133
Without knowing this situation of Lionel, the Corel, which Agnes boarded, sailed the southern sea while cutting through the blue waves.
As the port of Marsen revealed its appearance beyond the horizon, the speed of the ship gradually slowed down.
At the announcement to prepare for disembarkation, the cabin doors began to open one by one.
An excited air was clear among the people who packed their luggage and stepped out.
Agnes also headed outside while mixing among the people together with Kain and Leuceviten.
The very first thing felt was the salty ocean scent.
Unlike the Empire, the air of Marsen was considerably warmer. Even though it was winter, gentle air whose wind tip was not cold brushed softly against the skin.
Perhaps thanks to that, the phantom pain of her leg, which had been tormenting Agnes for a while, also felt like taking a breath for a moment.
Agnes, who habitually touched her right leg, cast her gaze over the railing.
To the left and right of the pier that was drawing near, a landscape completely different from the magnificent architectural style of the Empire was spread out.
Low buildings made of white bricks were each wearing red roofs like hats.
Even the small shops and flags lined up along the coastline,
The golden waves swaying while containing yellow sunlight and the colorful roofs were just like a piece of painting.
“Whew, I see why everyone tells people to visit Marsen at least once. It is truly a beautiful place.”
A passenger who burst out in admiration spoke while nudging his companion with his elbow.
“Because of you, I almost missed out on seeing even this scenery.”
“Hey, I said I was sorry. Since the Black Iron Knights suddenly appeared at the port, I was watching, thinking something happened, so I almost ended up late, you see.”
……The Black Iron Knights?
Likewise, the shoulders of Agnes, who was having her heart stolen by the scenery of Marsen, flinched sharply.
The Black Iron Knights were at the port?
‘Why? Could it be…… did they know that I was there?’
Agnes’s body shrank of its own accord. As if to erase her presence.
She clearly thought she moved well without being caught, but was it not so?
What kind of trace did she leave behind?
Just in case, Leuceviten and Kain had also boarded the ship borrowing another person’s identity. There was no way their tail would be caught so quickly like this.
At the same time.
The cause-less anxiety she felt at the port earlier surged in once again. It was because the thought that Lionel might have been at the center where people were gathering in a circle crossed her mind.
Agnes’s expression stiffened without her knowing it.
Behind such an Agnes, people trying to get off the ship began to gather continuously.
And, among them, the Chairman of the Diplomatic Council of the Federation was also mixed in.
He was still unable to stay still and was busily scanning the surroundings here and there.
Then, discovering the guards standing at the pier, he trembled his body violently, startled out of his wits.
The guards were merely deployed to lightly check the luggage of the disembarking passengers.
As Marsen was a place where many people came and went, it seemed to be a procedure for safety. For that reason, they were especially examining the luggage of young and middle-aged adults more meticulously.
At that sight, the Chairman tightly grasped the secret letter hidden inside his clothes. Sweat seeped out wetly on his palm.
“Oh no!”
At that moment when he was fretting, fearing that the secret letter might be caught.
The sight of the guards who did not separately inspect the luggage of the elderly and children entered the Chairman’s eyes.
“If it is that……”
The Chairman’s pupils, which grasped the secret letter a little harder as if contemplating, moved even more rapidly.
Happening to be right in front of him, there was the owner of luggage that was just right.
It was none other than Leuceviten.
The Chairman, who was even turning his head around and scanning the reactions of those around him, quickly pulled out the secret letter from his chest and secretly shoved it into Leuceviten’s luggage bag placed in front of him.
‘If I do this, there will never be a risk of the secret letter being caught.’
Along with the thought like that.
***
“Haa……”
In one side of the hallway separated from Lionel’s hospital room, Kalt wiped down his face while breathing out roughly.
The doctor standing in front of him was also unable to hide a troubled look.
“When on earth is the Lieutenant Colonel going to wake up?”
“We cannot guarantee that either. The bleeding was so severe, and there was also an infection in the wound area. Since it is a situation where the fever does not easily subside……”
“Do you know how many times you have said those words alone?”
Unable to hold back his frustration, Kalt roughly disheveled his hair.
Lately, the atmosphere toward the capital was not good at all.
The cause was because of Jerome Winterbolt, who suddenly vanished without a trace.
Leaving behind Jerome, who disappeared overnight without a trace, there was no small amount of talk about whether he was dead or alive.
If Lionel were to leave his seat empty for a long period in the midst of this, it was unknown how the Emperor would take it.
As it is, the situation is complex with this and that. The doctor added even more weight to Kalt’s trouble.
“Furthermore, even if he wakes up, it might be difficult for him to return to his daily life right away.”
Kalt’s gaze shot up sharply.
“What on earth does that mean again?”
“I heard he took an excessive overdose of headache medication for a long period. Perhaps because of that, painkillers did not work, so strong opium-based painkillers were used.”
Adding that to the trauma of the head, even if consciousness returns, his thinking might temporarily not be clear. The doctor spoke like that.
“What kind of such……”
“However, you do not need to worry too much. It is an occurrence that is not rare, and it is a symptom that will disappear naturally within a few days even without separate treatment.”
At that time when the conversation between the doctor and Kalt was going back and forth softly.
From that side of the hallway, a knight member came running while gasping for breath.
In the hands of the member whose face turned white as if he saw a ghost, Lionel’s coat was held.
“The, the Lieutenant Colonel has woken up!”
At the welcome news among what he heard, Kalt’s steps tried to head right to the hospital room at once. However, the member shook his head toward such a Kalt.
“It is not that way. As soon as the Lieutenant Colonel regained his senses, he headed outside the hospital.”
“What? What were you doing without stopping him!”
“That is……”
At Kalt’s scolding, the knight member blurred his words with a troubled expression.
“That…… it seems you will have to see it for yourself directly.”
At the member’s words that were entirely puzzling, Kalt exchanged gazes with the doctor for a moment, then broke into a run toward the entrance of the hospital.
He wondered if Lionel had dashed out to find Agnes like before, but.
Fortunately, Lionel did not go far and was standing right in front of the hospital.
Lionel was gazing beyond the street while erecting his back straight. Like a person without traces of having suffered from high fever, nor remnants of severe pain.
It was a perfectly fine-looking appearance, so as not to be seen as someone who woke up after several days indeed.
However, far from being relieved by that sight, Kalt felt a sense of incompatibility. It was the same feeling as when he saw Lionel who became neat right after Agnes’s funeral.
The reason for the sense of incompatibility might be, perhaps, because of Lionel’s hospital gown outfit that did not suit the season.
Whether Lionel did not perceive that what he was wearing was a hospital gown, or whether he knew but did not care. It was an expression that even appeared calm on the surface.
That brought about a heterogeneity just like looking at a person who was dropped inside a different season all alone.
Kalt, receiving Lionel’s coat that the member who followed behind was holding, carefully approached him.
“……Lieutenant Colonel. Are you alright?”
Only then did Lionel turn his head.
Unlike before, clear focus was formed in his pale blue pupils.
A moment to be relieved at that fact, a question flew in from Lionel.
“Agnes. What is she doing?”
Over Kalt’s face, who was draping the coat over Lionel’s angular shoulders, discomfiture settled.
“Ah……. I am sorry, we secured the passenger list of the Corel, but Lady Agnes’s trace is—,”
“The Corel?”
At that moment. Deep vertical wrinkles formed between Lionel’s brows. It was a reaction as if he heard out-of-the-blue nonsense.
“Why does the Corel come out of here? I asked about Agnes’s recent situation.”
“……Pardon?”
Naturally. The pupils of Kalt, who thought Lionel was asking the same thing as soon as he opened his eyes like before, trembled.
Something about the conversation was not smooth.
Inside the strangely mismatched conversation, Lionel tilted his head obliquely. As if he could not understand Kalt’s words.
“At any rate. I must return to the capital. I have been out for too long. The wedding is soon.”
“I am sorry…… Lieutenant Colonel. I do not understand well what you are talking about. Which wedding…… are you talking about?”
The inside of Kalt’s mouth dried up completely.
It was strange after all.
Why did the conversation he shared with the doctor just moments ago suddenly come to mind?
However, Lionel himself replied to Kalt with that usual languid face of his.
“Which wedding would it be. It is Agnes and my wedding.”
“Lieutenant Colonel, what on earth have you been saying since earlier—,”
“Ah. And as soon as we return to the mansion, it would be good to tailor a formal dress.”
The corners of Lionel’s
mouth rose smoothly.
Before losing Agnes, it was the arrogant and elegant smile that he used to make often.
“No matter how much I think about it, I cannot enter the wedding hall wearing a military uniform, you see.”
