16
“It is the room at the very end of the second floor, the one with daffodils painted on it. You can go up that way.”
Magnus took the key without answering and climbed the stairs.
With every step he took, the stairs creaked, or the patched boards beneath his feet felt uneven.
It was a shabby inn. Since it also served as a tavern in the evenings, unpleasant smells had seeped into every corner, making it a place no noble would ever have reason to visit.
‘At least there won’t be any chance of running into anyone I know.’
Magnus opened the flimsy wooden door that looked as though it would break if kicked and stepped inside.
The interior was a room furnished decently enough. Eliza, who had been sitting at the table, sprang to her feet.
“Welcome.”
Magnus checked what she had hurriedly set down. It was a crudely made sandwich.
Eliza quickly covered her mouth and chewed, swallowing the contents. At the same time, she suspiciously looked over the person who had entered.
“You…… are him, right?”
“You said this was a secluded place, but is it somewhere so unsuitable that we cannot even have a conversation?”
“Ah! Your Highness the Crown Prince. Please forgive me for greeting you so late.”
Only after confirming his voice did Eliza brighten. Magnus approached as he removed the hood of his robe.
Perhaps misunderstanding why he was looking around, Eliza added an excuse.
“The soundproofing isn’t very good, so I thought it best to be cautious.”
“Should I really trust a place where even the slightest sound can easily escape?”
“The meeting should be over soon, so it will be fine. This is also a place I have a connection to.”
Magnus pulled out a chair himself and sat down. When he gestured, Eliza also took a seat across from him.
“Let us dispense with formalities.”
“If that is what you wish, then I shall gratefully comply.”
Eliza placed the pouch she had set on the floor onto the table.
As she untied it, the conversation immediately got to the point.
“There is a magical tome in the room of the Marchioness of Hagen that reacts to blood, and there is a room inside the residence with a magic circle drawn on it.”
Magnus listened to her without changing his expression. His calm gaze followed the movements of her hands.
“These are the things I took from that room.”
The things she had stolen appeared one by one. A small piece of cut leather, a red gemstone, some kind of feather, and an ink bottle.
Magnus picked up a tiny gemstone no larger than a fingernail and held it up before his eyes to examine it.
“It does not look particularly special.”
“Please do not ask me to prove it as well. I already had to take many risks just to bring these here.”
Eliza placed a hand over her chest and sighed. Her face was visibly suffused with exhaustion.
Magnus did not bother wondering how much he should trust that pale face.
The judgment would come after verifying whether these things were genuine or merely worthless objects.
“You have done well.”
“Just a moment, Your Highness.”
“Was there something else you wanted?”
“I brought someone of such importance all the way here. Wouldn’t that alone be insufficient?”
Eliza stopped the Crown Prince as he gathered the items and tried to leave. Then her face became slightly tense as she lowered her voice.
“Sometimes, a person can be more certain evidence than an object.”
Eliza slowly rose from her seat and pointed at the wall beside them with her finger.
“There is someone in the next room. He says he used to be a servant of the Hagen family.”
One of Magnus’s eyebrows twitched.
Although he had demanded physical evidence, he had not truly expected this woman to bring it.
If it had merely been an absurd statement intended to hold his interest, he had assumed it would disappear as such, and even if she tried to present fabricated evidence, he had not expected a witness as well.
“Interrogate him, make him a witness, and take him somewhere safe to hide.”
“And why should I do that?”
“Oh my, saying it like that hurts my feelings.”
Eliza deliberately blinked her eyes prettily. She had carried out what the Crown Prince had demanded of her, so he had to keep his promise to support her.
“From here on, isn’t it properly the matter of truth for Your Highness to judge?”
Magnus quietly looked at her. Until the last time he had seen her, there had been a certain desperation in her, but now she was showing such confidence again.
“If your words are true, there should be a price to pay.”
The violet eyes that met his gaze despite having received no permission gave him a novel sensation.
Magnus, unlike himself, followed his momentary interest.
“You said you wanted to live. If exposing Hagen’s schemes and having them punished is enough, will you be satisfied?”
“My life is something I ought to be allowed to keep in the first place, so I won’t consider that the price.”
“Is there something else you desire?”
“I’ll tell you later. After everything has been taken care of, then.”
Magnus stared at her for several seconds. Eliza bowed her head in greeting, then suddenly remembered something and spoke.
“Ah, could you perhaps grant me a small favor in advance?”
“Tell me.”
“Your brooch, perhaps……. If that would be difficult, even a small button would be fine.”
Come to think of it, her sleeve was open where there should have been a button.
Eliza lowered her hand while covering her sleeve, as though conscious of where his gaze had fallen.
“If that is truly difficult, even a handkerchief would be fine.”
“What purpose does it serve?”
“As proof, I suppose…….”
Since every item he used belonged to the royal family, she thought it might serve as proof that she had met him.
But perhaps it was still shameless to ask such a thing of someone with whom she had no relationship? Magnus pressured her with his gaze without saying a word.
The fact that he was not leaving immediately at least seemed like a sign of hope. Eliza confessed a small part of the truth.
“I need it to prevent myself from being dragged to Hagen immediately. I was told that the Marquis of Hagen would bring me into the residence and make me take bride lessons.”
“Is that not a common occurrence? Avoiding it unnaturally would instead arouse suspicion.”
“I already told Father that I had broken off the engagement. ……Using Your Highness as an excuse.”
Looking awkward, she fiddled with the tips of her hair and wound them around her finger. The reddish bruise on the back of her delicate hand passed through Magnus’s field of vision.
“You said that if Hagen’s schemes continued, you would die. Is that because you had promised a future with Hagen? Because you would be accused of being their accomplice?”
“You could think of it that way.”
She spoke as though she had realized an unexpected fact. Magnus once again stared at her tightly closed pink lips.
Was she not acting to clear herself of the accusation that she had collaborated with them because she was bound to them by an engagement?
“My relationship with Leopold is nothing more than a political marriage. Even that was not for the sake of our families, but for our own individual interests.”
Whenever she mentioned Leopold Hagen, that woman became someone different from her usual self. It was like watching the tip of silk that had been flicking off droplets of water become damp for a moment.
“Of course, my father’s position is different. Count Waluer owes a great deal to the Marquis of Hagen, and he wants to hand even me over to repay him.”
“Even so, Hagen would not immediately take you away, would they? From what is known, I heard that the Hagen lord is honorable and righteous.”
“I just ran away because they said they would put me straight into the Hagen residence.”
“What?”
Magnus’s voice rose slightly. Eliza watched the agitation she was seeing for the first time with delight.
“You know that people can hide their true nature as much as they like for the sake of their goals. I was naive.”
“Are you certain that the Marquis of Hagen will truly treat you unjustly?”
“More than certain.”
Eliza nodded firmly. She rose from her seat and gestured toward the wall.
“Your Highness, meet the witness in the next room. What they are doing is close to human sacrifice. It would be difficult to call such people anything but unjust.”
“If they have dabbled in black magic, then certainly. However, what if you fabricated even the witness?”
“Haha. I wish that were the case. If it were, then I would have been the only one punished for telling a lie.”
Unfocused anger seeped into her hollow laughter.
After looking once again at the evidence she had handed him, Magnus spoke without inflection.
“If your words are true, then the matter is grave, so time is of the essence.”
The robe she had hurriedly obtained and put over her dress belonged to the lower classes. This single room was smaller than the royal stables, and therefore he ought to have been uncomfortable.
“I will visit your family tomorrow. I shall send a messenger as soon as dawn breaks.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
Eliza raised her eyes, darkened with exhaustion. Like a lily raising its head without regard for the shaking, her face shone brightly even in such a shabby place.
That drew Magnus’s gaze again and again.
Yes, if there were a saintess, she would probably look like that.
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