Chapter 63

It has been a week since the kidnapping incident.

Although it was a case of mistaken identity, to be on the safe side, I was banned from going out for a while.

Recently, I had been attending tea parties to help dispel the rumors, but I had no intention of going out much anyway, so I don’t plan to complain about not being able to go out.

After that, Gelp drove the carriage to deliver the carriage and the princess to the Einhorn Duke’s townhouse, and that was the end of it.

The investigation of the mastermind behind the kidnapping was entirely left to the Einhorn Duke. After all, the target was not me but the Einhorn Princess.

Neither Her Majesty the Queen nor the Chancellor said anything about me having taken care of all those thugs.

For them, my safety comes first. Since I returned unharmed, they apparently had nothing to say.

Moreover, this time it was an accidental involvement, and the target was the Einhorn Princess, not me. The mastermind was targeting the Einhorn Princess, and my presence was just a reason for the target to move, so I was noticed as well.

Well, that was the Duke’s mistake.

I don’t know what his intentions were, but he probably wanted to bring me and the princess closer, right? Whether he aimed for a friendship or to make her fall in love with me, either way, it would have been fine.

However, as my friends, the Duchess of Hunt-Airfolk and the Countess of Gyuwich are already firmly in place. Even if the Einhorn Princess were to join, there were already various conflicts, and the Duke might have felt he was late to the game. The princess’s position among the young ladies was already lagging behind.

Without a particularly close friendship, it’s also possible he aimed for a position as a fiancé. The Einhorn Princess herself seems to dislike this idea, and the Duke should know that, but this is the kind of thinking that comes with being a noble.

Because of all this, I’m not in trouble.

And since I had to deal with the perpetrators, who were after a royal, there was no choice. If identifying the mastermind was necessary, the Duke should have been more thorough with security and captured the target before we had to deal with them.

Besides, I only took care of the perpetrators, not their accomplices, so they can be identified that way.

The Duke apparently wants to meet with me, but I have no intention of seeing him.

After all, it seems like he might try to nitpick. Why didn’t you keep the perpetrators alive? Why didn’t you hand them over to us? And apparently, the princess is currently in seclusion. She was present at the scene where the perpetrators were dealt with, it seems.

I made sure to blindfold her and had Gelp cover her ears during the interrogations, and I didn’t show her the actual scene. But it seems the cause of her seclusion is me, so I feel like he might say something about it.

But if he does, I was the one who got caught up in the kidnapping, so I don’t want to hear complaints.

Is it okay to say that this kidnapping incident is now out of my hands? Anyway, it’s over, and the people related to the Einhorn Princess should take care of the aftermath.

Right, I’m no longer involved. Or so I thought?

Yet, one of the young lords contacted me.

The one who contacted me was Angust von Hase, the son of the Count of Hase.

He was one of the young lords who treated the fourth son of the Rupprecht family, a foster child of the Einhorn Duke, like a servant.

He was the one who used me as bait to lure the Einhorn Princess and also the one who tried to one-up me at the tea party.

The reason he tried to one-up me was probably to show the Einhorn Princess that he was better.

This one-sided rival, who had been looking down on me, now asked if he could meet with me.

Since I was banned from going out, I asked Angust to come to me.

Angust von Hase has been bowing deeply to me ever since he greeted me.

"Isn’t that tiring? You can lift your head, you know?"

"I, I know that my request is presumptuous, but I have no one else to turn to. I, I don’t care what happens to me! Please, save the House of Hase!!"

"Angust, let’s start by lifting your head, okay?"

At my words, he hesitantly lifted his head.

"You shouldn’t say things like ‘I don’t care what happens to me’ so lightly."

When I said that, Angust’s face turned pale.

"I’m far from a saint. I won’t say that you shouldn’t say such things because your parents would be sad. Since I’m twisted, I’ll say something you didn’t expect. Did you think you could get me to listen by saying that?"

"N, no! I really, truly don’t care what happens to me! I’ll do anything you say!"

"I want to tell you to come back after learning some negotiation skills."

"B, but I’m saying it now!"

"But you’re not thinking, are you? If you use such a desperate negotiation tactic now, you won’t have it to use again. There won’t be a next time."

It seemed to hit a nerve, as Angust swallowed hard and fell silent.

"Why did you come to me? Weren’t there others you could rely on?"

When I said that, Angust shook his head vigorously.

"T, that’s not possible. Father and Mother don’t know anything, and I, being a fool, didn’t want to trouble them."

A deep sigh escaped me.

"Tell me everything that happened. I can’t decide whether to help or not until I hear your story."

Hearing my response, Angust hesitated but began to speak.

"The one who ordered the kidnapping of Prince Albert was my brother."

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