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Chapter 11
At that moment, with a loud thud, something inside her blocked up as if a wall had risen.
“Eloise!”
“Huh?”
“You look really pale—are you all right?”
Kylian’s hand shook her gently, snapping her out of her daze. Eloise blinked blankly.
What was I just thinking about?
A hazy, foggy heaviness lingered in her chest—then came a knock on the door. Maybe Riena had brought the ointment?
“My lady.”
Eloise, who had been picturing Riena and heading toward the door, froze at the unfamiliar voice.
“Oh, it’s Emily.”
“…Do you know this maid?”
Hadn’t Eloise only been in the mansion for half a year? And she’d spent most of that time inside her room.
“Yes. She’s the one who tidies my room.”
“My lady, I’ve come with a message from the Head Maid.”
“The Head Maid?”
That cold, mocking face from earlier flashed across Eloise’s mind. Her chest tightened again, and she pressed her hand against it.
“Huh? Emily!”
At the familiar voice from down the corridor, Eloise’s head shot up. Riena was approaching in a hurry, looking somewhat anxious—and behind her was that knight, the one named Ron, if she remembered correctly.
“Good timing. Emily, I needed to ask you something!”
“Really? But the Head Maid asked me to run an errand for her.”
“It’ll just take a second! It’s really urgent.”
“…Fine, all right.”
Emily sighed and nodded at Riena’s insistence.
“Sir Piet, I’ll need to escort her somewhere briefly. An urgent matter has come up.”
“Y–Yes, of course… uh, right.”
Ron, flustered by Riena’s formal tone, stumbled over his words. Riena gave him a look that clearly said she disapproved.
Didn’t they seem close when they talked about Kylian earlier? Maybe not?
Eloise tilted her head. Something about the way they interacted felt awkward—too formal to be close, too familiar to be strangers.
“I’ll visit again later,” Riena said as she left the room.
Ron’s face turned ashen at those words.
Seeing that, Kylian leaned toward Eloise and whispered,
“They’re acting suspicious.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
“Do you think they’re… dating?”
“Dating?”
“Yeah. Usually when a knight and a maid seem that close, that’s what it means.”
“So it’s a love affair?”
Eloise’s eyes sparkled at the prospect of gossip.
“N–No! Absolutely not! Impossible! Just thinking about it is—she’s terrifying! If I ever fought with her, I’d die within five minutes! Love? Never!”
Ron looked pale just from being associated with Riena’s name.
“‘Terrifying’?”
“You’d die within five minutes?”
Kylian and Eloise spoke almost in unison, their voices sharp with suspicion.
“Ah…!”
Realizing what he’d said, Ron froze and swallowed hard. His face turned gray.
“I’m doomed. I’m absolutely doomed…” he muttered.
“Hey. Did you do something wrong to me?”
“N–No, ma’am! How could I ever offend the great Commander!”
For someone who claimed innocence, he was standing awfully far away. Riena narrowed her eyes, suspicious, then turned back to the documents in front of her.
“If someone like you’s done something wrong, I can already guess what kind.”
“Haha… well, that’s… uh…”
“Whatever it is, fix it yourself. I don’t have the luxury to deal with distractions right now.”
Still looking at the papers, Riena turned her head toward the noise outside the window.
“Those kids from the orphanage—they came back?”
“Yes, they arrived yesterday.”
“Do they have memory gaps too? You asked them, didn’t you?”
“Well… each one remembers things differently.”
Riena’s eyes widened.
“Differently?”
“Yes. Some say the young lady escaped alone. Others say all the children ran away together. Everyone’s story is different.”
“You said you remember the young lady being alone, without that boy named Rick, right?”
“Yes. That’s how I remember it.”
Riena rubbed her temples.
“Damn it… This is getting more complicated than I thought.”
The problem had started when they’d tried to send a letter to a boy named Rick. All traces of him had vanished—not only from the knights’ reports, but also from the children’s memories.
“They’re all like you? Completely unaware that their memories are mixed up until someone points it out?”
“Yes. Their memories differ, but those two things are the same.”
After a pause, Ron spoke again.
“Commander, maybe it’s not such a complicated issue. It could’ve just been an accident…”
“Why do you think that?”
“Well, I went to investigate before His Excellency arrived, per the advisor’s order.”
“I know. You were checking what organization that bastard of a headmaster was contacting.”
“Yes. But this is separate. The young lady—she was using magic unconsciously, quite often.”
“So you’re saying it was an accident.”
Riena gave him a pointed look. Ron avoided her gaze.
“She might have done it by mistake, without realizing.”
“But your report doesn’t say that, does it? You listed three suspects—His Majesty, the Lord of Leister, and… Eloise Swinton.”
Riena lifted the document and waved it slightly.
“If someone’s reaching out to interfere with us, that’s the obvious list. And the young lady is just…”
Riena cut him off with a faint nod, letting him off the hook.
“I get why you’re acting like this. But if you start doctoring reports to protect someone, I’ll have to question whether you deserve that vice-captain badge.”
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine. You talk too much most of the time, but I know you’re cautious when it counts.”
At the word “mistake,” Ron flinched. Riena didn’t notice—she was deep in thought again.
“I didn’t mention it earlier because I wanted to see how you’d react. But there’s no need to suspect the young lady. His Excellency told me about his meeting with her.”
“I see.”
Ron exhaled in relief.
“But still…”
“I know what you’re going to say. You’re right—we can’t overlook small details when we lack information. My apologies.”
“Good. Keep investigating the boy named Rick.”
“You suspect him? May I ask why?”
“I heard about him from the young lady herself. Supposedly, he lived in the eastern region—and his family was massacred by a noble.”
Ron’s eyes widened.
“That’s strange. The orphanage was in the south. For a boy from the east to travel alone that far south… that doesn’t add up.”
“Exactly. And if a noble family in the east really wiped out an entire household, I would’ve known about it.”
“I understand. Should I head out immediately and start the search from the southern orphanage?”
“No. His Excellency will arrive at the estate this afternoon. Before we move, we’ll cross-check the memories one last time.”
“But wouldn’t it be better to move quickly?”
“I told you it’s complicated, didn’t I? Their memories were scrambled—and the magic used made them unaware of that fact. It’s incredibly sophisticated.”
“Then even if we search, finding clues will be difficult.”
“Exactly. Take your time and piece together every memory. No human could cast a spell on an entire village. If we find a place where it was done, that’s our lead.”
“You seem to know a lot about magic, Commander. Must be because you’re from that family, huh?”
At the mention of her lineage, Riena froze. A certain someone came to mind along with it.
Someone capable of this level of magic…
She quickly shook her head and smiled faintly.
“It’s not like I know anything special. Besides, I can’t use magic myself, can I?”
“Still, being from that family, I figured you’d have access to some deep secrets.”
“People love to imagine things like that.”
Yes—imagination. That’s all it was. Something like that couldn’t exist.
Something like that shouldn’t exist.
Riena pushed the thought—and the person it led to—out of her mind.
