Chapter 139

After that, Rishe calmed the upset Elise and urged Oliver to move quickly.

Their next course of action was, of course, something they couldn't keep from Arnold.

But since Arnold had said that he wanted to concentrate on his official duties, Rishe didn't want to disturb him. Moreover, if she let Arnold hear about it, it might become a nuisance to him.

Oliver, the attendant, must be aware of this "nuisance".

Rather than hiding it until the very end, she made some preparations with the intention of reporting to Arnold after everything went well.

So after breakfast, Rishe visited another person, not Harriet.

Oliver was also present, and he stood behind Rishe.

Across the table from them was Raul, dressed as Curtis.

There was no knight standing guard, perhaps because he had been informed in advance.

In addition, he didn't seem to have any attendants with him, so Raul brewed a cup of tea himself and pushed it towards Rishe.

"Here you go."

"Thank you."

"Unusual color of tea, isn't it? It's what we drink in the country where I grew up."

The tea was jade-green in color and had a unique, fragrant aroma.

Even in his life as a hunter, Raul loved this tea and often served it to Rishe and his friends.

"What about you, silver-haired attendant over there? Would you like some?"

"No, thanks."

Oliver declined softly, but there was something implacable in his tone.

He must have heard from Arnold that this "Curtis" was a fake.

Perhaps he also knew that Rishe had been aware of this but had not reported it to Arnold.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Raul picked up his teacup and took a sip from it before starting.

Rishe also sipped from the cup, savoring the bitter taste for the first time in a long time. She slowly put the cup back on the saucer and looked Raul in the eye again.

"First of all, thank you. Thank you for arranging for the Sigwell knights to surround Harriet-sama's room."

"Given your message to spare you some time to talk, followed by locking Harriet in a room and getting more guards; aside from Harriet herself, it was hard to keep the head maid and the Fabranian knights quiet."

Raul shrugged exaggeratedly.

Although she was sorry about that, Rishe took a breath and spoke.

"I want to help you with what you came here to do."

"...I have no purpose."

Raul chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

"As you can see, I'm here as Curtis' shadow. He's not feeling well right now. How can our Crown Prince not attend the wedding celebration of the Crown Prince and Princess of Garkhain?"

"That's a lie. As His Highness Arnold said, you must be acting against the will of the Sigwell royal family."

Or rather, the correct word to use should be "unauthorized."

Rishe knew how Raul thought. If he thought the Sigwell royal family would forbid him, he wouldn't have asked for permission from the very start.

He must have left the country and acted secretly.

"If you were going to claim to be His Highness Curtis on the royal family's orders, you would have been thorough to the end. You wouldn't have appeared before me in your bare form or revealed your name, would you?"

"No, no, that's not an option. When I stood in front of you as Curtis, I knew right away that you saw right through me. There was no point in hiding it from you."

"Another lie. I acted like I didn't even know you were faking it. It's just not natural for you to come to me again defiantly instead of taking advantage of it."

Rishe had always wondered why he had acted that way.

But now she understood.

"You must really have a high opinion of me."

Of course...

As a hunter, Rishe knew how outstanding Raul was as a shadow.

The real Raul would never do anything wrong that the real Curtis would not do.

"If you were under royal orders, there's no way you would be disrespectful to His Highness Arnold. From what Harriet-sama told me, His Highness Curtis is not the kind of person who would do such a thing. So I've been wondering why you're purposely pretending to hit on me or approach me."

Raul chuckled in response.

"That's because you're pretty."

"Another lie."

Rishe looked into his red eyes, which were narrowed in amusement.

"The reason you're here is to rescue Harriet-sama from Fabrania, right?"

"――..."

Raul blinked one gentle blink.

"Harriet-sama's access to men is strictly restricted. Men can't approach, even if they are her guards. ―― No, even if you disguise yourself as a woman, the Fabranian knight guards wouldn't leave her alone."

In fact, Rishe experienced it yesterday. She was accused of meeting Harriet without an escort, and the female knights glared at her.

"If you're wanting to be alone with Harriet-sama, it's best to take the character of Harriet-sama's relative, His Highness Curtis."

"I see, that's your take on it. You think the reason I didn't thoroughly pretend to be Curtis to you and Arnold Hein was because the person I wanted to fool was Fabrania?"

"No... I'm sure you were going to expose yourself to us, if we hadn't found out by the end, am I right?"

Raul looked taken aback by her assumption.

"Your behavior is too dangerous. As His Highness Curtis, it would be a national betrayal of Fabrania to let Harriet-sama go. If you are going to work for the royal family of Sigwell, you will have to reveal at the end of the day that you were an impostor of His Highness Curtis."

Raul did not show up in front of Rishe on a whim or to seduce her.

It was probably to prove to the Crown Princess of Garkhain that he was not Prince Curtis.

He didn't even hide the color of his eyes, which were different from Curtis's, with his bangs like Harriet's, because those eyes would be crucial evidence.

But Raul still laughed frivolously.

"Why would I save Harriet in the first place?"

He tilted his head and waved one hand in the air.

"Because he is not recognized by the King of Fabrania and is being treated unfairly? No, no, that's about as common as it gets. No princess can be happy in a political marriage, and Harriet knows that's how it works."

Then he narrowed his eyes and asked sarcastically.

"There's no reason for me to save her."

"..."

Rishe said unhurriedly.

"If Harriet-sama is just not getting along with her fiancé, then maybe."

"...Hmm?"

"I found this in my bag that Harriet-sama gave me last night."

She loosened the mouth of the gunny sack so that the contents could be seen, and placed it on the table.

Raul swept his eyes over it and asked without changing his expression.

"From the looks of things, it was Harriet-sama who put this in my bag."

"I see. Are you telling me that Harriet was trying to frame you for being a thief?"

"There's no way she will discredit me. It's not worth it."

Rishe reached down and picked out a gold coin from a gunny sack.

The gold coin was shiny and mirror-like, with no signs of wear or scratches from circulation.

"I heard from the head maid that Harriet-sama's Garkhain gold was prepared by His Majesty, the King of Fabrania, and he told Harriet-sama to shop to her heart's content in Garkhain."

It sounded like the words of a man who wanted his fiancée to have as much luxury as she wanted.

But in reality, it was not.

"That being the case, this gold must have been circulated in Fabrania, across the sea, not in Garkhain, right?"

"Hmm, that's not strange. Even the port in this city has a foreign exchange office, right? In Fabrania, too, travelers and merchants from Garkhain use gold coins, which must be in circulation..."

Raul came to an abrupt halt.

"Yes. It's no wonder that gold coins used in Garkhain were eventually passed on to other countries where they were collected."

"..."

"But the gold coins here are so beautiful, they look like freshly minted coins...And there aren't that many freshly minted coins in the country."

Rishe held out the gold coin to Raul.

"Why is it that all the gold coins that must have come from Fabrania are as good as new, without a trace of circulation?"

"I don't like the sound of your question."

Raul took the coin, held it out in front of him and scrutinized it.

"You've already figured out that it's a counterfeit made in Fabrania."