18

The Sobi Marquess Family was a great power alongside the Brandy Marquess Family, but while this would not lead to its collapse, its political power was weakened even further by it.

“As for Lord Ains, who provided sorcery to Darius this time…”

Darius had killed kingdom knights, and that power had come from awakened sorcery. So when the question arose of who had been involved in that sorcery, naturally Ains’s name came up.

Voices were raised saying that he was a threat itself and that Ains, too, should be punished, but Lizelotte’s words smothered them.

“…Hmm. Then from now on, whenever a criminal who used magic in a crime is captured, the Sorcery Academy and the people of other academies who taught that person magic will also have to be punished. Dear me, troublesome though it may be, I suppose it cannot be helped. After all, we would be setting a precedent of punishing those who provided a means that could be used for crime.”

With Lizelotte speaking fearlessly with a smile about how delightful it would be to see just how many of the kingdom’s elites would end up eating cold scraps in pigpens from now on, the other nobles could do nothing but fall silent.

“…Lizelotte-sama, toward Ains-san…”

That exchange between Lizelotte and Ains in the archive. Kirishiya did not understand Ains’s side, but Lizelotte at least seemed to have some kind of history with Ains.

“As a result, in this incident, the only one who bore concrete responsibility was Marquis Zoin Sobi.”

For an affair involving the Next-Era Luminaries, the damage had been small, and the responsibility to be pursued was not especially great either.

“I see. Seidel reported it while I was asleep, then. Thank you.”

“It is not something worthy of thanks from Kirishiya-sama.”

That was what Seidel said, but they were pursuing responsibility from Marquis Zoin Sobi. The level of detail demanded in the report, and the questions required for confirmation, must have meant that Seidel had been detained for quite a long time.

“…Seidel, did you know?”

“Know what, exactly?”

“About Ains-san. …I had only known one side of Ains-san.”

Kirishiya spoke with her eyes lowered, looking away from Seidel.

“While accompanying Lord Ains to the archive, I exchanged words with him many times. At that time, I felt I saw, in the way he thought about things and in his view of life, which was far beyond his years, the experience of a life fully lived.”

“Of course, his words and actions in the archive were even more severe than that,” Seidel added.

“What Ains-san said may have been right. Perhaps it is only that I still understand nothing, but perhaps the world, and people, really are like that.”

Perhaps she had only been intoxicated by the sound of the word justice.

She had not understood it properly, and she did not know whether she ever would.

When Ains had reached out his hand to Kirishiya, asking whether she wanted to give form to the justice she believed in and turn it into sorcery, Lizelotte had stopped it even by using sorcery.

Why had she done that?

Surely it was because Lizelotte had thought that if things continued as they were, Kirishiya would not be able to fully understand or accomplish the justice that would satisfy her.

“I really am still so immature…”

Kirishiya lost confidence, wondering whether she could truly become a good leader who would guide the citizens as a princess of the Santia Kingdom.

Seidel spoke to Kirishiya, who had sunk into gloom in the dim room.

“Lord Ains said this: ‘To shrink from shame and keep standing still on the spot is the height of foolishness. The shame you leave behind will later become medals.’ Kirishiya-sama, you must keep thinking. You must continue moving forward while repeating your failures. When you look back, I believe your justice will be there.”

Kirishiya raised her face.

“Can someone as immature as I am really do that?”

“If that is what Kirishiya-sama desires.”

“If I go in the wrong direction, will Seidel set me right?”

“If that is what Kirishiya-sama desires.”

“I am sure I will cause Seidel even more hardship than before, but will you still come with me?”

“My resolve on that has been settled from the start.”

After hearing Seidel’s feelings to that extent, Kirishiya smiled softly. Seeing that, Seidel’s lips relaxed as well.

Now that her resolve had been set, Kirishiya suddenly remembered something and asked Seidel.

“Does Laika know, I wonder? That Ains-san has that kind of side to him.”

“I do not know. However, I believe she most likely does not.”

It was a side of Ains that could not be glimpsed unless something extraordinary happened.

“Ains-san and she seemed to get along well, and there is no need to cause Laika unnecessary worry. I, as her best friend, simply need to protect Laika.”

Seidel nodded quietly as well.

The moon broke through the clouds and revealed itself.

Moonlight streamed in through the window and gently illuminated even the unseen dark corners of the room.

“This time too, you were being criticized quite heavily again, weren’t you?”

“If it can be settled with money, then there is no problem. The money taken from me will naturally return to me later.”

A woman’s voice spoke in a teasing, mocking tone, and a man’s calm voice replied without being bothered in the least by such cheap provocation.

The place where they were was the man’s study.

There, furnishings crafted by master artisans were arranged, their value obvious to anyone with a discerning eye. The table and sofa, the pens and ornaments, everything in the study was so expensive that ordinary people could never hope to afford it.

He treated them as nothing more than objects, and used them.

Even their value seemed to be nothing special before the man. Following his example, the woman who had been mocking him tilted an exquisite glass and drank down distilled liquor.

“Zoin, but your power balance has collapsed, hasn’t it? The scales with the Brandy family have completely tipped away. This is unlike you, going this far.”

The woman watched Zoin Sobi, who rolled the distilled liquor across his tongue before her, with delighted amusement.

“I do not want someone like you talking to me about what is or is not like me. Villain.”

“Same to you. Actually, someone far darker than me like you sure has a lot of nerve saying that.”

“That’s why your son ran away from you, right?” the woman chuckled.

Zoin sighed and, shaking his head, said, “If you keep that attitude up, one day someone will stab you.”

“If I get stabbed on a night road, Zoin, you’ll be the very first person I suspect.”

“…Indeed. So would I.”