“The reason I don’t remember the photo’s detailed information is…”
Posha swallowed dryly once and spoke.
“It’s because the photo was stored in a special way.”
“A special way?”
“Princess, are you familiar with magic using photos? It’s a magic that uses a special solution…”
At this moment, Posha recalled the information she had heard from Hayes.
Posha explained to the Princess in detail the method Christine used to store the photo.
“…So, it was disguised as a fan letter. For a full five years. If you haven’t looked at a photo for five whole years, isn’t it natural for memories like what was in the photo to become hazy?”
The Princess hesitated for a moment, then whispered something to the interpreter.
“The Princess says it doesn’t seem like you are lying.”
Posha’s face lit up as she jerked her head up.
“…Then!”
“However, she says that if what you say is true, you have no value to her.”
“Huh?”
The interpreter spoke in a solemn tone, like a judge.
“You don’t have the photo in your possession now, and you don’t properly remember its contents or the circumstances from five years ago. The Princess says someone like you is useless.”
“That’s…! Then, what about promising to protect me? You said you’d help me!”
Posha desperately shouted and grabbed the interpreter’s arm, but the interpreter roughly shook her off.
The slender Posha was pushed away and let out a sharp scream.
Just as she was about to say something with a pitiful expression.
[Christine, where on earth did that woman go?!]
[There was a witness, boss! She must be somewhere in this alley!]
A booming voice echoed through the pipes.
Posha trembled with an uneasy expression.
“Wilhelm’s people are already here…!”
Once again, Posha looked back at the Princess with imploring eyes.
The Princess merely watched Posha with an amused expression.
“…How cruel. You’re no different from Wilhelm!”
Posha, crying out like a tragic heroine, pulled down her ragged-looking hat and hurriedly ran to escape the alleyway.
-Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
The Princess just stared at Posha’s retreating back, looking entertained.
However, there was one thing the Princess missed.
Behind the tinted glasses, Posha’s ice-blue eyes were sparkling with the joy of having accomplished her goal.
*
Suddenly, something cold touched the back of Posha’s neck as she ran.
“Eek!”
“Shh! Shh! Miss Posha, it’s me! Hayes!”
“Ah… Mr. Hayes.”
I quickly pulled her up with my cane, lifting her onto the top of the wall, and apologized.
“Sorry for lifting you up suddenly. I was worried you might be being chased by the Princess, so I was in a hurry.”
“No, it’s fine. There won’t be any pursuit. I made it look like I was abandoned, not that I escaped. But…”
Posha looked down from the top of the wall and asked in a trembling voice.
“Did you just pull me up here? With that cane?”
“Ah, it seems people here have a certain fixed idea.”
I answered cheerfully.
I was happy to finally be able to show a detective-like side.
“They seem to think you can’t get over a wall taller than a person. So I thought I’d use that prejudice to help you escape.”
“That’s not what I was asking…”
“Huh?”
“No, it’s nothing. Thank you for helping me.”
Posha expressed her gratitude with a pale face.
It was worth it, lying in wait on top of the wall and snatching her up.
But we couldn’t stay on the wall for long.
It seemed Posha was afraid of heights.
I jumped down to the other side of the wall first, then caught her.
Posha only let out a sigh of relief once her feet touched the ground.
“If you’re afraid of heights, you should have said so earlier.”
Posha looked at me with eyes full of things to say, but she didn’t say anything.
Well, I didn’t really give her a chance to speak.
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe, Miss Posha. That’s the biggest gain from this meeting.”
Of course, the next biggest gain was about the Princess.
‘How could the Princess know such detailed information about the photo?’
It was a photo Christine had kept all along.
And she had disguised it as a fan letter in the opera house’s waiting room.
Yet the Princess knew what was in the photo with strangely precise detail.
‘But, for that, it was subtly off.’
The Princess said Wilhelm’s son was holding nine daffodils.
And the photo really did have nine daffodils in it.
But upon closer look, those flowers were simply in a vase on the side table next to the sofa.
They weren’t in Wilhelm’s son’s hand.
There was also the matter of the uninvited guest.
The Princess said an uninvited guest was in the photo.
But no matter how much I looked, no one other than Christine and Wilhelm was visible in the photo.
‘Just how did she obtain the photo’s information to cause such discrepancies?’
Another mystery had been added to the problematic photo.
“Are you satisfied with just that much of a gain?”
“…?”
I turned my head to see Posha smiling confidently.
“A moment ago, I was the Capital’s popular opera singer, Miss Christine. Opera singer Miss Christine didn’t understand the language of the Eastern Allied Kingdom, but Balthazar is different.”
Could it be?
“You can speak the Eastern Allied language?”
“Thanks to that, I could understand everything the Princess said without the interpreter.”
If the interpreter’s words and the Princess’s had completely matched, there would have been no need for her to say this.
“What did the Princess say?”
I asked urgently.
“When I said Janus took the photo from me, the Princess confidently said she could get her hands on it before the Grand Duke’s son, right?”
“Yes. I remember.”
“Then she added, since she’d already succeeded once, a second time should be easy.”
Already succeeded once…?
“And she called the photo in question ‘the other half.’ She said she needed to get the other half to complete it.”
“……!”
I realized.
The reason I couldn’t find anything special no matter how much I looked at the photo.
‘That one photo alone wasn’t enough.’
There are two pieces of evidence in this case.
Each piece of evidence was useless on its own.
Only when the two are combined do they become complete evidence.
Like a locked safe and its combination.
“Hearing that, I think I also understand why the photo became a problem after five years.”
Posha said.
“The Grand Duke’s son had the other half of the evidence stolen by the Princess.”
‘Ah! That’s right!’
Posha was correct.
Wilhelm’s son threatening Christine to hand over the photo.
That started when marriage talks began between the Grand Duke’s son and the Princess of the Allied Kingdom.
‘Actually, at that time, half of the evidence had already passed into the Princess’s hands.’
Wilhelm became desperate.
Afraid the remaining evidence would also fall into the Princess’s hands.
That’s why he belatedly tried to destroy the evidence.
“It seems our next target has been decided.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
The half of the evidence the Princess is said to have.
We had to confirm it.
‘I already have half the evidence in my hand. It’s not just the Princess who can complete the evidence.’
Just as I was calming my racing heart while thinking about our future goal.
“But Mr. Hayes, what was that sound about?”
Posha asked me.
“Huh? Sound?”
“Yes. You made it sound like the Herbert Clan was chasing Miss Christine from beyond the pipes, right? To give me a natural excuse to run out. But I’m curious how you could make that sound from beyond the pipes and wait for me on top of this wall at the same time.”
Posha stopped walking and looked at me with an astonished gaze.
“Don’t tell me… you didn’t warp here immediately after making the sound and climb up the wall, did you? Thinking about the time, that should be physically impossible?”
“Haha, what do you take me for? Of course it’s possible.”
“Really?!”
“No.”
I’m human too.
There’s no way it’s possible.
“I rushed here as soon as I saw you being interrogated suspiciously by the Princess. If there was a sound that helped you escape safely, it must have been made by someone else.”
“Someone else?”
“There’s someone with much more talent for vocal mimicry than me, right?”
We happened to arrive at our destination.
As if he had heard our presence, he spoke in a voice tinged with complaint.
“Mr. Hayes. What were you going to do, running off like that alone?”
That uniquely gentle, androgynous voice.
It was Walter.
“Mr. Walter!”
Posha ran toward Walter as if moved.
And then she immediately hugged him.
“I told you! Not to go! In there! You idiot! I told you to just run away!”
“Ow! Ow! Ouch! That hurts, Miss Posha!”
…No, was it not moved but a beating?
Looking now, it wasn’t a hug either.
‘A pro is different. First, she immobilizes him so he can’t run, then beats him up.’
The fact that she was aiming for his back, avoiding his injuries, was probably her kindness.
I shouted to Posha as if reporting him.
“Hit him more, Miss Posha! This guy, he came to his senses in the middle but kept pretending to be unconscious!”
“What?!”
“Eek, Mr. Hayes! You said you’d forgive me for that!”
“I forgave you. But will Miss Posha forgive you?”
Thinking about it again, I was so angry I couldn’t stand it.
How could someone do that?!
*
I found out Walter had woken up about an hour ago.
Posha had already left for the meeting place in disguise, and I was also preparing to go out.
“Mr. Hayes. Could you get me a glass of water?”
“…Mr. Walter?!”
I couldn’t help but be startled.
Walter, who had been unconscious the whole time, spoke to me in such a clear voice.
When I hurriedly ran to the bedroom, Walter was sitting up on the bed.
“Thank you. I think I might live now.”
After taking a sip of water, even his hoarse voice returned to normal.
You couldn’t tell he was someone who had been unconscious and hovering between life and death just moments before.
“I thought about it, and it seems better for me to go with you, Mr. Hayes. Since it’s a fairly dangerous plan, it would be good to have support personnel. So, will you take me? I still can’t move without support, though.”
It was a statement that was hard to believe came from someone unaware of the situation.
“Mr. Walter. Just when did you regain consciousness?”
“It’s ambiguous to say from when. I kept waking up and falling back asleep intermittently.”
“Then what do you remember?”
“Well. That Mr. Hayes carried me in a handcart to an illegal hospital run by a strange old man called Beetle, then, evading pursuers, carried me like a princess and ran to lay me on the bed in this hideout?”
That’s pretty much everything!
“Ah. I also heard about impersonating Miss Christine to negotiate with the Princess. That’s this plan, right?”
Walter smiled faintly, but I wasn’t in the mood to humor him.
“Were you in a state where you couldn’t express yourself? I mean, a state where you couldn’t even blink an eye.”
“No. I didn’t try to open my eyes, but if I had tried, I could have opened them anytime. I probably could have spoken or moved lightly too. I couldn’t have walked, though.”
His calm tone made me feel like my insides were going to explode.
“Then why did you keep pretending to be dead?!”
“Well… because the Grand Duke’s goal was to interrogate me.”
Walter said softly, lowering his eyes.
“If I were found conscious, I’d face all sorts of torture and threats, but if I were found in a state of feverish suffering and unconscious? Wouldn’t he first order a doctor to treat me? Not only would my body be more comfortable, but it would also be easier to look for a chance to escape again. With luck, I might even obtain important information.”
The implication of his words grated on my nerves.
“You thought I wouldn’t be able to protect you from the Grand Duke?”
“No. More than that… I thought you’d leave me behind.”
His tone was so cold it was hard to believe he was talking about himself.
“My utility value to Mr. Hayes was close to zero, wasn’t it? The information you could get from me wasn’t great, and your detective skills are similar to or better than mine… Why would you need to run from pursuers carrying a useless, heavy burden?”
Walter grinned.
“Hmm, so me pretending to be unconscious was also for you, Mr. Hayes. Whether I’m conscious or not, a burden is a burden, but wouldn’t it be less guilt-inducing for you to abandon an unconscious burden?”
“I don’t know what you thought of me. Weren’t you the one who asked me for help?”
“That… I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t in my right mind then, my consciousness was hazy.”
“That was probably the only time you were in your right mind.”
I said bluntly.
“I’ll try to understand you pretending to be dead while being chased by the Grand Duke. Then what’s the reason for pretending not to regain consciousness even after entering this hideout?”
“I told you. My utility value to Mr. Hayes was close to zero.”
With sunken eyes, Walter said.
“There’s no such thing as goodwill without reason in this world, yet Mr. Hayes risked his life to protect and move this useless burden to a hideout. I couldn’t move recklessly until I figured out the reason or at least recovered enough to move freely.”
He was pretending to be unconscious, not even properly drinking water, and he talks about recovering on his own.
“So, why did you reveal you’re awake now?”
I asked, wondering how far he would go.
“Which of the two conditions was met for you to speak to me?”
“The former. If Mr. Hayes has been chasing Wilhelm’s son from the start, then my initial deduction that my information would be worthless was wrong. Also, you helped me and gained Miss Posha’s favor, right? If Mr. Hayes’s goal is to reveal Wilhelm’s son’s identity, Balthazar will be a useful card.”
I wanted to shut that mouth with my finger.
“You’re wrong.”
I couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke.
“You seem to think I’m some amazing detective, but I’m not that smart of a person.”
“…?!”
Enough with the plausible detective act.
If I endure more of this provocation, I’m a fool.
“I’m not as cold and calculating as you, Mr. Walter. I’m not objective either. I don’t know how to calculate pros and cons, figuring out what’s beneficial in an emergency situation.”
Calculating whether saving Walter would be beneficial to me in that short time?
I’m not that kind of quick-thinking guy.
“Do you want to say you saved me out of pure goodwill? Taking on all the risk?”
“It seems you’re not that smart either, Mr. Walter. I just told you. I’m not that good at thinking on my feet.”
I didn’t save him after calculating how much risk saving him would entail either.
So, what I did was just the natural thing.
A very simple, brute-force decision even a child or an animal could make.
“How can you turn a blind eye when someone you know asks for help and collapses bleeding right in front of you?”
There was no special reason for Walter to have agonized so fiercely on this bed.
“I helped because you asked for help.”
That was all.