Volume 5 - CH 3.15

Hearing that Isaac as well as Almudena were safe, Lucius, who had arrived at the triumphal arch plaza several hours later than the queen’s party, almost collapsed on the spot because of the sense of relief and feeling of exhaustion. In fact, Angel and the other members, who had made a forced march here together, sighed deeply and sat down hard.

「I see… well, you’ve really helped me. Thank you, Dii」

Putting his hand on the horse’s saddle to support his body, Lucius smiled wryly.

The tidying up of the plaza, which, until a little while ago, had been overdecorated with the roses Isaac had cultivated, was mostly finished already, and only a few sentinels remained to stand guard now.

「—Though it’d have been better if Niko Bonucci was captured at the madam’s mansion, he had already escaped when we noticed. When I thought if something had happened to both Their Highnesses because of this, I was beside myself with fear」

「It can’t be helped since you didn’t know that such a man existed」

Dimitar stroked the nape of his neck and narrowed his eyes at the sunset glow.

「—In the first place, the one who has to feel the most responsibility is Camuñas-kyou, you know? If that Excellency hadn’t planned this garden party, Her Highness the Queen’s party could have entered the royal capital yesterday, and once she entered the royal palace, no matter how skilled that man was, he couldn’t attack so easily」

「That might be so, but…」

「To begin with, the mission given to you was the arrest of Countess Dryton, right? Guarding Her Highness the Queen is my job. And consequently, no one was wounded. —Is that bad?」

「Well, if there’s any problem, finding a person to take responsibility for it and then denouncing them is the world of politics, after all」

While saying so, Lucius was thinking no one would be punished because of the matter this time. Like Dimitar had said, no one was wounded, and to begin with, this series of troubles stemmed from the king’s problem of fooling around. From the point of view of the king’s character, he seldom searched for the responsible party and punished them without touching on the delicate part. He’d surely just laugh heartily and overlook everything.

Dimitar looked back at the deep black silhouette of the triumphal arch and pointed at its top.

「…It seemed that that man went up there and had been waiting for the party to arrive since early morning」

「What an astonishing persistency…」

「How will His Majesty deal with him? As one would expect, there’s no way that the man who had commited an assassination attempt of Her Highness the Queen can be acquitted, right?」

「The countess had gulped down poison and commited suicide. That being the case, letting Niko Bonucci, who couldn’t avenge her, to choose death as well might be a mercy. —In any case, we’re not the ones to decide that」

「That’s true」

Dimitar rotated his neck lightly and started walking.

「—Oi, Dii! Won’t you have a meal at my house tonight after a long time? After all, you haven’t shown your face to Haha-ue even once after you came back from Heidelauta, right?」

「Sorry, I have to drop by the workshop for the adjustment of Jagielka today. Is tomorrow night no good?」

「I understand, tomorrow then. I’ll prepare food to the best of my ability」

「I look forward to that」

When Lucius was following Dimitar, who had waved his hand with his back turned on him and left, with his eyes, Angel came walking, leading his horse.

「Though this is a rude question… I heard that Richternach-kyou caused a problem and was expelled from the chivalric order. Is that true?」

「It’s certainly a fact that His Highness had expelled Dimitar. —However, it’s slightly wrong to say that he had caused a problem」

「Why do you say so…?」

「I can’t tell you in detail. If that was declared openly, various inconveniences will appear. Mainly for the people of the great nobles, you see. —You can guess from that, right?」

「Yes…」

「Come, we’ll go back as well. We have to report to His Highness」

「Yes」

Together with Angel who had saluted very seriously and the others, Lucius led his horse and started walking. Their bottoms hurt because they had galloped this much distance with hardly any rest. As one would expect, even Lucius, who was more faithful to the mission and had endeavoured more than anyone, didn’t want to ride a horse for the time being.