“You are to search for this girl. Whether she is alive or dead, you are to bring evidence of that fact before me. That is all.” The queen brought down her staff again and rose to her feet. Without another word, she turned on her heel and disappeared far behind the gauze curtain.
Hearing from Octavia how the audience with the queen had unfolded, Eliza frowned. “I see. So my mother brought you the same request as I did.” Lost in thought, she looked down at the table. Her cup of tea had gone entirely cold, but this was Octavia’s mansion. There was no one to fetch her a fresh cup.
Ann rested on the mantle above the fireplace, having turned back into a doll to ease the burden on herself.
It was late at night, the lights kept dim as possible. In the drawing room, Octavia and Eliza faced each other from opposite ends of a table.
After a pause, Eliza began again, “It looks like the queen has noticed what my uncle has been up to. Perhaps she also knows that I’ve been looking into his activities.”
“The truth is, Hat is opposed to us fulfilling this request.”
“Of course I am. It’ll only mean peril for us,” snorted Hat, standing upright on the sofa next to Octavia.
Octavia, who in no way wanted to inherit the House of Reine, had no reason to fulfill the queen’s request. Hat’s opinion—that they should avoid the risk of drawing further attention—was quite reasonable.
Eyes downcast, Eliza thought for a moment. “I suppose that is true. It is not my intention to expose you to danger, either. How do you feel about the matter, Lady Octavia?”
“Well, my assistant wants me to accept.” Octavia sighed, remembering how Raven’s eyes had sparkled, while everyone else had been left perplexed by the queen’s unilateral declaration.
The moment he had taken a look at the photograph, Raven had blurted out, “Let’s do it! It sounds like fun.” Without paying any heed to Octavia’s words of caution—she had, after all, not even decided to go through with it yet—he had launched into unsolicited speculation. “The style of this dress was in fashion over a decade ago,” he’d mused, and then, “This child may already be an adult,” and then, “From the shape of the leaves on the tree outside the window, this must have been taken somewhere with a cold climate.” He’d earned himself quite a fearsome glare from Henry.
On top of all this, Raven had continued to try and pick a fight with Edward, too.
“I think he reasoned that we’d already drawn the attention of Prince Henry and Edward, anyway. Really, think about it—those with a guilty conscience are the quickest to suspect others, aren’t they? Even if I had said I wasn’t going to do it, they probably wouldn’t have believed me.”
“Assistant,” Eliza repeated.
Now that she mentioned it, Octavia realized that she hadn’t explained her arrangement with Raven to Eliza yet.
“I forgot to tell you,” Octavia said. “I have an assistant now. A whole...lot of things happened to bring us together. But of course, I haven’t told him that I’m the rightful successor to the imperial throne, nor anything about the Imperial Heirlooms. It’s a purely professional relationship.”
“Still, though,” Hat pointed out, “if he is Crow, the Phantom Thief, those matters certainly concern him as well.”
“Um... For the time being, he seems to be nothing more than an ordinary civilian. You needn’t worry. Though he’s very good at his job. He took care of the paperwork for our audience with the queen, along with all manner of other work.” Octavia thought that it was better to keep quiet about her suspicions that Raven might be Crow, the Phantom Thief. She didn’t want to worry Eliza. Thinking she should do more to put Eliza at ease, Octavia even smiled.
Eliza slowly shook her head. “No, it isn’t that. I was just surprised to hear that you, Lady Octavia, would have an assistant.”
“Is it really so surprising? I feel like a detective and her assistant are practically inseparable.”
“I’m glad. Glad to hear that Lady Octavia has someone she can depend on.” Hearing Eliza say this so earnestly caught Octavia off guard. Eliza picked up her cold cup of tea and smiled. “The previous Earl of Reine had her husband to fill that role, who had married into her family. Could it be that you’ve already made a similar arrangement?”
“Eh?”
“If so, I must insist on helping you.”
“W-Wait just a moment! Don’t jump to conclusions. Raven and I don’t have that sort of relationship.” Though Octavia did want to hold him accountable for everything he’d done, she was sure that was all she felt. Even now, though, she could feel herself becoming oddly flustered. Her cheeks were beginning to flush.
Eliza, ever keen-eyed, did not miss this. “My, my. So Raven is his name?”
“You seem to have misunderstood me, Eliza. Also, you’re too close.”
“How old is he? What does he do for work? What is his last name?”
Overwhelmed by Eliza—whose pleas were more and more insistent by the minute—Octavia regrettably had to respond. “H-His name is Raven L. Osvard.”
Eliza was stupefied. “Osvard,” she said. “But surely you don’t mean Marquis Osvard? That Osvard?”
“That Osvard?” Octavia repeated.
“Indeed. He was the heir to his house, but went missing for many years. Suddenly, one day, he was found. It caused quite a stir at the time, so I remember it well.”
“Missing, you say? Raven was missing?” muttered Octavia.
In front of her, Eliza corrected her posture. “I only know of the matter via hearsay, but...quite some time ago, there was a great fire in the house of Marquis Osvard, and the whole family perished in the blaze. The marquis, his wife, everyone. They were having a banquet to announce the birth of their first son and heir when this terrible thing happened, and so the couple—along with all their close relatives—were lost. Their line came to an end.”
Don’t tell me that firstborn son was Raven? Octavia regretted having asked to hear more. But it was too late to turn back now.
“So, ever since the fire, the peerage and the realm of the Marquis Osvard were entrusted to the royal family. When the rightful heir suddenly returned, alive and well, of course people got to talking. Especially since it was only a coincidence that he was found at all!”
“A coincidence, you say? How could he be found so easily?”
“When I say it was a coincidence, I mean it. I believe it was two years ago, at the festival to celebrate the founding of our kingdom. The Founding Festival is also the biggest gathering of high society there is. Were you aware that, before being granted an audience with the queen, attendees are required by custom to have their blood tested?”