Chapter 26
“Surely you don’t mean you’re going yourself, Kaiden?”
“They need to train.”
Kaiden jerked his chin toward the knights and spoke nonchalantly.
At that, Reina pursed her lips.
He’d said it so casually that she’d almost nodded in agreement without thinking.
Reina belatedly grabbed hold of Kaiden and said,
“You don’t have to go yourself.”
“Why? Don’t want to go with me?”
“That’s not what I mean….”
Reina averted her gaze and trailed off.
Of course, having him accompany her would be the most reassuring thing.
But given who she was meeting, she couldn’t help but hesitate.
She had no idea how he’d react if he found out she suspected Lady Mernie.
As the silence stretched on, Kaiden tilted his head to the side to meet her eyes.
“There couldn’t be a better escort than me, could there?”
“….”
“If you really don’t want me, I can send someone else….”
“No!”
Reina firmly grasped him as he started to turn away.
“It’s not that I don’t want you—it’s just that there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“Why? Planning to meet a man behind my back?”
Kaiden cracked a joke, and Reina blinked in surprise.
In that brief moment of silence, Kaiden furrowed his brow and asked,
“Are you serious?”
“It’s a man, but not in that way.”
“It’s a man?”
Kaiden wore a baffled expression, and Lily, unable to watch any longer, spoke up.
“We’re meeting Miss Dalia’s former history tutor.”
“Why him?”
Seeing Kaiden tilt his head in confusion, Reina said softly,
“I’ll explain on the way.”
* * *
Baron Clam gazed at the person before him with a tense expression.
He had clearly agreed to meet after receiving a letter from the new duchess.
All he wanted was to clear up the injustice of his dismissal.
He never imagined the Duke of Crencia would come along.
This unexpected audience with such a high-ranking figure had Baron Clam’s nerves stretched to their limit.
Meanwhile, Kaiden stared piercingly at the baron, who was doing nothing but wiping sweat with a handkerchief.
“It’s just that I have some doubts related to Baron Clam’s dismissal, so I wanted to meet.”
“That seems a bit excessive for mere enthusiasm about lessons. Do you have some other motive?”
“I’ll tell you after I meet with Baron Clam.”
Kaiden couldn’t understand why Reina would suddenly want to meet Dalia’s former history tutor out of the blue.
In his memory, Baron Clam was the one who had been caught by Lady Mernie attempting inappropriate physical contact with Dalia and was subsequently dismissed.
The idea that she had planned to meet such a man alone struck him as somewhat absurd.
Reina, wandering about without knowing the dangers of the world, made him as anxious as if she’d left a child by the water’s edge.
Especially since he was the type who believed the world wasn’t all that beautiful.
Kaiden asked in a sardonic tone,
“So, what is it you have to say to my wife in private?”
His attitude—daring the baron to speak if he could—made Baron Clam instinctively shrink back.
But he hadn’t requested this meeting without resolve. With a determined look, he said,
“First, thank you for coming here to hear my story.”
“No need. I’m the one who’s grateful that you replied to my sudden contact.”
When Reina responded gently, Baron Clam, finally easing his tension, continued speaking.
“I’m not sure if you’ll believe my words, but what happened that day was truly a misunderstanding. Miss Dalia had something stuck in her throat, and I was urgently trying to help when Lady Mernie burst in.”
“Something stuck in her throat?”
“Miss Dalia had swallowed a piece of hard candy the wrong way, blocking her airway. In my panic, I held her from behind to attempt chest compressions, but if Lady Mernie hadn’t flown into an immediate rage upon seeing it, the matter wouldn’t have blown up like this.”
Baron Clam explained his injustice with a mournful expression on his face. Kaiden, who had been listening quietly, asked,
“Then why didn’t Dalia say anything? If you were truly wronged, she would have cleared it up.”
“That’s what puzzles me as well. There’s no way Miss Dalia wouldn’t have known. I’ve tried contacting her in every way possible since then, but I’ve never received a reply, which has left me so frustrated.”
At Baron Clam’s words, Kaiden wore a deeply contemplative expression.
Reina, who had been watching them in silence, spoke up.
“It probably never reached Dalia.”
“Never reached her? Do you mean someone deliberately blocked it?”
When Kaiden questioned her, Reina answered with silence instead.
Perhaps Lady Mernie had intercepted the baron’s letters.
Baron Clam continued.
“After being dismissed like that, rumors spread, and I couldn’t find any work in the north. I was surprised to receive your contact amid all that. I’m relieved I can finally clear my name.”
“After speaking with Dalia, if it turns out you were indeed wronged, I’ll compensate you.”
“Thank you, Duchess.”
Baron Clam sprang to his feet and bowed deeply at the waist.
Even as she waved her hands in flustered dismissal, Baron Clam reddened the corners of his eyes and bowed repeatedly.
As the atmosphere grew more amicable, Baron Clam relaxed and began to explain the situation from that day in thorough detail.
After Baron Clam had left, Kaiden, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke.
“You’re not believing everything that man said, are you?”
From his expression, it was clear he was half skeptical.
Reina, as she tidied up the space, replied,
“Well, I think it’s at least an issue that requires verification.”
“The world is full of people who can lie without batting an eye. You seem to view the world too beautifully.”
As Kaiden offered his biting assessment, Reina gazed at him steadily.
Her light blue eyes held no trace of reproach toward him. They simply faced him with quiet resolve.
Under that gaze, Kaiden fell silent, and Reina murmured as if sighing,
“It seems to me that you’re the one who sees the world too beautifully, Kaiden.”
“What do you mean?”
“At least starting from how you accepted someone like me without any suspicion.”
“Are you the same as that man?”
Kaiden frowned as he countered, and Reina replied calmly,
“What’s the difference?”
“……”
“I’m just someone you’ve known for a short time, too.”
At Reina’s composed rebuttal, Kaiden was momentarily lost for words. Seeing this, Reina continued placidly,
“Haven’t you found it odd that Dalia’s teachers have been changing far too frequently in the recent months? That’s what puzzled me the most.”
“……”
“Worried it might be overthinking, I reviewed all the resignation reasons for the previous teachers. Every single one was decided based on Lady Mernie’s testimony alone. It was incredibly one-sided.”
“Do you mean Lady Mernie is suspicious?”
Reina nodded lightly and said,
“The timing is awfully coincidental. It all started right after the little duchess passed away.”
When the little duchess was mentioned, Kaiden’s expression turned markedly serious.
Come to think of it, Aiden had recently been unable to properly care for Dalia due to matters concerning his late wife.
He himself had been preoccupied with preparations for the war against the magical beasts that arrived every hundred years, so Dalia had naturally been pushed to the background.
Realizing the circumstances under which Lady Mernie might have been attempting to manipulate Dalia in the interim made him feel a surge of emotion boiling up from deep within his core.
How dare she try to hold his niece in the palm of her hand and toy with her.
But the emotion that followed was a profound sense of guilt.
After all, this had happened because the child had been neglected due to the adults’ circumstances.
“Even though Dalia is my successor, I couldn’t monitor every aide that Aiden trusts and entrusts with her.”
“I understand.”
Reina looked at him with pity, as he appeared so conflicted.
At a glance, it was evident he was feeling an overwhelming guilt over having neglected his niece.
In a low, subdued voice, he asked,
“Could it be that Lady Mernie has been abusing Dalia?”
