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“Where are they? Lead the way.” (Yuri)

As I started walking with determination, the head of security immediately began guiding me.

“They are detained at the entrance. According to the communication, she claimed to want to meet Princess Carol in Rossi and voluntarily surrendered herself. She was found with a black dagger and offered no resistance.” (??)

‘She was silently captured, then. So, is she an ally? If she was sent directly here, does that mean she didn’t meet Carol? As I hurried to the entrance, I saw a woman who seemed to be Tillet and Myaro standing there bound.

“Myaro! Are you alright?” (Yuri)

“Yuri-kun.” (Myaro)

“Hey, untie her quickly. She’s on our side!” (Yuri)

As I said this, the soldier holding the ropes swiftly untied Myaro.

“Um, about the dagger…” (Myaro)

Myaro hesitantly spoke, and the man untying her looked at me. Even though he was untying her, he was questioning with his eyes whether it was okay to hand over what could be a lethal weapon. I nodded, and the familiar dagger was returned to Myaro.

“Yuri-kun, here’s your dagger back…” (Myaro)

“Ah, thanks.” (Yuri)

I took back the dagger I had entrusted. It felt like it had been a long time, but it was only about three days.

“Anyway, you managed to escape quite well.” (Yuri)

“We escaped with people from the Queen Sword. There’s an exit window on the third floor directly below, and we used a rope to get down there.” (Myaro)

“Hey.” (Tillet)

Tillet spoke up.

“Are you going to untie me too?” (Tillet)

“I still can’t trust you. You might be working for Carya.” (Yuri)

“That’s impossible. Just ask the Witch over there.” (Tillet)

I looked at Myaro.

“I think it’s fine. I saw Her Majesty ordered her to work for Carol-san. I also saw Carol-san order her to work for Yuri-kun. If Carol-san were to die, then we should be concerned about betrayal.” (Myaro)

‘It doesn’t seem auspicious.’

“Even if that were to happen, I would not obey Carya. Anyone who kills the Queen loses the right to inherit the Sword.” (Tillet)

What’s that?’

“If the Queen’s Sword were to immediately come under control after killing the Queen, it would encourage usurpation.” (Tillet)

‘Well, that makes sense. For example, if a woman in Carya’s position were to commit a crime when alone with the Queen and then immediately gain authority from the Queen’s Sword, she could threaten the ruling family who refused to acknowledge her ascension with ‘Shut up, or I’ll send the Queen’s Sword after you.’ However, though there may not have been such incidents in history, considering the inner conflicts within royal families, it might not be entirely false. As far as my limited historical knowledge goes, there have been two cases in the Shaalta royal family alone.

“It’s not that there are no precedents in history. What will you all do if you lose your master? Commit mass suicide?” (Yuri)

“The Queen would seek pardon from the Queen’s Sword. If the Queen were executed due to her outrageous tyranny, the inheritance would be recognized through the Queen’s Sword’s forgiveness. Of course, Carya is not eligible for forgiveness.” (Tillet)

‘She’s calling her Caria without honorifics. Does that mean she’s no longer deserving of respect?’

“What if she manages to usurp the throne successfully?” (Yuri)

“There are no historical precedents for that, but we would lie low and serve in the next generation. So… if Her Majesty Carol were to pass away, we might serve Carya’s daughter. But there’s no need to worry about that now.” (Tillet)

‘I see. It seems logical.’

“So, you can’t untie yourself?” (Yuri)

“…What?”

“I mean, I was just wondering if you could escape from the ropes by yourself.” (Yuri)

“I left my hidden blade behind so you wouldn’t suspect me. It’s not like I’m a snake or something, tied up in a way that I can just slip out…” (Tillet)

‘She seems irritated…’

I was just asking out of curiosity.

“Untie her already.” (Yuri)

When I said that, the soldier who seemed amused by the conversation untied her.

“Sigh.” (Tillet)

Tillet was rubbing where the ropes had bound her.

“This isn’t the place. Let’s talk in the office.” (Yuri)

—

In the office, there were guest sofas, and I took a seat on one. Myaro and Tiret also sat down on the sofas next to me.

“Do you know what happened to Father and Mother?” (Yuri)

I asked straightaway.

“I don’t know. We hid in the royal capital for half a day after escaping, but no information has surfaced.” (Myaro)

‘Hmm. Considering my escape, Rook and Suzuya could be bargaining chips. Rather than killing and displaying them, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were being treated. …Luke’s condition seems hopeless, but I can’t give up hope for Suzuya yet. For the sake of the soldiers’ morale, we’re saying he’s dead, but is she really?’

“So, what happened to Carya?” (Yuri)

“In the end, Her Majesty the Queen. She’s probably still alive.” (Tillet)

“Ugh…” (Yuri)

‘I don’t want to speak ill of the dead, but she’s someone who always leaves behind troublesome situations. I can understand from a parent’s perspective, but… despite telling me to handle the affairs of the country, she couldn’t follow through with the killing. It feels like something irresponsible is being pushed onto me.’

“Tell me more about your escape.” (Yuri)

“After that, Her Majesty the Queen called Tiret and instructed us to escape with the Queen’s Sword, to assist Carol-san. But to hold Carya-san hostage, we needed someone who could act, so Enrique-san stayed behind.” (Myaro)

‘He stayed behind, huh? What a tough situation.’

“I mentioned earlier, but directly below that balcony, there’s a third-floor window. The balcony juts out, right? So you couldn’t see it from below. I noticed it because I saw the outside from a Eagle’s perspective.” (Tillet)

‘I looked down from that balcony many times but never noticed it at all. Maybe I would have seen it if I leaned out.’

“While Enrique-san held a dagger to Carya-san’s neck from behind, we descended with ropes to the third floor, untied ourselves, and headed towards the kitchen, which is two rooms away from where the banquet took place. The kitchen is inconveniently located on the third floor because it’s not ideal for outsiders to come and go. However, it’s difficult to transport ingredients and firewood for cooking up and down the stairs manually, so there’s a human-powered elevator that connects to the first floor. We descended through that hole, reached the first floor, then exited through a window, broke through the encirclement, and escaped into the river.” (Myaro)

‘There was such an escape route?’

“Then why not use that instead of going to the sixth floor?” (Yuri)

I asked Tillet.

“The hole is too small. There’s no way we could manage it.” (Tillet)

“It was barely doable for me… It might have been a bit challenging for Carol-san.” (Myaro)

‘Carol does have broad shoulders, after all… But Tillet isn’t as petite as Myaro.’

“We had dislocated our shoulders. That’s how we got through.” (Tillet)

‘She seemed to anticipate my question, saying that. ‘

“Then, is it okay to say that the attempt on her life was due to the collusion of the seven great Witch households?” (Yuri)

“I really can’t explain that. If I had noticed…” (Myaro)

Myaro’s face was full of regret.

‘But that’s really it. Although I had gone to the royal castle without noticing anything, it wasn’t as if Myaro or the Queen’s Sword hadn’t noticed it. In the end, I didn’t want to blame Myaro, whom I entrusted with the information of the New World, for not being able to find out about the Witches, but the Queen’s sword was different.

“Indeed, the seven Great Witch households conspired. However, Gudanvier was left out. They may have thought that something might leak to me due to the flesh of her relatives.” (Myaro)

‘Is that so? I thought that Luida-ba from Gudanvier had taken the lead. That old lady knows Myaro’s tricks inside and out. That’s why it must have been done, I thought.’

“Is it common to be left out?” (Yuri)

“This is the first time in the history of Shaalta’s Witches. The seven Great Witch households are connected by an alliance.” (Myaro)

‘It seems that there is some kind of alliance.’

“The Seven Witch Promise is the rule of society circle aimed at coexistence and mutual prosperity. If it is possible to scheme except somewhere, we will become suspicious of each other and end up crushing each other.” (Myaro)

‘Coexistence and mutual prosperity… It’s like a promise of a good friends club. If it’s to prevent competition among insiders and to avoid fighting over sweet nectar, a cartel seems to be correct.’

“But why didn’t you know? Were you simply unable to understand it?” (Yuri)

“Half of it is so. Perhaps, I think that only about ten people knew the whole plan by the afternoon of that day… But I should have noticed.” (Myaro)

“What?” (Yuri)

“The day before, the Witches who were my sources of information working at the royal castle had disappeared by about half. It wasn’t like they were killed, they were quietly kicked out with a little business trip to the countryside… I felt a little strange, but I didn’t think they were stuck.” (Myaro)

‘Did Myaro identify the sources of information in advance? Even though I had already grasped them, I had left them to swim until the day without removing or removing them. In other words, they didn’t consider the possibility of the assassination plan leaking while letting it swim. They feared that their eagerness to crush things might be transmitted to Myaro. They must have had absolute confidence that their actions wouldn’t be exposed until the day they took action.

The most effective way to conceal information is to not tell anyone. If you reduce the number of people who know, it’s less likely the secret will leak out. Finding out what someone thought in their head and didn’t tell anyone is impossible even for the most skilled intelligence experts.’

“I realized it after you went to the royal castle, Yuri. One Witch reported that her usual overtime was not approved for today. Stupidly, that’s when I first thought something was wrong. Feeling that something unusual was happening, I decided to go to the royal castle, only to find that the Second Army had blocked the bridge.” (Myaro)

‘So, that’s why you hurriedly headed to the White Birch Dormitory.’

“I see, I understand.” (Yuri)

“My mistake. I will accept any punishment.” (Myaro)

Myaro bowed his head. I couldn’t see his face, but her solemn tone revealed her emotions.

“Indeed, if there had been any sense of unease, I might have been able to detect it if I had been more alert.” (Tillet)

“…” (Yuri)

“But, that’s the same for me. The witches’ movements have been sluggish for about a year, and they haven’t made any proper moves… I should have considered it as a precursor to something coming.” (Tillet)

‘This was entirely my carelessness. I knew the Witches were being cornered. But I never imagined they were sharpening the blade of assassination so meticulously.’

“That’s right! That’s my responsibility! And no one could have predicted that Carya would be ensnared!” (Myaro)

‘ She said that, but no one was to blame. It was an unpredictable and unavoidable situation. That’s all it was. I didn’t want to make it into anything more than that.’

“You delivered the eagle. That’s enough. Thanks to that, I’m alive. And thanks to that, Carol was saved.”

‘That was such a big help.’

“And I’m truly grateful for what happened with Shamu and Lily. Thank you.” (Yuri)

“Oh, no, it’s nothing…” (Myaro)

I looked away from Myaro and turned to Tillet this time.