25. — Nobody Knows (1)

Translated by Nabi

“I think she was that woman from that time as well, right?”

Joan, who had been holding Cain to talk to him for a while, finally broke the long silence and spoke first. In response to his quiet question, Cain’s eyebrows frowned as if asking for a meaning from his question.

“She was the woman whom the Grand Duke requested the last dance of the debutante ball.”

“….”

“As I recall, her name was Adelia Blaise…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

At the affirmative answer that came back before he could even finish speaking, Joan widened his eyes like he was a little startled. He stared at Cain, whose gaze was still toward the teacup, and opened his mouth again with a playful face.

“May I ask you one more thing, Grand Duke?”

“You seem to have a lot of questions for me today, Your Majesty.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I had a lot of questions for the Grand Duke?”

“….”

“…More than a lot of questions for Young Lady Adelia.”

Cain’s face was visibly wrinkled at Joan’s playful question. Seeing that, Joan found the emotions revealed on his face both fascinating and interesting.

“It’s a joke, a joke.”

“It’s not funny.”

At his crude reply, a laugh burst out of Joan’s mouth. He then asked, struggling to contain his laughter at Cain’s crumpled appearance.

“I heard from Light. In the case of Young Lady Blaise, she debuted two years later than the others, right?”

…Light?

If it were Light, it was the name of the person who served as Joan’s secretary. After recalling who it was, Cain fixed the teacup as he watched the Emperor bring out the unexpected story about Adelia. Meanwhile, Joan, who had been watching him quietly, raised an eyebrow and continued asking.

“I heard that her debutante was delayed because of a chronic illness. I’ve heard that Young Lady Adelia’s white hair is evidence of a severe illness.”

Somehow, the conversation had been going round and round for a while. Cain eventually put down the teacup he was holding and glanced at Joan.

“The conversation isn’t going anywhere, Your Majesty.”

“There was a strange disappearance in the north of the capital.”

At his point, Joan stabbed the repetitive conversation at once. Cain’s forehead narrowed at the sudden change of subject. His face hardened as the smile suddenly disappeared from the Emperor’s face.

“The time and place of disappearance are different, though when they come back, they all say it’s a peculiar accident that happened in one place.”

“….”

“The strange thing is that the hairs of the missing people who returned have all turned white.”

“….”

“…Like Young Lady Adelia Blaise.”

At the sound of Joan’s continued low voice, Cain’s fists tightened. Looking at Cain like that, he smiled brightly again.

“It seems that neither the Grand Duke nor the Young Lady Adelia Blaise knows about this matter.”

​​

“….”

“I think it’d be good for the Grand Duke to take a close look at this matter so that Lian’s precious talent’s no longer in danger.”

At Joan’s request, he got up and bowed his head. Until the moment Cain, who greeted him, left the room, the Emperor remained still.

A cool breeze blew into the large room.

 ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

“I don’t know if I did well.”

「 “There’s no need to doubt. Adelia is always right.” 」

I smiled bashfully as I gazed at Noya as he was taking a bite out of the macaron I had bought for him. How does he make words sound so pretty…? Noya, who had been sitting in the chair shaking his feet, reached out with a scone this time. I opened my mouth again as I pushed the plate in front of him, as he struggled to reach it somehow.

“Eat slowly. I’ll buy you more if it’s not enough.”

「 “Then, can I eat everything here?” 」

“Of course. Even if I don’t know anything else, I’m confident that I’ll be able to feed you well.”

At my words, Noya’s eyes twinkled at the sound of my triumphant voice. Now, seeing him eating the desserts in front of me without hesitation, Lily spoke with a shallow sigh.

“It seemed like it… But, Young Lady, are you really okay?”

“Huh?”

“No. It’s because you didn’t mean to keep going like this.”

At her cautious question, I glanced at Noya quietly. Like a growing child, he was still hungry even after eating like that, so he looked at the madeleine that was lying far away, perhaps wanting to eat it even after eating so much already. Still gazing at the child, I answered Lily, who was stirring tea with a teaspoon.

“I just decided to think about it later.”

“Yes?”

“When Irene comes back later, I will ask Noya again and decide…”