37 Interrogation

I felt Emilia falter beside me at Grace’s excessively bellicose attitude.

It was only natural to be bewildered. What on earth was this outburst about, coming immediately after she had survived an assault and performed her task with such magnificent perfection?

However, no proper conversation could be held amidst this thunderous applause.

If he was demanding that I hand her over, I had no reason to refuse, so I took a step back and yielded the escort.

Though Grace scowled deeply, he took Emilia’s hand.

He then signaled with a gesture for me to follow. As Emilia looked back repeatedly with an anxious expression, I nodded slightly each time and followed behind the two of them.

Behind us, the applause died down once, and a modest murmur arose as the next candidate apparently took the stage.

Come to think of it, Emilia had intended to watch the subsequent presentations. Just before leaving the hall, she cast a lingering, regretful glance back, but from then on, she looked straight ahead and began walking beside Grace.

We were led to a room assigned to the administration.

Knights had set up a strict security perimeter, and inside, as expected, those involved in the earlier assault were gathered. Namely, Stefania, her accompanist, and Marquis Schutzeroie.

“Count Caldia!”

The moment Stefania spotted me, she cried out my name for some reason, as if clinging to it.

While everyone present wore expressions ranging from tension to confusion, only her father gazed at his daughter with chillingly cold eyes. Unaware of the change in his demeanor, Stefania continued to wail.

“I—I only wanted you to be my accompanist! Please believe me!! I only did it because I adored you!”

As she spoke, she broke into tragic sobs; her attitude was one that completely discarded her dignity as a noble lady. She appeared to be restrained, merely raising her voice from where she stood, but otherwise, her momentum was such that it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had lunged at me.

The room grew increasingly perplexed by Stefania’s reckless behavior, while at the same time, feelings of exasperation began to surface.

Or rather, what does she mean by “adored”? Me? Stefania?

I, too, felt a mix of confusion and disgust.

Could it be that the nonsensical rumor I heard from Viscountess Beirendorf was actually true?

Even if that were the case, judging by the people gathered in the room, it was an irrelevant matter. I didn’t know to what extent Stefania was involved in the assault, but I couldn’t care less about her personal motives.

Consequently, I decided to completely ignore the wailing Stefania. I had not been granted permission to speak, nor had I received an official explanation for why I was brought to this room, so this was only natural.

Grace glanced back at me, but this time he merely showed an expression that seemed to want to say something. Since it was too much trouble to think about what he meant, I acted as if I hadn’t seen it.

After a short pause, the Crown Prince entered the room. He sat in one of the chairs lined up against the wall, and we were prompted to take our seats as well.

“…We shall now begin the interrogation regarding this assault.”

The one who spoke first was the captain of the patrol unit in charge of campus security. Since there was suspicion that the daughter of Marquis Schutzeroie—the supreme commander of the venue’s security itself—was involved in the attack, it seemed the captain was to preside over the proceedings.

First, the details of the assault were confirmed, and I explained the events as Emilia’s guardian.

Thugs had infiltrated the waiting room and attacked the two maids—non-combatants who had entered first. The thugs took one as a hostage and demanded Emilia enter the room.

Marquis Schutzeroie then appeared and suppressed the two thugs who were out in the corridor. Immediately after, the maid held in the waiting room escaped. While suppressing the thug who came out in pursuit, the thugs’ gap was exploited, allowing one thug on the corridor side to escape.

Furthermore, the escaped thug was a man who had been frequenting the House of Lords as an attendant to Count Nordsturm.

In brief terms, that was the extent of the story.

The identity of the fugitive was already known, and the motives and objectives of the assault would likely be investigated in due course.

“Very well. This is consistent with the accounts heard previously from the Archduchess of Lindal and Marquis Schutzeroie. Count Caldia, thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. It is my natural responsibility as the guardian of the Archduchess of Lindal.”

“Next, regarding the assailants…”

It seemed my explanation was sufficient for now, and the conversation moved on to the current status of the interrogation of the two captured thugs.

The man dressed identically to Stefania’s accompanist was apparently not an associate of any noble, and his identity was unknown. Similarly, the other person’s identity was unknown; both were presumed to be commoners based on their manner of speech.

As the fact that one of the captured men was dressed exactly like the accompanist was brought up again, the attention of the room shifted back to Stefania.

The girl, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, cowered at the attention, but when she could no longer endure it and screamed, “I don’t know anything about it!”, her father slapped her across the cheek.

“Have some shame. Know your place.”

His voice wasn’t a shout, but a low, stifled rasp; one could clearly tell it was saturated with rage.

End of 260