Volume 5 - CH 2.09

「—That sort of conversational exchange happened before you met me by chance? Or rather, perhaps you didn’t accidentally meet me there but were waiting for me there on purpose?」

Valeria, who had more or less heard the undisclosed circumstances between Dimitar and the king which he had narrated, furrowed her brow and clenched her fists tightly.

「In the first place, why wouldn’t His Majesty confide such an important matter to me? It seems that he didn’t trust me, and this hurts my feelings!」

「He probably didn’t trust you in reality」

「Y, you—!」

「Then, how about this; if you learn of His Majesty’s real intention at that place, will you be able to remain silent nevertheless?」

「T, that’s—」

The fact that Dimitar and Valeria concealed their identities and served as Almudena’s guards was to make it easy for the assassins to make a move on them by purposely showing an opportunity and then draw out the mastermind—it didn’t seem that Valeria who was told that would be able to keep quiet. She’d sympathise with the queen who was used as a decoy and start to scream and then make a fuss, saying “If you know that there will be an attack, then you should assign proper guards.”

He didn’t intend to praise her in particular, but Valeria had that sort of kindness and a troublesome sense of justice, which would rear its head sometimes. It was right to keep the truth secret until this moment today.

Dimitar kept Jagielka, of which the sword blade he had finished polishing, in the scabbard and spoke indifferently.

「…Listen, all right? Humans, no matter who, have ill will and self-interest. Of course, they might also have good will, but when many people gather and engage in politics, there’s seldom any turn for pure good will. If all of the people governing our country are upright, clean-handed and have neither ill will nor self-interest, then Ahmad would have been invaded by other countries and perished a long time ago. Though these words are hackneyed, politics will accomplish nothing with just whitewashing」

「Even so—」

「We just have to guard Her Highness the Queen properly. …Or do you not have any confidence in yourself?」

「T, there’s no problem! However, this is unrelated to how politics are; if it’s absolutely necessary to do so, then I will, and I’m going to say a few words to the queen too…」

「And pointlessly make her become frightened?」

「U…」

「Not everything can be told foolishly honestly. …More importantly, it’s no good to be away from Her Highness the Queen’s side for too long. You should return to the room soon. We’re leaving early tomorrow」

「…Un」

Valeria looked as if she still had something to say, but it must be a useless complaint anyway. Dimitar, who had made Valeria understand with the atmosphere that he didn’t intend to talk any further and sent her away to her room, looked up at the night sky which had few stars and frowned at the moist wind.

「It doesn’t look like it’s going to end with a scanty rainfall either…」