Chapter 14.4

“……What?”  

Brienne blinked, unable to comprehend for a moment.  

That day……  

‘The day of the library explosion?’  

Diashi, who had disappeared that day, had said she woke up by the riverside. Brienne recalled Zen and Lusell saying it must have been Hamartia’s doing after seeing the injection marks on Diashi’s arm.  

They had said it was an injection that caused memory loss.  

So does that mean Prince Perian is helping Hamartia?  

Or could the one behind them all be a prince?  

Brienne, suddenly raising her head, hurriedly stepped in front of Perian.  

“Your Highness, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”  

“What?”  

Perian scowled.  

“I’m seeing my own subject. What business is it of a citizen of the Empire? Move aside. This is an official interrogation.”  

“What kind of interrogation?”  

Perian let out a deflated laugh, as if exasperated, and placed his hand on Brienne’s shoulder.  

“Do I really have to explain even that to you?”  

But—  

Before Perian’s hand could touch Brienne, it was pulled away.  

“Ow……!”  

“Remove your hand.”  

Herace, who had approached unnoticed, tightly grabbed Perian’s wrist.  

At Perian’s cry, the knights behind him gripped their sword hilts.  

The atmosphere instantly froze.  

“Herace Belif……”  

“Greetings to the Second Prince of the Holy Kingdom.”  

Perian, clutching his sore wrist, clicked his tongue and signaled to his knights.  

Though the other side had used force first, drawing swords on a great noble of the Rontiano Empire could lead to diplomatic strife.  

Perian gave a mean smile.  

“Hey, Lady. Keep your lover in check. How dare he lay hands on a prince?”  

Brienne frowned at Perian as she glanced at Herace.  

“But it’s fine for you to lay hands on me, Your Highness?”  

Brienne entrusted Diashi to Herace and took a step closer to Perian.  

“If you value your own body, you should know to value others’, too.”  

“That’s because you keep getting in my way……!”  

“Yes, I know I have no right to interfere. But if Miss Diashi were a member of my family, wouldn’t you have to speak differently, Your Highness?”  

“What do you mean?”  

Perian’s gaze sharpened.  

“I heard that Mage is an academy researcher.”  

Brienne looked at Diashi.  

“Miss Diashi?”  

“Y-Yes……”  

“You remember the promise you made to work for my family after your research contract ends, right?”  

This was something they hadn’t discussed beforehand.  

But Diashi quickly nodded, having read Brienne’s intent.  

“……Of course, I remember.”  

Brienne turned her gaze back to Perian.  

“It was discussed and signed by my father, the Marquis Ford. Even though Miss Diashi is currently an academy researcher, she’s already set to join my family.”  

‘So, Your Highness—’

“Follow proper procedures. If you wish to interrogate Miss Diashi, you must first get permission from my family.”  

Her voice rang out, low and elegant, yet firm. Diashi looked up, breathing a little easier.  

This noble lady, who always seemed so delicate, now stood before her like a towering mountain.  

* * *

“Are you alright?”  

After Perian withdrew, Brienne moved with Diashi to the garden.  

Diashi, still uneasy, glanced around and nodded.  

“Yes, I’m better now. I was just so startled before……”  

She must have been so frightened she couldn’t even breathe properly.  

Brienne, checking Diashi’s still pale complexion, spoke carefully.  

“I’m sorry for saying you’d be working for my family without asking. I just thought I shouldn’t leave you alone with Prince Perian since you seemed so uncomfortable with him, but I couldn’t think of any other way.”  

“Oh, that’s really fine!”  

Diashi, raising her head, energetically waved her hand.  

“You were just trying to help me, Miss…… And it’s truly an honor for me. To be able to work for the Marquis Ford’s family—I always wanted to work in the Rontiano Empire, anyway.”  

Now that she thought about it, Brienne remembered hearing that Diashi had stopped by the Rontiano Empire on her way back when they first met on the ship.  

Brienne asked curiously,  

“But…… I heard you turned down Shylo’s offer to work for my family?”  

“Oh, that was because I wanted to join the Belif Dukedom at the time.”  

Diashi, glancing at Herace, lowered her voice.  

“Does that make me seem too opportunistic?”  

At Diashi’s honest answer, Brienne gave a gentle smile.  

“No, not at all.”  

Brienne sat down quietly beside Diashi and patted the back of her hand.  

“Anyway, I’m really glad Prince Perian backed off. And that your memory came back, too.”  

At the mention of his name again, Diashi flinched slightly. Brienne took both of her hands in hers.  

“I’m sorry, but if you don’t mind, could you tell me what happened?”  

Without hesitation, Diashi nodded.  

“Of course……”  

But after moving her lips a few times, as if she still wasn’t completely okay, she finally began to speak.  

“The moment I saw Prince Perian’s face, I remembered everything. The day of the library explosion.”  

Diashi said that after meeting Brienne, she had planned to borrow books from the old book section in preparation for a researcher meeting.  

But in the library, she encountered a suspicious man with his face covered.  

“A guy who looked suspicious at a glance came out of the old book section. So I followed him. He kept glancing around, and I thought I should tell someone, but……”  

Diashi paused to catch her breath.  

“Maybe because it was the day of the entrance ceremony, there were no knights guarding the library. The librarian was away, too, so I didn’t think much of it and followed the man outside.”  

“That’s where you met Prince Perian.”  

At Herace’s words, Diashi nodded.  

“Yes. I recognized him and immediately told him about the suspicious man. But His Highness said to trust only him, that he’d search the library with the royal knights, and told me to chase after that man.”  

“You mean he sent you alone?”  

“Yes, he said he knew who I was. That I was a capable mage and would be fine on my own. But then, suddenly Prince Perian……”

Diashi shuddered as if just thinking about it gave her chills again.  

“He approached from behind and stuck a syringe in me just as I turned around at his command.”  

At those words, Brienne’s face turned pale.  

“So that’s why he showed up at Seints Medical Center… He wanted to check if you remembered his face, Miss Diashi.”  

How could a person do such a thing?  

Just thinking of Perian walking around brazenly after doing something so terrible sent a chill down Brienne’s spine.  

Brienne thought she needed to inform Garzen of this immediately.  

She didn’t know why Prince Perian was helping Hamartia, but at least that fact was now certain.  

“Herace, then the person Lady Bailey mentioned could be Prince Perian.”  

Brienne turned to look at Herace.  

“It would be good if we could confirm with Lady Bailey, but what happened to the meeting you were supposed to have?”  

“There’s still no reply. The innkeeper where Lady Bailey was staying said she left for another place several days ago.”  

“That’s strange. Even after receiving the letter?”  

At Brienne’s question, Herace nodded.  

After returning from the Miragium, and spending time unconscious, quite a bit of time had passed, so it would have been enough time to move lodgings.  

But where could Melosi Bailey have gone…  

“…Herace, what about Kaiden?”  

Brienne, frowning, spoke cautiously.  

She had only thought about it since waking up, but had never asked.  

Because that day, in her vision, she had essentially killed Kaiden.

She had chosen Herace, knowing Kaiden might die.

“Do you know what happened to him?”  

The guilt she had tried to erase caught in her throat, making her voice come out strained.  

Brienne’s eyes dropped to the floor.  

It felt ridiculous even to her to ask about Kaiden’s well-being now.  

Especially since she was asking Herace.  

But sometimes, there are things one must face.  

Brienne clasped her hands together, hoping desperately for a positive answer from him.  

Then Herace gently asked,  

“…Do you wish to see Kaiden?”  

At that careful question, Brienne hesitated, then slowly nodded.  

“Yes, if Kaiden is safe.”  

She had no other intentions in wanting to see him.  

Brienne simply wanted to apologize.  

For blaming Kaiden in the face of Herace’s death, for pouring out her depleted emotions on him.  

For claiming to be Kaiden’s closest friend, yet not knowing what kind of days he was enduring.  

And now that she finally understood why he had hurt her so, she wanted to tell him that she would not resent him any longer.  

She wanted to ease his guilt, even just a little.  

And also her own guilt for her ignorance.  

Fortunately, Herace nodded gently.  

“Then I will ask Aaron to bring Kaiden here.”  

At those words, Brienne quickly lifted her head.  

“Then… Kaiden is alive?”  

A glimmer of hope shone in her pale green eyes as she looked at Herace. With a warm smile, Herace reached out and cupped her face in his hand.  

“I wanted to tell you sooner, but you never asked, so I didn’t.”  

In fact, Herace had already heard about the Miragium vision from the Deputy Priest.  

Unlike himself, who had entered the vision directly, Kaiden had moved in the form of a dream by borrowing Arthur’s body.  

So not only his body, but his life, was safe.