Chapter 34: Talking with the Margrave

“I apologize for summoning you, Sister.”
“No, rather than a summons, thank you for coming all this way, Margrave.”

The place we were in was the church.
The Margrave of Grandra had come to the church, saying he had something to discuss, and had asked to see me.

“First, Sister Ellen, I am grateful to you.”
“Huh, grateful… to me?”
“Yes, reports have reached me.”
“Your contributions to the church, the orphanage, and the knight order have been substantial.”
“I wish not only to thank you, but to provide proper compensation.”
“Especially for your cooperation with the knight order.”
“That, in particular, was entirely voluntary on your part, was it not?”
“…Voluntary, well.”

The church and the orphanage are attached, and both are managed by the church.
It is not strange for me, who works there, to handle both kinds of work.
I am not the only one, and I do receive compensation for my labor.
Housing, meals, and daily necessities.
In essence, my living expenses are almost entirely covered.
That could be considered my remuneration.
In addition, while not much, I do receive some personal monetary payment.
It is only a small amount, but it allows for modest indulgences.
There have never been any problems with that.

In truth, I have almost no habit of buying personal items.
Ever since long ago, the money I was given came from taxes paid by the people.
Rather than “money earned by my own labor,” it was about how I could work and support the people with that money.
In a sense, it was reversed.
The reward came first, and labor followed as an obligation.
I may not be accustomed to receiving compensation as the result of labor.

That did not change even after I came under the church’s care.
I was first given a room to live in and meals to eat.
Then I repaid that through my work.
That has been my way of life.

So even if I am told that compensation should be given for helping the knight order, it does not quite register.
Besides, my cooperation with the knight order is not simple goodwill.
Now, the reason is perfectly clear.

I am going to see Sir Richard.
And I want his workplace to be a better place.
I want him not to be injured in battle.
That is what I wish.
That is why I often visit the knight order and cooperate with them.
It is entirely the result of my own self-interest.
So being thanked for it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

“Well, um, I do it because I like to…”
“Because you like to?”
“That is appreciated, but you have even accompanied them in battles against magical beasts, have you not?”
“Ah, for those occasions, I do receive proper compensation.”
“…I see.”
“Well, that is only natural.”

That aspect is probably managed by the knight order rather than directly by the Margrave.
Not receiving formal compensation is also a way to prevent my actions from being strictly managed by them.
Because I act of my own accord, I am free.

“…Sister Ellen.”
“Setting compensation aside for now.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Have you heard?”
“I was in the royal capital until recently, on business.”
“…Yes, I have heard.”
“My purpose was to attend the wedding of the ‘Hero’ who saved this land and the ‘Saint.’”

So it does come to that.

“To be frank, many things happened at that wedding…”
“Many things?”

I tilted my head.
From the Margrave’s expression, it did not seem to have been a satisfactory ceremony.
Why would that be?

“…Sister Ellen.”
“I may need to ask you something you would prefer to keep hidden.”
“But I do not believe this is a matter unrelated to your future.”
“So I want you to answer honestly.”
“Of course, if you ask me to keep it confidential, I will do my best.”
“…Did something happen at the wedding?”
“Yes, it did.”

What kind of problem could happen at a wedding?
I could hardly imagine it.

“Sister Ellen, I will ask you directly.”
“Are you, by any chance… Electra Vent, the Viscount’s daughter?”

——

So it was discovered after all.
But how?
The Margrave may have attended my former husband’s wedding, but how did that lead him to identify the divorced former wife?

In any case, I felt this was not a place to lie.
The Margrave did not seem inclined to treat me poorly.
It should be fine to speak.

“…Yes, that is correct.”
“My real name is Electra.”
“I am Electra Vent.”
“…Um.”
“Do you know the rest as well?”
“Yes.”
“I also know that you are the divorced former wife of the ‘Hero,’ Harid Carlson.”
“I see.”
“Yes, that is correct.”

I lowered my head.

“I apologize, my lord.”
“For keeping silent until now.”
“No.”
“That is not a status you were obligated to declare.”
“And you are currently affiliated with the church.”
“You have done nothing wrong.”
“So that is fine.”
“I have no intention of reproaching you.”
“That is a relief, but…”

Then why bring it up now?
It seemed unrelated to the matter of the ‘enhancement magic.’
Something must have happened in the royal capital.

“…First, will you listen to what I saw and heard in the royal capital?”
“Yes, my lord.”

And so, the Margrave told me about what he had encountered in the royal capital.
It was, for lack of a better term, a “bizarre incident.”

After hearing it all, I could only clutch my head.

“Well, um.”
“I am not sure where to even begin…”
“I can imagine.”

First, the wedding in the royal capital.
My former husband Harid and Saint Livia did manage to marry without incident.
However, however.

At the ceremony, for some reason, Duke Pharmason himself escorted Livia down the aisle.
That alone made no sense.

But it did not end there.
The moment he spotted Duchess Pharmason among the guests, the duke went pale.
After some clearly tense exchanges, the ceremony proceeded to completion.
The guests then moved to the reception hall.

There were the pale-faced duke, the duchess, and a noblewoman in a black dress.
That woman had light blue hair and introduced herself as Maylin Albright.
She was said to be the wife of the head of the Albright Trading Company.

Had it ended there, it likely would not have become a major issue.
The problem was a remark made by Saint Livia after she changed out of her wedding dress.

She apparently addressed Lady Albright by calling out, “Lady Electra!”
At that point, I felt a very bad premonition.

“…Could it be.”
“Do you have an idea?”
“Well, um.”

When I divorced Harid, I left the house without confronting him directly.
At that time, I had put various measures in place.
One of them involved asking the servants for cooperation.

“If, after divorcing me, or after marrying Lady Livia, he still sought me out despite claiming to have cut ties.”
“In that case, I asked them to somehow mislead him.”
“…I see.”
“And for that purpose, I made arrangements.”
“I had people ensure that sightings of me appeared in various places after I left.”

The Margrave listened silently.

“And if Harid insisted on searching for me.”
“And if the reason came from Lady Livia.”
“Then I asked them to prepare a ‘stand-in.’”
“…I see.”
“And the one who took that role was Lady Albright?”
“Yes, most likely.”
“Sister Ellen.”
“Why did you go that far?”
“There must have been a reason.”
“…It was vague, but.”
“I had a bad dream.”
“A bad dream?”
“Yes.”
“A dream where, after the divorce, they chased after me.”
“Where they became obsessed.”
“And cruelly cornered me.”
“I felt that kind of anxiety.”
“So I ended up taking thorough precautions.”
“…Heh.”
“I see.”
“So you took thorough precautions.”

Even so, how to explain that prophetic dream is difficult.
It really happened, so that is all I can say.

“Well, it seems those precautions were correct.”
“Given what I saw.”
“At the wedding, the newlywed saint flaunted her dress before Lady Albright, believing her to be the ‘former wife.’”
“It was completely misguided, since it was a case of mistaken identity.”
“…I see.”

I have never met Saint Livia.
I only saw her in a prophetic dream.
Naturally, I do not know her character.
But hearing this, all I could think was, “As expected.”

The Margrave then shared in detail what had happened at the wedding and the information surrounding those involved.
Among it were many things that went beyond what I had anticipated.

“…So Lady Livia’s true identity is?”
“Most likely.”
“She is an illegitimate child of Duke Pharmason.”
“The daughter of his mistress.”
“Do you know this?”
“The one with legitimate ducal and royal blood is the duchess.”
“So even if the truth were revealed, Lady Livia would have no right to inherit the ducal house.”

It seems my former husband had an affair with a truly outrageous person.
I do not wish to blame a child for a parent’s sins, but.
From my perspective, it was a case of like parent, like child.

“Perhaps…”
“What is it?”
“Well, actually…”

I had taken many measures and acted primarily because of my prophetic dream.
As a result, I sensed malice from “someone.”
The appearance of a fake baroness.
Unsettling rumors around the local church.
That was why I did everything I could to escape.
If that concern was not a misunderstanding.

“It is possible that someone from the duke’s side was near you.”
“I doubt he targeted Harid from the start.”
“So after Harid came to this land.”
“After meeting Saint Livia.”
“There may have been surveillance or guards attached.”
“…Then what does that imply?”
“…Given the duke’s behavior, there is a possibility.”
“This is only my speculation.”
“Would you like to hear it?”
“Please.”

The Margrave nodded calmly.

“First, Saint Livia had both surveillance and guards.”
“They were the duke’s people.”
“Yes.”
“And then.”
“Here, Lady Livia fell in love with Harid.”
“That was also observed.”
“…Yes.”
“So the duke acted for his ‘daughter.’”
“One of those actions was likely the fake wife who appeared near the Carlson lands.”

I nodded.

“The reason was probably to force a divorce by assigning blame to you.”
“He wanted to drive you out without paying compensation.”
“It is absurd.”
“…I believe you are correct.”
“It makes sense.”

Had I not seen that prophetic dream.
I felt that it would have ended exactly that way.

“And Harid…”
“Yes, my lord.”
“…At some point, he suddenly began to distinguish himself.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“And I had an idea why.”
“Why?”
“It was because of his weapon.”
“His weapon?”

I recalled my recent discussion with Sir Richard about enchantment magic on weapons.
The Margrave seemed to share the same thought.

“He was using a weapon enchanted and strengthened by magic, likely provided by the duke.”
“…Well, if that allowed him to defeat magical beasts, that is not inherently bad.”
“That is true.”

In short, behind my divorce from my former husband was Duke Pharmason.
That was the true identity of the “someone” whose malice I had sensed.

Then what would happen now that Lady Livia’s marriage had been fulfilled?

“It seemed the duchess intended to cut off further support for Livia.”
“And.”
“And?”
“Before leaving the royal capital, I had a brief investigation conducted.”
“It appears that many of the Carlson household servants have moved to the Albright Trading Company.”
“What?”

That was unexpected.
If they have secure employment, that is good.
They are capable people.

“Lady Albright spent about half a year at the Carlson estate.”
“During that time, she likely negotiated with the servants.”
“If their livelihoods are secured, that is a good thing.”
“…Indeed.”
“…However, to give you the conclusion.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“The Carlson viscount house will soon be in serious trouble.”

Serious trouble.
I blinked and looked at him.

“First, the wedding in the royal capital.”
“Such an event naturally costs a great deal.”
“It seems they proceeded without external support.”
“The duke may have intended to cover it for his daughter.”
“But judging by his situation, that support is gone.”
“In other words.”
“…A massive debt will remain with the Carlson house?”
“Yes.”
“And on top of that, most of the servants will leave after the wedding.”

…

“From here on, this is speculation.”
“Y-Yes.”
“During these past six months.”
“Whether within the estate or in the management of the lands.”
“Is it not possible that Lady Albright had been handling matters?”
“Huh?”
“Either she worked proactively.”
“Or she simply handled the work Lady Livia pushed onto her.”

That seemed plausible.
I recalled fragments of my dream.

“Once Lady Albright leaves, the estate and the land’s administration will no longer function.”
“That is…”
“It was the duchess’s ‘revenge.’”
“At the moment when they should feel the happiest in life, she removed all support.”
“Spread scandal.”
“Saddled them with debt.”
“And intended to make the duke who betrayed her and Livia, the daughter of his affair partner, taste hell.”

I widened my eyes and swallowed.

“You and Harid were merely caught up in their conflict.”
“…Can Lady Livia truly be blamed?”
“The duchess seemed to understand that.”
“But understanding does not mean forgiveness.”
“That is why it happened now, after she became an adult.”
“She would not harm her as a child.”
“Otherwise, she would not have grown into that sort of person.”
“I do not know all the details, but she said the debt was kept ‘just barely.’”
“Just barely…?”

Meaning.

“They will not be ruined immediately.”
“But their unhappy married life will drag on.”
“Eek…”

That is terrifying.
It may not be my place to say this, but.
The duchess’s revenge is terrifying.

“She may even have ensured they cannot divorce easily.”
“After all, her own Lady Albright spent half a year in the Carlson estate.”
“She has already grasped the servants’ loyalty.”
“She knows exactly how precarious the debt situation is.”
“She would have endless material for coercion.”

Ugh.
That was all I could think.

“We have been entangled in the ducal house’s troubles all this time.”