“Your Royal Highness! You were here,” Roy said as he hurriedly barged into the room. Surprised, Layne left himself wide open. Marcus didn’t miss his chance, and he cast a restraint spell on him.
“Your Royal Highness!” Layne yelled reproachfully, but Marcus shook his head and turned to Roy.
“Roy, watch Layne.”
“Y-Yes, sir?! I have no clue what’s going on…” Roy said. Still, Marcus was his boss, and if he said so, he had to obey and stand guard over Layne. “Um, Your Royal Highness, take this,” he said.
Roy had brought a Security Bureau report that contained the results of their investigation into Cesia’s background, which they had conducted when she had fled the castle. The Security Bureau was nothing if not thorough, and while they hadn’t found any evidence that definitively proved that Cesia had disguised herself as Selene, the report showed that they had nearly the entire story, with almost all the little details. Upon seeing the document, Layne must have taken time off work to head to the Dianes’ territory and establish contact with Selene.
Flipping through the report, Marcus dexterously raised an eyebrow. “Is this all of it, Layne?”
“Huh?” Layne paused. “Yes, it is.” He was restrained, but Marcus was still his boss, who he respected. He didn’t understand what Marcus was getting at, but he nodded.
“Those slackers at Security… Write your report after you’ve investigated everything, damn it. Though I guess Cesia was still a commoner and an enforcer at the time, so maybe this was as much as they could get?” Marcus mumbled, then returned the report to Roy.
“Your Royal Highness?” Layne asked.
“This isn’t like you, Layne. Were you feeling a bit rushed? You didn’t even corroborate their report on your own.”
Layne looked puzzled. “What, you’re not saying that the report is wrong, are you?”
“No, this is all correct. But whoever submitted the report left off in the middle of things…well, with everything going on at the time, I suppose it couldn’t be helped,” Marcus said with a sigh. He put his hand on the doorknob. “Layne…before you cause trouble, I would’ve hoped you’d consult me first. I would’ve been able to explain everything properly, and strangers wouldn’t have been caught up in it like this.” Marcus’s frustration was evident in his voice.
Layne looked sad. “If possible, I didn’t want to upset you.”
Marcus paused. “I wish you’d believed in me more. Your leader wouldn’t go mad with love and bend the truth.”
“You might be right…” Layne said, his voice trailing off into silence. He must have asked himself the same thing countless times, and only after that did he find himself unable to overlook his uncertainties about Cesia.
“And I protect the people I love,” Marcus said. Then, he smiled mischievously, consciously making the expression that Cesia always said made him look like a spoiled, bratty child. This farce had already begun, and as Cesia had already been forced to take center stage, Marcus figured he ought to hurry up and join her. “Do you think I’d leave a weakness exposed like that? Who do you think I am, Layne?”
Leaving Layne with Roy, Marcus exited the room, and Keith was right outside. When their eyes met, Keith instantly lowered his head and greeted him as a knight. “My deepest apologies for not noticing my coworker’s rebelliousness.”
“No matter. What Layne did wasn’t quite a rebellion, either. I should have explained things better. It was my mistake,” Marcus said, casting his eyes downward.
Keith shook his head. “Making anything and everything your responsibility is one of your few faults.”
“So it isn’t my only fault, then?” Marcus grumbled, then laughed dryly. Keith smiled slightly. After working with Layne for a long time, both of them were hurt by what he had done.
In contrast with his usual joyful energy, Keith looked like the battle-hardened knight he was. “It’s arrogant to try and make someone understand you completely. Everyone in the Second Division is fully aware that you ran out of ways to explain yourself, sir. Layne only did what he did after you did everything you could. The blame for not noticing lies with me, his coworker, and not you, his commanding officer.”
That was Keith’s way of consoling him. Marcus and Layne might have been better off if they had talked more, but on the other hand, as Keith had said, it was wrong to demand complete understanding from someone. Even if they had talked, Layne might not have understood Marcus anyway.
“Still, we can’t give up on trying to understand each other.”
“One of Your Royal Highness’s virtues has always been that you don’t know when to give up.”
“It’s a virtue? Then you should try to make it sound like you’re praising me for it,” Marcus said. The tension disappeared from his shoulders, and he burst into laughter.
Still in the middle of her predicament, Cesia glanced fleetingly at Marcus, seeing that he had exited the small room. She had been surprised when Roy had barged in there, and now, she wondered what had happened. Marcus looked a bit drained. She couldn’t focus her attention over there for too long, however, as she had to continue patiently enduring Selene’s loud proclamations of her guilt to everyone around them.
It might’ve been a bad move to admit that I acted as Selene’s double, Cesia thought. It might’ve been better if I had declared Selene suspicious and left it to the others from the Second Division or the count’s guards. But with Selene right in front of her, her long-simmering rage at her cousin’s constant persecution of her came rushing back into her mind, and she couldn’t keep her composure. She reflexively retorted to what Selene said and thought she might spontaneously hit her if she wasn’t careful.
Cesia bit her lip to prevent herself from saying anything unnecessary and clenched her fist. If she could think calmly, she knew she could probably defeat Selene and make it through. Not that she had any clue about what she should do right now. Still, she had surmounted various difficulties in the past year and wouldn’t let Selene do as she wished. Besides, Cesia wouldn’t give up her spot by Marcus’s side to anyone. She was ready to be charged for what she had done, so long as it meant that what Viscount Diane and Selene had done also saw the light of day. It might cause trouble for Marcus, but she didn’t want to hide away, shaking in fear of that possibility. What she had done was wrong. But that didn’t mean that, if it was exposed, she had to be afraid of losing Marcus. So, she would fight to the end. She would do anything necessary to make up for what she had done. And she wouldn’t give up Marcus. With his words to guide her, she wouldn’t lose to anyone.
“Just where do you think you’re looking?! You have some nerve,” Selene said.
With Selene’s unusually perceptive comment, Cesia returned her attention to her. Seemingly, the only thing that Selene had against her was the fact that she had attended the Academy under Selene’s name. That was enough to cause a scandal, given that she was about to become the princess consort, but as a commoner, it was hardly a crime. As a crime, it ought to be punished, of course, but the law would ultimately decide that, not Selene or their current audience. At the moment, what she had to do was get Selene to leave without causing too much chaos and get the venue to settle down. After all, this was an important day for Rosary.
Speaking of Rosary, she looked surprised that Cesia had acknowledged what she had done, and her eyes were wide open. Cesia couldn’t look at Felix, Ada, or anyone else she knew, afraid to find out what they thought of it.
“It’s true that I attended the Academy as you after your father ordered me to,” Cesia said, and Selene made a look like she had just won. Don’t think that it’s over just yet, Cesia thought. “Three years ago, after the crackdown on the large-scale fraud at the Academy, the grades and the diploma I achieved as you, Selene, were rightfully revoked. You and your father had run away to your territory by then, so you might not have known. After that, as I was still a minor, His Royal Highness, Prince Marcus, served as my guardian, and I retook the Academy entrance exam. Then, I passed, and after attending on a scholarship and achieving the best grades in the school, I graduated. If that’s a crime, I’ll accept any punishment necessary.” She purposely clicked her heel on the floor. “However, if I am to be punished, then the one who initiated the crime, Viscount Diane, and the one who was supposed to benefit, you, will also have to pay the price!”
“Putting aside my father, I haven’t done anything wrong,” Selene said after a pause.