“Princess Octavia is going to have a look around the shop with Lord Derek for a while longer, Your Highness.”
“Understood. Return to the shop.”
“Aye, sir!”
As I watched the soldier return to his post—by the shop entrance—another stab of pain raced through my temples.
I shook my head. The shop Octavia had chosen for her final stop of the survey was a store of sundries in southern castle town. It was not the sort of establishment that royalty or the nobility would openly patronize. Its location in the south dictated that. And yet, Octavia had chosen to visit—and I could only think of one reason why.
It was where Edgar, husband of the king, had been raised. It was where our father and Edgar had met—though publicly, the location had been changed to a merchant association affiliated with Edgar in north castle town.
Why did Octavia come here? Taking Derek—a suspect—under her wing was strange enough as it is. What is she scheming?
But when we were ambushed under the kallum trees, the Emissary of Ongarne just protected Octavia. It was from my own retinue that the traitors had emerged.
My mind was mostly preoccupied by the news I’d received via messenger bird: Nathan had kidnapped Sil. I hated that my only recourse was to wait to hear from Hugh. Worry and helplessness were closing in on me.
I sighed sharply, letting go of my own worthlessness, and stared up at the sky. Then I began to walk toward the shop, to go inside—and when I reached a certain proximity, the pain surged through my temples even stronger, and my face twisted in discomfort.
I looked at the shop entrance from where I stood. A fierce sense of déjà vu consumed me.
I’ve never been here before.
And yet—
“Have I been here before…?”
I couldn’t remember.
“Stay away.”
Instead, an unfamiliar memory appeared in my brain.
“What’s wrong with me visiting my grandparents?”
“You know nothing.”
Who was giving that warning…? My father? And who was that protesting…? Me?
If that memory was real, why did my father give me that warning? Where did he want me to “stay away” from?
The only thing I could think of was—
“This shop…”
Ignoring the pain in my temples, I tried to get a grasp of the blurry scene in my memory.
My father warned me not to go to Edgar’s birth home. And then I—
I went to this shop. No, I went near the shop entrance—where I’m standing right now. But I couldn’t go any further, so…I never wound up going inside.
“…………”
Instinctively…I knew that was what happened. Whether I couldn’t go inside because I didn’t want to, or because some barrier prevented me? That part was a mystery.
But…I just don’t understand. Why did I try to meet my grandparents? We have no blood relation. Unless it had something to do with Octavia?
I entered the shop. I did not see Octavia’s party on the first floor. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except that there were more guards than customers.
And as I walked around the shop, I didn’t feel any pain in my temples, or any sense of doubt.
If the memory of my father’s warning was real, then I was setting foot on forbidden land…and it was an incredibly anticlimactic shop of sundries for the common man. However, you could say it was a cozy place. Whether that was a good or bad thing depended on one’s class.
There was one thing, however, that struck me as unusual in the shop—
“A Lieche orchid…”
There was a lone white flower—a Lieche orchid—in a vase on a small table by the staircase. Lieche orchids were usually seen in the castle garden or in other buildings associated with royalty, but not in houses of the common man. That’s right… Octavia was wearing one in her hair back at the castle. Maybe Edgar was the one who had put it there.
Then I noticed a discoloration on the wall… A painting had been there. In a harmoniously decorated shop like this, the missing picture stuck out like a sore thumb. It must have been hanging here for a very long time, and taken down only recently…
That was the only anomaly I could find on the first floor.
Then I looked at the staircase. That was where Octavia’s party must be—where Derek must be. Just as I was about to walk up the stairs, a man came down and stopped in front of me. It was the man I was just thinking about.
“Derek—”
“Hey there, Sirius.”
“Where’s Octavia?”
“I think you know the answer—she’s upstairs.”
“I want to speak with her.”
But when I tried to walk up the stairs, Derek did not budge.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“If you want to speak with someone, how about me?”
“About what? Can you prove your innocence now?”
Derek was named on the paper written by the traitors. I couldn’t ignore that piece of evidence.
“Remember the advice I gave you yesterday?”
Of course I remembered.
“Suspecting Octavia is a mistake. There are others you should suspect instead.”
That’s what Derek had told me last night when he came down the secret passageway to visit me.
“Again with that? Okay, who should I suspect if not Octavia nor Alderton?”
“……I can’t tell you yet. I don’t have proof.”
“Derek, this is getting us nowhere. Why won’t you name names?”
“Alderton—I hear you got his testimony? If you want suspects…start with your allies.”
My allies? In that case—
“Then that makes even you a suspect.”
“…………” Derek was silent.
“Do you realize the implications of your words and actions? You defend Alderton—one of the suspects—you refuse to name names, and you demand I suspect my allies. Your actions seem to have the sole intention of stirring internal discord.”
“Well…point taken. I didn’t tell you earlier because…well, I’m not sure. Anyway, that’s my advice—take it or leave it. Just know that I’m going to work solo tomorrow to try to find the evidence I need.”
And it all led to this moment.
“Lord Derek!”