Chapter 235: We Have Returned
“This is… the study of the villa. Have I returned?”
In an unfamiliar place, where he had been conversing with a high school girl in what seemed to be a rural town in Japan, Rest suddenly found himself back in his original location. Clutched in his hand was an old wooden box. The open door revealed nothing inside; it was completely empty.
“This isn’t a dream… is it?”
Was it merely an illusion? At the very least, it couldn’t have happened in reality.
“Queen Dowager… no, Shoko…”
“Rest-san, is something the matter?”
A voice called from the hallway. Turning around, he saw Celestine peering into the room.
“That box is… empty, isn’t it? I wonder what was inside?”
“Celestine, how much time has passed since then?”
“How much time… I apologize, but I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“Um… I was asking how long it has been since you left the room.”
When Rest rephrased his question, Celestine, though puzzled, answered him.
“I left the room only about five minutes ago. I went to check the basement, and it seemed to be a storage area for food and such. It has already been cleared out, leaving only empty wooden boxes and burlap sacks.”
“I see…”
He had felt as though they had been talking for at least thirty minutes, yet it appeared that only five minutes had actually passed. Perhaps time flowed differently in that place, making him feel like a character from a tale of Urashima Taro.
“…If there was nothing in the basement, then it seems this villa holds nothing of value. Shall we leave?”
According to Shoko, the Queen Dowager had spent her final years in this villa without any deep intentions; she simply wished to spend her last moments in a place reminiscent of her homeland from her previous life. If that was the case, then there was unlikely to be anything more precious than this wooden box left behind. Rest closed the empty box and returned it to the drawer.
“Let’s leave the villa as it is, until the time it naturally decays.”
“…If that is what you wish, then so be it. This land already belongs to you, Rest-sama. Please do as you please.”
“Ah… then let’s head back. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”
For Rest, discovering the Queen Dowager’s intentions regarding Rodel’s education and the existence of a secret society opposing the Council of Sages had been a fruitful endeavor. However, Celestine had merely accompanied him and had gained nothing from it. He felt a twinge of guilt.
“It’s no trouble at all… I too have been a burden,” she replied.
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
“I believe that I, or rather the Royal Family and the Crocus Duke House, will continue to trouble you, Rest-sama. Considering that, this level of inconvenience is quite minor.”
Having demonstrated results in numerous battles, Rest could no longer claim to be uninvolved in central politics. From now on, he would likely be burdened with issues that could affect the nation.
“If there’s anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask in the future. That would be much easier for me,” she said.
“…I’ll do my best.”
Rest shrugged at Celestine’s words.
Being approached with problems from the Royal Family was not something he desired, yet it was Rest who had wished for advancement. If he truly wanted to live a mundane life, he should have never enrolled in the Royal Academy or distanced himself from the Marquis’s Sisters.
(I chose to rise up, knowing full well the responsibilities that come with privilege. It’s selfish to want to avoid the duties that accompany it, isn’t it?)
As he pondered this, Rest left the villa where the Queen Dowager had spent her final moments.