Raven took the lead by himself and formed a contract with Mrs. Smile. With each narrow clause they set out, Mrs. Smile checked many times to be sure of Raven’s true intentions. Finding that he was serious, in the end, she was silent.
“So this fellow wasn’t a con man after all, but a gambler? Or is he just self-destructive?” Hat, who had seen and heard everything from his place in the corner of the room, now sat atop Octavia’s head in shock.
Looking exhausted, Octavia replied, “I’m completely lost...”
“What’s the matter, Octavia? Feeling tired?” asked Raven.
“You seem lively enough,” she replied.
“Well, that’s because things are starting to look more fun. Now, then! Let’s go and investigate the security conditions at the trading company at once.” Raven grinned, beginning to walk away.
Octavia chased after him. “Do you actually understand what you’ve done? Now that you’ve written a contract, even you won’t be able to weasel your way out of this.”
“Oh, I know. Mrs. Smile seems like she’d be quite hard to bear as my mother-in-law.”
“Didn’t you say that you believed in marrying for love?”
Raven, who was walking ahead of Octavia, stopped and turned around. Octavia also came to a stop, and they faced each other in the quiet back alley.
“Why should you feel so concerned?”
“Of course I’m concerned! To think that you might end up married because of me.”
“Isn’t it all the same to you? Whatever happens to me?”
Octavia nearly lost her temper, then wondered to herself why that feeling had welled up inside of her. She knew that sort of irrational anger was to be avoided; thus, taking a deep breath, she dropped her gaze and clenched her fists.
“It’s important to have fun,” she said after a moment. “But I do wonder about the way you behave with such disregard for yourself.”
“Why, that wasn’t my intention. After all, if I weren’t aware of my own value, could I have offered myself as a betting chip?”
“I’m only saying that thinking that way—the fact that you’re willing to offer yourself in a gamble—isn’t good.”
“You know, I was without freedom for quite a long time. Do you understand what it means to lack freedom?”
At first, Octavia thought he was obfuscating again; he was always hiding something, after all. But now, an unfamiliar, gloomy light lurked behind Raven’s eyes. As Octavia struggled to find an answer, he gave her one:
“It means not being able to use your own body, your life, your existence.”
“Don’t say ‘use’! Don’t talk about yourself as if you’re an object.”
“I’ll never put up with a life where I can’t do as I like. Never again. With that kind of life, I just can’t be myself.”
Hearing Raven’s voice drop an octave, Octavia shut her mouth.
Hat muttered, “Isn’t this fellow a nobleman? What kind of life was he living? Of course, it’s nothing to do with us...”
Hat’s words were precisely what Octavia was thinking inwardly. In other words, it’s not my place to say anything about it... That hazy feeling only continued to build up inside her chest.
“You really needn’t worry so much. The odds are in our favor.” Raven spoke a little more gently now, seemingly out of consideration for Octavia, who had fallen silent.
Octavia sighed deeply and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” She looked straight up and into Raven’s eyes; he only blinked. She went on, “If I really don’t want you and Miss Colette to be married, then I just need to solve the mystery.”
One couldn’t force others to be as one would’ve liked them to be. The only one you could change to suit your expectations was yourself. Octavia had narrowly escaped confusing one for the other.
“You...don’t want that?” he asked.
“Don’t worry. The odds are in our favor.” Octavia slipped past Raven, who looked utterly vexed, then turned around. “That’s right. Just to be absolutely clear, you don’t want to marry Miss Colette, do you?”
“Well, of course not.”
“Good to hear. Shall we go? Ah, of course, if you have other matters to attend to, feel free to go wherever you—”
“I’ll come with you,” replied Raven immediately, then looked surprised at himself. He then put a hand over his mouth, and his gaze wandered away from Octavia. “That is, if you don’t mind.”
“Isn’t it a bit late to say that? Haven’t you followed me up till now, without so much as a by-your-leave?” Octavia smiled at Raven, who had the eyes of a lost child, and then started walking.
First of all, we’ll check the doll in question. For me, one look will be enough to tell. If it really were an Imperial Heirloom, she would have to register it before it turned into a Demonic Heirloom. She could think about how to explain its whereabouts later. The real problem would be if it turned out not to be one of the Heirlooms. If that were the case, then the supernatural phenomena would’ve had to have been the work of a human. That would mean there was a culprit out there somewhere.
Furthermore, that girl, she mused. What’s going on with her? Just what is this doll capable of?
Octavia could have checked with Hat, if Raven hadn’t been walking behind her, off to one side. He was following her timidly, almost like a baby bird, so she felt reluctant to drive him away. Moreover, if the doll they were going to see really were an Imperial Heirloom, she would be interested to know the item’s provenance and how it had ended up in Raven’s hands. All that being said, in the first place, she needed confirmation.
“Entry beyond this point is forbidden, except for authorized persons—”
“We were sent here by Mrs. Smile. Now let us in.”
The guards blocking the path outside the Smile Trading Company headquarters swiftly made way for them, and they went inside. At the reception desk on the first floor, Raven presented the documents bearing Mrs. Smile’s signature and direct written approval. They were informed that they should proceed to the top floor, the fifth story. After ascending in an elevator of a slightly outdated design, they arrived directly at an exhibition hall; there wasn’t even a corridor leading from the elevator. Constables worked to board up the many windows.
“Block the stairs, too,” said a man who was not wearing a constable’s uniform. “Make it so not even a rat can slip inside. Make sure someone is always posted on the roof as well, and remain vigilant—” He broke off, fixing a sharp glare on Octavia and Raven as they stepped out of the elevator. “Oi.”
The man was tall. The top button of his shirt was undone, and his jacket was unkempt. By his coarse manner of speech, he did not seem to belong to the trading company. Still, he was handsome, in a rough sort of way.