Alec is here?!
I ran to the door and flung it open. Klifford was standing in the hall—but that’s a given, so ignoring that—
“……”
Oh. It’s just Derek.
He smirked and said, “Well, if you’re going to look at me like that, I’m tempted to back out of our little arrangement for tomorrow.”
Urk. Was my disappointment that obvious? Did I look bitchy, even? Sorry, Derek.
“Do forgive me.”
But Derek was early for his appointment.
“Not that I mind, really… I did come earlier than I was supposed to. I was going to visit Sil first, but my mother insisted I deliver this to you, so I’ve come to leave it before I visit Sil.”
Derek was holding a box wrapped in a cloth. It came with a nice envelope labeled For Octavia.
“It’s more eba. Sorry if it’s too much—”
Too much?! No such thing, good sir!
“Oh my. Thank you.”
Lady Lucinda, my goddess! I gleefully took the box.
“She says this is to celebrate your recovery. I’m glad to see you’re looking well.”
“Yes. I learned that sky sickness shouldn’t be taken lightly.”
“Just sky sickness—but sky sickness nonetheless, as they say.”
We had a saying similar to this in Japan, so it was funny hearing it in Esfian from Derek…
“I’m so tired of hearing that…” I sighed.
Derek chuckled and changed the subject. “But who were you expecting? As your consolation prize, I’d like to know.”
“Alec.” A big smile popped onto my face.
Er… I can’t exactly say, “I’m so excited he’s finally back home!”
“I suppose you heard he’s been ill? Well, he’s recovered now.”
We had decided in advance that the day he came home was the day he “got better.”
“Well…I’m glad to hear it. May I offer my heartfelt sympathies.” Derek smiled politely and bowed. “Anyway, I’ll take my leave… I will return in a while.”
“See you later.”
Derek turned on his heel. Apparently, he really had only come by to drop off the gift from Lucinda. Wait, I just remembered, I wanted to ask him about the gerberas… Oh well, I can do that later when we have our actual strategizing sesh.
As I thought about that and watched Derek’s retreating figure down the hall, I saw Alec approaching with his bodyguard Randal in tow. He and Derek exchanged greetings as they passed each other.
And now Alec had replaced Derek at my door. The way he looked as if he had run a little was so wholesome.
But the moment he saw Klifford’s face, Alec’s mood darkened.
“I see Alderton is still your bodyguard.”
When Alec met me at the side gate, Guy was the one who called out to him on his way to see Father, and while I’m sure Alec noticed Klifford was present then, he gave an extra-disappointed sigh at the sight of him now.
“Isn’t a long appointment the norm? I went through bodyguards way too quickly before.”
“I suppose so, but…” Alec gave Klifford a look, then his breath caught. “Are those…the same feathers your Blackfeather is made of?”
He was staring at the black feathered tassel hanging from the hilt of Klifford’s sword as if it were a squished rat.
“Yes, I thought I should give my personal guards their own sword tassels. You know how I’m called Princess Blackfeather?”
I’ve embraced my cringe nickname, thank you very much!
“Is that a reason to give wreven feathers to Alderton…?” Alec asked, his dissatisfaction not entirely appeased.
I yanked his hand. “Come on in!”
“Sister! Randal, you wait out here.”
With a bow of acknowledgment, Randal took his place by the door, just opposite Klifford. As per Alec’s request, no bodyguards were permitted. Sasha was also excused.
Time for some quality brother-sister time!
Once Alec was in my room, I set aside the box from Lucinda—I could open her present later—and sat opposite Alec. These were our predetermined places whenever Alec visited me in my room. I set some freshly brewed milk tea in front of him. Milk tea was his favorite, the same as me. Whenever I drank it, Alec would always drink it, too, and… Wait a minute, did I brainwash him?
W-well…there’s no mistaking that Alec’s favorite way to take black tea now was with milk. I poured myself a cup and sat down with him.
“Drinking this tea…really makes me feel at home again,” Alec said, sipping his tea and smiling with contentment.
“Well, you can drink as much of it as you like from now on.”
“I will.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Alec and smile like an idiot. I knew a person couldn’t grow up in just two weeks, but he definitely had an air of maturity about him. He was still my little angel, though!
“Well, you came back from a successful mission! Father praised you for it, didn’t he?”
“Well…I suppose. He was surprised, actually. He had reservations when he sent me on the mission.”
Guess Father had a pretty meh reaction then. Alec sounds so indifferent.
“Was it…hard?”
“No. I didn’t have much trouble.”
“But…didn’t it take much longer than it was supposed to?”
Alec trembled a little. Then he mumbled, “Well…I fell ill and I had to push through it for a few days.”
Whoa! Hold up, Alec!
I rose from my chair. “Don’t tell me you still feel ill? You should go back to your room and go to bed right—”
“Sister! Please, don’t worry. I waited until I recovered before I came back. Just look at me… Do I seem like an invalid to you?”
I sat back down and gave Alec a hard, discerning stare. His golden locks were now silky and free of dust, and his emerald-green eyes were sparkling clear. His cheeks had a healthy flush to them, too. He showed no signs of weight loss, either.
He looked exactly as he did when he departed—
This thought prompted Alec’s parting words to rematerialize in my brain.
“Sister…have you ever met the late Duke Kihlgren?”
“Father called me…Kihlgren…when he gave me the mission…”
The young Kihlgren looked just like Rust—and that mysterious young man. I could understand why my father was reminded of Kihlgren when he saw Rust.
But Alec looked nothing like Kihlgren, so what made Father call him that?
Alec was born the day Kihlgren died.
What if he’s Duke Kihlgren’s reincarnation?
The intrusive thought buried everything else in my brain.
Assuming that’s what Father thought…what’s his proof?
The very concept of reincarnation—as somebody who used to be a Japanese girl who was reborn into Octavia’s body—wasn’t something I could entirely refute.
But Alec has always been Alec. I never got the sense that he was an adult trapped in a child’s body… No. Alec is Alec.
My inner self shook her head vehemently to exorcise the thought. I regained my composure and asked Alec once more just to be sure.
“Are you…certain you feel entirely better now?”
“Yes,” Alec answered with a nod. “What about you? How did you get on while I was gone? You attended the junior ball, I assume?”
“Yes—”
I told Alec what happened at the junior ball, starting with everything that was declassified. I was supposed to keep everything that happened in the Sky Chamber under wraps, so I told him about Sil’s runaway carriage, attending the junior ball with him, dancing with Derek, and the raid by the anti-royalist traitors in disguise—
“There was a raid?! Is my health really what you should be worried about right now? Sister—you are the one who was in peril!”
This time, Alec was the one to jump out of his chair.
“The traitors were arrested, Alec, and I was not even slightly harmed, so please, don’t worry.”
But I couldn’t fool Alec.
“Then…what about your hand?”
Gulp.
“Sister, why is there a glove on only your left hand? And wait, at the gate, wasn’t it…” His expression grew sterner and sterner. “It was wrapped in a bandage, wasn’t it?”
Wait. He noticed but didn’t say anything…?!
It would be pointless to claim I decided to put on gloves for his visit. Did wearing only the one glove make it all the more conspicuous? If only I’d also worn a glove on my right hand…! But it’s a pain pouring tea with gloves on! Betrayed by my own hand…!
“You’re wounded…aren’t you? And you’re trying to hide it?”
Was Alec a star detective all this time? Why does my angel of a brother have to be so smart?
“This…had nothing to do with the raid. Yes, it’s a wound, but it was the result of my own clumsiness.”
“Your own clumsiness? Even so, shouldn’t your bodyguard have protected you? I hope Alderton was punished for failing to fulfill his duty.”
Hot dang! Alec is giving the exact same speech Father did… Wait, stop being impressed.
“Effectively, yes, he has been punished. He was put in the dungeon.”
“……?”
With a puzzled look on his face, Alec sat down. Noting that he had calmed down a little, I told Alec about the case against Klifford, starting with Sil’s sabotaged carriage.
“A decoy… How could you put yourself in such danger?”
Alec didn’t jump to his feet this time, but he was hopping mad!
“But Sirius was in danger, too.”
“If it had been me, I wouldn’t have let you go.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, Alec, but I would have gone through with the survey even if you had tried to stop me.”
“…” Alec fell silent, his face twisted with pain. But this was a hill I was willing to die on. I wouldn’t have let anyone stop me.
“That’s very like you, Sister…and I hate it.” Then Alec breathed in sharply. He murmured soon after, “It was Hugh…wasn’t it?”
“……Yes.”
I didn’t tell Alec what Hugh’s true motive was, even though part of me wanted him to know…
“Are you feeling all right?” Alec looked at me compassionately.