On the same floor of the guest house, Stewart was accompanying Duke Huguenot to Christina’s office as his guard. Christina and Duke Huguenot seated themselves facing each other, while Stewart stood behind his father. Vanessa was also present as Christina’s guard.
She’s as beautiful as always...
The beauty of Christina, the pride of the Beltrum Kingdom, left Stewart captivated.
After Stewart had been disinherited and fallen to the rank of an ordinary knight, Christina was now far out of his reach. They’d once been members of the same squad for the academy’s outdoor drill, yet now he barely had the opportunity to see her from afar, much less meet her face-to-face.
When was the last time he had seen Christina this close?
She’s nothing like those cheap girls that can be bought with money... The average noble lady could never compare. Her grace and her charm are on another level.
Stewart was being affected by Christina’s fragile and refined atmosphere. How long had it been since he’d last seen a woman like this? Stewart gulped, swallowing the urge to pin her down and have his way with her.
“What a rare sight. You don’t normally bring your son around with you.” Christina glanced at Stewart before giving Duke Huguenot a questioning look.
“There’s a lack of personnel these days. He’s accompanying me as my guard,” Duke Huguenot explained curtly.
So father really is planning on promoting me?
Hope swelled within Stewart. As Christina had said, Duke Huguenot rarely ever brought him around anymore. Having Stewart accompany him to an important one-on-one meeting like this was almost unthinkable.
This was related to Duke Huguenot’s careful nature—whenever something important was going on, he would try to avoid getting as many unrelated people involved as much as possible.
Even Stewart’s younger brother Pierre, who was currently working as Duke Huguenot’s trainee secretary, was barely allowed to attend any important meetings. Yet the same Duke Huguenot had brought Stewart to this meeting with Christina.
“Heh...”
It was no wonder Stewart felt he was being treated favorably. After being banished to the shadows to constantly feel pathetic about himself, all the conditions were fulfilled for Stewart to be even more elated. He puffed up his chest proudly at the attention Christina was giving him.
This is it. This is how a noble of a duke house should be.
This was the stage above the heavens that only a select few of the highest-ranking nobles were allowed to step on. The feeling of returning to that stage filled Stewart’s heart with pride. However...
“I see. Very well. So what business did you have today? I have a meeting with King Francois after this, so I’d appreciate it if you made it quick.”
Christina immediately lost interest in Stewart. Although she seemed curious about why Duke Huguenot was doing something he didn’t usually do, she had deemed it a waste of her time to pursue the thought. She figured Stewart wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t a topic he couldn’t listen to, so she asked about the purpose of the meeting.
“While it isn’t extremely urgent, there is a matter I wish to discuss with you sooner rather than later. It’s about the future of the Restoration.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“First, regarding Haruto... I mean, Sir Amakawa and the strange phenomenon surrounding him. Up until yesterday, we had absolutely no memory of him...”
“This is related to the future of the Restoration, yes?” Christina shot Duke Huguenot a look of mixed exasperation and wariness at the sudden, seemingly unrelated topic.
“Yes. It just so happens to involve him. Which is why I want to know what happened to him. Is there anything you can share with me?”
“I was told he was cursed by a nasty ancient artifact. We were only able to regain our memories of him thanks to this barrier around the city, which neutralizes the effect.”
Christina had already heard about what had happened to Rio from King Francois yesterday. Other than the residents of Rio’s mansion, only Francois, Christina, Flora, Lilianna, Liselotte, and Aria were aware of the truth.
However, out of all the transcendent ones, the Wise Gods were viewed as religious deities in the Strahl region. There was a condition to sharing the information, and that was to receive Rio’s direct approval before informing any third parties. It had even come with the threat of losing the Galarc Kingdom’s trust, thanks to King Francois.
That was why Christina feigned an emotionless look as she lied; this was the explanation she had discussed and decided on with Francois and Lilianna beforehand. In this world, there were a vast number of magic artifacts—far too many to keep track of, which was why most unnatural events could be dismissed as the effect of an ancient artifact.
“An artifact’s curse, you say? I have heard of interesting artifacts that can affect the mind and memories of a person before...”
“Do you not believe it?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe it, it’s just that the area of effect is far larger than I can believe... Almost to a nonsensical degree.”
It was only natural for him to be dissatisfied by this explanation. However, the truth was even more nonsensical. Being told that their memories weren’t being controlled by an artifact, but by the rules of god would be even harder to believe.
“I don’t blame you. I’m confused too.” Christina agreed with Duke Huguenot with a genuinely troubled smile. “But it actually happened. And we have no reason to doubt Sir Amakawa,” she added with a serious look. Those words alone made it clear that Christina had absolute faith in Rio.
“Of course. I’m not suspecting him of anything.”
“Then what is it?”
“I merely did some light investigation into the reactions of those around us. To my surprise, there were a large number of people who hadn’t realized they had lost any memories to begin with.”
“So it seems.”
Christina had already heard of how the people in the castle had reacted to Rio. Those who had no interest in him or had barely interacted with him hadn’t even noticed that their memories of him had been missing. They didn’t pay Rio any mind to begin with, so the empty space in their memories had no effect on them. He was no more than a passing thought to them.
In contrast, those who were greatly involved with Rio were deeply impacted by the return of their memories. They also felt the blank interval in their memories much more keenly. The prime subjects of this were the residents of Rio’s mansion and those who had witnessed the battle on the rooftop garden.
“You were aware? Take Stewart, for example. He didn’t witness Sir Amakawa’s fight yesterday.” Duke Huguenot glanced at Stewart over his back.
Is that why he brought his son?
Christina also looked over at him.
“Stewart. You remember Sir Amakawa, yes?”
“Yes, I remember him...”
Stewart nodded with a grimace. He couldn’t forget even if he wanted to. Haruto Amakawa was the reason he had tasted bitter hardships in Amande. Stewart considered him the culprit behind his disinheritance. However, that didn’t mean he thought of Rio around the clock.
“You should have lost your memories of him too. Did you feel anything odd regarding that?”
“No. It’s not like I think about that g—that man on a daily basis, so I never noticed...”
Glossing over the fact he nearly said “that guy,” Stewart gave his answer with a dissatisfied look.
“As you can see, there are some people who never noticed their missing memories.” Duke Huguenot stopped looking at Stewart over his shoulder and turned back to Christina.
“I understand that, but get to the point already. I don’t see how this topic connects to the future of the Restoration,” Christina said, returning her gaze to Duke Huguenot to question the direction of the conversation.
“There is a connection. We need to know what kind of obstacles may get in the way of inviting him to the Restoration.”
It was already clear that the main subject was inviting Rio.
“I believe I previously asked you to drop the idea,” Christina said with a tired look. She probably had an inkling of how the conversation would go from the moment Rio was mentioned.
“But you should be well aware of the precarious situation we’re in.”