es with House Achard, and as for House Cugletto, Loretta was Christophe-sama’s fiance.
Of all people, I didn’t think that Baron Barlier or Count Cugletto would ever intentionally tarnish their reputations… But among nobility, and especially with a power disparity involved, there were too many ways things could become twisted.
Perhaps it was best that I mention something to the two?
“There’s no way that my father… Is somehow involved… Right?”
The fact that I’d even harbor such doubts toward my father was the pinnacle of disrespect, and I knew that.
But as I looked into the kingdom’s poverty and as I learned more about the corruption, I couldn’t help but harbor doubts toward things I once took for granted.
Just as those dark thoughts tugged at me,
“Guess~ Who!”
“Kyah!?”
A carefree voice filled my ears as my vision was obscured.
“Hey! Rei! Just what are you playing at!?”
“Well, I mean I called out to you when I got back, but this whole time you’ve just been brooding over something and never responded.
I felt lonely!”
“Eh…? Ah, so that’s how it was… That was rude of me, forgive me.”
If I had been ignoring Rei then the fault was my own.
I meekly apologized.
“… Claire-sama, just what happened? It’s not like you to just apologize like this.”
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, the usual Claire-sama would say something like―Oh, I didn’t even notice you were there―and just shrug me off…”
“… Do you really see me as someone who would do something so unreasonable?”
It was frustrating that I couldn’t deny it outright.
“I’m just thinking about something.”
“What about?”
“Nothing in particular, and what does it matter to you?”
“That’s so C-O-L-D, Claire-sama, let me share your worries.
I mean, happiness shared is doubled and worries shared are halved, right?”
Her words strangely found their way straight into my heart.
“… That was rather wise.”
“They’re words… That an old friend once said to me.”
“Then I’m quite grateful to that friend of yours.
So―”
I opened up to Rei about the things that had piled up.
From my doubts of Clément-sama, to my doubts toward my own father, everything.
“The chance that Dor-sama might be as corrupt as the rest of them, huh.”
“Of all the people, there’s no way that my father would be… Is what I’d like to think, but I didn’t think that this was even a possibility for any of the other nobles either.”
Rei gave me a hmm, thinking a little before,
“Just what do I say hereー Corruption… Mm, corruption? In a sense, I suppose you could say so, but that’s all just posturing…”
She began mumbling.
“What are you saying? Mumbling to yourself like that.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, I was just talking to myself.
Well, I think Dor-sama is probably fine.”
“On what basis?”
“Well, that would be Claire-sama, I suppose.”
“Me?”
Unsure what it was Rei wanted to say, I urged her to continue.
“I mean, Claire-sama, seeing as Dor-sama raised you to be such an honest natured person, I find it hard to believe that he would do something unsavory.”
“…”
“Even if he did play a part in something of that nature, I think it would be best to think that he had some sort of reason that compelled him.”
“… You seem to think rather highly of my father, don’t you?”
“Well yeah, we are accompl- cough, cough, he is your father after all.”
It seemed that Rei was just about to say something, but looped back to that.
“… I suppose you’re right.
There’s no way that my father would do something unsavory just to advance his own self interests.”
“Oh, just so you know, I serve Claire-sama 100% out of my own self interests!”
“I already know that, shut it.”
“You always play so hard to get~ But that’s also what I love~!”
After that, Rei fooled around to play things off, but it was true that my exchange with her had blown away my hesitations.
Though it frustrated me to admit, Rei made a great confidant.
“But hm, there’s something strange about this article.”
“Strange? What part of it do you find strange?”
“Ah…”
Now that she mentioned it, that did seem strange.
“Perhaps they couldn’t include the name because they did not have concrete evidence?”
“In that case they simply wouldn’t publish the article until they did have the evidence they needed.
I mean, in this kingdom where the nobles hold all the influence, they must know that if they didn’t reveal everything in one fell swoop that they’d be the ones to suffer.”
“… You have a point.”
The fact that the journalist had gone missing also added credibility to Rei’s reasoning.
“In that case, what do you make of this article?”
“Hmm, I can’t say anything conclusive, but I get the feeling that the article itself was written this way for a reason.”
“For a reason…”
“I can’t claim to know what for, though.”
“Well, we can’t do anything about what we don’t know, so why don’t we start by doing what we can?”
“That’s true.
How are things proceeding with the Church?”
“I’ve made arrangements for your visit.
We can visit at any time, how does tomorrow sound?”
“Very good.”
Rather than stumble around in my anxieties, I needed to focus on the things that I could do.
“… Perhaps I’ve… Begun to resemble you in some ways.”
“Eh?”
“It was nothing.”
Rei looked dumbstruck, and yet, her dumb expression brought me so much comfort, so much comfort that―it frustrated me to no end so I decided that I’d never tell her that directly.
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