The coachman, who had been steadily but unhurriedly shaking the reins, frowned. Up ahead, a woman was standing in the middle of the hill the carriage was meant to pass over. She had a shabby appearance and wore unremarkable clothes. This was a place with virtually no houses; had she come deep into the forest to pick flowers?
From this distance, it seemed it would be no trouble for the woman to move aside. Still, just in case, the coachman grabbed a flag and waved it.
Swish!
“What is it?”
“There’s a person up ahead.”
“They’ll move.”
“That’s the problem, she’s just standing there. We have to be careful. If the carriage stops for no reason, we might displease Lord Rutherford.”
“True, you’re right. I took a peek, and it looks like he finally managed to fall asleep.”
“Hey! You there! In front! Get down off the hill!”
Worried that Rutherford might wake, the coachman didn’t even dare to blow his whistle, instead just raising his voice. But it was no use. Is she deaf? As the distance closed, the coachman’s hands moved with increasing urgency. He soon realized the woman was staring directly at them.
“Hah!”
Something was wrong. The coachman hastily grabbed another flag and this time sent a signal to those following behind, indicating an unknown problem up ahead.
Soon, mounted knights spurred their horses forward, appearing in front of the coachman.
Clatter, clatter!
“There is a woman ahead! But she shows no sign of moving aside! Could it be a trap?”
“Slow the carriage, but do not stop!”
“Yes! Understood!”
Fwoosh!
Heeigh! Clatter, clatter!
The knights pressed themselves low against their saddles and cut through the wind. It was a familiar scene. Their lord, Rutherford, had many followers, but he had just as many enemies. It was not uncommon for people like this woman to block the road, feigning a plea for sympathy to attempt an assassination, or to have set a trap.
The knights opened up their mana, their tension never slackening.
Zzzing!
“Huh? Wait!”
Then, one of the knights raised his sword high, stopping his comrades. Though the woman was covered in rags, she carried herself with a certain dignity, and her face looked familiar. At the knight’s signal, their horses also slowed their pace.
The woman bit her lip and spread her hands out to her sides, demonstrating that she had no hostile intent. It was also a sign that she knew who the master of this carriage procession was.
“Who are you?”
“I have come to see Lord Rutherford.”
“I asked who you are—”
As the woman threw back her robe, one of the knights muttered.
“Melania Hayman?”
“The name Hayman vanished from this world long ago. I am simply Melania. Tell your master as much. If you do, he will surely wish to see me.”
Melania? The young lady of the Hayman family, the one that held the financial reins of Bariel? The knights exchanged glances.
It was impossible not to know. Aside from the imperial palace, the Haymans had been the greatest source of capital in Bariel, and an important client for Rutherford’s merchant guild as well—even if that was a glory of the past. In any case, the name Hayman was not one to be easily forgotten, and the same went for the family’s only daughter, Melania.
“What proof do you have that you are Melania?”
“I have lost the name that was half of my existence. How could I possess such a thing? Your lord knows my face. That, surely, is proof enough.”
What should we do?
The knights looked down at her from their horses. They could have just ignored her and moved on; the world was full of madmen spouting nonsense. But the carriage’s speed had already dropped noticeably, and once it stopped, Rutherford would undoubtedly have questions. If so, they would have no choice but to report this woman as the cause.
“We will conduct a body search.”
“Do what you will. You may strip me bare if you wish.”
A knight’s eyebrow twitched.
An attitude like that, paradoxically, added to her credibility. Wasn’t she the young lady of a great house, the nobility of all nobles, spoken of in the same breath as the imperial family? If she had lost everything but still clung to some petty pride, that in itself would be laughable.
The knight performed a simple body search on the woman, then nodded his head, the tip of his sword aimed at her back.
“Follow me. Our master has a place to be with the utmost urgency. If he is angered that the carriage has stopped, you will have to beg for your life with your last breath.”
Melania felt the tips of the knights’ swords on her back as she slowly began to walk. The coachmen had already dismounted and were bowing low.
And in their midst stood a man with a ramrod-straight posture. It was Rutherford, his long hair tied up in a single knot, a loose robe draped over his shoulders. He was about to put a cigarette to his lips but tilted his head at the sudden appearance of the strange woman.
“What’s this? I thought you’d caught some wild beast on the road.”
“She claims to be Lady Melania. The carriage stopped because she was causing a disturbance, Lord Rutherford.”
“Melania?”
Rutherford knew that, under normal circumstances, his men would have dealt with this on their own. The fact that they had brought her before him meant she was worth a closer look. Rutherford bent at the waist and carefully studied Melania’s face.
At his leisurely movement, Melania kept her chin held high, her gaze directed downward. It was a way of handling her gaze she could never have imagined when her family was still intact.
Rutherford circled Melania once and then nodded, as if he had noticed something.
“The mole by your neck is still there, my lady.”
“…It has been a long time.”
A faint blush colored Melania’s face, as if she’d been accosted, but she showed no other emotion. She had expected him to be this kind of man.
“Yes, it has. I heard the news. They say a storm swept through the House of Hayman. Why are you here, my lady? Shouldn’t you be by the side of your father, Duke Hayman?”
The news of the seven families being simultaneously executed for treason had spread beyond Bariel’s borders to every corner of Gaia. The seven central families of Bariel were, after all, akin to the greatest nobles on the continent. Their influence in culture, politics, and economics was undeniable.
And so, he was asking. If it was treason, shouldn’t all of the Hayman family members have had their heads torn off and returned to the earth? Rutherford smiled with interest, wondering why Melania had not died.
“There are few who would privately release a sinner who has defied the imperial court. The palace itself is unlikely. The only person who comes to mind is your childhood friend.”
Ian the illegitimate son. The boy who had clawed his way up from the frontier of Bratz to become the Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Magic.
Melania clutched her skirt tightly and bowed her head.
“I cannot speak of that.”
“That’s quite alright. Silence is affirmation. It is the same as if you had just spoken.”
Melania couldn’t definitively define the feeling she had for Ian. There was the nostalgia of childhood, the resentment of an enemy who had annihilated her family, and, at the same time, the gratitude for a savior who had spared her life and given her a chance.
Melania’s survival was tantamount to proof that Ian had defied the imperial court. Someday, this could become a card that would tighten the noose around his neck, but not now. It was not a situation where she could use it, so she was merely waiting for the right opportunity.
“This way, my lady. We stopped rather suddenly, so it’s a bit much to set up a proper seating area. This wasn’t in the plan, you see.”
Screech.
Rutherford held the carriage door and gestured for Melania to enter. He clearly did not want his schedule to be delayed.
Melania moistened her dry lips and cautiously stepped inside.
Screech!
Slam!
As the door closed, Rutherford gave a silent hand signal to his men. Clark, who had been waiting behind, drew his sword, and the coachmen quickly returned to their seats to prepare for departure.
“So, how did you end up all the way out here?”
The inside of the carriage was filled with an exotic fragrance. Melania felt the wheels begin to move and pressed herself closer to the window.
“…I was looking for you, Lord Rutherford. At first, I heard news from Ruswena, so I went there.”
“And it wasn’t because you have connections there?”
“The House of Hayman was wiped out for treason. My cousin in Ruswena would never help me. It would give our enemies an external pretext.”
“Hmm.”
Rutherford lit his long cigarette holder, as if telling her to continue. Melania realized that this was the source of the fragrance that filled the carriage.
“After much searching, I heard you had gone to Toolun.”
“Impressive. You have a talent for tracking people down, my lady.”
“I was wondering how I could possibly make it there on my own, but then I’m not sure if it was a chance or what. You’re returning because of the war, aren’t you?”
“You’re not on your own, though.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You brought a shadow with you, and you’re going to pretend you don’t know?”
Thwack!
Rutherford’s cigarette holder shot past Melania’s cheek and struck the window with a crack. Following the sound, a commotion erupted from somewhere outside.
Melania sat up straight in shock, her eyes darting around in confusion.
“What, what in the world…”
“Did you think little Ian would just let you go with a simple ‘farewell’? He planted a shadow on you. Your movements have been continuously reported. What was the last village you stopped at before coming here?”
“W-We will be arriving soon. It was a very small place.”
Melania cleverly noted how familiarly Rutherford used Ian’s name. The smoking cigarette holder passed by Melania’s ear, then caressed her neck and shoulder.
“You would have seen me soon enough without having to search for me like this. This is why it’s so difficult to take in the lowly. They readily forget kindness and think what they hold in their hands is due to their own merit.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Rutherford had no intention of explaining, merely smiling faintly.
“So, anyway. What was your reason for seeking me out?”
“I—”
“You’re not about to say something like ‘help me,’ are you? I don’t accept blank checks for the future. I may have been acquainted with Duke Hayman, but I have no reason whatsoever to extend a hand to the young lady of a fallen house.”
Melania, who had been about to ask him to help her rebuild, to remind him that he knew the power of the Haymans better than anyone, was cut short. It was cruel, but it was all true.
Rutherford took a long drag from his holder and remained silent.
“…I will give you myself.”
“Oh, my lady. I’m sorry, but I—”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Rutherford started to refuse with a sly grin, but Melania cut him off with a sharp frown, as if telling him to shut up. Only then did the light return to the woman’s eyes.
Rutherford shrugged, a look of amusement on his face, as if telling her to go on.
“I mean that I will give you my ‘existence.’ Honestly, I don’t really know. I’ve heard rumors that you are working with Burgos and that you have a significant stake in the war that broke out in the south. I have no idea what your objective is, so I don’t know what you want. But—”
Melania took a breath and continued.
“You are a merchant lord, aren’t you, Lord Rutherford? You want to have everything in your hands except what doesn’t exist. Currently, in Bariel, the most valuable person aside from the Crown Prince is Minister Ian Hielo. The thing that can shake him… isn’t that my ‘existence’?”
The single fact that he had let a traitor live. It was the most powerful card to shake Ian’s position as a minister.
Rutherford, as if he had been waiting for those very words, exhaled a plume of smoke at Melania. Through the dissipating smoke, his blue eyes glittered.