She considered pulling the bell cord to call a servant, but decided it would be better to go and see for herself, and started toward the door.

She was heading for the door that led to the corridor when,

Knock knock.

A knock came from the door on the left.

Her bedroom had three doors in total.

One led to the corridor, another to the dressing room, powder room, and bathroom. And the last one.

“……Killian.”

Was the door connecting to Killian’s bedroom. More precisely, the door connecting to the shared space between their two rooms.

The moment she heard the knock, Ines changed direction. She opened the door with a haste that belied her measured pace, and the sight of Killian standing on the other side made her lips part slightly.

She had known only he could be knocking on that door at this hour, and yet seeing him in just a shirt still startled her by reflex.

“You were awake.”

Killian stepped back slightly and met her eyes.

“I just woke up. ……Is it that matter?”

At Ines’s question, he confirmed it.

“Yes. Someone tried to activate sorcery a little while ago.”

“Ah……”

She had already known it would happen, and had confirmed it from the sounds she had caught through the window, yet hearing it said directly felt strange.

Because it was real, she thought. The plan to bring Rupert down was truly still in motion.

“Then the sorcery……”

Reading the worry in her voice, Killian smiled lightly as though to reassure her.

“We were watching, so we stopped it before it was completed.”

“Ah……”

A breath of relief escaped before she could stop it. The first scheme had finally been stopped.

Ines exhaled again in relief and pressed a hand to her chest, then looked at Killian with one arm wrapped around herself. He gave a small ahem at the same moment.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Get some more sleep, Ines.”

“……Are you going to see that person?”

“Yes. I stopped by briefly in case you were startled.”

Her heart, not yet fully awake, pounded at the warmth that passed by as though it were nothing.

Ines opened and closed her lips a few times, then gave a small, shy bow of her head.

“Thank you, Killian.”

“……Think nothing of it.”

The two of them were quiet for a moment. Then Killian gave a low ahem and nodded toward the room.

“Go back inside.”

“Ah, yes.”

The words let me come with you did not come out. She would be no help anyway, and Killian would handle this better than she could. If she was curious, it would be better to ask his permission and go tomorrow.

Ines adjusted her shawl needlessly and looked up.

“……Be careful, Killian. Don’t stay up too late.”

The carefully offered words, meant not to sound like meddling, were met with a low laugh. It seemed to have slipped out without thought, because Killian’s deep eyes looked genuinely amused.

“I will. I’ll be careful and not stay up too late.”

They were her own words, and yet hearing him repeat them back made her inexplicably embarrassed.

Ines felt the heat rising in her face and let her gaze slide downward.

Fortunately, Killian did not tease her and simply sent her back in without fuss.

Click. The door closed, and instead of going to the bed, Ines stood still and listened to Killian’s presence moving away. A few seconds later, a distant click came once more. Then complete stillness settled in.

“……It’s quiet.”

The commotion outside the window that had woken her had already gone as silent as if it had never been.

Ines moved slowly. She took off the shawl she had thrown on carelessly and climbed back into bed, where a faint warmth still lingered.

Her worry that she would not be able to fall back asleep after waking with such a start turned out to be unfounded.

“……Why am I so tired.”

She had already slept for several hours, even with the interruption……

Ines shifted a few times to find a comfortable position, then drifted off without realizing it.

The disaster that had nearly befallen Rupert passed quietly into the stillness.

* * *

The next morning, a different atmosphere hung over Rupert Castle.

If one had to name it, it was vigilance and restrained fury, because news had spread that someone among the imperial soldiers had attempted to perform sorcery in the night and failed.

It was only natural that the people of Rupert were angry. Anyone living on the continent could not be ignorant of the horrors of sorcery.

And someone had tried to perform that very sorcery in the place they called home. It would have been stranger if they were not angry.

“They must be truly out of their minds. Sorcery, of all things!”

That included Cecile, who was walking with Ines toward the underground prison.

Cecile had come to attend Ines that morning, making an effort to look as bright as usual, but when Ines gently broached the subject, the anger she had been pressing down came pouring out.

“I know. ……It really is madness.”

Ines agreed quietly and quickened her pace.

When she was nearly at the first underground level, she ran into Merry just coming out of the entrance.

“My lady.”

Merry looked mildly surprised, then crossed to Ines in a single stride. She had been on her way to ask Killian’s permission for Ines to be present during the interrogation of the convicted criminal.

Since Ines had come without waiting for the answer, she smiled a little sheepishly.

“I’m sorry. I should have waited for you…… I was too impatient.”

“Ah, not at all.”

Merry waved off Ines’s apology and turned slightly to guide her.

“Please come in first. The master has given his permission.”

“Ah, that’s a relief.”

“……But are you certain you’ll be all right?”

Merry’s face held a faint concern as she asked carefully.

“Interrogating a criminal is, to be honest, not a pleasant sight…… and the state of things in there is already a bit, well.”

Ines gave a small, involuntary laugh at that.

From Merry’s perspective, the worry was understandable. Ines was a princess, and those raised in comfort generally had no tolerance for brutal scenes.

But what Merry did not know was that Ines had already lived through a war.

She had watched countless people die and burn before her eyes, and above all, she had watched the person she loved most die because of her.

A mere interrogation scene was nothing that could shock a person like that.

“Thank you for worrying. But I really am fine, Dame Dianin.”

“……If you say so, my lady.”

Merry still looked concerned, but Ines smiled appropriately and quickened her pace again.

“Cecile. Wait here.”

“What? But my lady……”

“Who takes a girl who has only just come of age to an underground prison?”

“Even so……”

Cecile looked as though she wanted to follow, but Ines did not give way. In the end, Ines won.

“……Please don’t push yourself too hard either, my lady.”

“I won’t.”

Ines gave a small smile, then approached the entrance with Merry.

“We greet Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”

“Hut!”

“Hut!”

Past the sharp salute of the knights guarding the underground prison entrance, a rush of dark, damp air hit her.

“This way, please.”

Ines followed Merry’s guidance and descended the stairs carefully. She had deliberately worn a dress without a full skirt, so moving was not difficult.

“……Dame Dianin, how many levels does the underground prison have?”

“Five. In truth, only the top two levels close to the surface are normally used, but as you know, this prisoner’s crime is particularly heinous and the danger level is high, so they’ve been placed on the fifth level.”

“I see.”

The underground prison was said to have five levels, but the actual depth seemed greater than that.

After descending for a while, Merry stopped.

“This way.”

Ines hesitated. Counting from the entrance they had passed, this was the fifth level, yet there seemed to be more below.

Merry noticed Ines’s expression and smiled slightly awkwardly.

“The level below is sealed off. It hasn’t been used in so long that it’s considered a non-level now.”

“Ah……”

Ines gave a vague nod and looked at the roped-off passage for a moment, then turned and followed Merry.

The underground prison, which she had never visited in her past life, was remarkably vast even on a single level.

The fact that they walked for quite a while after passing the fifth level entrance before arriving told her enough about the scale.

Knock knock.

“My lord, the lady has arrived.”

Merry stopped at what could be called the innermost point and knocked on the firmly closed door. Not long after, the door opened from within. It was thick enough that not a sound had leaked through.

“Ines.”

It was Killian who came out to meet her.

He was not conducting the interrogation himself, it seemed, as he was perfectly composed and neatly turned out. When he closed the door and stepped closer, the stale underground smell that had been stinging her nose was replaced by a faint, clean musk.