They were, at present, the most prominent faction aligned with the Empress.
Yet there was something deeply suspicious about claiming that either of those two men had ever truly helped her.
For one, they were the sort who would turn their backs on the Empress the moment their interests no longer aligned with hers.
They were not the caliber of men who would shoulder such dangerous risks as laying hands on an heir.
“It likely isn’t a member of the collateral branch who openly associates with the Empress.”
The Empress was no fool.
If she were to use such men as spies and be found out, her own position would become extraordinarily precarious.
Furthermore, Marquess Crender and Count Atran were both exceptionally greedy individuals.
She would never have placed men ready to betray her at any moment in such a sensitive role.
If anything…
“…Are you saying that the Empress’s spy is someone within our household — someone we haven’t suspected at all?”
“Yes.”
“…That is a very serious problem.”
The implication was clear: even retainers who held the trust of House Arachrene could be included.
Someone who could approach the lady of the house without drawing a single suspicious glance.
Someone who could pass high-value intelligence on to the Empress.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door of the study.
“Come in.”
At Arcmund’s reply, the door swung open.
“My lord. You called for me?”
Oberon stepped inside.
⁂
Riersha sank into the softness of her bed, her body heavy with a pleasant weariness.
The journey had been comfortable enough, but now that she was finally home, the fatigue had caught up with her all at once.
“Sona. Hey — what kind of person was my mother?”
She lay there with the blanket pulled up to her chest, gazing upward as she asked.
“…Your mother, my lady?”
“Yeah.”
Sona’s hands faltered in the middle of drawing the curtains closed.
The sudden question seemed to catch her off guard.
Her voice, usually so steady, wavered.
“Nobody ever tells me anything about her.”
“My lady was a very gentle person. Everyone in the household adored her.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. She was the daughter of the Amatia Marquess household. She had pink hair and green eyes, just like you, my lady.”
Riersha’s eyes went wide and bright. A mother — a real, living image of one — taking shape for the very first time.
“And…Lord Pernoa couldn’t do a thing when she was around. The young masters all loved her dearly, too. Anyone who saw them together could tell they were a happy family.”
Sona’s gaze drifted somewhere far away as she recalled those memories.
A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips.
“I don’t know the full details of how the Young Duke and my lady came to meet — I wasn’t a proper knight-attendant yet at the time. But it was widely known that my lady and Her Imperial Majesty the Empress were close friends.”
“What?!”
Riersha shot upright in bed.
It was the last thing she had ever expected to hear.
Sona wore the expression of someone who had anticipated exactly this reaction.
“Is that actually true?!”
“Yes. Things are not amicable between the family and the imperial court now, but back then, they were. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Her Majesty even attended their wedding.”
Riersha’s mouth fell open.
She could not understand how two people so close could have eventually come to work against House Arachrene.
Honestly, part of her wanted to believe Sona was lying.
“Their families were said to be close as well. So the two of them grew up as friends from childhood.”
“That can’t be right…”
Riersha shook her head, refusing to accept it.
According to Pernoa, she should have been able to awaken her abilities normally. But someone had schemed to prevent her magic from awakening at the proper time — and because of that, the entire family had suffered.
The most likely suspect was none other than Empress Karla Declair.
And yet, listening to Sona…
“That’s so wrong…”
How could someone do something so terrible to the daughter of her closest friend?
Riersha’s emotions surged with increasing force.
“Lady Riersha?”
Sona looked over in puzzlement at her strange reaction.
“That’s just so wrong…”
“What is it that’s wrong, my lady?”
Sona set down what she was doing and came over with a worried look on her face. She knelt at the side of the bed and studied Riersha’s expression closely.
Riersha looked like someone whose mind had gone somewhere else entirely.
Her small hands gripped the blanket with white-knuckled force.
She was that close to my mother — so why?
If she could, she would have marched straight to the Empress that very moment and demanded an answer. She wanted to confront her — to ask why she had tried to destroy House Arachrene.
“…Did the two of them fall out later?”
“Well…”
Sona gave a vague, reluctant nod.
“To be honest, I don’t know the reason they grew apart either. I only remember that my lady was deeply troubled by it all.”
“My mother was troubled?”
“Yes. It seemed as though they had a terrible falling out.”
Perhaps the estrangement between Yerena Arachrene and Karla Declair had always been inevitable.
If my lady had not become the mistress of House Arachrene, perhaps things would have turned out differently.
The thought left a bitter taste, and Sona smiled faintly to herself.
Two of the closest friends imaginable — one bound to House Arachrene, the other claimed by the imperial family.
Sona remembered clearly the period when the two women had grown apart.
“After the Crown Prince was born, the Empress became a completely different person.”
⁂
The following day, Riersha walked to her lessons deep in thought.
After the Crown Prince was born, the Empress suddenly changed?
For reasons she couldn’t quite name, those words kept nagging at the back of her mind.
She was nearly at the classroom when — thud — she walked squarely into someone.
Riersha looked up in surprise.
The other person hadn’t expected the collision either, and wore a mildly startled expression.
“Who awe you?”
“Good day, Lady Riersha. A pleasure to meet you for the first time. My name is Ian Charlotte.”
The man who greeted her so graciously spoke in a warm and unhurried voice.
He had silver-gray hair and blue eyes.
The man who introduced himself as Ian Charlotte appeared to have been waiting for her at the edge of the forest.
“Are you the teachew Gwandpa sent?”
“Yes, that’s right. It is an honor to have the opportunity to teach Lady Riersha.”
Ian confirmed it with a nod.
The arrangement had come about like this: in exchange for being allowed to attend the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration, Pernoa had given Riersha the task of discovering her ability. And miraculously, she had succeeded.
In response, Arcmund had now arranged for a teacher suited to Riersha’s particular gift.
It was said that all the tutors appointed to the heirs of House Arachrene were individuals whose skill placed them among the elders — or at least among those in consideration for such a rank.
“What were you thinking about so deeply just now?”
“Mm…just…stuff.”
“I see. You’re at the age when all sorts of things tend to weigh on the mind.”
Ian nodded as though he understood completely.
“Am I old enough to have things weighing on my mind?”
“But of course. Being four years old — isn’t that just the right age for life’s first serious troubles to begin appearing, one by one?”
“W-well…that’s twue.”
Riersha nodded with solemn gravity at the strangely persuasive logic.
It did seem right.
Four years into life — old enough to speak, old enough to think, and old enough for a real, lingering worry or two to settle in.
“What if we make a deal: work hard in today’s lesson, and I’ll think through your troubles together with you afterward.”
Ian dangled the offer with a subtle smile.
Riersha’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Togethew?”
“Yes, together. I have lived a bit longer than you, after all — surely I’d be of some use.”
He led her at an easy pace toward the open clearing near the edge of the forest.
Since using one’s ability tended to cause considerable damage to the surroundings, training sessions were typically held in open areas like this one.
Ian smiled pleasantly and said, “Then, Lady Riersha — would you try using your ability for a moment?”
“Okay.”
Riersha drew up her magic.
Moments later, spheres of identical size began to bloom in the air around her.
Watching them, Ian felt a quiet astonishment stir inside him.
She hasn’t been properly taught a thing yet — and already she’s distributing her mana with this level of precision?
A faint light flickered through his blue eyes.
“Ha.”
A breathless, almost helpless laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
A prodigy. An absolute prodigy.
Had she awakened at the right time, she would have leapt past all the other heirs in a single bound — spoken of as the Young Duke’s heir-apparent for generations to come.
How can this even be.
Ian felt a cold sweat trace its way down his back.
