19. Do you even have a mother?
Clunk. Clunk.
Lady Daphne, Shio, Teiti, and Artson are moving to the Grand Ducal mansion riding the same horse carriage.
As it was a road returning after dealing with the stronghold of the wraiths, the inside of the carriage should have been harmonious and warm.
But it was not so.
It was because Lady Daphne’s eyes were half-dead.
“Lady Daphne?”
Shio said, waving his hand in front of such Lady Daphne’s eyes.
“Lady Daphne? Are you dead?”
He tried waving his hand here and there, but Lady Daphne has no reaction. Shio murmured with a darkened face.
“Oh my goodness. What should I do? It seems she is really dead.”
“As for me, it’s a good thing, well.”
“I also secretly raise my hand to say it’s good.”
“I am not dead.”
Only then did Lady Daphne say, glaring at them. At that, Teiti, who had been watching her mood, tried hard to smile and held up his thumb.
“Well, it was something that would be known someday anyway! Since it has turned out like this, how about revealing it all at once?”
At Teiti’s words, Artson let out a small hollow laugh.
“Why, why don’t you suggest hanging up a placard and handing out flyers?”
“Oh! That seems like it would be good too!”
“……Slave.”
Looking intently at Teiti who was chiming in as if it were rather good at his sarcasm, Lady Daphne called him with a languid voice.
“Yes, Master?”
“Headbutt the floor for the first time in a while.”
“Yes.”
I felt the smell of the crown of your head inside the shaking carriage…….
Teiti, who quietly headbutted the floor, snuffled. A grumbling about why she does that only to him was also heard, but Shio, who was looking at him, clicked his tongue and looked back at Lady Daphne.
“For now, since Master Rache said he would keep his mouth shut, we should believe him. Let’s think about informing the other family members when that time comes.”
“That is true.”
“Yes, yes. So do not worry too much.”
What Shio is keeping in mind is Lady Daphne’s true identity getting caught even by humans. Because if humans come to know, the current position of Lady Daphne will become considerably in jeopardy.
But what Lady Daphne is worried about…… was not such a thing.
The fear of being cast away by her family, that is, the family who is her only hope, love, and haven obtained during this long time, was great.
Lady Daphne let out a long sigh and swept her hair back.
“If that warrior fellow comes to know…… will he try to kill me?”
To that question, Teiti, Shio, and Artson answered at the same time.
“If it becomes like that, we must run away!”
“Go to my lair…… ah, I don’t have a lair. It was blown up.”
“Since it doesn’t matter to me, I’m going to flee.”
“…….”
Lady Daphne burst into a hearty laugh while looking at them who spat out all sorts of answers.
“You are bastards who are really of no help even a little bit. It is very good. It is the best.”
These useless children.
Lady Daphne, who clicked her tongue, soon sorted out her mind. Even if she worries right now about things that haven’t even happened yet, a proper solution won’t come to mind.
So for now,
“Let us dig into whether it is Jan or whatever first.”
She must do what needs to be done first.
……If I do what needs to be done well, won’t the family also hate me less?
***
The west of the continent is a wasteland where an endless desert stretches out. Every time one takes a step, one’s feet sink deep into the sand, and when the wind blows, an enormous amount of sand flutters so much that one cannot even open one’s eyes properly.
A land where it is thought that a person could not possibly live.
However, it is said that this place is the location that was made first when God made the world in the past. It is said that at that time, it was not an appearance like this.
Merely that because God shared nutrients for the sake of other lands, it became a desolate desert like this.
Therefore, the only temple on the continent is in this place. Commemorating God who does not appear anymore, there exist those who wait for the advent of someday.
“Your Eminence the Cardinal!”
A young-faced priest runs toward the balcony. In that place, there is an old man who boasts long, flowing white hair.
“Your Eminence! Is your time okay for a moment? I have an urgent report to give, so I have braved the rudeness to come and see you.”
The priest said, bending his waist while standing behind the old man called Cardinal. However, the Cardinal did not turn around. Merely still looking out at the desert with his hands behind his back.
The Cardinal, who fixed his gaze on the wide desert, opened his mouth.
“Look at that wide land.”
“Pardon?”
“A sand mountain that high seems to be right in front of one’s eyes, but in reality, if one starts to walk, it is endlessly far away. Thinking it is close is merely a feeling.”
“……Pardon?”
“It means that your saying it is urgent is merely a feeling. What is there to be urgent about in the affairs of the world, and what is there to be relaxed about.”
Ah.
Only then did the priest, who came to know the meaning of the Cardinal, flush his cheeks and bow his head deeply.
“Your Eminence. My thoughts were short. I am sorry for disturbing your meditation.”
The Cardinal laughed lowly, then soon turned his head.
“So, what is the matter?”
The priest hesitated, then answered.
“Lady Lani has come to visit…….”
“What? Then we must run over right this moment! What are you doing!”
“No, when did you say there is nothing to be urgent about and nothing to be relaxed about…….”
“This case is different! Lead the way! Quickly!”
“…….”
Why do you say two different things with one mouth.
Though he was a grumbling priest, anyway, because the Cardinal was a great person whom a low-ranking priest like himself could not look down upon, he guided the way without saying anything.
And before going long, he arrived at the reception room where the Green Dragon, Lani, is.
“Lady Lani!”
The Cardinal shouted as soon as he opened the door, and Lani, who was sitting on the sofa and tilting a wine glass relaxediy, gestured toward him.
“Long time no see?”
“Yes, Lady Lani! It is really a long time since I saw you!”
The Cardinal, who approached Lani hesitantly, said, bowing his waist. Lani pointed to the opposite sofa, and the Cardinal quickly sat his body down on the sofa.
“You’ve been well, right? Nothing special?”
“Yes! Nothing special!”
“Hm?”
One of Lani’s eyebrows went up.
“There should be something special.”
“……Pardon?”
The Cardinal blinked his eyes as if he knows nothing. Lani took a sip of wine and casually said abruptly.
“The wraiths have been caught.”
The Cardinal’s eyes grow large as if they would pop out. It was clearly seen that his tightly closed jaw was trembling.
“In other words, it means that now there are no fellows to deliver the sacred artifacts to us.”
Lani said with a bright smile.
“So from now on, it seems we should gradually step forward. Don’t you think so too?”
The time to escape from this hot and desolate desert has arrived.
***
Lady Daphne is in the dungeon of the Grand Ducal mansion.
To be precise, she is sitting on a steel chair brought from somewhere, across the bars of the cell where Jan is imprisoned.
Lady Daphne, who sat with the chair reversed, stared beyond the bars with her chin resting on the backrest.
Jan, who is bound in shackles, was glaring at Lady Daphne with both his eyes wide open.
A somewhat long silence continues.
The one who broke that quietness was Lady Daphne.
“It took quite an effort to bring you here.”
Lady Daphne said with a sullen face.
“Do you know how much of a fuss Pauline made? Saying that we must send you to the Emperor, that if this is caught we will be driven as treason, that the family will be exterminated…… that fellow’s nagging seems to become more excessive as the years pass by.”
Lady Daphne, who was grumbling with her cheeks twitching, looked quite cute, but such cuteness was temporary.
“So, it means that I did not send you to the Emperor. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”
Lady Daphne, who hardened her expression in an instant, stared intently at Jan, and at the ominousness felt even though they were across the bars, Jan bit his molars hard.
“……So.”
Jan asked, tightly clutching his hand bound in shackles.
“What do you want from me?”
“Information.”
Lady Daphne said as if she had been waiting.
“Tell me about the matters between that Emperor fellow and the temple.”
