curious about that as well, but I decided not to pry. If it was a secret that needed to be told, Alice would tell me someday.
"But still, I do want to know at least a little."
Alice stared at me intently. Her expression was calm, and her clear eyes shone distinctly. It wasn't the kind of look that threatened me.
Simply—
"I want to ask, not as the imperial princess, but as your sister."
Alice paused for a moment.
"Is that ability you possess 'foreknowledge'?"
"If you say foreknowledge, do you mean the sort possessed by the one who wrote the Book of Prophecy passed down in the imperial family?"
"Yes."
"It is not."
That, at least, I could answer with certainty.
"Then is it prediction through delicate calculation?"
"It is not."
I could answer with certainty this time as well.
Was it Laplace's Demon? I had heard it argued that perfectly grasping the world through 'perception' and predicting the future was impossible. The same was probably true in this world, where at least the laws of physics were identical.
"You mean it's neither calculation nor prophecy, and yet you can know the future?"
"That is correct."
"......."
Through this question and answer, would Alice be able to figure out the nature of my ability?
She might. She might not.
If it was neither prediction nor calculation, what would that leave other than having directly experienced that future? And if I denied even that, it would only mean "things simply happen to go as I wish". At that point, it was practically the domain of what you might call a god.
Since Alice wouldn't conclude that I was a god, she could probably guess the nature of my ability even without me saying so directly.
So if I had truly wanted to conceal my ability, it would have been right not to even answer in this way.
But for some reason, I had wanted to answer like this.
It hadn't been a conclusion I reached after logical deliberation.
I just, had wanted to.
"...... Alright. I won't ask in any more detail."
As though she had reached her own private conclusion, Alice answered that way. She glanced at the clock on the wall, then spoke.
"You must be tired. Thank you for keeping me company so late tonight."
Alice said.
"Not at all. I only accompanied you because I wished to."
I gave a slight bow to Alice as I answered.
Well, even if I hadn't accompanied her, I had been planning to go by myself anyway.
So there was no need for Alice to apologize to me.
If I had to put it that way, I was the one who had nearly ruined Alice's plan.
"If you ever need me again, please call on me."
"...... Alright."
At my words, Alice nodded readily.