“Here is your fiancée’s personal history, as you requested yesterday, Your Grace.”
With his ramrod-straight posture, his perfectly parted hair, his thin wire-frame glasses, and his unchanging poker face, Karl held out a few sheaves of paper.
I can never tell what that guy’s thinking... It’s only ever made me anxious before, but now that Craig’s acting all weird, I’m actually starting to appreciate how stable and consistent Karl is. I mean, I haven’t dragged Karl around with me nearly as much as Craig, and I guess we’re both just more guarded with each other.
I nodded to Karl and took the papers from him. Then, he held out a large, thick envelope.
“I have prepared this for you as well.”
“What is it?”
“The results of my investigation, Your Grace. I finished compiling my report just yesterday, and so I have brought it along with the other documents you requested.”
He’s finally done, huh? I guess he couldn’t get me the documents yesterday because he was busy putting the finishing touches on this.
But while Craig and I would both routinely cut into our sleep time to get things wrapped up, Karl didn’t show any sign of having pulled an all-nighter—there wasn’t the slightest hint of a bag underneath his eyes. He really did have his act together.
Marveling once again at Karl’s hypercompetence, I took the envelope as well, and he bowed and left the study.
All right, which do I start with? Let’s go with the personal history. I’ll probably only need to give it a quick once-over, so I’ll just get it out of the way.
That was what I thought as I started reading from the first page. But as I progressed through it, I quickly discovered that reality was far harsher than I’d imagined.
First off, my fiancée’s name was Angelica Zechress, age seventeen. She was the firstborn daughter of a marquis, and her family consisted of her, her father, and her little brother. Her mother had passed away from an illness. Angelica was Eberhart’s assassinated father’s executed sister’s executed husband’s brother’s daughter—the heiress to a house that had just barely been spared from Eberhart and Heinreid as they’d gone around killing every member of the royal family one by one. They weren’t related by blood at all, but she was still technically considered his cousin.
The fresh reminder of Heinreid’s history of blood-soaked villainy was sickening, and seventeen was way too young by my standards, but those things could wait. What caught my attention was her family name: Zechress. That name had shown up in Sig the Rebel—it was the name of one of the enemies Sig defeated. The guy who showed up was her father, though, not her.
Huh. I didn’t know he had a daughter...
And Eberhart had used that daughter to tie the man not just to him, but to Heinreid as well. I could only imagine how agonizing it must have been. Now I understood why Marquis Zechress was so abnormally terrified in the novel—come to think of it, he did mention that his brother had been killed too... Considering his position, there were plenty of extenuating circumstances to account for his actions. But in the novel, the marquis rejected Sig’s appeals to the very end, and he died in battle against the heroes. He said he’d rather die then and there than make enemies of both the Tyrant of the Century and the Venom of the Nation.
Why the hell did I put this off for so long?! There’s literally a life on the line here!
I clutched my head in my hands as I stared down at the documents.
But how am I supposed to save him? Heinreid and Angelica aren’t actually married yet, so the only one who can give direct orders to Marquis Zechress is Eberhart. He’ll definitely keep putting pressure on the marquis to fight Sig, and I can’t do anything to stop him. There’s got to be some way I can free the marquis from that terror... Free him?
An idea came to me in a flash. I picked up the other item Karl had brought me, tore open the sturdy envelope, and pulled out all the papers inside. All of the traitors I’d ordered him to sniff out, along with all of their accomplices, were listed one after another in Karl’s elegant handwriting. I flipped through a few pages, tracing my finger down the list until I came to a stop at a certain entry. As I read the additional notes neatly jotted down beside the name, I let out a sigh of amazement.
Karl, you really do incredible work.
Thanks to these documents, I’d figured out an angle. Now, I needed to notify Craig. After all, for a job to go smoothly, clear communication is always a must.
I walked over to the door of the study and poked my head out. “Come in, Craig. I’ve got orders for you.”
“Of course, Your Grace.” He didn’t seem startled at all by my sudden appearance.
In hindsight, maybe this was the wrong attitude to take with him. I was being too casual—I felt like I wasn’t projecting enough authority. I’d have to be more careful about that next time. I pointedly cleared my throat to brush over my slipup, and once Craig had closed the door, I told him my business.
“I’m going to be visiting the estate of Marquis Zechress five days from now. I’ll need a carriage... No, that’s Karl’s job. Your orders are to inform the guards about the trip.”
“What business do you have with House Zechress, Your Grace?” Craig asked, sounding puzzled.
I mean, Heinreid did forget about them all this time, so yeah, why would I bother visiting them now? But c’mon, don’t butt into that stuff.
“Is there any need for you to know that?” I asked pointedly.
Normally, that would’ve been enough to get Craig to back off—but not today, apparently. He just stood there silently staring at me, his inscrutable gaze piercing right through me. For several moments, I tried to stubbornly give him the silent treatment right back...but I was the one who folded first.
I sighed. “I’m simply paying a visit to my fiancée. My liege brought her up in conversation yesterday. Call it a passing whim.”
“Is that really all?”
“You’re really getting on my nerves. Cut it out already!”
Quit hounding me over every little thing, dammit! What the hell is your deal?! I’m not giving you any more than that, got it?!
I glared back at Craig, and he finally closed his eyes and stepped away.
“My apologies, Your Grace. I shall begin assembling a team of guards.”
“Good. Do that.”
Craig was getting a little—no, more than a little hard to handle. I had a bad feeling about him, but in any case, I needed to get moving. I had new affairs to settle and five days to prepare.