C81
Terence spoke as if he were concerned about Liena, who had exercised her right to remain silent from the beginning of the interrogation.
"Currently, the princess is suspected of ordering several crimes committed by the Iver guild."
"......"
"Was the princess aware of the secret space discovered in the Iver guild's headquarters?"
"......"
"It has been four days since the secret space was discovered, and investigators are still reviewing the documents found there. This means there is a significant criminal background. As the true owner of the Iver Merchant Guild, what is your opinion on this?"
"......"
"A smuggling warehouse was also discovered on Cassius territory. Can we assume that Duke Cassius also cooperated with smuggling?"
"......"
"If you continue to remain silent like this, I can only believe that the princess has admitted all charges. Is that still okay?"
"......"
Liena couldn't open her mouth.
After being taken to the imperial palace, interrogations were held every day, but little was obtained from them.
It was Terence on the first day, but the interrogator on the second and third day was different. Each tried to appease or subtly scare Liena in their own way, but the result was the same.
She couldn't be tortured. Terence sighed to himself and pounded the desk.
Liena Cassius was a member of a meritorious family and the most powerful family of the time. When a high-ranking noble of that level was arrested for committing a serious crime, their personal affairs were handled by the imperial palace, not by the security forces.
"Thanks to this, she can't even set foot in the annex building of the capital's security forces."
As the emperor took this case very seriously, most of the investigation took place within the imperial palace. The security forces' annex was used only for auxiliary work and the confinement of Elliot Rudd. The latter was Ethel's request.
["It would be better to keep Liena and Elliot in different buildings. If the physical distance is close, they may use some strange means to communicate with each other. Elliot must be handled with the utmost care."]
Terence remembered the letter he received yesterday from Ethel. Elliot and Count Miloam had a big fight from the moment they met. Since then, the Count seemed to visit Elliot every day and harass him.
Honestly, he didn't care anyway. No, he really felt sorry for Ethel, but for some reason, he wanted his efforts to be in vain.
"Whether he's a genius or anything else, he's annoying."
That's why Ethel pays so much attention to that guy. To stay in the same space for quite some time to watch over that guy. He pretended not to, but because of that guy, he couldn't even eat properly and was worried.
Of course, he sympathized with Ethel, who was concerned about the dangers of Elliot himself, but for some reason, he wanted Elliot to disappear from the world even more now for other reasons. Forever.
"Did Your Highness deceive Ethel?"
At that moment, the woman who had remained silent until now, as if she had forgotten how to speak, opened her mouth.
"Please answer me. Did you deceive my innocent sister-in-law?"
Her gaze, as sharp as a well-forged sword and filled with hostility, was directed at Terence. Ha, Terence laughed.
"I wondered what you were talking about."
He looked at the others in the interrogation room, and soon they were alone in the room.
"Please answer me."
Liena once again forced a response.
Terence leaned back calmly in his chair and opened his mouth.
"No."
After a pause, he continued speaking.
"She is not your sister-in-law anymore."
"Then that means you indeed deceived her."
"Well. It would have been good if I could have lured her."
"Don't play with your words."
"Did I just state the truth?"
"...They will never take her away from me."
The princess pushed the chair aside and stood up. Suddenly, the chair fell to the floor.
"Never."
She had a determined attitude like a soldier guarding the last remaining fortress of the enemy. After making a bold statement, she left the interrogation room alone.
Terence simply let Liena go. He was tired of sitting in front of that woman and questioning her with no further results.
"Liena Cassius."
Terence, who remained alone, tried to speak the woman's name. He felt a strong need to rinse his mouth immediately. It seemed as if he were covered in dirt.
From the first time he saw her in the old hotel where he shared a room with Ethel, he had a bad feeling about her.
This was despite only watching Ethel and that woman talking from a distance.
Although he didn't like the fact that she was causing Ethel trouble and was presumptuously obsessed with her, the person named Liena Cassius aroused Terence's inexplicable aversion.
She felt decorated from head to toe. It felt as if the world surrounding Liena Cassius had been immensely adorned, not just in terms of appearance or personality.
-------------------------
"Why is your body so stiff? You need to bow a little more. Now try to follow me!"
"Damn! Don't push! I won't bow anymore!"
Haha, both are healthy. I sat in my chair and watched as Count Miloam and Elliot argued inside the cell.
"Why the hell are they doing that?" Vinetta, who was beside me, asked.
Although she never paid enough attention to most things to question something, she seemed curious about the meaning of the spectacle unfolding before her eyes.
"The Count says he will personally train Elliot."
"Why?"
Count Miloam, who was pressing Elliot's bent upper body with all his might, shouted loudly.
"A healthy mind resides in a healthy body! I will help you be reborn as a new person!"
After some twists and turns, he could distinguish between the pain that the artifact didn't reflect and the pain that it did. Thanks to this, Elliot had to go through a moderately painful but beneficial training period for his health.
"Because he says so."
Vinetta's curiosity was not entirely resolved even with the joint explanation between Count Miloam and me.
"It's not for me to judge, but I'm not sure if this is a necessary process for Ethel's purpose."
"I know what you mean."
Until this morning, I also had doubts about allowing the two to continue seeing each other.
"But look at that."
I gestured with my chin to Elliot, who was being tormented by Count Miloam.
"S-stop! Stop! My bones will break!"
"They won't break!"
I whispered to Vinetta's ear.
"Although he hates it, he's following Count Miloam's instructions."
"That's because he's being forced..."
"Well, I wasn't talking about who was stronger; I was talking about compatibility between people."
"Compatibility?"
"In life, there are people you get along exceptionally well with, and there are also people you dislike from the first time you meet them. I think there are people who become weak and people who become strong when treated similarly."
It wasn't directly related to the presence or absence of power or differences in knowledge. No matter how strong or smart a person is, there are occasions when, unknowingly, you listen to those who aren't.
"For example, someone feels rebellious when the other person stubbornly clings to their point. However, when someone speaks who seems to need their care like a child, their heart weakens, and they want to lose even if it's a weak argument."
"I see. I understand more or less."
"I think each person has someone they feel weak against and someone they feel strong for."
"So, does that mean the person Elliot Rudd is weakening against is Count Miloam?"
"Yes. If you look closely, he keeps getting caught up with the Count."
If Count Miloam had simply been a strong man, Elliot would have easily roasted him with his outstanding eloquence. However, the Count had no logic and was so reckless that his words had no effect.
"If he were a logical person, he wouldn't have come to work here every day just because he can discipline someone he doesn't like. Moreover..."
I recalled a brief conversation I had with Elliot the night before.
When I asked if he really hated Count Miloam, Elliot, who I thought was going to shout, put on a strange expression. As if he were remembering a past he couldn't recover.
".... No. He's the kind of person like my uncle. I'm sick of this now."
"If he's your uncle, did he raise you?"
"Yes. I'm grateful that he raised me, but when I studied, he was the type of person who criticized me for not knowing anything when I sat at my desk. He just said I should be a useful person for the world."
"I think he was a good person from what you're saying."
"He was a good person. It's very sad that he passed away so early."
"It must have been very sad."
"Yes, it is. After my mother left, I became an orphan, and he raised me as if I were his own son. Although our values didn't match at all."
"......"
"Oh, by the way, my mother actually couldn't stand living in a foreign country and left me behind. I didn't feel like revealing everything, so I just said my parents had passed away."
I opened my mouth and looked at the man who seemed filled with sentimentality.
"Hey, Elliot. If your intention is to manipulate my behavior by provoking sympathy, it's useless."
"... You got me."
He has to be someone who is also compatible with emotional intelligence. If someone like Elliot suddenly recited his past story, it would only generate doubts.
"Still, it was quite plausible. It was a natural progression from Count Miloam's story. But your acting skills aren't that good. It was very awkward."
"You... Seeing that you're more clever and intelligent than it seemed, I guess you pretended to be stupid on purpose back then."
Elliot gave a disapproving expression.
In the first place, I don't care.
"The intention was impure, but it didn't seem like a lie."
It seemed true that Count Miloam reminded him of his uncle. So, did Elliot, in Liena's first life, serve Count Miloam for that reason?
But he still seems a bit weak. The two seemed quite compatible, but there didn't seem to be any power that could change Elliot's blind loyalty to Liena.
"Hmm. Should I shake up Elliot?"
The next day, an opportunity presented itself to me. Several newspapers rushed to publish exclusives about the Iver Merchant Guild and Liena.