Chapter 4.3

“…Um, I’m sorry if I did anything to make you suspicious, but I really don’t know anything. As for being scared… I’m just holding it together because you both are here.”

“Holding it together?”

“Yes, really. I don’t even understand why you are suspicious of me, Zen…”

Brienne looked up at Garzen, her face flustered. Just then, Lusell, who had been fiddling with some junk in the corner of the cell, hurried over.

“Hey, don’t be so harsh, Sir Zen…! Miss Brienne is probably having the hardest time right now. When people go through something unbelievable, they say it doesn’t even feel real.”

“Well, that’s true…”

Garzen sighed and glanced at Brienne. After thinking for a moment, he slowly nodded.

“…Sorry, Miss. I was being overly sensitive. Honestly, it was so suspicious that those guys singled me out and shut down my mana circuit…”

“I’m fine, Zen. Since things are like this, let’s be honest with each other. Actually, I wanted to ask you and Lusell something too.”

“Hm? Us?”

A look of confusion appeared on Garzen’s face. Brienne nodded calmly.

“Yes, to the ‘Prince’ of the Holy Kingdom of Roeta.”

“…What?”

Garzen looked quite flustered for a moment, but then he smirked and turned his gaze slyly. His dark eyes landed on Lusell.

“Hmm, what should we do, Lusell? Because of your prank, this innocent lady seems to have misunderstood something.”

“Uh…?”

“Go on, just say it. Make it easy.”

Prodded by Garzen, Lusell stiffened his shoulders and rolled his eyes. The cold sweat on Lusell’s face made him look truly pitiful.

“…M-Miss Brienne, t-that ‘Your Highness’ thing, well… it’s just, um… a nickname I sometimes use…! An, an affectionate nickname…”

But there was no way Brienne would believe such an absurd excuse. Lusell’s reaction only made Brienne more certain of Garzen’s identity, and she sighed.

‘So it was true after all.’

If Garzen really was a prince of Roeta, his habit of speaking informally to anyone and his reckless behavior made sense. Now everything seemed to fit.

“Lusell, you really can’t lie. So Zen, you are the prince of the Holy Kingdom of Roeta… Or rather, should I now call you ‘Your Highness Prince Garzen’?”

Brienne narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. Garzen, suddenly put on the spot, let out a sigh.

“…Sorry, Miss, but could you pretend you don’t know for now? I’ll apologize again for doubting you.”

“R-right! Who cares who Sir Zen is in a situation like this? We have more important things to worry about, don’t we?”

Seeing Lusell’s pleading look, Brienne reluctantly nodded. Lusell sighed in relief and smiled weakly.

“…Ahem, but I did just find something. I think we’re on the right track.”

“Really? What did you find?”

“There’s a discarded robe in the corner of the cell. And look at this symbol. Do you see? It’s the same as the one carried by the people we caught at Roeta harbor.”

Lusell kicked the crumpled robe open. As Garzen bent over to inspect the robe, Lusell explained how they’d ended up facing the heretics.

On their first day in the capital, they’d run into a group of heretics at a tavern. They’d heard someone speaking Roeta’s language, thought it was suspicious, and as expected, something was being plotted to coincide with the academy’s admission season.

“Ah, I got a letter this morning…! So that was about this.”

She’d been so distracted that she hadn’t replied and had forgotten about it. Brienne nodded, focusing on Lusell’s story.

“Yes, so we were tailing them. The plan was perfect. We’d been following them for days. If only His Highness hadn’t dashed off on his own, it would’ve been a flawless tail…”

But something was off.

As he spoke, Lusell’s normally calm voice grew more emotional. Garzen, who had been examining the robe, looked up and shot him a pitying look.

“Huh, what’s so perfect about your plan? You didn’t even know you’d been made. Besides, if I hadn’t dashed off, what would’ve happened to Miss Brienne?”

“What do you mean? We’d have followed her here and ambushed them. It would’ve been much easier to rescue Miss Brienne if she’d been captured alone, rather than all of us being caught together like now.”

“That’s nonsense. What if she fainted from fear while she was alone?”

“What? Weren’t you just the one doubting Miss Brienne? And besides, it’d be better than now, when your mana circuit is closed and you can’t use magic, Your Highness! That’s always your problem. If you just thought rationally, things would be simpler, but you always get emotional and impulsive…”

“Wait, both of you, stop it. Lusell, why are you getting worked up too?”

Brienne raised her voice and Lusell, belatedly realizing, bowed his head. He groaned and lowered his voice.

“Sorry. I haven’t slept at all lately, and I just got so upset that the plan went wrong…”

“…This can’t go on. Let’s find a way out first, and then talk.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

Garzen readily agreed with Brienne’s suggestion and quietly approached the cell bars. Nothing had changed since earlier.

Garzen confirmed that there was still only one guard and narrowed his eyes.

“…Miss, about what we mentioned before.”

“Pardon?”

“Have you learned any magic?”

* * *

At that moment.

“Your Grace, Young Master Belif is here.”

The attendant who announced Herace’s visit bowed his head and exited the study. The room was dim, with not even a single candle lit. The Duke of Bannon sat in his chair, looking out the window.

“It’s been a long time, Young Master.”

Turning away from the window, the Duke of Bannon slowly faced Herace. Herace looked into the deep blue eyes of the Duke, the same color as Kaiden’s, and smiled faintly.

“It’s been too long. I should have come sooner, please forgive my rudeness for only visiting now.”

Since the Belif and Bannon families maintained an alliance, it was only natural that this wasn’t the first time the Duke had called for him. Whenever Kaiden Bannon faced trouble, the Duke of Bannon would always seek him out.

“No need. There’s no reason to ask forgiveness just for not visiting. I’ve heard from Lord Belif about how you’ve been. A top graduate from Roeta Academy, now a noble of Rontiano. What could be happier?”

The Duke’s voice was gentle, but there was no smile on his face. His expression was always as emotionless as his own son’s. Herace recalled again how much Kaiden despised his own face.

The Duke, gazing steadily at Herace, asked,

“So, was Roeta’s scholarship worth learning?”

“Yes. You couldn’t catch up to Roeta’s magical studies with just a tutor’s lessons.”

“I see. At the time, I couldn’t understand your decision, but now, I must call it wise. To know your enemy is to win, and you’ve put that into practice yourself. If only my son were half as wise as you, I’d want nothing more.”

“…You know, my decision was just wandering, nothing more. You’re reading too much into it.”

“No need to be so humble. I admire that about you, but today, I called you because I want a straightforward answer.”

The Duke smiled politely and turned his gaze to his desk. As he leisurely lit the candlestick, there was no trace of worry for his missing son in his movements.

“I thought you might know, so I arranged this meeting. Where has Kaiden gone?”

With that quiet question, the dim room flickered with a crimson glow. The Duke’s eyes, piercing through Herace, were not the gentle gaze of a father’s friend, but the eyes of a judge seeking lies.

“Young Master, my one and only son has ruined this father’s plans. He knows how much this engagement could benefit us, but he not only deceived me, he even ran away in secret.”

The Duke’s gaze swept over Herace. Meeting those arrogant eyes, Herace smiled faintly.

“…I don’t know why you think I’d know. I’m sorry, but I’m just as surprised by all this.”

And, of course, that was the answer he had prepared in advance.

It had only been a few hours since Kaiden Bannon disappeared, so what other reason could the Duke of Bannon have for summoning him?

No matter how harshly Kaiden Bannon had spoken to Brienne, or how deeply Brienne had been hurt, Herace could not be honest. Or rather, he had no intention of answering honestly, for the sake of his old friend’s safety.

However.

“……Brienne Ford.”

A name that should never have come from the Duke of Bannon’s lips escaped him.