Chapter 146
“And the longer we delay, the longer your absence will be. It would be much better to go quickly and return quickly.”
Finally running out of counterarguments, Einar accepted the schedule from his aide with an expression that seemed to carry the weight of the entire world’s worries.
And there was someone at the Bolshevik estate with the same feelings, though their face remained utterly expressionless.
“So you’re going to the border.”
“Yes.”
The Duke swallowed the words ‘I wish you wouldn’t go’ that had risen to the tip of his tongue.
The face of his daughter before him looked exactly like his wife’s when she had insisted they must marry, her eyes sparkling with determination.
The Duke said nothing, staring at Riina for a while before slowly, creakily, opening his arms.
His cheeks seemed to flush slightly, perhaps embarrassed by this uncharacteristic gesture, but Riina was so moved that she fought back tears as she embraced her father.
“I’ll be back.”
“Come back safely.”
The father and daughter exchanged just this one sentence each, then fell silent.
For both of them, in this moment, that was enough.
Simply knowing that his daughter wasn’t leaving for some distant place but would return home—and that she had a home to return to.
Had the Duchess Bolshevik witnessed this scene, she would have smacked them both on the back, scolding them for inheriting only this trait from each other—being so sparing with words.
After their simple embrace, father and daughter spent quite a long time sharing mundane stories of daily life.
When Riina returned to her office, she offered a faint smile to Becky, who looked on the verge of tears yet was struggling to hold them back, her chin tense like a large walnut.
“Becky, I’m counting on you while I’m gone.”
“Of course! Leave everything to me!”
Though her voice was half-muffled from her stuffed nose, Becky firmly thumped her chest.
“I’ll find out exactly what poison that shadow used. And I’ll secure that big guy before he dies or disappears!”
“Good. Jane will likely dispose of him rather than leave loose ends. From how things look, the big guy won’t readily testify to Jane’s crimes like the Third Prince’s aide, but prison would still be better than being disposed of by a woman he considered family.”
In truth, dealing with Jane now would be easier for Riina than clapping her hands.
While an heir couldn’t arbitrarily dispose of a shadow appointed by the family head—her father—she had already received permission.
So even without publicly exposing Jane’s crimes, she could simply say ‘dismiss her’ and it would be done.
But Jane had joined hands with Smith.
To remove Smith, his crimes would need to be clearly exposed, so if Jane—who had provided him with the poisoned device—escaped or went into hiding before their plan was complete, it would become troublesome.
Moreover…
“Lione.”
“Yes. I will properly help ensure their plan proceeds without a hitch.”
Their plan was so flimsy that there seemed no possibility of success.
Because of this, Einar had asked His Imperial Majesty to play along with Smith’s plan, and Riina had decided to help through Becky and Lione—from ensuring Jane safely delivered the mechanical device to Smith, to Smith’s poison acquisition, to creating favorable conditions for Smith to administer the poison during his audience with the Emperor.
They would assist in multiple ways across all aspects.
Helping those who were trying to frame and eliminate them succeed in their plans—life truly was unpredictable.
“Oh, and provide convincing evidence to frame Einar to the Third Prince’s aide. Of course…”
“I’ll make it appear to come from forces supporting the Third Prince.”
“Yes. Though I’m not sure if there’s anyone around him capable of producing such things.”
Riina listlessly looked over the list of people who flitted like bats between the Third Prince and various other princes, waiting for opportunities.
“Becky will secure the big guy, and as for the Third Prince’s aide…”
“The Second Prince’s aide has already examined him, I’m told.”
After Einar decided to deal with Smith, his aide moved with remarkable efficiency and quickness.
Like the experienced palace veteran he was, he already knew the Third Prince treated his aide harshly and had summoned him, winning him over with just a few simple words.
Smith thought he had perfect control over his aide through fear and authority, but that was merely his own delusion.
While fear is the most effective way to control people, and a prince’s authority is an area that none except the Emperor can intrude upon, Smith had failed to properly establish either.
‘I-I have a letter. It says to prepare a tool to assassinate the Emperor.’
‘He actually wrote those words in the letter?’
Though she thought he couldn’t possibly have done something so stupid, the Third Prince’s aide nodded his stretched-out turtle neck.
‘He said the commoners of Bolshevik Duchy are too dull-witted to understand unless told directly…’
Who was calling whom dull-witted?
The antics of these two people of identical caliber coming together was truly laughable beyond measure.
“Well then, both of you take care. It doesn’t matter if the tasks I’ve given you don’t work out—just live well with the mindset that you need to survive first.”
Though Einar’s presence neutralized her misfortune with his luck, Riina deliberately added this, worried that those close to her might face misfortune when she was far away.
At her sincere request, Becky and Lione exchanged glances as if they had made a prior agreement.
The person they served had some secretive aspects, but she always emphasized their well-being with almost excessive strength.
Because of this, the two had reached an implicit agreement to properly take care of themselves, if only for Riina’s sake.
Having quickly exchanged meaningful looks, they both bowed deeply in unison.
“Return safely.”
“Please return safely!”
Lione and Becky had spoken the same words simultaneously, and Becky, apparently displeased by this, gave Lione a sidelong glance.
Seeing this, Lione scratched his cheek with an awkward expression, and Riina couldn’t help but laugh at the pair.
Eventually, she patted the backs of their hands as they stood side by side and nodded calmly.
“I’ll be back.”
“We’ve arrived.”
Just as the aide who had been glaring at Einar with bone-dry eyes had assured, Riina reached the border with remarkable ease—or rather, far ahead of schedule.
Having tilted her head questioningly at the itinerary from the start, she had said while riding at full gallop toward the border:
‘Let’s hurry a bit more.’
Her voice sounded too serene to ask if she was tired or pushing herself too hard, and her cheeks remained dry without a single drop of sweat. Einar tightened his grip on the reins and increased their pace.
How long had they galloped toward the border, barely resting, never stopping at villages, camping with surprising skill?
“We’ve arrived.”
Einar nodded, his face unchanged from when they departed despite being covered in dust.
Riina looked around from horseback with a refreshed expression and said:
“As expected, there were no incidents since we avoided villages.”
At her words, Einar smiled indescribably.
For there had clearly been incidents.
For instance, a massive tree suddenly falling to block a previously clear path.
Or being caught in the middle of a territorial dispute between wolf packs in the middle of the night.
In any case, coincidences that prompted the thought ‘why is this happening?’ had frequently befallen the pair.
Yet there she was, declaring with a clear face that there had been no incidents.
As if reading his thoughts, Riina added while dusting off her dirt-covered robe:
“We didn’t have a single incident involving people. It’s fortunate no one else got caught up in anything.”
Is that fortunate? Setting himself aside, she had been caught up in those incidents too.
Thinking about it now, if she hadn’t come along as she had insisted…
Noticing Einar’s face, which seemed to have much to say, Riina quickly changed the subject.
“Before we go in, let’s look around the nearest border region.”
As she turned her horse and departed, Einar gripped his loose reins tightly and followed.
“It’s quiet. Despite being the country that coveted the most land.”
The border region they reached about ten minutes later was silent except for the intermittent sounds of insects.
“His Majesty stirred things up internally in that country first, calling them outrageous. Still, let’s take a look around.”
The two dismounted and walked toward an area that hadn’t felt human footsteps for a long time.
And just as they took a few steps—
—Whoosh.
—Thunk, thunkthunkthunk.
With a creaking, ear-grating sound of something being released, countless arrows surged toward them.
