“…”
“…”
After Bella took Vera T with her, we sat there for a while. Alice let out a big sigh, as if the tension that had built up inside her had finally been released, while Claire and Leo still wore dazed expressions, caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events.
Eventually, unable to bear the long silence any longer, Alice exclaimed, “Ugh, seriously!”
She then spun around to face me and demanded, “Say something!”
“What do you want me to say?” I asked earnestly.
Alice sighed in frustration. “You know, it was way too dangerous for the Crown Princess to be there. I mean, it was something that could have been resolved even if I wasn’t present. Why did they choose such a risky plan?”
“Are you asking me to scold the Crown Princess?” I retorted.
“No, that’s not it, but…”
Alice rolled her eyes and blushed slightly. “Of course!”
I doused her enthusiasm with cold water, saying, “It’s true that anyone else could’ve done it besides the Crown Princess, and it’s common sense that she could’ve been seriously hurt due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“….”
Hearing my words, Alice’s shoulders slouched. It looked like her white rabbit ears were drooping a bit as well.
“But just because of that, it doesn’t mean today’s events aren’t the Crown Princess’s doing.”
With that added comment, Alice raised her head again, her ears perked up slightly.
In truth, there was no one but Alice and me who could create a situation like this.
Lucas was off somewhere, probably not on the run but just taking a long break. Anyway, it was impossible to assign tasks to someone who was absent. Even if he could handle it, as his face was well-known, Vera T would’ve been out of there the moment she spotted Lucas.
Jayden was also impossible for the same reason.
Bella might find it easy to extract information, but she absolutely couldn’t show her face. So, at the very least, someone else had to capture her, and in order to capture Vera T, who was almost always in crowded civilian areas, we would have to lure her to a place where civilian casualties would be minimized.
But if Bella did that herself, her face would be exposed. Sure, she could solve it by killing her, but that would just raise more alarm bells in the Papal State.
The same went for the remaining brother. He held a similar role, and was already gathering information in another country.
That left just me and Alice.
I was a figure the Papal State couldn’t afford to ignore, while Alice was perceived as a minor being among people who could be lured.
The Papal State had personally confirmed that I was the “Emperor’s Delegate.”
And perhaps they had made a significant miscalculation there.
They probably thought Alice would never rise to the throne.
…Well, I can’t blame them.
The current Emperor is obviously a bizarre person, and even though they aren’t blood-related, legally there isn’t a class difference between the Crown Princess and the prince, one of whom is the commander of the Order of Knights, while the other is performing the duties of the Emperor’s Delegate at such a young age.
Anyone who hasn’t heard the “private conversations” exchanged directly between the Emperor and those kids… well, they could be quite confused.
At the very least, Alice was the perfect candidate to draw in attention.
Even if it hadn’t been Alice, Vera T would have been caught, but what the royal family wanted was to smuggle her out without Northwood knowing.
In order to extract Vera T without the Northwood Duke’s knowledge, there couldn’t be any accidents. If Alice hadn’t directly acted as bait, things would have become a bit more complicated.
As for the royal family, they still wouldn’t really know what that “thing the Papal State wanted” is, exactly.
“You did well. Extracting results is a skill too.”
Thus, I said that to Alice.
“Re, really?” she replied, sounding unsure.
“Yeah. The fact that you were in bunny girl attire while threatening her does have me a bit concerned, though.”
“….”
Claire, having finally shaken off the haze from our conversation, probably feeling a bit jealous, unintentionally made Alice realize how embarrassing her outfit was, and Alice quickly uncrossed her legs.
“B-but the other person was in bunny girl attire too, so it shouldn’t matter!”
Yet she said that while quickly standing up.
*
“Yeah. There were no other troops.”
After we returned to the lodging, we shared a bit more about what we couldn’t discuss in front of Leo and Claire.
“So, in other words, it was all bluster,” I nodded at Alice’s boldly spoken words.
Well, no matter how powerful the Emperor’s authority may be, stationing troops in Northwood is a different issue. Requesting the movement of troops from Northwood would be a much bigger issue.
It’s not that they didn’t have troops following from the Imperial Capital, but having them rampaging in Northwood is a completely different story.
Thank goodness Vera T never revealed her true purpose until the end.
Although Leo and Claire wouldn’t casually blab about it in front of others, it’s still best that no one hears it at all.
“…In fact, you know a lot, don’t you?”
When I didn’t say anything, Alice cautiously asked me.
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
But Alice only made a noise and didn’t press for further questions.
“I don’t know how you know about these things,” she said, pointing to the round table in the spacious room. It had four chairs surrounding it.
Even if the Duke’s room was merely a guest room, it seemed to be ready to receive visitors.
Well, a high-end hotel probably has at least this level of preparation.
As I pulled out one of the chairs to sit, Alice took a seat directly across from me and spoke, “Even if I asked how you figured that out, you wouldn’t tell me, right?”
“…”
I thought for a moment. What should I say?
“My greatest talent is finding out things others don’t know. It’s not something I can just share.”
“Right, well, I have a couple of secrets I’d rather not share with anyone, too.”
I was curious about that, but I decided against asking. If it were a secret that needed to be shared, Alice would tell me someday.
“Still, I can’t help but want to know a little more.”
Alice gazed at me intently. Her expression was calm, and her clear eyes sparkled. It didn’t seem like the kind of expression she would use to intimidate me.
It was just—
“I want to ask not as a Crown Princess, but as your sister.”
Alice paused for a moment.
“Is the ability you have ‘foreknowledge’?”
“If you’re talking about the kind of prophecy written in the prophecies handed down to the royal family, is that what you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Nope.”
I could definitively respond to that.
“Then is it predicting through delicate calculations?”
“Nope.”
I could answer that one just as clearly.
I’d heard it was impossible to perfectly comprehend and predict the future with “Laplace’s Demon” or through “cognition.” At least the laws of physics would apply equally in this world.
“So you can’t calculate or predict, but you can still know the future, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Could this question-and-answer session lead Alice to realize my ability?
It could, or it might not.
If it’s neither prediction nor calculation, then the only other explanation is that I’ve directly experienced the future. And if I deny even that, it would mean something like “I just move as I want, and it happens that way.” Frankly, that’s an area where you could call me a god.
Alice wouldn’t judge me as a god, so it would probably be possible for her to guess my ability without having to hear it directly.
So if I wanted to conceal my ability, it would actually be wise not to even respond like this.
Yet, for some reason, I felt like I wanted to answer this way.
It wasn’t exactly a conclusion reached after logical thinking.
I just wanted to.
“…Fine. I won’t ask for more details.”
Having seemingly reached her own conclusion, Alice responded like that. She glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “You must be tired. Thanks for staying up late with me tonight.”
“Not at all. I just wanted to follow along,” I replied, giving a slight bow to Alice.
Well, even if I hadn’t followed her, I was planning to go alone regardless.
So Alice didn’t need to apologize to me.
If anything, I almost ruined Alice’s plan.
“If you need me next time, just call.”
“…Yeah.”
In response to my words, Alice nodded readily.
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