Chapter 80

The carriage was dominated by silence.

I remained silent, and the people from the Third Knight Regiment said nothing. The carriage moved forward in complete silence, and we spent the night at an ordinary inn.

A man sat in a chair in front of the door, keeping watch as if he were a guard, but he didn’t seem to think I would escape.

I had no intention of escaping, and there was no reason to do so.

I ate and drank the food that was served without hesitation.

(Lord Edward, what are you planning?)

I thought this, but pondering what I didn’t understand would only exhaust me. I exercised alone in the room to keep my body from getting rusty.

The carriage carrying me arrived at the royal castle late at night after two weeks.

I thought I would be taken to the Department of Institutional Maintenance and Management, but I was led to the west wing of the castle.

This wing housed meeting rooms and guest rooms used by visiting nobles from other countries.

In other words, it was a place where there were few people around after the coronation.

I was led to a room and left alone.

There was a bed, a small table, and two chairs. That was all. There were no pictures on the walls, and the curtains were plain black. It seemed to be a room used as a storage space.

Before long, footsteps were heard, the door opened, and Lord Edward entered.

"I apologize for the rough treatment. We were in a hurry."

"I was treated with respect."

I tried to speak as little as possible.

Lord Edward moved a chair and sat directly in front of me.

"To get straight to the point, I would like you to tell me about the person you met."

"About the person I met? During the month, I met many people..."

"Oh, I understand. I want to know about Rancome, the former head of Hagar’s special task force."

So, you already know Rancome’s operative name. Did Mills report it?

Now, how much should I tell him? Just about that day? Or from when I decided to cut ties with Rancome? Or from when Rancome first approached me at the age of eight?

"A certain noble in our country was selling important information to another country. The noble’s servant was Humphrey Aiden, a man who often served as an interpreter for the Earl of Magrave."

"I heard that he suddenly disappeared. I didn’t meet him."

"I know that. The person Humphrey was selling information to was Rancome. We couldn’t catch Rancome."

Ah, so the missing person Rancome mentioned was indeed the interpreter used by the Earl of Magrave.

But that’s strange.

Miss Elizabeth, who knew about my contact with Rancome, was detained with her father. So who reported my contact with Rancome to Lord Edward...?

Thinking about it, I realized who knew about my private conversation with Rancome.

"I see. The guards of the Earl of Magrave were from the Third Knight Regiment. You conducted a very thorough investigation."

Lord Edward didn’t change his expression at all, just looked at me and smiled elegantly.

"Victoria, we don’t have much time for this. We need to catch the noble who could cause significant damage to our country as soon as possible. If the servant Humphrey doesn’t return, the earl might suspect something and destroy the evidence. I need you to testify that the person you met was indeed an operative of Hagar."

"Where and to whom should I testify?"

"Before the new king, Conrad, the prime minister, and the traitor."

"Did you detain me just for this?"

"Yes. Humphrey didn’t know the identity of the person he was selling information to. We used a truth serum from the Shen Kingdom, but it didn’t work. To detain Humphrey’s master, we need more solid evidence."

"Why did you use such methods? Couldn’t we have handled this after we returned to the capital?"

Lord Edward sighed softly.

Normally, as his step-sister, I wouldn’t take such a strong stance, but I couldn’t forgive involving Nonna. Thinking about how worried Nonna must have been and what might have happened to her while I was away made me seethe with anger.

"Someone was targeting your carriage and had gathered over fifty mercenaries within the Kingdom of Randall. If we hadn’t secured you first, we might not have been able to protect your lives."

I jumped up in a panic. The chair clattered.

I held back my urge to yell, clenching my teeth to keep from shouting, and asked Lord Edward.

"Nonna? Is she safe? Was she attacked by the mercenaries?"

"She’s safe."

"I won’t believe it until I see her. I won’t answer any questions until then."

"Victoria, calm down."

I glared at Lord Edward and slowly sat back down.

"We received information that you would be ambushed near the border. That’s why we had you return via an old road away from the main route. Nonna and Il returned to the capital on horseback, not in a carriage."

"Let me see Nonna. That’s the first thing I want."

"Victoria, listen to me. If you don’t testify that you met Rancome, we’ll have to use a truth serum on you in front of the king and the prime minister."

"Go ahead. I don’t mind."

"No. You know the effects of that drug. We don’t know how resistant you are to it. We don’t want you to say more than we need. We just want the information we need from you."

"I’ll talk after I confirm Nonna’s safety."

After that, both Lord Edward and I were silent.

(Calm down. If Nonna and Il have returned, they must be safe.) I tried to think rationally, but another part of me was consumed by a violent anger: (If anything happened to Nonna, I won’t forgive the mercenaries, the person who hired them, or you.)

I waited, staring at Lord Edward.

After a long silence, Lord Edward sighed and went to the door, spoke briefly to someone outside, and then sat back down.

I heard light footsteps outside. Without knocking, the door opened, and Nonna rushed in.

"Mom!"

"Nonna... you’re safe!"

"Yeah. After that, I rode back on a horse with someone else. Il did too."

"That’s good. I’m so relieved you’re safe."

I hugged Nonna and kissed her cheeks repeatedly.

I had thought Nonna might have been abandoned and killed.

At that moment, I felt a strong urge to kill Lord Edward. I hoped he didn’t notice, but I think he did.

Lord Edward cleared his throat.

"Victoria, will you cooperate now?"

"Yes, Lord Edward."

I gave Lord Edward the "friendly, good-natured smile" I had been trained to use in the organization.

"Thank you. If you had talked about the trip to the Shen Kingdom in front of the king, I would have had to resign for mixing personal and official matters."

"Well, Lord Edward, you should have mentioned that earlier."

I said this with a friendly smile, and Lord Edward looked at me with a slightly exasperated expression for a fraction of a second.

"Then, please wait here for a while. I need you to answer my questions in front of the king, the prime minister, and the traitor."

"Understood. Please send Nonna home. If possible, I would appreciate it if you could assign about twenty guards to protect Nonna until I return home."

"Alright. I’ll assign our family’s guards to her."

"Thank you."

I forced a smile, but Lord Edward’s expression was grim.

I think it was because of the killing intent I emitted, but I couldn’t help it after hearing about the mercenaries.

Still, who gathered the mercenaries to target me?

Did Rancome inform the King of Hagar about me?

My intuition says no, but I can’t think of anyone else.