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Chapter 35
“It’s not that. I just haven’t ridden a horse before.”
In the world of ash and ruin, there was no luxury to raise horses, so Rita had never even seen one. And over the past three weeks, she had been so busy with etiquette lessons and refinement that there had been no time to learn horseback riding.
‘I’ve ridden Is’s summon before… but it feels completely different. Of course, a summon isn’t a real animal.’
Riding a living creature—especially one controlled by someone else—made her nerves tense.
Even though Leonhardt was family and wouldn’t harm her, she didn’t like being at the mercy of a creature outside her control.
Even knowing it was safe didn’t help. This was a matter of instinct and habit, not logic.
‘No wonder I could never improve at dancing. Every time someone else touched me, I stiffened and went on guard… the etiquette teacher eventually gave up and said to move on.’
She disliked living things touching her body, especially near vulnerable areas. It was the same reflex as fending off something approaching from her blind spot.
Years of familiarity with comrades and family from childhood were fine, but otherwise, she disliked it intensely. She even felt an impulse to attack.
“You’re nervous because it’s your first time riding? Are you scared?”
“It’s not fear… it’s more of a repulsion…”
Rita trailed off in response to Richard’s question. It wasn’t logical, so it was hard to explain.
Among Pascals, such feelings of repulsion were instantly understood, but Leonhardt or Richard could easily misunderstand.
“Feeling dizzy or nauseous on a horse your first time is normal. Just hang in there a little, Rita. We’ll be there soon.”
“Hey, don’t worry. If you fall, I’ll catch you.”
Leonhardt reassured her, and Richard smiled reassuringly. Rita simply nodded, trying to relax her expression, but hesitated.
“We’re family, Lili. We just need to get used to each other again. Just like you shared your thoughts today, we can keep talking and gradually understand each other again.”
Rita remembered Leonhardt’s words. After a moment’s thought, she decided to speak honestly.
“It’s not fear or dizziness. I feel repulsion when a strange creature touches my body. I have to restrain the urge to attack.”
“You want to… attack it? The horse?”
Leonhardt asked in surprise. Richard squinted, opened his mouth, scratched his cheek, and muttered.
“Ah… I see now why you braced yourself when telling us this. These are the ways Pascals are different, right?”
“Rihi!”
“Yes.”
Leonhardt called his name as a warning, but Rita calmly responded and added:
“I know it sounds strange. Hard to understand.”
“That’s okay. It’s natural.”
Richard smiled and reached out to pat her head but paused.
“Do you also dislike being patted on the head?”
“You’re fine. You’re family.”
“…Wow, that actually touched me a little.”
“But I’m not a child anymore, so let’s stop with the head pats, Rihi.”
“Understood. My apologies.”
Richard immediately withdrew his hand and straightened his posture. When Rita gave a small smile, he chuckled softly.
Watching his siblings, Leonhardt spoke in a gentle voice:
“Rita, could you tell me more about when you feel this way? I want to understand.”
“Me too! I need to know to avoid making mistakes.”
Richard quickly interjected. Rita looked at her kind family members and nodded.
“Okay. But I also want to understand you both better.”
“What is it?”
Rita twisted slightly and looked at Leonhardt behind her.
“Leon-oh brother.”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t break off your engagement of your own will, right?”
“…!”
He stiffened. Then Rita turned her gaze to Richard.
“Rihi-oh brother.”
“Uh… yes?”
“Rehabilitation is harder than expected, isn’t it?”
Richard stiffened and looked away. Rita recalled Hannah reporting the tasks she had been entrusted with.
“Miss, I’ve organized everything that happened at Birch Castle during your ten years of disappearance! Year by year!”
“You worked very hard. Thank you.”
After commending Hannah, Rita showed the materials to Lindsay, the “Amethyst,” for cross-verification and learned additional information Hannah hadn’t known.
“This child has organized everything diligently. But as a maid, there’s a limit to what she could know.”
“For example, the reason why Viscount Leonhardt broke off the engagement. Partly, it was because the mistress disappeared, so there was no atmosphere for a wedding, but there were also political reasons.”
“The viscount’s fiancée was Lady Annemarie den Dewireborg of the Everett family. Do you remember what you saw in the noble registry about the Everett family?”
In the Kairam Empire, children take their parents’ family names.
The name Lilieta del Nisa Lascaille indicates she comes from the ducal line able to use “del,” and is a member of the Lascaille family born from the Nisa family mother or father.
After marriage, one adopts the spouse’s family name.
For instance, her mother, Rosetta del Nisa Lascaille, was “Rosetta den Darius Nisa” before marriage. She had a Darius father and was a noble entitled to use “den.”
Upon marrying Duke Lascaille, she became Rosetta del Nisa Lascaille, the Duchess from the Nisa family.
Similarly, Annemarie den Dewireborg Everett indicates her parent was from Dewireborg.
In fact, the current Duke of Dewireborg’s younger brother married into the Everett family, and the duke’s sister married Archduke Adic.
So, Leonhardt’s fiancée was a cousin of Archduke Adic.
“They originally knew each other from childhood. The Everett family’s villa is very close to ours.”
“When the engagement was proposed around age 17, Leonhardt immediately mentioned Lady Everett. The other side accepted without hesitation… this was when the mistress was nine, remember?”
At last, it came back to her. When she asked who Leonhardt would be engaged to, and heard the answer, she had clapped, thinking, “Yes! The villa lady, I like her!”
“They planned to marry right after graduation, but as you know, the mistress disappeared, so it was postponed. The next year, the Crown Prince had an accident and became incapacitated, causing political chaos.”
“After that accident, Archduke Adic revealed his ambition for the throne, right?”
“Yes. Amid his rampage, the cousin of the Archduke, Lady Everett, was to marry Viscount Lascaille? That’s…”
“Our family was focused only on ruling the north and remained neutral during my disappearance. If Leonhardt married under those circumstances, Lascaille would immediately abandon the Crown Prince and side with Adic.”
“Exactly. That’s why he postponed it. By the time the Crown Prince recovered and started fighting back against Adic…”
“…He had no choice but to break off the engagement to avoid being entangled.”
Even though the Everett family did not actively support Archduke Adic or participate in court politics, circumstances forced the issue.
Thus, Leonhardt’s engagement to Lady Everett had been his choice, but the break-off was not.
Rita recalled the “villa lady” she had called that as a child. She was skilled and had once made a small pink yarn rabbit for young Lili, who loved rabbits.
She also played house with Lili, who had no sisters, so Rita had been excited at the thought of visiting the villa each season.
‘I didn’t realize her name as a child… Annemarie den Dewireborg Everett… that was the villa lady.’
Recalling this brought back other memories: Leonhardt subtly asking young Lili if she wanted to visit the villa lady, the villa lady asking her questions about Leonhardt, and Leonhardt accompanying her under the guise of a guardian. She remembered waking from a nap to see the two sitting together whispering.
Her composed older brother flustered, the well-behaved villa lady laughing loudly—it had seemed strange and amusing at the time.
And now they were engaged and later broken off?
‘If I hadn’t disappeared, Leonhardt could have married before the political turmoil. If he had already married, it would have been better….’
Regarding Richard, too, Hannah’s report and Lindsay’s supplementary explanation provided clarity.
