Octavia, who had replied to Hat without thinking, hurriedly explained herself to Raven. “Before my grandmother died, she left me a mansion. This was some years ago. My family may have only grown suspicious of it now. As my grandmother was so fond of me, they may think some heirlooms of the House of Reine are hidden there.”
“Ah, I see. Might this mansion in the capital be the mansion your grandmother lived in, when she worked as a detective?”
“That’s right. This mansion, which my grandmother owned personally, was separate from the House of Reine’s townhouse in the Royal Capital.”
“The mansion that belonged to the Lady Detective, the Earl of Reine... Certainly, one might expect something to come out of a place with such a lofty history.”
“But my father supposedly already checked it a number of times.”
Thinking that Octavia’s grandmother might have left her some great inheritance in secret, concealed somewhere within the mansion, they had investigated the estate many times before the paperwork for the transfer was completed. Since they had found nothing of value there, they had concluded that it was just a mansion full of rubbish. Their conclusion was not incorrect. Without Hat and Octavia there to use them, the contents of that mansion might as well have been rubbish.
“Why would they begin to suspect again, after all this time?” she mused. “The transfer of the mansion was officially concluded years ago, with Princess Eliza’s approval.”
“Princess Eliza? You’re acquainted with Her Highness, the crown princess?” Raven gasped in amazement.
Octavia hurriedly shook her head. “No, we’re not personally acquainted. More accurately, she was one of my grandmother’s connections. I was told to call on her if I ever found myself in the Royal Capital.”
“Her Highness the Princess, who, it is said, will be the next queen?” When Raven put it like that, it did sound like Octavia had caught the attention of someone extremely important. But Raven merely hummed to himself in reflection.
“If I’m not mistaken, Prince Edward supports the faction opposing Princess Eliza’s succession—His Highness the prince, the queen’s younger brother.”
“I’m not too familiar with such matters, but I’ve heard that, too.”
“In that case, your family presumably thinks there is something in that mansion—something that could give Princess Eliza an advantage in the struggle for the throne, for example—and resolved to catch you before you could make contact with Her Highness the Princess.”
Octavia frowned in response to Raven’s conjecture. “But why wait until now?” Her family had known long before her grandmother’s death that the mansion had been left to Octavia—and that her grandmother had known Princess Eliza. Neither had the contest for the throne begun recently. In spite of all that, why had her family only become suspicious after they had driven her out of the household?
Raven grinned at Octavia, whose face was screwed up in contemplation. “Could it just be that they’re idiots, without any imagination?” he asked. A rather harsh appraisal. Even as part of a hypothetical, he had to have some nerve to speak so nonchalantly about a prince.
“Even I wouldn’t have put it so bluntly...”
“I often have,” said Hat.
“Now I understand the situation. As long as you’re with me, not even the constables will be able to lay a finger on you so easily. I am a marquis, for what it’s worth.”
“Would you believe me if I said I was innocent?”
“I’d sooner believe a pretty girl like you than rough men like them.”
“Pretty...?”
“I thought you might react that way.”
Although Octavia was simply bewildered, he was laughing at her.
“I’ve never seen someone so pleased by a perfectly predictable reaction. This is a first. How refreshing.”
“Your attitude really revealed itself in that remark. That was no compliment, Octavia,” grumbled Hat.
“I’ve made up my mind. I shall escort you safely to your mansion in the Royal Capital.” As Octavia blinked silently, Raven placed his hands on his hips and continued, “Prince Edward will only be able to take such drastic measures as long as you are outside the capital. If he tried something like this there, Princess Eliza would surely hear about it. Besides, the capital is the residence of Her Majesty the Queen. Nothing gets past her within its borders. There, neither the queen’s brother nor Prince Edward will be able to do as they please, and, more than anything, they’ll be afraid of scandal. If you can evade them until this steam train reaches the Royal Capital, you’ll have won.”
“Certainly, I don’t think my family would be very understanding if I went back and tried to explain things to them...but helping me won’t benefit you in any way, will it? Are you all right with that?”
Raven intended to protect Octavia from two princes. Although that prince was at the end of the line of succession, and Raven was a marquis, it was still a dangerous road for him to go down.
“I don’t mind at all. I mean, it sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” The corners of Raven’s mouth curled up, as if he’d just received a new toy.
Octavia could only be amazed at this unbelievably innocent reason. “Fun, you say...”
“If you feel obliged to repay me in some way, I’d like you to show me your mansion when we arrive in the capital.”
“Even if there’s nothing there?”
“Of course. I’m not thinking of doing anything unscrupulous. The truth is, I was a fan of the Lady Detective, the Earl of Reine.” Raven returned Octavia’s blank expression with a smile full of mischief. “I even have a copy of her memoirs.”
“Th-That’s the first I’ve ever heard of...”
“About that. The Earl of Reine— Ah, your father said, quite angrily, that we should no longer discuss that matter at our soirees in the royal capital. I wasn’t sure whether or not I should mention it to you.”
That a member of the nobility should work, let alone a woman, and in the lowly profession of a detective— After many years of hearing her father and the people around him severely criticize her grandmother’s choices, Octavia could guess at what Raven was implying.
Raven slowly lowered his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. “I know this is belated, but I would like to offer my condolences. I would have liked to meet her once, when she was alive.”
The sincerity in his voice stung Octavia’s heart. It rang differently from any of the makeshift condolences she had heard at the funeral. “I-Is that right? So that’s why you knew so much about my family.” After understanding and acceptance, the next sensation that slowly welled up within Octavia was that of joy. “In other words... You’re a fan of my grandmother’s! You’re a good person, aren’t you?!”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“No, wait,” cautioned Hat. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Calm down, Octavia!”
“My grandmother was amazing, you know!” For the first time ever, Octavia had found someone who approved of her grandmother. Hat’s admonishments were no longer audible to her.
After blinking for a moment at Octavia, seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Raven smiled himself. “I can see that you truly loved your grandmother.”
“Of course! She taught me so many things. I lost my mother at a young age, so it was my grandmother who raised me.”
“Really? I’d be grateful if you told me more about her.”
“Yes, I’d be glad to. Raven, I’m beginning to think we could be friends!”
“Friends, you say. It looks like I still have a long way to go.”