To cut a long story short, there were surveillance images demonstrating that Raven had been in his cell for the entirety of the Phantom Thief’s appearance.
“Thank you, Octavia! I was right to place my trust in you.”
Octavia said nothing.
“When you look at me like that, I can’t help it if my heart pounds in my chest. That’s the most fearsome and fascinating face you’ve shown me up until now.”
Octavia was still silent.
“By the way, I heard that Crow, the Phantom Thief, appeared during your audience with the queen. Is that true? Are you all right?”
“Don’t you think we would have been better off not saving such a cheeky git as him?” wondered Hat.
Perhaps Hat was right. As Raven boldly stepped out of his iron-barred cell, a glowing smile on his face, Octavia fought the urge to punch him—just once!—and sighed.
That would be right, wouldn’t it? There’s no way he’d make such an elementary mistake as that.
Naturally, Raven, who wasn’t carrying the music box, didn’t have the girl with him either. He had nothing but the clothes on his back. Just what he had with him when he had been thrown in that cell, and nothing more. Of course, even if Octavia asked him what had become of the spoils of his theft, he would only play dumb. Though his abilities may have been achieved by forceful subversion of the rules, if he could use the Imperial Heirlooms, then there was very little he could not do. That meant that Octavia had simply been sent on a wild goose chase, didn’t it? A feeling welled up in Octavia that her efforts had been wasted, and her shoulders slumped.
“I wish you’d answer my question,” prompted Raven.
“I’m just glad to see that you’re all right.”
“As this is such a rare occasion, might I request something with a little more emotional impact? Like a kiss, to mark our reunion?”
Octavia ignored Raven and began descending the stairs to the tower.
“What came of the audience with the queen?”
She continued to ignore him.
“Octavia?”
“If it’s the House of Reine you’re asking about, I am to inherit it, on the condition that I capture Crow, the Phantom Thief.”
“Ohh?” Raven lowered his voice, following after Octavia. Without any warning, Octavia had been selected as guarantor for Raven’s release from jail, so she had no choice but to accompany him until they were out of the tower.
“Speaking only of the outcome, we have more or less maintained the status quo. Nothing will change. Only, my family might quiet down a little, and for one year, Edward will be stripped of his rank as prince.”
“My, oh, my. But why was your appointment to the peerage made contingent on the capture of the Phantom Thief?”
“Because I want to break his legs and make him take responsibility for his actions.”
“It sounds like what you really want to say is that you intend to capture Crow and make him your husband.”
“Huh? Why would I want to do that?”
“Hmm, so that’s not what you want...”
Octavia stepped outside the tower, leaving Raven behind. He seemed to have a lot on his mind. After he’d filled out the simple paperwork for his discharge and exited the tower himself, he found Octavia standing in front of him, her hands on her hips.
“Don’t try any other funny business. It’s time for you to go home.”
“Let me see you home first.”
“No need. I’m tired, so I’ll be going home myself. Don’t follow me.” Octavia had no interest in being led on another wild goose chase by Raven. After making her parting remarks, Octavia turned her back to Raven to walk away, but after a few steps she heard his voice again.
“I’ve decided to employ a little girl I happened to come across. Consider it a small act of charity. She’s a rare black-haired girl.” Octavia came screeching to a halt, and without thinking, looked over her shoulder. Raven grinned. “I wouldn’t want you jumping to any wrong conclusions, so I thought I should let you know before you meet her.”
“What conclusions did you think I would jump to?”
“I was worried you might mistakenly think that I was being unfaithful to you.”
“As if I would think that. In the first place, what do you mean by ‘unfaithful’? It’s almost as if you think we’re a couple.”
“It seems that something terrible happened to this girl, and she doesn’t speak much. But just hearing her say ‘thank you’ once nearly moved me to tears.”
Raven was talking about the young girl he had taken with him, the one who couldn’t speak. In between sighs, Hat said, “He must have mended her voice box. There’s definitely a tool we haven’t registered yet that could do that. He really does do as he pleases...”
An unregistered Heirloom meant one that Octavia had not yet discovered, which also meant that she couldn’t yet use it. She would rather that Raven didn’t take it upon himself to use such Heirlooms, but in this specific case—she probably ought to admit that he had done a good deed.
“Is that right? There really is no telling what you might do next,” said Octavia.
“There’s no telling with you, either,” said Raven with a smile, approaching Octavia one step at a time.
Octavia leaned away from him slightly. “Wh-What do you want? Do we have anything left to talk about?”
“I don’t remember my parents’ faces.” This admission struck Octavia like a bolt from the blue. “I have no memory of anything besides a life spent in desperation, doing whatever it took to win my freedom. That’s why I find it strange that I still stand before you, that I haven’t run away yet.”