"Unfortunately, yes. It was damaged when we were attacked by monsters."
At Heinri's words, a dark shadow fell over Anelli's face.
Anelli, who had been lost in thought with troubled eyes, asked with a stiff expression.
"What on earth happened? An attack by monsters, you say?"
"Ah, that was..."
What should he say? It truly happened in an instant.
The scene from that day unfolded in Heinri's mind.
That day... the weather was clear and bright, without a single cloud in the sky.
Even when they first departed from the imperial palace, the atmosphere wasn't bad. The Empress was in high spirits, calling it a rare outing, and the accompanying imperial guards were all men of formidable spirit.
At the rear of the procession, Xenon followed riding Nadav. Xenon, who seemed to have endured several days of pestering from the imperial palace mages, had abruptly invoked his acquaintance with a mage belonging to the imperial guard and joined the party.
Xenon's presence seemed to arouse the guards' wariness, but not to a severe degree.
Looking back, everything was truly fine when they set out.
The peaceful journey encountered trouble when they reached the riverbank.
"There were an unusual number of ducks on the river."
"...Ducks?"
"Yes. We began crossing the bridge without much thought, and someone threw a stone towards the gathered ducks."
He couldn't remember who it was. Probably one of the attendants accompanying them.
"The ducks, startled by the stone-throwing, all took flight at once. But then, something emerged from among those ducks."
"What was it?"
"A monster."
Anelli's face hardened as she pressed her lips tightly together.
"A large, black creature charged at us. The imperial guards immediately swung their swords, but..."
They had definitely swung accurately. Yet, the blades slid through as if cutting empty air, and the black thing overwhelmed the party.
"To be honest, I cannot say precisely what occurred. Only that my vision darkened for a moment, the horses panicked, and Her Majesty the Empress collapsed."
"That cannot be definitively called a monster."
Anelli, who had been listening to Heinri's explanation, frowned and spoke in a firm tone.
"And it certainly wasn't a Dullahan."
"I know."
At Heinri's calm reply, Anelli raised an eyebrow.
"The important thing is that too many people witnessed that strange spectacle. They believe it was a monster."
"But Her Majesty does not seem to think so."
At Anelli's precise observation, Heinri unconsciously closed his mouth. Perhaps finding Heinri's sudden silence suspicious, Anelli narrowed her eyes.
"What are you suspecting?"
"Her Majesty... believes it may have been magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes. And she harbors suspicions towards the mages of the Magic Tower."
Seeing Anelli's complexion change, Heinri gave a bitter smile.
"She says the Magic Tower has schemed to intervene in the imperial succession dispute."
* * *
Xenon let out a sigh.
Tracing the origin of how things came to this was pointless, but...
If one had to pinpoint it, it likely began when he started paying attention to things he had never cared about in life.
"Really, now."
He had never once in his life imagined he would become entangled with the imperial family. The imperial family, what of it? He hadn't even been interested in the capital.
Much less had he ever, not even a little, imagined a situation like his current confinement in the imperial palace.
"Though it's not exactly confinement."
While guards were assigned to watch him, his range of movement was suddenly restricted, and the imperial palace mages who had persistently hounded him abruptly stopped coming, it was insufficient to definitively call it confinement.
To begin with, they had no justification to confine Xenon. Aside from him joining the Empress's outing on a flimsy pretext, there were no truly suspicious circumstances.
Yet, he found himself in this situation because the Emperor's nerves were currently extremely frayed.
Amidst the insult of the Crown Prince he had established being said to have incurred divine wrath, ominous events kept befalling the imperial family. On top of opening the imperial ancestors' tombs to an outsider, the Empress had now collapsed.
Given that Dekin had previously intervened in the succession dispute by declaring support for Heinri, the Emperor seemed to believe that this time, the Magic Tower had stepped in to place Heinron the throne.
In other words, that the Magic Tower was attempting to manipulate the imperial family.
If that conclusion were drawn as fact, the Emperor would absolutely not choose Heinri as his successor.
"Dekin, that bastard is the problem."
He told him not to intervene rashly. Thanks to that, he was on the verge of being forcibly dragged into a political fight he had no business being in.
Xenon glanced somewhat anxiously at the door.
Outside that door were guards the Emperor had stubbornly posted. Under the pretext of protecting a guest as a host, since everyone was startled by the monster's sudden attack.
Though claiming to protect him, setting up a magic-nullification barrier inside the room was undoubtedly because they didn't trust him.
They were likely buying time like this to investigate the incident more thoroughly.
'I don't have time for this.'
Xenon glanced down at his ring, which had become useless, and made a troubled expression.
Frankly, truly frankly.
Xenon could easily break through this room's barrier and leave. Leave? He wasn't weak enough to be confined in this room in the first place.
Nevertheless, the reason he was obediently complying with their demands like this was purely because of Anelli.
Lest causing an unnecessary commotion disrupt Anelli's plans.
'She's probably grasped the general situation by now.'
Xenon had little interest in the imperial succession dispute or such matters. He wasn't afraid even if the Emperor suspected and guarded against the Magic Tower.
Originally, a mage of the Magic Tower was such an existence. One who set aside worldly status and was evaluated solely by ability.
Xenon was the Magic Tower's sole successor, the one who would soon become the master of the Tower's highest level.
Considering that the Magic Tower's combined power surpassed that of most nations, the Emperor ultimately would not be able to treat him recklessly.
So why would he fear the imperial family or the Emperor?
'She asked me to contact her...'
The only thing worrying him was Anelli, who must have been alarmed by the severed communication.
Also, Xenon had a very important thing to tell her. Xenon sank into thought with a somber face.
'Ha, she'll definitely be angry.'
When they were ambushed by something unknown on the bridge, the horses panicked and reared.
The one who caused that commotion was Nadav.
To be precise, Xenon guessed Nadav was the culprit. Because Nadav was the first to seem startled, lifting his forelegs.
'It was as if he was determined to throw me off.'
Xenon staggered but managed to dismount without falling. And the moment Xenon got off, Nadav began leaping about, rampaging among the other horses, and then crossed to the other side of the bridge.
Of course, several other knights also lost control of their horses due to this commotion. Someone even said their arm was broken from a fall.
Because multiple horses disappeared, Nadav's desertion didn't stand out. Nadav had probably aimed for that effect.
'Why on earth did that creature suddenly run off like that?'
And what was he supposed to say to Anelli about it?
Lost in tangled thoughts, Xenon was washing his face with dry hands when he suddenly lifted his head. A low conversation was audible from outside the door.
"But...!"
"...interrogation..."
"Wait... the prince..."
"The Temple's..."
The voices were soft, and only a few unpleasant words were barely discernible.
Xenon, with a sour expression, glared at the door. It seemed someone had come to see Xenon.
'Using safety as a pretext, they won't even let me see Prince Heinri.'
He wanted to observe the situation as quietly as possible and move cautiously, but if it really came to it, he'd just have to use force.
Having resolved thus, Xenon watched the door intently. The scuffle happening outside soon subsided, and quiet returned.
But Xenon didn't relax his guard. Since he didn't hear departing footsteps, the visitors seemed to be standing right outside that door.
*Knock knock.*
Breaking the silence, a small knock echoed in the room.
When Xenon didn't answer, from outside, after a brief pause, another knock came.
*Knock knock.*
Without erasing his suspicious expression, Xenon slowly parted his lips.
"Who is it?"
There was no answer from outside. Instead, the doorknob turned quietly.
Seeing the movement, Xenon took a step back and carefully channeled his magical power. The moment tension entered his fingertips, the door opened and someone revealed themselves.
"Huh?"
A brown-haired head that had sneakily peeked in, upon entering the room, instantly transformed into a dazzling silver.
Seeing that change, Xenon quickly stepped forward, pulled the person into his embrace, and twisted his body. Hiding the other person within his arms, Xenon turned his head towards the open door and discovered a giant of a man.
The moment he made eye contact with Xenon, he fiercely scowled.
"What are you doing..."
"Close the door first."
At Xenon's sharp instruction, Samuel, who had been about to spit out sharp words, halted. Perhaps sensing the situation, he swiftly entered the room and closed the door.
Fortunately, Samuel's large frame likely prevented those outside from seeing inside properly.
Confirming the door was closed, Xenon let out a sigh of relief, but a soft question came from within his arms.
"I think you can let go now."
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
He must have unconsciously tightened his arms. Startled, Xenon relaxed his strength, and the person who had been quietly nestled in his embrace slipped out.
Xenon's expression turned bewildered as he confirmed it was Anelli, straightening her disheveled hair.
He had moved instinctively upon seeing the silver hair, but actually facing the real Anelli like this felt strange.
He was glad and happy, surprised she had managed to come here, and simultaneously worried.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Anelli, having roughly tidied her hair, asked abruptly.
Xenon, who had been blankly staring at Anelli's face, missed his chance to answer and hesitated. Anelli frowned and scrutinized him from head to toe.
Anelli, with her arms crossed, was in an extremely sharp and sensitive state, unlike before.
"Are the imperial palace people starving you?"
"Huh? No?"
"You seem to have lost a little weight."