Lady Reiling (2)

“Her Majesty the Empress is frail, so why is she coming all the way to distant Tessen…! Surely the entire imperial family is not coming. Right? That cannot be the case, Rei.”

Alicia grabbed the hand of Reichardt that she had flung away and spoke as though pleading.

“The consort faction will not be coming.”

Reichardt spoke politely, as though telling her not to worry.

“……”

It seemed the Emperor was coming to Tessen with the Empress and the twin imperial princes. It was a more terrifying visit than if every member of the imperial family had come.

‘Do they know how much gold I spent bribing all the consorts equally…?’

Alicia’s slender shoulders abruptly sagged. Reichardt softly patted the shoulders and back that were rising and falling from the shock. Alicia noticed that the handsome face comforting her still had more left unsaid.

The golden eyes glancing at her seemed extremely suspicious.

“What is it now? Just say it all at once!”

“Princess Dorothea is coming as well.”

“Dorothea? The Duchess of Pfalz is raising Dorothea. You said no member of the consort faction is coming, un—unless the Empress is coming with Princess Dorothea in place of her guardian?”

Alicia interrupted Reichardt and demanded an answer. Reichardt, watching the face chattering at him in agitation, smiled faintly without thinking.

Alicia, who always knew everything, anticipated everything, and was prepared for everything, looked vividly alive—just as she had in hell—while flustering at the imperial family’s visit, which was practically a major disaster.

“Why are you smiling…!”

Reichardt suppressed his improper private thoughts and gave a low hum.

“It seems Dorothea dislikes books. She wants to sing and swordfight like her twin younger brothers, and she is apparently at the age of throwing tantrums at Duchess of Pfalz. Her birth mother wishes to take Dorothea and raise her herself, so the Empress is bringing the Princess.”

Reichardt, who had been speaking, fell silent at the awkward situation. From the perspective of consort politics, the Empress should either support Duchess of Pfalz, or, on the contrary, transfer the guardian’s authority to a consort close to herself and thereby strengthen that consort.

Yet the Empress, who had always been flawless in palace politics, for some reason reached out directly to the child when Dorothea began to clash with Duchess of Pfalz.

“You mean the Empress enticed Princess Dorothea?”

Alicia whispered the words Reichardt could not quite bring himself to say aloud.

“Alicia, you must not use crude expressions about the Empress.”

“But that is what happened. I heard she sang to her? The Empress must have known she should not do that! Did the Duchess of Pfalz get abandoned by the Princess?”

“It is not like that. Only for this trip will the Empress accompany the Princess. Duchess Pfalz remains Dorothea’s guardian.”

At the dreadful disaster that the Emperor’s delegation was coming to Tessen, and at the reality that enormous changes were taking place in the Imperial Palace, Alicia pressed both hands to her forehead.

“What should we do?”

Reichardt politely took Alicia’s hand and murmured his concern.

“We could keep them from passing at the border……”

In her urgency, Alicia muttered something impossible. There was no actual border between Tessen and the Rune Empire. There were boundary points, but unlike Tessen’s western frontier, there was no separate border control.

“You know that cannot be done.”

Reichardt murmured like some kind-hearted soul and stroked Alicia’s tormented head. If anything in Tessen so much as caused a minor injury to a member of the imperial family, it could turn into a serious problem.

What made Alicia feel wronged and resentful was that the event which had summoned the Emperor, the Empress, and the imperial grandchildren was none other than the Grand Duchess of Tessen’s first banquet in Tessen.

“L-Lilizet……”

Alicia, deep in thought, spoke hastily. Reichardt nodded as though he understood.

“I have already sent word to prepare to receive guests at Lilizet Palace. Connie will inspect it tomorrow. Even if the imperial delegation is lodged at Lilizet Villa, residences must still be prepared within Tessen Castle itself for members of the imperial family.”

Several places in Tessen Castle had already been decorated for the guests who would come to the banquet.

“The central tower, Child Tower.”

There were several towers in Tessen Castle. That one did not yet have an owner, and it was both majestic and cozy enough for the imperial party to stay in.

“I will tell Henrik to prepare it. Is there anything else you would like done?”

Having made the urgent decision, Alicia shook her head. Reichardt stroked her weary cheek as though consoling her.

“It seems we will have to go to Baden next spring.”

“It does. Both His Majesty and Her Majesty are trying to disturb the Grand Duchess of Tessen while she is living peacefully in Tessen. Alicia is busy enough even here.”

“Why are you flattering me, Your Highness? Do you still have something left to say?”

Alicia looked at Reichardt with a guarded expression. The golden eyes, difficult to read, could not take their gaze off Alicia.

“Lady Dalia is not Lady Dalia.”

Reichardt said in a voice that had gone lower.

“……”

Alicia held his gaze, then nodded. That problem still remained. They had to resolve it before the imperial family arrived.

“Dalia Swan came as Lily Combat’s attendant.”

“That is right.”

“Greitz, Heronimo, Strahl, Morrow, Koff, and Combat.”

At the names of the families that came from Reichardt’s lips, Alicia’s eyes trembled slightly. By contrast, a faint smile rose at the corners of her mouth.

“Those families are……”

“They must be the families of my former wives, whom I myself never knew. Among the places the Grand Duchess of Tessen is having Master Pelmen’s clan investigate, there were families in the imperial capital with famous young ladies, so I remembered them. The Croa Clan is not the only information group, Alicia. Why are you so surprised? I am the Grand Duke of Tessen.”

He was the man who held the strongest army and intelligence network in the Rune Empire after the Emperor.

“That is true. So you knew I was investigating the families of Your Highness’s former wives. And then?”

Alicia answered lightly, though for reasons she could not explain her pride had been strangely stung.

“And then what? If you were watching the house of Count Combat, then you must also know that the Swan family are vassals of the Combat family. So then what is the true identity of Lady Dalia, who brought invitations belonging to the Combat family’s young lady and the Swan family’s young lady? At least tell me.”

“Rei, you heard about the incident, did you not? Lady Dalia came carrying the invitations of Lady Combat and Lady Swan. But Lady Combat, whom Lady Dalia was attending, and the coachman vanished. The carriage was where Lady Dalia said it would be. Do you really think that makes sense?”

Alicia waved her hand through the air as though telling him to think about the two invitations.

“It would be difficult for a lady or servant of the vassal Swan family to get hold of Lady Combat’s invitation.”

Reichardt spoke with an expression suggesting he half understood. Alicia nodded.

“Exactly.”

“But Lady Dalia’s face is different from Lady Lily’s. It would not have been easy for a woman alone to come all the way to Tessen by carriage through a forest road or an old path instead of the main road.”

Alicia looked at Reichardt, who had fallen into thought and was muttering, with serious eyes.

“How do you know Lady Lily’s face?”

“I saw her portrait. She was one of the prospective matches selected by the imperial family. Lady Lily had blond hair and ash-gray eyes. If Lady Dalia is not Lady Lily, then who is she……”

“There is another young lady in the Combat family.”

“Lady Cara does not fit the age, so if it is not Lady Lily, then it must be the third daughter, Rose. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was only thinking that you remembered the color of her eyes and hair.”

Alicia smiled as though trying not to show her displeasure. Reichardt cast a wronged look toward the violet eyes that seemed to reproach him.

“I almost never forget a face once I have seen it. Most of the women the imperial family selected as prospective matches were blond, so I do not think it is strange that I remembered.”

“I see.”

Alicia agreed evenly with Reichardt’s defense. She did not look convinced at all.

“Alicia.”

“I am perfectly fine.”

At Alicia’s severe reply, Reichardt burst into laughter. Alicia, who had been about to protest the laughing man, frowned at the kiss that landed on her cheek.

“W-what was that……”

Reichardt kept laughing softly as he kissed Alicia’s flustered cheek.

“It was nothing. I was simply kissing my wife. So why is Rose Combat disguising her elder sister Lily Combat as missing and pretending to be someone else?”

“I do not know that far yet either. I am guessing that Lily Combat either suffered something close to a disappearance, or got entangled in something. I am also guessing that Rose Combat may have found herself in circumstances where she had to leave the family.”

Pretending not to notice her cheeks turning red on their own, Alicia put her suspicions into words.

“You said Lily Combat is engaged to the second son of Marquis Relling, correct?”

“Yes.”

Alicia realized that Reichardt had overheard her conversation with Judith.

“If something happened to Lady Lily in Relling, there is someone in Tessen who can help us. The second son is probably acting as Marquis Relling in practice, since the Marquis has not been active for years due to old age.”

“What? Who?”

“At present, there is someone in Tessen who used to be the Lady of Relling.”

A light returned to Alicia’s eyes, which had been feeling at a loss because the situation was still based only on inferences and hypotheses, and real confirmation would take time.

Who was that?

Just as Alicia was about to demand an answer from Reichardt.

Knock knock.

The door to the dressing room where the two of them were sounded.

“Your Highness. Your Highness? Were you here?”

The door carefully opened and Connie entered. Seeing Reichardt, Connie acknowledged him. Like a mischievous child, and as actively as Alicia herself had been a moment earlier when she was about to demand an answer from him, Reichardt called to Connie.

“Connie.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Your command……”

“Alicia, greet her. At present, Baroness of Rens; formerly, the sole Lady of Relling, Connie Relling Rens. Connie, there should still be some underlings left in Relling who used to serve the Lady, correct?”

Reichardt looked up at Connie with eyes that clearly hoped she would nod to his wish.