Interlude
Interlude
Following someone was no simple matter.
People were surprisingly perceptive, reacting sharply even to small sounds around them. Especially at night, when almost nothing stirred, presences carried far more easily.
Of course, there were plenty of spells that minimized noise. They all required the lavish use of expensive Marmaros, but if there truly was a need to observe someone in secret, Mia Crowfield had no qualms about such costs.
Particularly if that person had killed her father.
The problem was, if Sylvia Fangriffon had truly assassinated the count and fled as if it were nothing, then the risk of exposure remained high even with such measures.
Mia Crowfield was a mage, not an assassin. She had received some training, yes, but that was training meant to expose the imperial family's weaknesses as a noble, not training for assassinating an assassin.
Besides, Mia had had the opportunity to observe Sylvia Fangriffon at very close range during that mock battle. She had been appalled, watching Sylvia calmly pick off one target per shot while firing into light so bright she could hardly see.
Sylvia hadn't even committed a single friendly-fire incident.
The sight had been... so terrifying, it almost made one wonder if some kind of magical effect was at work.
She knew she looked utterly ridiculous—wearing the softest-soled shoes she owned, choosing the darkest clothes she had, selecting trousers instead of a skirt, and pulling a mask over her face. She also knew full well that if she were caught, no excuse would hold.
But... even if she were caught...
Well, if it came to that, her opponent could try killing her too. Mia had no intention of dying alone. No, even if she couldn't kill them, she intended to at least inflict a grievous wound before she died.
... With that resolve, Mia Crowfield had begun tailing Sylvia Fangriffon in the small hours—no, it wouldn't have been strange to call it the dead of night still.
From Mia's perspective, not knowing much about Sylvia Fangriffon's daily routine, she first needed to properly confirm that routine at least once.
"...... At this hour?"
It was fortunate she had considered the worst-case scenario and begun observing from the middle of the night. Sylvia got up and started moving at an unbelievably early hour. Indeed, dealing with certain matters would require moving at such an early hour.
But....
"...... Huh?"
If it was something so secretive it required moving at such an early hour, wouldn't it be natural to keep a careful watch on her surroundings?
Sylvia Fangriffon sat on a bench, apparently waiting for a stagecoach, showing no sign of wariness whatsoever.
No, to be precise... how to put it. She looked far more out of it than her usual self, even.
Sylvia Fangriffon was....
Sitting on the bench, dozing off repeatedly.
"Huh?"
And she looked terribly defenseless. If someone were to attack Sylvia Fangriffon, she would take that attack head-on.
...... No, wait.
Even that appearance might be a ruse. Mia Crowfield shook her head, thinking so.
Right. It wasn't implausible for it to be a ruse. By appearing utterly unguarded while actually maintaining extreme vigilance, she might be trying to make even a tail grow careless.
...... Though, if she knew a tail was on her, wouldn't attacking the tail be the better play?
"Hnn?"
Sylvia Fangriffon, who had been nodding off, let her head drop forward sharply and startled awake. Then she rubbed her eyes with her hands. Though it was hard to see clearly from where Mia watched, it wouldn't have been surprising if her eyes were bloodshot.
What was this?
Seriously, what?
This was Sylvia Fangriffon, who was supposed to be utterly thorough, the kind of person you could stab and not draw a single drop of blood. An iron lady whose expression never shifted, even when eating delicious food.
Of course, Alice Fangriffon spoke and acted as if some other emotion lay beneath that expression when she looked at Sylvia Fangriffon, but Mia had never believed a word of it.
"Hwaaam."
"Eh?"
...... But watching Sylvia Fangriffon yawn hugely without even properly covering her mouth made even that conviction waver.
Watching her draw her coat about her like a cloak against the chill morning air, yawn loudly as if she couldn't bear to pull her hands out, then startle and look around her... the only possible interpretation seemed to be that she was reluctant to be caught dropping her expressionless mask.
"......."
That was an assassin?
No, no.
Mia shook her head vigorously once more.
That... that might be an act. An act to shed the disgraceful label of assassin that had been pinned on her. She was an imperial princess, after all.
Slap, slap.
Hearing that sound, Mia quickly looked toward Sylvia Fangriffon and saw her slapping her own cheeks with both hands, as if trying to shake off drowsiness.
"......."
She couldn't even manage a surprised noise anymore.
It was so different from her usual appearance.
...... Could she really be completely unaware of Mia's presence? Of course, the distance was considerable. An ordinary student wouldn't even notice Mia was following.
In fact, Mia had acted on the assumption that she would be noticed. Because if Sylvia Fangriffon realized Mia was tailing her, she would immediately seize Mia. And by provoking her, Mia figured she might, if only a little, discover some kind of clue. That had been her calculation.
"...... Ah."
No way.
Could all of this be calculated?
The imperial family had been exploiting the fact that Mia's father had been killed to some extent, but they never directly admitted it. The incident was merely an unfortunate accident, and officially, the imperial family's position was that they mourned the count's death.
Precisely for that reason, they couldn't just produce evidence carelessly.
Officially, they hadn't killed him directly. The imperial family's approach was to exploit the nobles' quaking fear while denying it if anyone pointed it out.
The emperor had spoken with her mother about something. Mia hadn't heard that conversation, and her mother never told Mia what it contained. She had simply told Mia the fact that the emperor had killed her father.
So....
"......."
Sniff.
Sylvia Fangriffon gave a loud sniff. She must have thought no one else was around.
.......
Was that person truly the one who had murdered her father? Was she truly the bloodless, tearless killer who had blown up several stagecoaches with bombs and created countless innocent victims?
Was it possible that her own thinking had been wrong?
Watching Sylvia Fangriffon's face return to expressionlessness at the sound of the approaching stagecoach in the distance, Mia Crowfield seriously agonized.
* * *
"Your Highness."
Monday morning.
The moment Mia left the dormitory for the classroom, she headed straight for the spot where the two imperial princesses and the princess were.
And she offered a slight bow toward Sylvia Fangriffon.
"Did you pass the night in peace?"
She had spent all Sunday genuinely wrestling with Sylvia Fangriffon's behavior, but no satisfactory answer had emerged.
"Mia, have you been well too?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
The one who responded to Mia first was Alice, the "true imperial princess."
"I trust you have been well."
"Thank you, Your Highness. I have been well."
For Mia Crowfield, who had been quiet-natured since childhood, even exchanging morning greetings with others like this was somewhat burdensome. It was even harder when she had to approach a group and initiate the greeting.
But Mia had something to confirm.
Whether that face Sylvia Fangriffon had shown her in the early hours of Sunday was real or not.
Even a person burning with vengeance couldn't stay up all night two nights in a row. So the way to check on Sylvia Fangriffon on Monday was to verify her expression as early in the morning as possible.
If there was even a trace of fatigue in her expression now, Mia felt she might actually be relieved.
"......."
But Sylvia Fangriffon's expression as she looked up vacantly at Mia was the same expressionless mask as always, utterly unchanged.
"Sylvia, no matter how tired you are, you should still return someone's greeting when they greet you first."
...... Tired?
Hearing Alice's words, Mia scrutinized Sylvia Fangriffon's expression again.
Without a sliver of doubt, her expression was the same expressionless mask as always.
"...... Good morning."
There wasn't the slightest hint of hoarseness in her voice either.
"When I watch the two of you, I really do find it fascinating."
"Fascinating? What is?"
When Alice asked, Charlotte replied.
"To my eyes, Sylvia's expression is always the same. Yet you, Alice, read it as if it were nothing."
...... Was she truly reading it? Mia, having already once witnessed that Sylvia Fangriffon possessed a "different expression," was also skeptical. In truth, wasn't Alice just imagining she was reading something?
"Heh-heh."
Alice let out a self-satisfied little noise, then said,
"There were quite a few people who annoyed Sylvia in the imperial household. And Sylvia's reactions aren't limited to just that one kind. Annoyed or... ah, well, admittedly, the annoyed reaction was most of it, but still, the reactions she showed me were far better than the ones she showed my other siblings."
"......."
At Alice's words, Sylvia Fangriffon's head turned toward her. Though her face remained expressionless, so there was no telling what she was thinking.
"Is that so?"
Even as she listened to Alice and looked at Sylvia's expression again, Charlotte still seemed unable to tell.
"That's what I'm telling you."
"......."
Mia also stole a glance at Sylvia Fangriffon's expression, but...
...... As expected, the expression she had seen in the small hours of yesterday was nowhere to be found.
* * *
...... Had I been too complacent?
It was true that I had lived maintaining an expressionless face, but the reactions I'd shown Alice, Lucas, and Jaden had differed. I'd been curt with Lucas and Jaden, and relatively warm with Alice.
Couldn't it be helped? When I first met them, Jaden and Lucas were already adults of a certain age, but Alice had been a small child. She was Claire's age, no less.
Watching her struggle through a difficult early childhood, pushed aside by capable step-siblings, I couldn't help trying to treat her well.
And I also had the knowledge that she was one of the original protagonist's party.
Still, beyond Lucas, who'd suddenly swing a sword every time he saw me, and Jaden, who liked me a little too intensely, I'd gotten along uneventfully with the other two.
Or maybe, it was precisely those varied reactions that had allowed Alice to reach the level of reading my expressions.
"......."
I hadn't met her eyes, but I could see Mia Crowfield staring straight at me.
No, what was with this girl now?
I hadn't run into her at all over the weekend. Had one of the emperor's other children caused an incident in the shadows?
"...... Hmm."
Charlotte, who had also been staring at me, made a thoughtful noise and said,
"I really can't tell, you know."
My point exactly.
Honestly, if someone took a photo of my face, I doubted even I could tell.
How could Alice, an outsider, recognize expressions that I myself couldn't discern?
...... Could it be that Alice possessed some hidden ability?
Investigating it wouldn't be a bad idea, I thought as I looked at Alice's beaming face.