PMEVBO 10

“Who’s there!?”

Startled by the sudden voice in the room he’d thought empty, Kogaron shouted in alarm.

In that instant, the pure white moon, hidden behind clouds, revealed itself. Under the pouring moonlight, the form of a beautiful man lying on the floor became visible.

His short, silver-white hair sparkled under the moonlight. Round eyes, reminiscent of a cat’s, stared unblinkingly at Kogaron.

“Me? Lucariel Nebella Sarachephon.”

“……What?”

“And who might you be?”

Lucariel scanned the dazed Kogaron from head to toe, chuckling softly as he murmured.

“Well, well, it’s the duke.”

Lucariel slowly raised his upper body, leaning back against the sofa behind him as he asked.

“What brings the Duke to this humble annex?”

Only then did Kogaron snap out of it. He lunged at Lukariel, roughly grabbing him by the collar.

“Where did you hide it?!”

“Hide what?”

“That thing you stole from me!”

The thing. Though shaken by Kogaron, Lucariel’s expression remained impassive until that moment, when contempt flickered in his eyes. But it was but a fleeting instant, too brief for Kogaron to notice.

“There’s no point denying it! I already know you snuck into the main castle and dared to rob me!”

“Robbery?”

After a brief tilt of his head, Lucariel suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!”

A soft warmth spread across his moon-like white face. His eyes crinkled slightly, and the butterfly birthmark beneath his left eye fluttered as if taking flight.

At that sight, the grip on Lucariel’s collar that Kogaron had held tight suddenly went limp.

Today was the first time Kogaron had actually faced Lucariel.

Unlike Kogaron, a duke of the empire, the position of priest was not one that brought widespread recognition. Though he was currently responsible for Lucariel, there was no need for his noble self to make the journey here just to see the face of a mere priest, one who had committed a crime and been exiled to this place.

The face of Lucariel, whom he now finally saw, was unexpected.

‘They call him a good-for-nothing scoundrel, so I imagined some beastly-looking brute, but seeing him now, he’s pretty…’

It was precisely then, after laughing for a long while, that Lucariel stopped and spoke.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It was just too funny.”

“…What’s so funny?”

Lucariel, who had been pinching his cheeks to stifle laughter, answered.

“Given that you called it robbery, it means the duke was there when that item was stolen. Yet you suspect me? That’s funny.”

“What did you say?”

“You’re not dead, and not even a single bone is broken.”

“……”

“But you think I did it? Why?”

If I had done it, you wouldn’t even be standing properly like this.

Lucariel said softly.

A smile hung on the corners of his mouth as if painted on, but his glassy, ash-gray eyes held no light. Kogaron thought it was creepy how those dull eyes stared at him without a flicker.

‘This one… he’s not your average lunatic.’

In that instant, another face overlapped Lucariel’s sweet features. The face of the most revered person in the empire right now, the sickeningly handsome Pope.

Come to think of it, weren’t there rumors the Pope was involved with this bastard? Though seeing how he’d dumped him in someone else’s castle indefinitely without ever looking back, that probably sounded like nonsense too…

Only then did Kogaron recall that the pretty young bastard before him was the dangerous individual who’d broken the Cardinal’s arms and legs. Kogaron’s face drained of color as he hastily took a step back from Lucariel.

“So… you’re saying you didn’t commit the robbery? If it had been you, this wouldn’t have ended so lightly?”

“You understand perfectly.”

This insolent brat!

Yet Kogaron summoned superhuman patience, swallowing the words rising in his throat. He had no desire to follow the Cardinal’s path of being beaten by Lucariel.

“Then what about killing my maid? Are you going to deny that too?”

“Ah, that was indeed my doing. I killed her.”

Kogaron was speechless at the nonchalant reply. He forced his lips apart and asked.

“…Why did you do it?”

“Because that maid tried to steal my holy book.”

Lucariel smiled as he looked at the book on the table.

“Why would a maid want a holy book…?”

“Well. I didn’t bother to ask that far.”

So, he meant he killed the person without even asking why she stole it.

“If His Holiness in the imperial palace were to hear about this matter, it would take at least ten days, right?”

“…Right.”

“Only His Holiness can decide my punishment as a priest.”

“…So what are you trying to say?”

“Until His Holiness makes a decision, don’t let anyone else into my room. To prevent recurrence.”

It was a warning: refuse this demand, and the funeral processions for those entering this room would never end.

Kogaron wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. But his obsession with Iser’s ability kept him rooted to the spot.

“…After killing the maid, where were you and what were you doing?”

“I was taking a nap up here.”

Lucariel answered, pointing at the ceiling with his right index finger.

“Up here?”

“Ah, the annex roof. The sunlight was pleasant.”

His gaze was as cold as ice, unlike someone who had spent the entire afternoon basking in the sun. That contrast sent a chill down Kogaron’s spine.

Just then, the maid who had left to fetch candles returned.

“Your Grace, I’ve brought the candles. Shall we proceed with the search…?”

“Proceed.”

The servants, who had been standing outside the room, eyeing each other warily, began to enter hesitantly.

“Search?”

At that low murmur, Kogaron hastily interjected.

“Yes, I shall grant your request. But only after the search is complete.”

“……”

“……If you truly had nothing to do with the robbery that happened to me, then it shouldn’t matter if we search your room, right?”

“I suppose so.”

Just as he was about to relax at the unexpectedly compliant answer, Lucariel’s eyes flashed, and he muttered darkly.

“But does that means you don’t believe me?”

“……!”

Lucariel’s aura was so murderous that not only Kogaron, but even the surrounding servants who understood his words tensed up.

Among them was a maid who had climbed onto the dressing table to insert a candle into the candlestick hanging on the wall. She ended up slipping and falling to the floor.

Thud!

“I’m, I’m, I’m so sorry…!”

Paf, who had landed on her butt, immediately got up, seemingly unharmed. But what she grabbed to pull herself up was…

Squeak―!

The handle of the dressing table’s storage cabinet.

Inside the cabinet, now wide open, was nothing but darkness.

There was nothing inside. Nothing at all.

***

What the hell…?

To be perfectly clear, this was not the situation I had planned.

In fact, it started with Paf falling off the dressing table.

Since my psychopath act seemed to be working better than expected on the duke, I decided to take a bigger risk. I thought maybe I could even stop the room search altogether.

But I ended up grabbing the innocent Paf instead. Terrified by my psychopath act, Human Paf fell off the dressing table.

I restrained myself from rushing over to ask if she was okay, failing to stop her from opening the dressing table cabinet door. The moment the door where I’d hidden Iser began to open, only one thought filled my head.

I’m screwed.

Now Iser would return to the abuser’s clutches, and I’d not only face punishment for kidnapping the young master but also fail the quest.

But the wide-open cabinet was completely empty. Not only was Iser gone, but even the clothes and shackle pieces I’d stolen from the duke were nowhere to be seen.

So now I’m screwed in a different way?

I was staring into the problematic cabinet.

It was only possible because I was alone in the room now. The cowardly duke had ultimately left the annex empty-handed, finding nothing in this room, and the servants had also dispersed to their respective workplaces.

“Wait, where did this kid actually go? It’s not like he suddenly shot up into the sky or sank into the ground…”

“…Is everyone gone?”

A dry, hoarse voice, unusual for a child. I urgently called out to the voice’s owner.

“Iser?! Where are you…!?”

“…Wait a second.”

Wait a second, he said. And sure enough, not long after, I found myself face-to-face with Iser’s pretty face. The bottom of the cabinet slid open, and his tiny head poked out. He looked just like a rabbit peeking out from its burrow.

I quickly scanned the space under the cabinet where Iser was.

This isn’t a metaphor, it’s a real rabbit hole? The kind from Alice in Wonderland.

Even at a glance, a fairly deep tunnel extended beneath the cabinet floor. Right now, Iser was standing on a ladder attached to the tunnel wall.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“…You think I’d be scared of this now?”

I could vaguely discern the form of emotion hidden within that irritated retort.

The arrogance, or desperation, that he wouldn’t crumble before something like this, when he hadn’t faltered even before the duke’s horrific abuse. Frankly, this way of thinking didn’t seem particularly healthy.

He’ll have to escape that someday.

But I had no desire to step in and help. What I owed Iser was praise, not a lecture. Besides, I had no talent for lecturing to begin with.

Well, not that I had any talent for praise either.