Revenge (2)
Revenge (2)
Even after living ten years in this world, I had never fully grasped the aristocratic mindset.
How could the Countess of Crowfield possibly leave her husband alone? Even if they didn't treat commoners as human beings, it remained true that her own husband was, well... spending his nights with someone else.
Did she not know? Did she truly believe I had killed her husband simply because of the emperor's political judgment?
Thinking that way would actually be stranger.
Perhaps she was the kind of person whose thinking was so steeped in aristocracy that she couldn't even conceive of treating a commoner as a person.
"It is an honor that you have visited our estate."
After being shown into the drawing room and seated across from us, the countess addressed us in a gentle voice.
"The honor is mine, for you to have invited us."
At Alice's reply, I almost glanced toward her.
Invited?
I hadn't received—ah. Right.
There would have been no reason to invite me in the first place.
I shifted my gaze toward Mia Crowfield.
Her eyes, which couldn't quite meet mine, wandered here and there.
Perhaps she had heard something from Mia Crowfield. That the next emperor was not me but Alice.
If that was the case, then exactly "how much" Mia Crowfield had told her mother would matter.
Personally, I doubted she had said all that much. The relationship between Mia Crowfield and her mother, the countess, probably wasn't severely broken, but then again, I also didn't think the relationship between Mia Crowfield and us was severely broken either.
Alice and the countess were exchanging pleasantries.
After a few more platitudes delivered in standard aristocratic fashion, the countess said:
"Mia has often spoken of Your Imperial Highnesses. She says you have been enjoying each other's company. Mia is not a child who takes the initiative in conversation, so I cannot tell you how relieved I am to know that there are two people drawing her out like that."
"I have a timid younger sibling myself."
"Oh my."
At Alice's remark, the countess's gaze shifted toward me with a meaningful look.
"Unless you spoke to her first, she would simply sit there sullenly with her mouth shut, so I had no choice but to learn how to speak first."
...... That actually sounded closer to how Alice used to be, back in the day. If anything, I was the type to boldly strike up a conversation when necessary. If it looked like I had made a mistake, I could just turn back time.
That said, it wasn't as if Alice could simply come out and say, "Actually, I spent my childhood as a timid girl who really didn't enjoy talking to strangers." Considering that Alice called me her younger sister and treasured me, that childhood period when I had looked after Alice might well have been a precious memory she didn't want to casually share with others.
If Alice trusted me, she wouldn't trust the words of the countess sitting before me.
"I see. Hearing that puts me even more at ease. The fact that our daughter was able to adapt to the academy so easily must also be thanks to having such a friend."
Listening to the countess, Alice took a sip of tea.
...... No, it only looked like she sipped. The tea in Alice's cup hadn't diminished at all since earlier. Though the countess didn't point it out.
Surely the countess hadn't laced the tea with a lethal poison. A knight order had accompanied us to this estate to serve as our guard. Besides, these people already knew that it was the emperor who had killed the Count of Crowfield, so they would fully understand what would happen if they killed Alice.
If I were the Countess of Crowfield, I probably would have sought a different method. There truly were many kinds of things that could be put into tea.
"Oh, where are my manners."
The countess suddenly said this and clapped her hands together with a sharp crack. At the sound, Mia Crowfield's shoulders flinched. She must have been under tremendous tension.
"How tactless of me to monopolize the gathering. You are reunited with a dear friend after so long; I should have given you time to talk sooner. I will take my leave now."
The Countess of Crowfield rose from her seat, and we all followed suit.
Alice, I, and the countess exchanged polite farewells. Then the countess, true to her word, excused herself from the room.
And Mia Crowfield, who had been watching the door close with a trace of unease, hurriedly opened her mouth not long after her mother had left.
"That tea—"
"I suspected as much, so it's all right."
Alice spoke while taking out a handkerchief and wiping her mouth.
She had only made a faint sipping sound; the contents of the teacup hadn't so much as moistened her lips. Alice, too, knew how dangerous narcotics could be.
After all, she had been shocked when she saw the morphine in my room, the kind even soldiers used.
"Ah......"
At Alice's words, Mia Crowfield let out a deflated sound, like air escaping, and sat down.
Then, belatedly realizing what it meant that Alice had already known the truth, she trembled.
"...... Rest assured. I have no intention of blaming you right now."
As she said this, Alice walked leisurely around the drawing room. The way she slowly moved her feet, scanning the walls and ceiling, made it seem as though she had anticipated everything from the start.
"......."
Mia Crowfield's eyes turned toward me.
"Sylvia has nothing to do with this. She just followed along because she was worried about me."
Not because she came to kill you or your mother.
I pictured what must have been left unsaid after that.
...... If it had been me from last year, I would at least have looked into the possibility of killing her mother—though maybe not Mia Crowfield. Ideally, in a way that left no evidence I was responsible. An accidental death.
"Is there anywhere in this room where someone could hide?"
Alice asked in a voice that seemed relaxed at a glance.
"Ah, that's......"
Mia Crowfield started to speak, then closed her mouth. Her expression said she didn't know how to answer.
A complex expression still occupied her face.
"What brings you here today?"
"Because you sent an invitation, didn't you?"
"......."
Had she truly not imagined the invitation would actually be accepted?
Well, the invitation was suspicious no matter who looked at it. Even people closer to Alice than Mia Crowfield, Charlotte for instance, had never extended an invitation to her. A letter containing a simple greeting would have been another matter.
That was because there was an enormous difference between a noble traveling around for visits and an imperial princess making an appearance. A large retinue would accompany her, and feeding and lodging that many people was a headache in all sorts of ways. The money might come from the imperial household, but depending on the size of the estate, simply housing and feeding that many people could be a burden in itself.
It was even more complicated between nations. You had to show the other side "how well we live."
In that sense, House Grace could be considered exceptionally unusual. Even if we visited without a single guard, no one would suspect anything. That was proof of how deeply the emperor trusted them, and that fact itself served as the source of the baronial house's power.
"I also understand that it was, in its own way, a warning."
Before Mia Crowfield could open her mouth, Alice spoke first.
"......."
Mia Crowfield's lips pressed together so tightly they formed an almost straight line.
"But still... there was something I needed to confirm."
"...... About me and my mother?"
"No. I already know everything I need to know about you and your mother. The truth is, there's no one easier to investigate than a noble, after all. I apologize for having conducted the investigation without telling you first."
Alice bent her knees slightly in a small curtsy, but Mia Crowfield's expression remained rigidly frozen.
As if she knew those eyes were waiting for the rest, Alice continued.
"Of course, it does involve your family's estate. And perhaps... it may even be connected to that incident from back then."
"......."
Strength entered Mia Crowfield's eyes. Alice observed that expression as though she found it interesting.
"An expression I never saw at school."
"In the end, you people haven't changed at all."
At Mia Crowfield's words, Alice said nothing. As if waiting for what would come next.
"Back then, just as you took my father's life—"
"No."
Alice cut Mia off mid-sentence.
"I will not kill you. Because I have no reason to."
"......."
Watching Mia Crowfield's eyes widen, Alice spoke.
"I will swear on the name of Fangriffon. I will not kill my 'friend.'"
Mia Crowfield's mouth fell open.
The only reason my own mouth did not fall open was probably due to years of training and experience.