A figure clad in a shabby cloak stood beyond the open door.
Even though the door had opened, Anelli did not enter immediately, but stood still for a moment, staring fixedly at the scene in the lobby.
"Come in."
As Duke Roam opened the conversation, the other's body, which had been standing as still as a rock, began to move slowly.
From within the cloak, Anelli's mysterious purple eyes swept over the people indifferently.
Following behind Anelli's steps, someone quietly followed. It was a female knight wearing a helmet.
'Daring to bring an external knight into the Roam residence.'
Phrygian stared at the knight with wary eyes. Just as she was about to point it out in a sharp voice, Duke Roam spoke first.
"Who is that knight behind you?"
"She is a guard I hired privately. Since I have left the imperial palace, I have called her back."
"I shall assign Roam knights to you."
At those words, the corners of Anelli's mouth twisted subtly.
"As you know, I had a small issue with the Roam knights."
When Arin Tosen was mentioned, Duke Roam's expression hardened slightly.
"The knight who committed the transgression has paid the appropriate price."
"The price he paid holds no value to me. It was a punishment I neither requested nor delivered."
Duke Roam glanced with displeasure at the knight standing behind Anelli.
"Very well, I understand the desire to have someone trustworthy by your side. However, since you have brought an outsider, there may be unavoidable restrictions on your range of action."
In response to Duke Roam's subtly threatening words, akin to a warning, Anelli smiled faintly.
"I will leave her behind when necessary."
In the end, Duke Roam allowed the knight's accompaniment by closing his mouth. The Duchess of Roam, who had been watching this from the side, interjected in an elegant voice.
"In trying to bring you out quietly, we ended up using this method unintentionally. You are not offended, are you?"
To the Duchess's calm question, Anelli shook her head nonchalantly as she removed her cloak.
"I also prefer to come quietly, so it's fine."
As the shabby cloak was removed, a gray dress was revealed. It was a dress that, at a glance, was old, coarse, and merely assembled for the sake of appearance.
Phrygian, who had been glaring at Anelli, suddenly realized that the attire looked familiar.
'That outfit.'
The clothes issued to criminals. In other words, that was...
It was the exact same outfit Anelli had worn when she ascended the scaffold. From the cloak to the dress worn underneath.
It seemed Phrygian was not the only one who realized this.
"That dress is not one I prepared for you."
The Duchess's voice had sunk strangely. Perhaps reminded of the past, her face looked quite uncomfortable.
Moreover, since there was a vivid scar on Anelli's neck, unwanted memories were bound to resurface.
"Since we're doing this, it's better to be thorough."
"Is that so?"
"Of course."
Anelli, who had replied indifferently, lightly turned her head.
Perhaps having met Anelli's eyes, Sayri trembled and hid her body behind the hem of the Duchess's dress.
However, unlike Sayri, Lilia instead took a step forward.
"I am glad you have returned, little sister."
Lilia, with her pale face, spoke in a gentle voice.
Yet, pitifully, Phrygian could easily discern that the corners of Lilia's mouth were trembling.
Anelli glanced at Lilia, then turned her head without even replying.
Finally, Phrygian and Anelli's eyes met.
Seeing Phrygian's appearance, Anelli raised an eyebrow and tilted her head.
"Sister, what on earth is that state? I had no choice, but for you, who remained at the residence, to not even groom yourself properly..."
Her soft voice was filled with leisure.
"Your standards have fallen quite a bit."
Rather than anger at Anelli's words, Phrygian first felt a sense of déjà vu. So a question blurted out.
"Why have you returned?"
"Phrygian!"
Duke Roam called Phrygian in a low voice laced with warning, but Phrygian, without even glancing at the Duke, strode briskly toward Anelli.
"What are you scheming?"
"My, my."
Anelli, frowning, sighed and looked at the butler.
"Butler, my room?"
"Butler, please show her the way. Lilia, go inside now with Phrygian. It is late today, so let us share our feelings tomorrow."
At the flustered-sounding Duchess's words, Lilia hesitantly approached Phrygian. Anelli merely turned her body indifferently.
At the sight of her clearly ignoring her, Phrygian gritted her teeth and grabbed Anelli's arm.
"Anelli!"
Anelli, who had been about to walk away, stopped abruptly. Just as the knight standing behind Anelli was about to react, Anelli raised a hand to restrain her.
A cold sneer settled in the purple eyes staring at Phrygian.
"My, my, sister. This is far too immature and foolish an act for the eldest daughter of Roam to be seen doing. No matter how few servants there are."
"What?"
"The journey back was rather long, so I am a bit tired. Let us talk tomorrow."
Hearing the low reply, Phrygian felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Because suddenly, a fragment of some past memory had revived in her mind. Her past self, sneering at the despairing Anelli.
The contemptuous reproach she had spat out then.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to the words she had just heard.
'This girl...'
The question of why she had returned was no longer necessary. Phrygian now knew the reason without needing to hear it from Anelli's own mouth.
Anelli had come for revenge. She had never forgiven Roam, and she never would.
'I must stop her.'
The realization struck like lightning.
To avoid losing Roam, Phrygian must hold her position at all costs.
* * *
The room I was guided to was a familiar room.
"As for the knight's room..."
"I am not yet accustomed to the changed environment, so I need her guard close at hand to feel at ease. Do not concern yourself and go on."
The servants, looking back and forth between Pallides standing quietly and me, hesitated briefly before bowing their heads cautiously.
After sending the servants away, I slowly surveyed my room.
It closely resembled 'my room' as it remained in my memory. But this room was not that room of the past. Because all the furniture filling this room was new.
'My room' had vanished. The moment I became a criminal, all traces of me were likely erased from this mansion.
'Did they think decorating it like the old room would make me succumb to sentiment?'
I suppressed a rising sneer. More likely, they simply judged it much more convenient to recreate the state I had used at the time.
If they had considered sentimentality even a little, they would not have made it like this.
They would not have recreated this loathsome space exactly as it was.
'I must shake off these useless thoughts.'
Somehow the air felt stifling, so I immediately opened the window.
The air, likely deliberately warmed by having the fireplace lit in advance, quickly cooled.
Beyond the opened window, a black tit and a bumblebee fluttered and flew in. Not only that, but a black cat also leaped up from below the window and landed lightly on the railing.
[Captain!]
They were the Dullahans I had taken out of the bracelet before leaving the imperial palace.
'For now, it's better to keep only those easy to carry around close by and summon more Dullahans as the situation demands?'
Having Pallides by my side immediately under the pretext of a guard, and having summoned Zigore, Tristan, and Minte as well, my heart felt incomparably more secure than when I was in the imperial palace.
[Pallides, did you serve the Captain well?]
Zigore, who had flown into the room like an arrow, chirped as he asked Pallides. Tristan and Minte also looked at Pallides.
The other Dullahans had been so jealous of Pallides, who had become my guard knight for the reason of being able to transform into a human.
Zigore, who had chirped for a long time about how it made no sense that he couldn't be by my side even when meeting me after so long, had only calmed down after hearing news of Nadav and Ganik still inside the bracelet.
But it seemed he hadn't completely given up his attachment to my guard position.
At Zigore's interrogation, Minte proudly shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course!"
[Tsk... But Captain, please don't forget. I can also protect you well!]
At Zigore's words, Minte, who was sitting with his tail curled, let out a sneer.
[For a tit.]
[I am the fearsome knight Zigore!]
[So you're going to transform into a Dullahan now? If you cause trouble for the Captain, I'll pluck all your feathers.]
[...Minte is cold-hearted.]
At Zigore's sulky muttering, Tristan spoke in an amused voice.
[Minte is the same as ever, past and present.]
[And you're a philanderer past and present, aren't you?]
[It wouldn't hurt if you were a little less cold, hahaha!]
How fortunate it was to have a Dullahan who knew how to correctly assess a situation.
Resolving that, no matter about the others, I must never put Minte in the bracelet, I brought a chair to the window and sat down.
Merely being with a few Dullahans after a long time made this room feel like a completely different place.
Not the Roam mansion, not the capital, just a feeling like some inn room stopped at along a passing journey.
The tension unwound on its own, and I let out a deflated laugh, when Pallides uttered a low exclamation.
"Ah, Captain. The ring is glowing."
"Ah."
'Come to think of it, he said he'd send a signal right after arrival.'
I rotated the hand wearing the ring once. Then the color gradually faded, and soon the light disappeared.
"What is that? It looks like a ring I haven't seen before."
Come to think of it, Pallides wasn't by my side when I received this ring, was he?
"This is..."
I parted my lips to explain, but I couldn't continue. Because a pale mist gathered and formed a human shape.
―Fortunately, it works properly!
It was the translucent, smoke-like form of Xenon.