The girl cowered as this adult man closed in on her. I stepped between the two of them. “Please stop attacking her. She’s a child. She won’t be able to say anything if you keep yelling.”
He huffed. “We don’t have to take what these poor folk say seriously. They don’t have manners or morals; they’ll lie to your face to save themselves.”
“I’m not lying!” The girl’s voice was weak as she hid behind my skirt. She was desperately trying to hold back tears.
I glared at the man. “You don’t sound like someone who would come to a place like this. Aren’t you being incredibly rude?”
“Why are you defending the poor?” The man bared his teeth. “You were in danger! I’m doing this on your behalf!”
“I don’t want to attack anyone. I’d prefer a calm investigation. What in the world do you gain from yelling at children and the elderly?”
He clicked his tongue and spat with disdain. “This is why you women are hopeless.”
I tensed up with irritation, but Lord Nigel put his hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“I, for one, support these two young ladies,” he said. “I saw who did it, after all.”
“Huh?” The man had turned to walk away, but he swung back around.
Lord Nigel smiled kindly at the little girl, then patted her head when she lifted it. “Sir, please apologize for your rudeness toward this brave young lady. She didn’t lie—the boxes did not fall on their own. As she stated, somebody pushed them.”
“What?”
“And allow me to ask you in turn: How do you know she’s lying? Did you see the moment the boxes fell? As far as I saw, you came running from much farther away. If you’re sure she was lying without even having seen the incident, you must know something, yes?”
The man’s mouth had been forced shut by Lord Nigel, but now that he was being accused of being a secret accomplice, he fretted and shook his head. “N-No! I just thought that the boxes hadn’t been piled properly... That happens very often here!”
“Is that so? How knowledgeable you are.”
“Wh-Why are you attacking me?! I’m just trying to pin down whoever’s responsible! Whatever! Do what you want!”
He turned his back and stormed off. The people he’d apparently been with hurried after him.
“Is it all right to let him leave?” I asked.
Lord Nigel watched him go. “I’m sure it’s fine. He’s most likely not involved. Just a person who wanted something to complain about under the pretense of justice.”
A familiar voice called out from the direction opposite us. “Lord Nigel! Are you all right?!”
A boy with black hair and a woman with reddish-brown hair dressed in men’s clothing jogged over to our side. These two were Lord Nigel’s valet Arthur and his secretary Evangeline. Even Ms. Eva, who usually spent her time scolding her unserious boss, was prioritizing his safety at the moment.
Mother-in-law and Lord Noel approached as well, cautiously maneuvering between the scattered boxes.
My mother-in-law was out of breath. “Marielle! Are you hurt? We heard that you crashed into a wall and it crumbled.”
Both of my eyebrows raised. “The story has already warped that much? I didn’t crash into anything, and I think Lord Simeon is the only one who could possibly crumble an entire wall with just his body.”
“No, I’m pretty sure even my brother couldn’t do that,” Lord Noel chimed in.
No one had been injured, so the crowd dispersed with time. We moved to a safe location to recuperate, then assessed the situation again.
When we asked the little girl about the culprit she’d seen, she claimed, “I didn’t see their face. They had dark clothes on and were tall, but...” She pointed at Lord Nigel. “Not as tall as this old man.”
She’d missed the important parts, in other words. Over half of the men in this area were shorter than Lord Nigel and had dark clothing on. It was impossible to identify anyone with that description.
I crouched down to meet her at eye level. “Could you tell if they were young or old?”
“No... ’Cause I couldn’t see their face.”
“Right, I’m sorry.”
Ms. Eva thought hard. “Could you at least tell if they were thin or wide?”
“Um... Not really, but I don’t think they were very fat.”
“That means most people around us are suspects.”
“Perhaps the culprit’s already run off,” Arthur pointed out. “I doubt they would linger.”
“Indeed. It’s probably impossible for us to find them at this point.”
Meanwhile, Lord Nigel seemed to be sweating over something. “You all ignored me being called an old man with such finesse that I almost didn’t want to point it out... But, anyway, I agree about the culprit. It happened so quickly that I couldn’t catch a glimpse of their face either. All I can say for sure is that their hair was short and rather dark.”
Ms. Eva and Arthur shot cold gazes toward Lord Nigel. “You’re turning thirty this year. What are you saying?”
“It hits home harder coming from an actual child... Er, well, there’s no doubt that the culprit was aiming for Marielle.” He turned to me. “They were waiting for you to pass in front of those boxes.”
I certainly couldn’t stay calm hearing that. “I see...”
There’d been no clear target in the carriage accident yesterday, which had led us to think that the culprit hadn’t meant any severe ill-intent. But the same couldn’t be said for an incident like this one.
Someone is targeting me... Trying to harm me.
Lord Nigel softened his tone. “Do you have an idea of who it could be?”
“No, sir.”
Though that’s how I answered, I kept searching through my memories, trying to see if there was anyone who could possibly fit the bill. Someone who’d target me... The present possibilities are...
I no longer felt like shopping. Mother-in-law took one look at my drained expression and suggested we head home. We thanked the little girl and parted ways; Lord Noel gave her pocket candy.
Lord Nigel offered to see us back to the manor, so we walked to my carriage together. I felt sorry for all the trouble. “What about your original reason for coming here?” I asked.
“It’s mostly over. My goal was to meet with you, after all. I was informed of yesterday’s carriage accident. My workers heard about it—the scene was quite public. I stopped by the Flaubert household earlier but was told you’d come to this bazaar. I found that rather interesting, so I followed you.”
“I see... And thanks to that, you saved me.”
I wanted to continue speaking with Lord Nigel, so I asked to ride with him in his carriage. Ms. Eva sat with us, while Arthur climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I noticed you’ve been concerned about something recently.” I brought up something I was curious about. “Does it involve me?”
“Recently?” Lord Nigel took a pause. “Oh, no. It’s about Shulk.”
“Shulk?” The name popped up out of nowhere. The country was so far to the south that its culture, people, and religion were completely different from ours. “If I recall, that’s where your mother is from.”
“Yes. It’s my mother’s birthplace.”
On this huge continent, Lagrange was in the northwest, with many neighbors to the east and south. Shulk was the most powerful among the southern countries. While many territories in that region were colonies of Lagrange or Easdale, Shulk remained an independent nation. Even when they’d been at war with Easdale, they’d managed to hold out until the end, never faltering. One of Lord Nigel’s ancestors of the Shannon dukedom had been a princess of Shulk who’d been married off to Easdale as a symbol of peacemaking. Then, eventually, Lord Nigel’s father would end up marrying a Shulkian woman.