Rumble, rumble.
The train swayed, the landscape outside blurring past. As they drew closer to their destination, the lush greenery was erased by a blinding white, revealing a world that looked like a clean, blank sheet of paper.
Using the sound of Lure’s snoring from the seat ahead as background noise, I leaned my head against the window, closed my eyes, and recalled the events of this morning.
“I’ve been wronged! If it’s money the owner doesn’t even know about, I should be allowed to have it!”
Naturally, Bernard’s excuse failed to move anyone.
Bound tightly, Bernard was handed over to the officer stationed at the train station.
With the guardian’s seat now vacant, a problem could have arisen with the wedding procedures, but fortunately, this party had another guardian ready.
Now, I, Haze, was Marie’s sole and legitimate guardian. I had gained the formal qualification to involve myself in the marriage.
“Haaa…”
Even though everything had been resolved, sighs kept escaping me.
One particular sentence from Bernard’s testimony, something passed over as trivial, weighed on my mind.
“Those guys weren’t even like real coachmen. They didn’t have any professional knowledge at all!”
‘Right. Now that I think about it, something was strange.’
Let us assume providing a guide and escort was a gesture of the Archduke’s goodwill. But why would he send as many as seven coachmen from the North?
‘It’s not like the carriage was going all the way to the North.’
It would have been more rational for the coachmen hired by the Baron’s house to bring the carriage to the station and then take the empty carriage back.
‘This irrational staffing must be because they weren’t coachmen to begin with.’
They hadn’t been tasked with driving the carriage, but with another duty entirely. For example, a duty like attacking Marie in the middle of the night.
‘This is a worse situation than I anticipated.’
I had thought the Archduke might be a killer, but I assumed he was a lone wolf. It was hard to imagine a serial killer who murdered indiscriminately having accomplices.
Even until right after the attack, my suspicions had leaned in a different direction.
‘I even thought that his subordinates, having discovered the Archduke was Taylor John, might be trying to secretly smuggle the bride away to save her.’
Thinking back on it now, it was a truly embarrassing delusion. Every single one of them was a cold-blooded accomplice of the Archduke.
‘There are ten accomplices of the Archduke right here.’
It wouldn’t be strange if one or two more were added to that number. Surely, among the people we would meet in the Archduchy, there would be more blackened criminals.
‘Can I truly protect Marie until the end in the midst of all these enemies?’
It was frustrating, but I lacked confidence.
“Sir Haze, why do you have such a serious expression?”
Unlike me, who was drowning in worry, Marie was perfectly bright.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s a shame about my uncle, but regardless, we found the Baron’s marriage certificate, didn’t we? We’re already halfway there.”
Marie laughed, fluttering the piece of paper.
“Now, once we find the Archduke’s marriage certificate, we can nullify this marriage!”
“Ah, right. If we just find one more marriage certificate…”
Then I would be able to send Marie back home.
“Marie. When we arrive at the Archduchy, let’s make finding that certificate our top priority.”
“Of course!”
“And once we find it, you go back home immediately.”
“What? But… that’s different from what we promised.”
I could guess what she wanted to say. She wanted to ask what would happen to the investigation of the Archduke and Elise’s revenge if she left like that.
“I’ll figure out the rest somehow, so once you find the certificate, return to the capital with Lure. The situation is worse than I thought.”
At my firm words, Marie seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and lowered her voice.
“The situation is bad…? Is the Archduke on this train? Is Taylor John hiding in here?”
“No, it’s not that. But it’s more dangerous than that.”
Until now, I hadn’t been able to tell her the truth.
I didn’t want to make her anxious prematurely, and I didn’t know what might happen if Marie, knowing the truth, couldn’t control her facial expressions.
But we were about to arrive in the North, and Marie needed to be prepared for the danger.
“Listen closely, Marie. Last night, there were no intruders from the outside.”
“What? But someone clearly attacked the carriage — “
“They did. But the one clutching the area where I hit him the next morning was Mr. Clinet, and the one who threw the broken oil lamp into the forest was Mr. Jackson.”
This was a fact discovered by my capable assistant on my behalf, since I could not see clearly.
“Don’t trust anyone, Marie. Assume everyone is your enemy.”
As if slowly processing the information, Marie’s complexion grew pale. Just as Marie opened her lips to say something —
*Sliding sound!*
The rear door of the first-class carriage opened.
“I apologize if I am interrupting your rest.”
A particularly tall and thin shadow. A familiar voice.
The uninvited guest was none other than Lyman.
“May I borrow Haze for a moment? We have something urgent to discuss.”
Perhaps because of the conversation we just had, Marie’s eyes wavered anxiously. I assessed the situation.
‘This is the first-class carriage. Ahead of us are only the captain’s office and the engine room.’
I had already confirmed before departure that the engineer was a man without a shadow, a clean individual. In other words, there was no way for an uninvited guest to enter except through the door where Lyman stood.
“…I’ll go talk with Lyman for a moment.”
At my words, Marie responded with pale lips.
“Take care, Sir Haze.”
I followed Lyman to the rear of the train.
—
*Rumble, rumble.*
The train swayed lightly.
In the rear carriage where I followed Lyman…
Unexpectedly, there was nothing but empty seats.
“Where are the others?”
“They’re all in the next carriage and the one after that. There are several second-class carriages.”
“I see.”
I had heard that this train itself was an express specially arranged for our party. Since we were the only passengers, it didn’t matter how we sat.
“I asked everyone to clear out for a bit.”
“…Why?”
“Well, I wanted to have a quiet chat with you, but I figured our loyal Sir Haze wouldn’t want to be far from the lady.”
It was likely a joke, but it sounded like a taunt.
“And most of all — “
The shadow dragged his words meaningfully.
“If other people were near the lady, you’d be on guard, wouldn’t you?”
“……”
‘Is he testing me?’
It was a step late, but I had to react now.
“…Ah, was it that obvious?”
I let out an awkward laugh and said, “My nerves must be frayed because of the attack last night. My body just tenses up whenever anyone gets near Miss Marie.”
“I thought so. You’ve been carrying a lot of tension in your shoulders for a while now.”
The shadow spoke with a laugh, but his words had a sharp edge.
“So it’s not that I did something wrong and you were avoiding me? I was worried because it felt like you’d been dodging me since this morning.”
“You did do something wrong.”
“What? Me? What did I do?”
“Even now, you’re offending my eyes with that filthy beard. Shave it off. I can’t stand looking at it.”
When I cracked a joke as usual, he laughed.
Haha. Hahaha.
The smooth black face, devoid of a beard, eyes, or a nose, was laughing.
“Ugh, what an eyesore.”
I spoke playfully and turned my head away entirely.
*Rumble, rumble.*
The train swayed violently.
“So, Lyman. What exactly did you call me out here to talk about?”
“Ah, I wanted to tell you how impressed I was by this morning’s incident.”
By this morning’s incident, did he mean catching Bernard?
“It was a truly magnificent deduction. It sent chills down my spine. You seemed just like a famous detective active in the capital.”
“…Thanks for the compliment. I wouldn’t go that far, though.”
“No need to be modest. Saving Miss Marie last night was also very impressive.”
Unintentionally, I turned my head and looked directly at him.
The black shadow was staring intently at me.
“You really are something else…”
*Jolt!*
My heart surged along with the swaying train.
‘Did I raise his guard too much?’
I had tried to lower his suspicion by wearing those sparkly clothes, but because of the incidents that happened back-to-back last night and this morning, all that effort had been for nothing.
“I’m curious about your identity, Haze.”
“You already know. I’m Haze. Just an ordinary person who has a bit of a connection with Miss Marie.”
“For an ordinary person, you’re quite good at deducing things.”
“I’m an ordinary person who is just a bit good at deducing things.”
“There was a pile of newspapers to read on the train. I found your name in a short article published a while ago. It said ‘Detective Haze’.”
“Must be someone with the same name.”
“Is Haze such a common name?”
‘Continuing to make excuses is pointless.’
No matter how much I tried to explain, an opponent who had begun to suspect wouldn’t simply drop it.
If that was the case, I might as well be bold.
“Do I really seem that much like a detective?”
“Yes.”
“Then, would you like to hear a deduction of mine, assuming I am a detective?”
The shadow tilted its head as if intrigued.
“What deduction?”
“A deduction about His Grace the Archduke’s true identity.”
“……”
“He’s suspicious to anyone’s eyes. Isn’t that right?”
Everyone knew the Archduke was suspicious.
Was he not the Archduke who was holding his third wedding in a single year, after two brides had died in succession?
“Throughout the journey, I wondered what identity His Grace was hiding. I’ve made my own deductions. In my opinion, the Archduke is actually…”
I leaned toward the shadow and whispered secretly. I could feel the shadow tensing up.
“A vampire, perhaps?”
“…What?”
“Or maybe he’s a werewolf.”
The shadow let out a hollow laugh.
“I didn’t realize you were into the occult.”
“It’s fun, the occult.”
I gave a light shrug.
“I’ve imagined that His Grace is a vampire who bathes in blood every night, or a werewolf who loses his reason every full moon. Imagination is free, isn’t it? Oh, Lyman. You’re not going to go and tell anyone I said this, are you?”
“Well, sure… we’re friends, so I’ll stay loyal.”
“Haha, thanks. Anyway, I’ve had all sorts of imaginations, but every time I realize one fact, the fantasy shatters. It takes the fun out of it.”
A formal question followed.
“And what is that fact?”
“The fact that no matter what kind of monster the Archduke is, his closest confidants couldn’t possibly not know.”
“……”
I looked straight at the shadow and spoke.
“The fact that unless those confidants have given up on being human, there’s no way they would hunt humans alongside him under the cover of his shadow, rather than exposing the monster.”
“……”
“Because of that obvious fact, my imagination keeps hitting a wall. Well, I guess that’s how all delusions end. Isn’t that right?”
I shrugged and acted nonchalant.
‘I hope he gives this some serious thought.’
It was a provocative statement, but also an attempt at persuasion.
I hoped he would feel shame rather than anger at my words. I hoped he would turn back and remain a friend.
‘I really hope so.’
“I think I’ve said everything I wanted to, so I’ll be going now.”
I intended to give him some time to think alone.
However.
“Well, your imagination seems a bit too narrow-minded.”
The shadow’s words caught my ankle.
“Couldn’t there be another possibility?”
“…Another possibility?”
“Maybe that monster is a monster who treats his own people well?”
*Rumble, rumble!*
The swaying of the train made my stomach churn.
“Shall I tell you an interesting story, Haze?”
The shadow spoke in a benevolent voice.
“In my hometown where I grew up, there’s a legend about a Forest Spirit. The spirit is kind to those who know the rules of the forest. If you offer a sacrifice, he helps you hunt, and if you’re lost, he shows you the way. Outsiders who recklessly step into the forest without knowing the rules are devoured by the spirit, but that can’t be helped, right?”
“……”
“With their blood and flesh, the village prospers even more.”
The story ended meaningfully, leaving my mind in a mess.
‘A village that prospers on the blood and flesh of outsiders…’
In that moment, what came to mind was the massive dowry sent by Baron Mangel. More than six carriages. The sight of them overflowing with gold, jewels, and silk.
Did that golden light blind them?
In any case, it seemed clear that Lyman had no intention of repenting.
‘…No, wait.’
Something was strange.
‘Why is he telling me this?’
Lyman did not seem like he intended to betray the Archduke. He was even wary of the deductive skills I had shown.
So why did he bring up such a dangerous topic so readily?
Just as I was about to quietly return, why now?
*Jolt!*
The train surged again. At the sudden movement, I unintentionally lost my balance and staggered.
“Whoops, be careful.”
The shadow grabbed my arm.
I should have thanked him —
In an instant, a scene from last night flashed through my mind. Lyman’s hand grabbing my wrist just as I was about to rush out.
“…!”
Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that? It’s the same as yesterday. This guy was trying to keep me here!
I shoved Lyman away.
Then I immediately ran toward the front carriage of the train.
*Bang!*
“Guys!”
“Sir Haze! Did something happen?!”
“Eek! Uh, Master?”
Marie jumped up, worried about me. Lure peeked out with a bewildered face, as if he hadn’t fully woken up.
“Did anything happen to you guys? No one intruded?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Why are you acting like this, Master?”
“……”
Was I just overreacting?
“No, it’s nothing. Sorry. I think the train swayed so much it startled me.”
“The train swayed?”
But then Lure, whose face was still full of sleepiness, tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand at all.
“The train has been running very smoothly. I was thinking it’s the perfect gentle sway for dozing off.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
No matter how distracted I might have been, I was a healthy adult male. It was a sway so violent that I had trouble standing straight, so there was no way they wouldn’t have felt it…
‘…Wait. Could it be?’
At a sudden thought, I looked back at the door I had just entered. Beyond the open door, I could see the door leading into the second-class carriage.
Between those doors, a coupler was installed to connect the train carriages…
‘The coupler… it’s about to fall off!’
*Screeeech!!*
Because of the loose coupler, the rear carriage would lag behind and then be jerked forward repeatedly. Every time that happened, the metals of the coupler collided, sending sparks flying.
It looked precarious, as if it could snap at any moment.
“Lure! Call a steward, call a steward! It’s an emergency!”
“Ack! Yes, Master!”
The steward soon ran out and checked the situation.
Before long, a technician rushed over, flustered, carrying tools.
The train made an emergency stop.
Fortunately, it seemed we hadn’t passed the golden hour yet. The technician finished the repairs on the spot and wiped away his sweat.
“Phew, that was close! The carriage almost separated!”
“We are truly sorry, valued customer! I don’t know why such an accident occurred.”
An accident? No way.
‘He tried to intentionally disconnect the carriage.’
So that only Marie and Lure, who were in the first-class carriage, would arrive at the Archduchy. He intended to trade me, a target of suspicion, for everyone else and keep me stranded.
“……”
I stared silently at the door leading to the second-class carriage. That door, which I hadn’t closed, but was now firmly shut.
*Pshhh! Hiss!*
As if nothing had happened, the train began to move, emitting white steam. A few hours later, the train sliced through the snowfields and reached its destination.
Finally, we were in the Archduchy.