Of course, a woman like Elisha, who had run away from her family because she didn't want to marry for political reasons, couldn't have said that. She knew the irony in it and thus, couldn’t say what she thought.
Finally, Elisha reached the room where Simone was.
"Oh, Elisha! I'm so glad you're here!"
The owner of the room greeted her with a voice that sounded like she was delirious with a fever.
"I'm sorry, Madame Simone. I'm sure you're not feeling well. Please pay no heed to courtesy and continue laying on your bed."
Since the day after the incident, Simone had been staying in a separate room from her husband, claiming that she was sick. Her excuse was that it might be a dangerous illness.
Of course, she was feigning illness. She probably refused to share a bed with her husband, who treated her poorly.
She looked embarrassed for a moment, then obediently followed Elisha's suggestion and laid herself down on the bed.
"Did you hear, Elisha? I heard that he had another fight with Sir Tullius."
"Ah. I was there when it happened."
"Well! So he would do that in front of a guest? I mean, really, that guy......"
Simone exclaimed unhappily. She sounded restless, but her slender fingers gripped the sheets tightly as if she were clinging to them.
She must be feeling scared.
Simone was frightened by the fact that Tullius, with whom she shared a common enemy, Linus, had been driven out and she was left alone with her tyrannical husband.
As if to vent her anxiety, she continued.
"Sir Tullius, you know, told me. He told me to rely on Miss Elisha while he is gone. She's a fine knight, and she's also a woman, so she'll be able to help sister-in-law in her time of need!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Yes, he did."
Sounds like it came from nowhere, Elisha thought.
She didn't remember saying or doing anything that would have earned her that kind of recognition from Tullius. In fact, she had even thrown a few provocative words at him in an attempt to draw out his true intentions, which he simply hid behind a thin smile. Other than that, they mostly shared conversations on administrative related affairs regarding the territory’s military supplies.
Hardly enough to earn her the level of trust to be tasked to take care of his sister-in-law.
It's possible that, in their brief conversations, he had enough evidence to discern that she would not act coarsely towards Simone.
(I guess you just don't care where you put this woman, huh?)
There was a possibility that he said whatever that came to his mind to calm Simone who was in a troubled state of mind in order to give her some relief. This sounded more likely.
From the looks of it, Tullius Shernan Oubeniel was a monster who was only concerned with self-preservation. His outrageous deeds, such as the slaughter of slaves, were only to the extent that they caused upset in people but did not violate any law. He didn't let the allegations, such as the one about the fire in the royal capital, catch him from the back. It was said that he used an unscrupulous method to brainwash people during the trial, and now, he had formed a third faction to protect him.
He was that kind of guy. He was pretending to protect Simone, but at the same time, trying not to get too deep into the delicate position of her brother and sister-in-law.
Elisha nodded affirmatively, not even trying to think further into it.
"Then leave it to me. It is one of the duties of a guard to bring relief to the hearts of those being protected. There are not many people in this country who can do that as well as I can."
"Well, that's encouraging."
Simone let out a relieved breath.
In the end, she and Linus were just like each other. They were both proud, refined, and unable to bend themselves. Because they were the same, they repelled each other and hurt each other.
If there had been even one time when either side compromised for the other, this would not have happened.
For example, if Linus had apologised to her or expressed his guilt a little bit when the political marriage was decided. If he did so, then Simone might not be always blaming Linus. But it was highly doubtful that the noble young count would be able to show his weakness to a woman he had just met.
Or perhaps, if Simone had been able to see the true nature of Tullius. Then Linus might be more at ease with a partner who recognised the same enemy as he did. …...However, being treated as a mere pawn in a plot, it would be difficult for her to side with the people who were the cause of it.
They were both equally incompatible with each other. Nothing good could come out of it.
(But still...)
Yet, they were still young and had a long life ahead of them. It would only be a few more months before their first marriage anniversary would come to pass.
Even if things were at their worst right now, there was always a chance that things would turn around.
Elisha hoped for such a miracle. It was not like she disliked either Linus or Simone.
Naturally.
There was no way that the devil had prepared such a convenient script...
※ ※ ※
My brother, who became angry at me suddenly, kicked me out of the place. We travelled through the night on a carriage for two days before finally arriving back at Marlan.
"I'm home..."
"Welcome home, my lord. You're back early?"
Laubert, who showed up to greet me, said. He did not appear to be surprised at all though. He must have guessed how it was going to go. If that was the case, there was no need for me to explain at all.
I opened my mouth while relaxing my shoulders, which had become stiff from the ride.
"Thank you. My brother really has a bad temper. ......I don't know why he's so angry when we were just discussing political affairs."
"Why of course."
Victor, who came after me, wore a composed expression.
"Not only did Linus receive a suggestion that was beyond your authority, but you also implied that you were aware of the information within their faction. I'm sure your weak-hearted brother would have shuddered at the thought."
"Stop saying it like it doesn’t concern you, Victor."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"You were the one who came up with this plan, weren’t you? I don't know what you're saying, acting like you have nothing to do with this, and badmouthing my brother."
"No, no. This was also due to the information that Laubert had gathered, so it's very, very hard for me to claim credit for it alone."
He deftly deflected my eyes on him.
Yes, being an annoyance and finally being kicked back to Marlan was a strategy that Victor and gang developed. This time, my brother's return was a blatant attempt by the centralised faction to halt my progress. Since I had no need to play along with them, we came up with a faultless way of retreating. Though I had not anticipated that it would be this effective.
"The Count is as afraid of your shadow as a lady is of a worm or a snake. I knew that if you kept meeting with him day after day with some excuse of sorts, he would no longer be able to keep it up."
So rude. What kind of insect or snake was he calling his boss? Yeah, the family crest was a snake, but isn't that the same for my brother?
It was getting kind of uninteresting, so let’s change the topic.
"Well, I don't really care about the retreating strategy. It's the other one that has greater importance."
The plan to get out of Volden was, as they say, a bonus. If it came down to it, I could have left the research to Seis and the others and taken a leisurely summer vacation in the highlands. Of course, I was still happy to have been able to minimize any time wasted.
"So, shall we get into the crux of the matter?"
"Of course. The deadline for this is before my brother returns to the royal capital. I have to finish it as soon as possible. I don't want him to leave in a jiffy while being in a bad mood."
"I don't think that will happen."
Victor confidently asserted, showing no sign of being phased when we moved to another topic instead of discussing his earlier successful plan.
"That man is very meticulous. He won't be able to leave the state capital until at least the documents he submitted have been verified. At least for the rest of the summer."
"Hmm? I guess that's how it works."
