What is he saying now?
Beatrice raised her right hand to lightly pick at her ear, then tilted her head as if asking him to say it again.
“I’m moving to the western borderlands soon with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Why you?”
“What do you mean, why?”
Raising his eyebrows as if hearing the most ridiculous thing, he pulled up the corners of his lips, smiling as he continued.
“Did you already forget the bet we made?”
“Ah.”
“Oh dear. Judging by your reaction, you weren’t even thinking about it, were you? Lady Beatrice Hartwell. Do you think earning a title is that easy?”
Beatrice punched Clyde as he made a fuss, claiming that he had already won the bet, while she pieced together the fragmented information.
‘So, Clyde is planning to go to the western border to win the bet—meaning, to make people “our side”—but since he’s worried about what Valoa and Archduke Alec might pull while they’re apart, he seduced the Prince into taking the two of them along?’
But why the western border of all places?
Blinking rapidly, Beatrice combed through her memories.
‘What was it that happened there……?’
If she had known she would regress like this, she would have written a chronicle and memorized every detail!
Unfortunately, Beatrice didn’t remember much else besides the things that had happened directly to her. At most, she had a vague recollection of major incidents big enough to be in the newsletters.
‘The West…. Monster raids and famine…. The Crown Prince…. Oh!’
As she listed the words, something suddenly occurred to her.
‘The cursed Marquisate of Downer.’
Located in the border region, the Downer Marquisate was like a gateway to the Empire. This was because a foreign nation with a barren climate sat to its side, and the Dark Mountain Range, swarming with monsters, was situated above it.
As it was a place directly linked to the Empire’s security, the Imperial family naturally paid a great deal of attention to the Marquisate. They granted the House of the Marquis more benefits, spared no support or supplies when necessary, and periodically conducted joint training with the Imperial Knights.
Basically, because the land was not fertile and battles were frequent, it was a place with many nicknames that felt cold and barren, but….
‘The rumors about it being cursed started circulating after that incident.’
From a certain point on, people who entered the Downer Marquisate did not return.
At first, there were exchanges of contact saying the situation in the Marquisate was a bit poor, but a short while later, even means such as letters were cut off.
Even the couriers who delivered letters and telegrams disappeared after making the Marquisate their last stop. It was as if they had simply evaporated.
And not long after these bizarre occurrences began, the Marquisate was blockaded.
‘Right. I remember what Mom said while letting out a sigh. That the Imperial Family kept trying to contact them to grasp the situation, but it was no use.’
While high society grew uneasy over the inexplicable situation, a single person was found who had barely managed to escape the Marquisate.
The man, who was trembling with a pale face and a scratched body as if he had endured something terrible, babbled frantically as soon as he met the investigation team and reporters.
‘The—The Downer Marquisate is cursed! It’s already finished over there! Dolls live all over the village, and the—the dolls keep increasing!’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I’m telling you, it’s not a place where humans live! I stayed at an inn, but I barely saw any residents… and eventually, I was the only one left! There was no one there, but food that was still warm was just delivered to me! The notes were full of strange warnings about what to watch out for, and at night there were weird screams—AAGH!’
The man, who had been rambling on while clutching onto people, finally lost consciousness and collapsed. The reporters didn’t miss that scene, and thus…….
‘The rumor spread that the Downer Marquisate was a cursed place.’
What she remembered after that was only that Clyde and Kaylan had been very busy with something.
To recall a bit more, she heard that the Downer Marquisate they confirmed later was no longer what it used to be, so another noble was put in charge of managing that border territory.
And as rumors circulated that it was due to black magic, the traditionalist nobles who opposed magic grew triumphant.
‘Wait, hold on. That means….’
Beatrice, habitually ignoring Clyde as he whined about being in pain, gave his shin a light kick and leaned her upper body forward.
Checking her surroundings slightly with her eyes lest anyone hear, she barely managed to steady her voice, which was laced with shock, and quietly asked.
“Is that whole cursed Downer Marquisate incident actually the work of ‘that person’ we know? You mean the Marquis of Downer was a person belonging to the Prince—um, your boss?”
“To be precise, he was a neutral party who held goodwill toward our side. and based on circumstantial evidence, it’s true that it was ‘that person’s’ doing. Because after the House of the Marquis of Downer disappeared, the noble who took charge of the post-processing for that border and the remaining Marquisate was a noble from ‘that person’s’ faction.”
Crazy…. This just goes on and on, no matter how much you dig.
Beatrice, stroking her arm at the sensation of her hair standing on end, suddenly opened her mouth.
“I’m going too.”
“What?”
“I said I’m going too. To the western border.”
At Beatrice’s firm declaration, Clyde’s brow narrowed unusually.
“No. Do you even know what kind of place that is? You can’t go.”
“Why! Even if you wrapped it up as the western border, aren’t you trying to go to the Downer Marquisate?”
“….”
“Since the traditionalist nobles mentioned black magic and such, it means magic is involved. I’m not a mage, but I’ll be quite helpful, won’t I?”
It was true.
In the investigation conducted before the regression, land ruined by monster raids and famine was cited as the biggest cause, but nonetheless, no personnel related to magic were dispatched.
On the other hand, Beatrice’s father, Jedaric Hartwell, is an outstanding alchemist in his home country.
If Beatrice, whom he raised, accompanied them, there was a high probability she could offer a new perspective.
However….
“…Shall I say what I said earlier again, Lady Beatrice Hartwell? Do you think earning a title is that easy? Or is this a provocation? To think you’d say you’ll help your rival in the bet!”
“Hey.”
“Thanks for the information. I’ll speak to His Highness the Crown Prince and include someone with a relevant specialization among the personnel to be dispatched.”
“….”
“So you stay here. Don’t go wandering around dangerous places for no reason.”
Moreover, wasn’t the group going to include Archduke Alec, whose true nature remained unknown, and Valoa Crawford, who was likely reaching her breaking point?
Even if they were in a state where they couldn’t act as they pleased, one couldn’t afford to be careless.
“More importantly, don’t you have any plans? If you stay this relaxed, you’ll really lose to me.”
“What are you talking about? I’m busy too, you know. I’ve already set an appointment with Her Majesty the Empress.”
“You’re fast. Then you’ll really be busier than me soon. We can just cheer each other on, hey.”
“….”
Clyde wrapped up the conversation quickly, leaving no room for further discussion.
At his attitude, which felt like he was drawing a line, Beatrice’s insides simmered slightly.
‘What is this déjà vu? It feels… similar to how it was during the masquerade ball.’
To say it again, Beatrice knew Clyde well. She knew that when Clyde acted in this peculiar way, there was always a reason for it.
‘However, understanding it with my head and whether that’s acceptable to my heart are two separate matters.’
Beatrice didn’t hide her displeased expression in front of Clyde. She even gave him a blatantly suspicious look, subtly raising her eyebrows.
Despite her gaze, which seemed to doubt everything from head to toe, Clyde let her gaze slide by as if he knew nothing.
Instead, he pricked a strawberry with a fork, brought it to her lips, and said playfully with a smirk.
“You know, you trust Brother, right?”
* * *
As if I would.
He’s only a year older; what kind of “Brother” is that!
She let it slide for the time being that day, but the more she thought back on it after returning home, the more her irritation flared. And then she thought:
‘Since it’s come to this, I’m going even if it’s just out of spite. To the Downer Marquisate.’
But the dark-hearted Clyde Dalton and the Crown Prince, who was his accomplice, wouldn’t give her an opening. In that case….
“Lady Beatrice! The gift you mentioned is ready. Shall I bring it now?”
“Yes, I’m about to leave.”
“Yes!”
“Let’s go, to see Her Majesty the Empress.”
In that case, all she had to do was seduce someone even higher than them.
‘Just you wait and see, Clyde Dalton.’
I’ll show you just how incredibly I can flip over and act cute for someone in power.
The position of the youngest child is not an easy one that one can just sit in for free, I’m telling you!
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