I forced a smile and nodded. I peeked my face out from behind my guard to look at the slender man. “You, sir—could you come along as well?” I asked him.
His shoulders jolted in surprise. “Um, I...” The man was clearly troubled. He dithered, trying to find a way out.
I feel bad, but I can’t let you go. I’m sure you protected our lady knight with honest intentions, but I need to hear everybody’s side of the story. Also, sorry, but you’re just way too suspicious. As harmless as you might seem, I can’t disregard you. At the very least, I think we’ll need to stick a tail on you.
“I’m sorry, but you don’t have the right to refuse,” Klaus said, not sorry in the slightest.
“There’s something I must do. Is there any way you could please let me go?” the slender man replied.
Fed up, Klaus frowned. “What ridiculous...” he mumbled, about to flat out deny the man’s request.
However, the man grabbed his hood and pulled it back. Straight, chestnut-brown hair spilled out. Slightly upturned blue eyes peered out from beneath his long bangs, and his gaze locked with mine. He had a high nose and dignified eyebrows that exuded a strong will. Though he was a young man with handsome features, his complexion was pallid. His pale skin accentuated the unhealthy color of his lips and the circles under his eyes.
Hmm? I feel like I’ve seen him before. I tried to sift through my memories, but no name came to mind. He’s not a villager, nor is he from the city. He’s not related to the medical facility, nor is he one of my subordinates. It felt like there was a tiny fish bone lodged in the back of my throat as I racked my brain.
My memory has never been very good, and I feel like I’ve had even less capacity ever since I hammered faces and family trees of nobles I rarely socialize with into my brain in order to attend the soiree.
That triggered the light bulb to go off in my head. “Oh!”
I never would’ve expected someone like him to come to a farming village, so it took me a while to remember, but it makes sense I’d struggle to recognize him. He’s my relative, although we’ve never really interacted before. That’s Franz von Schletter, the aforementioned Duke Schletter’s eldest son and my second cousin.
I was about to call him Lord Franz, but I stopped myself. “It’s you,” I ended up saying vaguely. Although the area was clear of other people, we didn’t know who might be eavesdropping from unseen places, so I didn’t want to expose his identity. Though I had many questions for him, the first question to leave my lips was “Why are you here?”
Lord Franz’s face twisted in pain. “My apologies,” he said. His voice sounded as hurt as his expression.
At the very least, I doubt Lord Franz has anything to do with Duke Schletter’s schemes.
“I understand it’s an impudent request, considering what that man has done to you, but please, could you trust me just this one time? I am not your enemy,” he said.
“Lady Rosemary. His nonsense is not worth listening to,” Klaus said sternly. He protectively stepped between us.
Klaus is a noble, so he’s surely realized who Lord Franz is too. Look at that ice-cold glare Klaus is directing at him. It’s true that Lord Franz is the son of Duke Schletter, the cause of my recent headaches. It’s reasonable for Klaus to distrust him. But...
“Please explain more,” I said.
Shock flashed across Lord Franz’s face.
“You’re trusting him?” Klaus asked, equally flabbergasted. They both looked at me in disbelief.
I know basically nothing about Lord Franz. My knowledge amounts to whatever shallow information is contained within a handbook of nobles. I don’t even have enough information to judge whether he’s trustworthy. But for some reason, I get the feeling he isn’t my enemy. There’s sincerity in his worn-out and sorrowful expression. I don’t think it’s an act.
“Why don’t we hear his story first?” I asked. “We can decide whether to believe him or not after.”
Klaus wore a bitter frown, but he reluctantly accepted my decision. “As you wish.” His attitude clearly showed that he disagreed, but he ordered his subordinates to keep watch of our surroundings nonetheless.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Don’t take too long. The villagers will begin to grow suspicious,” he replied.
“Good point. Let’s get right to it, then.” I turned around to face Lord Franz. “Please explain yourself.”
He bowed deeply. “Where do I even start...? Do you already know what that man—my father—is scheming?”
“Not everything. All we know is that there’s a possibility he’ll sabotage the festival,” I answered.
Lord Franz’s eyes fell for a moment, but the shame quickly disappeared from his face, and his expression turned serious again. “Then I’ll tell you the information I have. That man has been making suspicious movements lately, so I had my subordinate investigate. Apparently, he’s hired a group of people. And it’s a rather nasty group too... They’re ruffians who’ll accept any job as long as they’re paid enough.”
Klaus clicked his tongue and venomously spat, “The cur.”
“Klaus.” I called his name, trying to calm him, but the gears in my head were already turning.
It may be difficult to bring down the duke himself, even if we catch those ruffians. We could interrogate them, but say they admit they were hired by the duke—without any concrete evidence, he could feign ignorance, and that would be the end of it. I knew it would be hard to get a duke punished for something like sabotaging a festival, but I thought we could at least gain a bargaining chip. I wanted to negotiate with him so that he’d stop messing with my citizens in the future.