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Chapter – 26
[Just as you expected, the high-ranking priests of the temple are moving personally. As you instructed, we are testing the waters by seeing whether the temple side will openly express support for the construction of the library—this would be of great help. I will inform you immediately if we hear the news you are hoping for.
There have been no visits so far from Baron Adrian’s house or from individuals of unclear identity, whom you warned us about. We will increase the number of people watching over the slums.]
When I folded Lennon’s telegram and handed it to Rodel, who was sitting across from me, he shoved it into the canteen he was carrying. The ink would spread, and soon there wouldn’t be a trace left.
If the temple were to express its support, then even if the baron tried to harm the slums, the imperial princess’s faction—being on the same side—would restrain him. No matter how angry the baron became, he wouldn’t be able to touch the slums recklessly. Doing so would entangle him with the temple and cost him his ties to the princess.
No matter how foolish the baron was, I didn’t think he’d move without thinking. The real problem would be if, as Bihan said, the idea of “having no other choice” also came to apply to Baron Adrian. If the story tried to force a predetermined incident to occur, even at the cost of crushing all plausibility…
“Miss, we’ve arrived at the temple.”
It was the day I had requested the time veiled in shadow before the sun. It would be good if Eklat came out to meet me—but if he didn’t…
Still, this was the only way, for now, to meet Eklat without going through the other protagonists. Since Eklat had come to meet me directly at the masquerade, I had to place my hopes on that.
“Miss.”
“Dean.”
Dean, who had been following the carriage on horseback, rode up alongside it and called out to me cautiously.
“May I accompany you?”
“This is the temple, Dean. There are holy knights everywhere, and there are very few people who would dare to act rashly here.”
“…”
“Go to Lennon and receive his report. I can’t go to the slums myself.”
“Understood, miss.”
The temple hadn’t openly expressed its support yet, so trouble could break out at any time. I had to stay vigilant. I’d already told Lennon, so the foundation would be watching the slums as well, but occasionally sending knights there would be good for intimidating the baron’s errand runners.
Besides, I was on my way to meet Eklat now, and I had no intention of taking anyone with me.
I didn’t want to pose even the slightest threat to Eklat. Above all, I needed to hear his honest story.
If everything that happened had been something you never wanted, something you were forced into… then, Eklat, what should I do to help you?
Only after putting on a wide-brimmed hat with a veil hanging down and persuading Rodel—who insisted on following—to stay in the carriage was I able to get out. As soon as I entered the chapel, I headed for the stairs leading to the second floor and offered a light bow to the young priest standing there.
“Father.”
“Yes, my child. Do you need assistance?”
“I have requested the time veiled in shadow before the sun.”
At my words, the young priest flinched and stepped aside, opening the way to the stairs.
“May I ask for the token?”
“A pale violet flower.”
“Yes, the time has been prepared. Please go upstairs and enter the small chapel adorned with the token.”
“Thank you, Father.”
I climbed the stairs slowly, walked down the corridor, and entered the small chapel at the very end. A pale violet rosemary flower hung on the door.
It was almost the time I had told Eklat. Dusk. Sunlight filtered through the stained glass, scattering into brilliant colors.
Not long after, I swallowed a breath at the sound of the chapel door opening. I couldn’t afford to be shocked and clumsy like that day, sending Eklat away without doing anything. I had to know—how much he knew, whether he didn’t avoid it even knowing everything, or whether he couldn’t.
So—
I turned around. The black veil of my hat and my dress fluttered. Beyond the veil, what I saw was not Eklat’s black hair, but—
“How…?”
“…I stole the time, my lady.”
Golden hair catching the shattered sunset light, emerald-green eyes. It was Crown Prince Edgar.
This was absolutely unexpected. I could have anticipated Eklat not appearing—but this? How did this happen? Was he watching me? Did he bribe a priest?
Either way, this was the worst possible outcome. Not Bihan, but the crown prince himself had learned that I wanted to meet Eklat Adrian.
A count’s daughter who knew of Eklat’s existence—how suspicious and threatening that would seem to the crown prince.
“There are many things I want to ask you, my lady.”
“Your Highness.”
“Eklat Adrian… That is not a name someone like you should know. Especially when you have shown no interest in high society at all.”
He was right. He wasn’t someone I could reasonably know. And requesting a meeting in this way was even stranger.
My fingertips grew cold with tension. It felt like a scene I’d read before—as if there had once been a nameless count’s daughter who disappeared after being caught by the crown prince while trying to meet Eklat. Could that unnamed extra have been me?
“Your Highness, I think… there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding… Then you’ll have to explain very well what misunderstanding I’m under. I’m in a very bad mood right now.”
“…We knew each other a very, very long time ago.”
It wasn’t a lie. The problem was that it was in a previous life.
“A long time ago?”
Perhaps because it was such an unsatisfactory excuse, the crown prince’s expression darkened further. Had Eklat talked much about his past? Would it be strange that I had a connection to him? But if I insisted, wouldn’t that be enough?
“It was just by chance—”
“You don’t remember things from long ago very well, do you?”
“…What?”
Was he talking about that “friend” he’d mentioned before? If so, I had a card to play as well.
“…Just as I overlooked Your Highness’s rudeness when you entered the Riotium estate, could you not also forget about this matter?”
“A Riotium young lady who never appeared in society knows that the eldest son Baron Adrian kept hidden is staying at the Kaizers estate, and seeks him out in such an earnest way—yet you ask me to forget it….”
“…I’m not seeking him with the faded meaning of that time veiled in shadow.”
“Then why are you seeking him, my lady?”
Being misunderstood like this was the worst possible outcome—especially by the crown prince, of all protagonists. I had to offer something else.
“…Because it’s dangerous.”
“For whom?”
“For Eklat Adrian.”
“…”
“I sought him out to warn him.”
“…Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“…Why?”
The crown prince’s expression shifted subtly. It was me who became confused by that subtle change. Why would he look like that upon hearing that Eklat was in danger—someone he cherished? Did he not believe me?
“Of course, you may not believe me—”
“If Eklat Adrian is on his way here alone right now.”
“…Yes…?”
“Then does that mean he’s in danger, my lady?”
“…”
Early summer. Dusk. Leaving the safe Kaizers estate in a small carriage with only a driver, Eklat is kidnapped.
Yes—on a day just like this, at this time.
A sudden realization sent chills crawling over my skin. Forcing my expression to remain composed, I spoke calmly to the crown prince.
“I have to go.”
“…”
“To the eastern slums.”
The crown prince stared at me for a long moment, then turned and opened the chapel door.
“I’ll look into it. You stay here. I’ll ask my questions later.”
Stay here? That was ridiculous.
I rushed out of the temple, practically running, opened the carriage door myself, and climbed in. Rodel, who had been waiting quietly, widened his eyes in shock.
“Miss?”
“To the slums. Quickly.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Hurry!”
I had the carriage stop at the edge of the slums and sent Rodel off. Searching by carriage here was impossible—the alleys were too narrow, and it was too slow. It would only be baggage.
“Rodel, ride out immediately and find Lennon and Dean. Tell them to search the entire slums.”
“Then what about you, miss—”
“I can’t ride a horse in a dress, and searching by carriage is too slow. Go. Now.”
“Then you must stay here, miss.”
“The driver’s here, so don’t worry. Go.”
Rodel galloped off with a face full of worry, following my orders.
Lennon and Dean would both be watching the slums, so at least one of them should be found quickly. If we were lucky, Rodel might even find Eklat first.
“…But I’m just standing here, so powerless…”
I bit my lip. If I was the one who summoned him, and because of that he suffered… if a fire broke out in the slums, then I—
“…No. I can’t.”
I tore off the cumbersome hat I was wearing and tied my hair with a handkerchief. When everyone tells you to stay still, it only makes you want to move more. The baron’s kidnappers would be low-born errand runners; they wouldn’t dare touch someone who clearly looked like a noble lady.
“Miss, where are you going?!”
“Tell Rodel the direction when he comes back.”
“Miss!”
Leaving the driver behind, I clutched my dress hem and ran toward the direction I remembered.
The house Eklat had lived in. It was somewhere around here.
Please, remember. That house. That scene.
[The window barely held together with a broken latch. Curtains improvised from worn cloth. A shattered flowerpot where withered wildflowers were planted, and a pillar gnawed by rats. The house was exactly as it had been when Eklat lived there.
And so Eklat, bound to that pillar, couldn’t make a sound.
Here, Eklat saw everything and remembered everything. His mother bleeding to death here. The hand she reached out to him with as she died. That hand being mercilessly trampled by his father—no, his master.
The memories of that day engulfed Eklat, so he couldn’t even turn away as the flames tried to devour the beloved scenery etched into his mind.
‘No one will save me. I’ll die here like this. This is my fate.’]
Curtains improvised from worn cloth. I found it.
I flung open the door of the decrepit house as if to smash it apart. And inside—
“…Rosemary?”
“Lord Bihan?”
It wasn’t Eklat Adrian.
It was Bihan Kaizers.
