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MAJOR Conquest made his appearance at the appointed time, and not a moment sooner. When Ernest and Yuuri came to meet him in the parlor, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He was shocked at his own shamelessness. Perhaps anyone might do the same, after seeing the face of a boy they had saved the day before on a girl.
“Thank you for everything yesterday. How are your injuries?”
Yuuri seemed oblivious to his shock, only worried about his injuries.
“...Count Selden?”
“Yes?”
“Now you’re dressing your page in women’s clothing? You’re despicable!”
Yuuri finally figured out why Major Conquest seemed so uncomfortable: he still thought Yuuri was a boy.
“Oh, no. I’m not a boy. I had to wear that disguise because, as a woman, I wouldn’t be admitted. This is what I normally look like, more or less.”
“That’s right. Her name is Yuuri Watoh. I thought you might have figured out that she was working with me.”
Despite his misgivings, Conquest had not conducted the requisite background check on Ernest because the King held him in such high regard, and who was he to second guess the king?
“So you are Yuuri Watoh? Please forgive the misunderstanding.”
Yuuri accepted his apology with a gentle smile.
“I’d like you to rescind your false allegations. I am not despicable.”
“Count Selden, allow me to say this.”
“What?”
“Forcing a woman to dress in boys’ clothes is just as despicable, just as much a perversion, as forcing a boy to dress as a woman. How is it you do not understand this?”
Ernest thought that the major was every bit the boring man he suspected him to be. The two were unlikely to ever become friends. But he was well aware of just how awful what he had done was, so he wasn’t angry with the major for pointing it out. Being despicable was still much better than being a bore.
“You’re so harsh, Major. At least I chose clothes that looked good on her, right? And it was only because she was with me that I managed to find a clue.”
“A clue?”
“Miss Yuuri, please explain these to the Major.”
Ernest pulled out a set of hanafuda cards, the same sort he hadn’t even heard of until yesterday. Yuuri’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Wh-Where did you get those?”
“While you were asleep, I asked Simon to help me procure a set. I told him the game looked fun and he was all too happy to help. He has everything, doesn’t he?”
“What a relief.”
When Yuuri said “What a relief,” what she really meant to say was, “What a relief that you didn’t break into my shop and steal mine.”
Ernest had his own magical tool for getting into Yuuri’s shop. So he couldn’t really complain. It was, after all, something he felt rather guilty about.
Yuuri laid the cards out on the table.
“There are four cards for each of the twelve months. Everyone has a different play style, but in general, these are the cards with the highest value.”
The card with the highest value for January was the card depicting the pine tree and the crane. The second card depicted a thin sort of paper known as a tanzaku, on which poems or wishes might be written. The remaining two January cards had pine trees on them. The more simplistic the design on the card, the less points it was worth.
“Ohh. So the picture I thought was the sun and a field of barley was actually the August pampas grass card. It’s perfect for this time of year, right?”
“The crane and the boar are January and July, and those are February and September.”
“Could it mean the 17th and the 29th? In other words, those are the days of the month they gamble. The 17th has already passed this month, so maybe they were shifted to suggest the 29th instead.”
Conquest had no idea about hanafuda, but with the cards as visual aids, he was finally beginning to understand. The first scroll was to indicate the month, the second and third represented the date. As long as one knew what the cards indicated, it was actually a fairly clever password.
“That’s actually deceptively simple.”
Many things from the East had ballooned in popularity, but hanafuda was still relatively obscure.
There were already so many ways to play with Hylantian playing cards that few people probably had the desire to learn a whole new game on a separate deck.
In the end, it was a unique way to display the information for those who knew what to look for. And it was befitting a man who loved art as much as Marquis Groves did. All he would have to do was tell those he wanted to include how to decode the dates.
“The only question that remains is the fourth scroll, that lone peony...”
Ernest turned the idea over in his head. The only thing on that scroll was the peony. What meaning was hidden within that image? June was the month of the peony.
If he stuck with the rules they had already decoded, then it must denote time. It was highly unlikely they would meet at 6 in the morning, so it had to be 6 at night. But there must be some reason why the butterfly didn’t appear in the image.
“The one with the peony is the only one that doesn’t make sense. It’s all by itself. ...Where could the butterfly be?”
As Yuuri spoke, something finally clicked in Ernest’s mind. The plates that hung alongside each room in the gentlemen’s club! What was written there...?
“That’s it. The butterfly flew away.”
The billiards room in the marquis’ second residence was called the “Butterfly” Room. That’s where they were meeting.
And that was the end of Ernest’s part in the investigation. Now that they knew when and where the illegal gambling would be taking place, the military police could handle the rest.
“I knew you would be able to help, my little witch!” Ernest patted Yuuri’s head.
Part of it was that he wanted to praise her for her part in solving the mystery. But he also wanted to show off the special bond he felt they had. Of course he knew Conquest had no romantic interest in her. But still, he wanted to show that she was his, through and through.
“Please stop that! M-My part’s over now, right? ...I would like to go home!” The scarlet-faced witch demanded, dodging Ernest’s hand. She looked like she was ready to run out the door, so he grabbed on to her.
“Wait! I’ll take you home!”
“Count Selden, I’d like to meet with you regarding our next steps.”
“Next steps? But my part is over. I leave the rest to you, Major Conquest. The physical side of things is outside my realm of expertise.”
“What do you mean? We need you to infiltrate and learn who else might be involved. That was your task, was it not? This is where the important work begins.”
In other words, even if the military police raided the next meeting of the illegal gambling ring, they would only be able to take down those who were present. That was why the Major wanted Ernest to continue his infiltration and gain further intelligence.
“Seriously...?”
No matter how long Conquest spent in the gentlemen’s club, he was unlikely to be invited into the illegal gambling ring. That’s why he had no choice but to have Ernest continue investigating.
“I’ll just be going then. Please excuse me, Major Conquest, Lord Ernest.”
“I appreciate your help.”
Yuuri gave a light bow before exiting the room.
Even knowing what the scrolls meant, it would be unnatural for Ernest to just show up to the gambling game without being invited. But if he didn’t see it through, then putting Yuuri in all that danger would be for naught.
Knowing he would be away once more, Ernest was glad he had given Yuuri her reward.
It would be another month before Ernest’s life returned to normal.