Chapter 31 : Hunch (1)

“Little Duke! What on earth happened? Are you hurt anywhere? Did someone drag you out?!”

Turning the Little Duke this way and that, Tollin spat out frantically.

“Tollin, I'm fine. I'm not hurt one bit, not even a fingertip.”

Flinn felt a sense of déjà vu at the fact that Tollin's glasses were missing, but Tollin noticed the absence of the Little Duke's outer coat faster than Flinn could realize the reason.

“What happened to your outer coat? Was it stolen?! Which bastard was it! This Tollin will make sure they do not die an easy death!”

Flinn found it hard to confess that he had walked out on his own, gotten lost, and then received help to get out, so he first calmed Tollin down.

“I took off the outer coat and gave it to someone myself. No one dragged me out, I went out on my own.”

Though he couldn't lie, he added that quickly.

At that, a slight sense of betrayal, relief, and great shock appeared on Tollin's face, but after confirming that the Little Duke was unharmed, he quickly composed his expression.

The Little Duke, who had been watching the sighing Tollin anxiously, quickly grabbed his hand and pulled when he seemed to have calmed down.

“Tollin, I know I did wrong and I'm truly sorry. But right now, you have to follow me. There's a child collapsed in the alley. I think they fainted because I startled them, and they're not waking up.”

At the child's condition, which he described without taking a breath, Tollin also quickly came to his senses, realizing it was unusual.

“Jack, search the alleyway the Little Duke came out of. There should be a collapsed child. We'll take them to the nearby Temple.”

“There will be another child guarding them. I gave them my coat, so you'll be able to spot them quickly. Both of them have unbelievably thin clothes and are very thin. Hurry, I'll guide you.”

“Little Duke!”

Tollin urgently called out to stop the Little Duke, who, upon hearing his words, was about to run back into the alleyway.

“Please wait here. Jack and the knights will find the child.”

The Little Duke shook his head at Tollin's words.

“No, I wandered around inside and quite a bit of time has passed. I know the general location. If we go together, we'll definitely be able to find them faster.”

At that determined appearance, Tollin swallowed dryly.

They were an unwelcome target.

With absurd rumors circulating publicly that Duke Piteos had chosen a commoner over the Imperial Family, vagrant children were beings he didn't want to get involved with.

Above all, it was after he had heard Igo Crisa's unsettling words.

He didn't want to let the Little Duke wander around this area even a little bit longer.

He didn't want to make the child anxious right now by unnecessarily bringing up the unpleasant incident with Igo Crisa.

“There is no need for you to go. The knights are sufficiently fast. It would be best for you to wait safely with me. Besides……”

“Tollin.”

Flinn's small hand, interrupting Tollin who was trying to persuade the Little Duke, grabbed his arm.

“I know what you're worried about.”

Tollin's eyes widened at the Little Duke's words.

“But you know, don't you? Piteos does not turn its eyes from fear. Besides, I promised I would definitely help. Our promises are heavy.”

Tollin, who hadn't known that a young child who hadn't even undergone the Tinas ritual would be thinking of such things, couldn't bring himself to voice the various words of persuasion that came to mind.

Seeing Tollin, who couldn't say anything, the Little Duke continued speaking.

“And if you're worried about me, then naturally Tollin and Jack should go with me.”

Even with the Little Duke's small strength, pulling his arm with a mature smile, Tollin was helplessly dragged along.

The child's small head overlapped with the back of his heartless former superior's head, and Tollin squeezed his eyes shut.

He had known, but Tollin had a premonition that his future superior, much like his departed superior, would also overwork him.

I'll have to tell him to study moderately starting today.

As he was dragged along, Tollin resolved to reduce the study time and drastically increase the playtime of the Little Duke, who had become too mature for his age, once they returned to the ducal estate, and moved his feet.

***

In conclusion, the children covered in the Little Duke's outer coat were not found in the alleyway.

While searching for the place where the Little Duke said he found the children, they encountered several children, but all of them were older than the Little Duke had described.

“Tollin, the little child called the older child Seya. That must be their name. Doesn't the Temple record the names and ages of children born? We might be able to find them.”

Jack, who was listening to the child's words beside him, looked at the Little Duke with pity.

Should he call it good luck, or bad luck.

This carriage accident was certain to cause great repercussions between the Crisa family and the Piteos family.

A carriage accident that just had to happen during an outing with the Little Duke, the eldest son of the Crisa family who seemed undoubtedly to have caused the accident, the guards who had emptied the Little Duke's carriage just in time.

What happened today was undoubtedly a deliberate accident aimed at the Little Duke.

For the guards detained in the mansion's prison, torture disguised as a slightly aggressive interrogation awaited them.

Because Tollin would do anything to uncover the mastermind who had targeted the Little Duke.

Even young children would not be able to avoid that blade.

In a situation where it was unclear whether he had avoided disaster thanks to the children, or if the children had lured the Little Duke, Jack knew that Tollin would not treat the vagrant children of the street as favorably as the Little Duke thought.

He would probably find the children using a rougher method than the one the Little Duke mentioned, sit them down, and start with an interrogation.

No matter how mature, the Little Duke was still a young child.

Jack thought that the innocence of a young child who hadn't even had his ceremony needed to be protected to some extent, and he had firmly believed that Tollin had agreed with this until now.

He was about to say he would immediately ask the Temple for their understanding.

“There is no need for that, Little Duke.”

At Tollin's unexpected answer, Jack looked at Tollin without realizing it.

The Little Duke was the same.

“Huh?”

“Since they are young children, they will probably try to sell the Little Duke's coat immediately. If they were simple children, they would sell it to a clothing store, but as they are homeless children, there is a high probability they will use illegal routes, so if we send people to search, we will be able to find them more quickly. I will immediately order people to look into those who handle stolen goods. We respond to illegality with illegality.”

Jack barely suppressed the words “Is that something to say to a child?” that rose up to his throat.

It was an impulse he felt for the first time in a truly long time.

After Duke Agoni Piteos passed away (as he was led to believe), Jack had never objected to anything Tollin did, believing it to be a rational choice, so he somehow swallowed the impulse.

The Little Duke also had a bewildered expression.

“Is, is it okay to do that?”

Tollin gave a gentle smile to the Little Duke.

“Little Duke, money, power, and ability are things one accumulates precisely for times like these. You are worried about those children and wish to find them quickly, correct?”

“Yes.”

Tollin continued speaking to the nodding Little Duke.

“In that case, it is acceptable to use some shortcuts. As far as your capabilities allow.”

Jack, who was listening beside them to the words coming from Tollin's mouth, almost screamed.

Paying no mind to Jack, who was agonizing over whether he should grab him by the collar right now and ask what he was saying to a child, Tollin added.

“However, only to the extent that other people are not harmed, and only in situations that are controllable.”

Jack had the illusion that he heard the unspoken words, ‘For now.’

Jack, who was watching Tollin send the Little Duke to his own carriage this time, was finally unable to hold back and opened his mouth once he was alone with Tollin.

“...Tollin, this is presumptuous, but perhaps you should have spoken differently to the Little Duke?”

Even after saying it, Jack thought Tollin would reply sharply.

But Tollin spoke calmly.

“Jack, it's nothing new, but the Little Duke truly resembles the former Duke.”

“……”

At the mention of Duke Agoni Piteos, whom Tollin rarely spoke of, Jack pressed his lips firmly shut.

“You and I both saw firsthand how fleeting it is when a person who only ever stretches straight breaks.”

Jack, who had witnessed Duke Piteos's execution with him, listened to his words silently.

“The Little Duke I saw today was someone who, if anything, was more so than the Duke, certainly not less. In that case, isn't it also necessary for us to teach the Little Duke how to bend or warp sometimes?”

This time, too, Jack could only nod his head silently.

Because he too knew well just how vainly Agoni Piteos had vanished.

Jack's feelings toward him were still somewhere between betrayal and love-hate.

That said, it wasn't that Jack felt no sympathy at all for his death.

He couldn't possibly hope for the end of his small, mature master to be the same.

“And it's also no exaggeration that we must find the children quickly.”

Tollin furrowed his brow.

“It needs to be handled more urgently than digging into the Crisa Count Family's background.”

Tollin, seeing Jack's expression that said he didn't know why they had to go that far, cast his gaze toward the entrance of the alleyway where the Little Duke had wandered.

“Jack, today, among the children wandering the streets, how old did the youngest one look?”

“Pardon? Well……”

Jack, who was about to answer, trailed off for a moment.

Among the vagrant children of the street, who were already small for their age, there hadn't been a single child smaller than the Little Duke.

“...It is unfortunate, but you know well that when the world is in difficult times, the first to lose their lives are the young and the weak. It seems a natural phenomenon for the number of children to be smaller.”

“That might be.”

Tollin readily agreed with Jack's opinion.

“But if there is someone targeting only the young, that in itself could be a problem. Since this area is currently under the control of the Piteos family.”

Tollin gave a low, firm command to Jack, who was swallowing dryly.

“Move before the Crisa family destroys all the evidence.”

But Jack carrying out Tollin's command did not happen.

***

The next day, news arrived that the eldest son of the Crisa Count Family had been imprisoned after it was discovered he had offered bribes related to the capital's hospital project.

***

A visitor arrived at the Piteos Ducal Family residence starting at dawn.

The blue-haired visitor, who had once again arrived without a single letter, immediately sought out the Acting Head of Family, Tollin.

At that familiar rudeness, the employees, without a word, guided the visitor to the drawing room as Tollin had ordered.

“I didn't realize it before, but it seems our family doesn't know the meaning of the procedure.”

To Tollin, who greeted the visitor while rubbing his furrowed brow, the second son of the Crisa family, Pa'al Crisa, replied.

“You've gotten much sharper in the time I haven't seen you.”

At Pa'al's way of speaking, which brought to mind an indifferent someone who had sat in the same spot just a short while ago saying similar things, Tollin quietly placed a hand on the desk.

“...Did you know? That my eldest brother was connected to the Imperial Family.”

“Perhaps.”

“That damned 'Perhaps.' Do the people of that household not know how to converse without that word?”

Tollin, choked up by the ambiguous exchange that had started again, sneered lightly.

At that sight, Pa'al smiled slightly.

“One thing is certain: my older brother has made a decision. A lot will change from how it has been until now, Tollin.”

“You can smile? This won't be Igo Crisa's problem alone. Explain properly what is going on.”

Bribery, what an absurd charge.

There wasn't a noble family among the aristocracy that didn't offer tribute to the Imperial Family under various pretexts.

Even if they didn't go out of their way to offer it, the Imperial Family also skimmed off no small amount, making the word 'bribe' almost meaningless.

At the news that the eldest son of the Crisa family had been arrested on such a charge, aristocratic society, which had briefly heated up and cooled down over the topic of the Piteos family's fall, was once again boiling with gossip.

Although a Count family, the Crisa family had shone as a symbol of integrity for a long time.

People revel in seeing something clean get sullied.

Tollin had felt this keenly while serving as the Acting Head of the Piteos Ducal Family.

Pa'al, erasing his smile, finally opened his mouth to Tollin, who was raising one eyebrow as if to ask what he was just looking at.

“Do you really think my older brother tried to harm the young Little Duke?”

Tollin's expression crumpled at those words.

“Do I really look like a snot-nosed brat who can't tell right from wrong? I am at least aware that your eldest brother had no intention of killing him.”

Though that day, I momentarily lost my senses and hit him.

It was Tollin who, after finding the Little Duke and regaining his composure, had begun to see oddities one by one.

If Igo had really been determined to attack, there was no way he would have caused an incident right in the middle of the capital.

“Although, I couldn't be certain whether he was really trying to kidnap the Little Duke or not.”

Or perhaps something had happened that he needed to urgently stop, even to the point of causing an accident.

Tollin glanced once at his second-oldest brother, who sat there with an unreadable expression, and continued talking.

“Seeing as you ask like that, I suppose that wasn't it either.”

“Right, you were a quick-witted child, even if you were a coward.”

At Pa'al bringing up useless childhood stories, Tollin waved his hand dismissively.

“You didn't come here just to reminisce about old memories, did you? What is the situation? I also need to know the situation to know whether to get Igo Crisa out, or to respond to something that poses a threat to the Piteos family.”

“There's no need for that.”

The helping hand—extended half from the thought that he had hit an innocent person, and half from the desire to investigate the strange movements seen from the Imperial family—was blocked by Pa'al's firm answer.

To Tollin, whose expression asked what kind of nonsense that was, Pa'al spoke calmly.

“There is no need to worry about the Crisa family. There's no need for you to step in now.”

At Pa'al's indifferent answer, Tollin felt his head go cold.

“You say things similar to my eldest brother. Then again, I am indeed an outsider who ran away from the Crisa family.”

He wasn't particularly demeaning himself or resenting the other person.

To Tollin, who spoke as if simply stating the facts as they were, Pa'al also did not point out or correct his words.

Tollin continued calmly.

“Didn't I say. If it's a problem related to the Piteos family, I cannot just let it pass. Someone clearly tried to kidnap or harm the Little Duke, did they not?”

“The Piteos family was just swept up in it. They were just a bit unlucky. This is, through and through, the Crisa family's business.”

“Just, unlucky, you say.”

Pa'al nodded at Tollin, who asked back in disbelief.

“From now on, there will be no instances of the Piteos family and the Crisa family getting entangled. So, you just need to keep struggling to hold on as you have been. Until that little Little Duke is big enough to inherit the Piteos family.”

Tollin glared at Pa'al, thinking that his unlucky choice of words was endlessly grating.

“Then what is the reason for coming all this way? Is my eldest brother related to the carriage accident from last time? If it's about the crashed carriage, we still have it preserved as is, so I can give it to you.”

“I came because I have something to deliver.”

After rummaging in his coat's breast pocket for a moment, he took out a crude paper envelope, smaller than a letter envelope, and placed it on the desk.

Tollin did not pick it up immediately and asked.

“What is this?”

“Perhaps.”

“...If the person giving it doesn't know, then who on earth does?”

To Tollin, who spoke as if suppressing himself, Pa'al gave a small shrug.

“My older brother is probably the only one who knows.”

“Did Igo Crisa tell you to give this to me?”

“Perhaps.”

As if teasing Tollin, who asked in confusion, Pa'al again gave a vague answer.

“...Are you aware that you could be dragged out of here right this instant?”

At those words, which were half a threat, Pa'al shrugged.

“Do you remember the tree behind the mansion where we used to play as children?”

At the old story that suddenly started again, Tollin's-expression crumpled violently.

“...Yes, I remember.”

Though it was questionable whether one could call that a memory of playing together.

A large, sturdy tree near the lake, which the three brothers often visited during break times, came to mind.

Along with the foolish child, the weak and frail youngest brother, who would watch his older brothers climb the tree he couldn't climb with ease from below for a long time, unable to even ask them to pull him up, before turning away.

It wasn't a particularly pleasant memory, so Tollin rubbed his brow, which was creasing on its own.

“It was buried beneath the base of the tree.”

“How do you know that it was left for me?”

What if it was a personal item that his eldest brother had secretly buried.

“Perh—”

“No. I don't need an answer. Is this all your business?”

Tollin, worried he would burst from frustration, cut off his words before he could spit out that annoying word 'Perhaps' again.

As Tollin spoke as if he had lost even the energy to be annoyed, Pa'al stood up from his seat without hesitation.

“I'll be going.”

“I will not see you out.”

At the cold tone, Pa'al gave a slight nod and left the drawing room just like that.

Tollin picked up the envelope, which was heavy for its size, and stared at it for a long time.

The shape of a key was faintly visible inside the envelope, permeated by the light of the drawing room.

A key to what?