Chapter 101

"Edwin."

Harold looked at his nephew.

It had already been a few months since he'd taken the boys in after his brother's death. To Harold's eyes, Edwin was still tiny. Even so, signs of growth were there.

Sleeves that had clearly been loose on him were starting to look short, and hair he hadn't cut once since winter had grown long enough to poke him in the eyes. There was less empty space when Harold held him like this. He'd grown taller, and put on weight along with it.

Even without parents, children grow.

"You want Uncle to get back at the bad people?"

"Yes. You promised me."

Edwin said it firmly.

His blue eyes were strangely clear. Clear as a lake you could see straight to the bottom of; deep as a sea whose floor you couldn't reach.

That blue, so like his brother's, hit Harold squarely.

"You promised."

Edwin grabbed at Harold's collar the way a child pesters for a toy.

"Bad people have to be punished."

Every so often, Edwin's face turned startlingly like his father's. Not because he didn't trust Harold.

But Edwin was—

"They have to be."

If Harold didn't do it, Edwin would find another way somehow.

Harold realized it then. This child would get what he wanted, one way or another. Just like his brother. He'd find a way. However long it took.

Another adult might soothe the child and try to give him a more peaceful childhood. His nephew was only eight. However fast he was growing, to Harold he still looked small. The moment he let the boy out of his sight, he was afraid the "bad people" would get to him.

But this child was the son of Albrecht Bertholdt, the genius of his generation. Genius parents don't guarantee a genius child, but at the very least, Albrecht had produced a son who was his mirror image. Not just in looks — inside, too.

If Harold lied here or refused, Edwin would accept it. He wouldn't hold it against him, wouldn't sulk, would just say, all right, and step back. Nor would he feel let down or come to dislike his uncle for it.

But Edwin would never come to Harold for help on this again. He'd have confirmed where Harold stood. Trying to persuade someone who'd already made up their mind would be a waste of time. Better to spend the time on something else than keep pushing at a lost cause.

Harold knew Edwin because he'd known his brother. And so he knew what to say.

Some people would object to speaking to a young child this way. Anne wouldn't like it, probably. Neither would Grisha. But Grisha, who knew Albrecht well, would understand why it was necessary.

And his brother—

"Same for me, Edwin."

His brother would have said exactly what Harold was about to.

Even after not seeing his brother for years, Harold had known Albrecht his whole life. There was no way his brother wouldn't know his own son.

Would it have been different if his sister-in-law were alive?

No. There was a reason his sister-in-law had married his brother in the end. Edgar, with his delicate, sensitive side, might have been another matter — but if she'd recognized Edwin's temperament, she'd have done the same.

"Really?"

"Yes. But, um, how to put it..."

"I can understand. I'm not a little kid."

"Yeah?"

Edwin nodded. As if to show he was serious about this, a small furrow appeared between his brows.

It only made him look more his age, but Harold didn't laugh and nodded back with the same serious face.

"Uncle wants to live with Edwin for a long, long time."

"And Edgar?"

"Edgar too, of course. Edwin, do you want to live with Uncle?"

"Yes. Edgar too!"

"Right. And to do that, Uncle can't punish the bad people alone."

Edwin's brow didn't smooth out. His face didn't change, but you could tell his mind was racing.

Even that was just like his father. Blood really did tell, it seemed.

"I get it. Everything has to be handled legally."

Even the word choice was his brother. Harold laughed softly and shifted Edwin in his arms.

"Right. So it takes time. There've been some obstacles I didn't expect, too."

"Obstacles... more bad people?"

"That's right. The bad people keep multiplying."

"So that's why it's taking so long?"

"Uncle's friends are helping, but we can't let the bad people get away, right?"

Finally the furrow between Edwin's brows eased.

"You're trying to catch them all at once?"

"At least block off their escape routes."

"Uncle Grisha's helping you too?"

"Aunt Anne is, too."

Edwin made a small sound, pursing his lips.

"Because Aunt Anne is city watch? Catching bad people is what she does anyway."

"Right."

"Then what about Adrien?"

Unlike Edwin's, Harold's face didn't ease.

He couldn't lose his temper with the boy in his arms, though. But Edwin, plastered against Harold, caught the sudden tension in his uncle's body right away.

And at the same time, Harold couldn't help knowing Edwin had noticed. Because that small furrow reappeared on the boy's face.

"You said the bad people keep multiplying?"

"Someone got in the way?"

"Yes. That's why it's taking time."

"Okay. It's not your fault, Uncle, so it's all right."

Edwin spoke with grown-up composure.

"I want you to hurry up and punish the one who hurt Edgar, and the one who made things hard for Dad, too."

There wasn't a hint of disappointment in his face as he went on.

"But I want Uncle to be safe too."

"...Edwin."

"That's the most important thing. Edgar thinks so too."

"..."

"I'd hate it even more if Uncle got hurt punishing bad people. You promised you'd come back."

"Of course. Uncle will always come back."

"You can't get hurt."

Too smart a child. Smart enough to worry about things a child his age shouldn't have to worry about.

"Promise me, Uncle."

An ache rose in Harold's chest, and his arms tightened around his nephew. This time, instead of looking up worriedly, Edwin caught Harold's face firmly between both hands.

"No matter what happens, you have to come back."

Harold knew how meaningless such a promise was. He'd seen countless people promise to come back to the ones they loved and never make it home.

He also knew there were things a person's will alone couldn't decide.

But whatever else, he couldn't tell Edwin the truth about this one. And he didn't think a child as clever as his brother wouldn't already know it.

Harold looked at Edwin's hair, mussed from lying down. He carefully brushed the strands falling into his eyes off to the side. The hair sliding between his fingers was as fragile as the boy's touch.

"Uncle will always come back. I promised."

"If you don't, I'm coming after you."

"Even if it takes time, like punishing the bad people, I'll come back for sure."

Edwin gripped Harold's clothes hard enough to leave creases.

Watching him, Harold laughed to himself, at a loss. He hadn't yet told him he'd have to go up to the capital and spend some time apart.

Would the boys let him go?

---

One week earlier.

Two days before the train to Arnmolt.

"Sir Bertholdt. A letter has arrived."

"'Sir Bertholdt,' all of a sudden?"

Anne shrugged and grinned mischievously.

"Out of respect for the northern base?"

"Save that for our commander."

"I did, of course. But you too, senior — once things settle down, aren't you supposed to take on some post in the capital? That's a promotion, isn't it?"

"It is, but..."

They called it a promotion, but it didn't really feel like one. It wasn't as if he'd earned it through some achievement — a promotion just for being stationed in the capital?

It was for appearances' sake, while he was in the capital. If anything came up, a higher rank made things easier to handle, and it kept people from treating him carelessly.

It was also a consideration from the commander. Given the current situation in the capital, having more cards in hand was better in every way. A big part of why Harold, who would normally have refused the promotion just to avoid the extra trouble, had accepted it without a word.

"So. What kind of letter brings the inspector out to deliver it in person?"

"Here you go."

A letter that had arrived at the Bertholdt estate. Security wasn't as tight as before, but the city watch was still keeping an eye on the empty building.

Not many letters came to the Bertholdt estate. Harold snatched the letter out of Anne's hand at once. There was a letter he'd been waiting for, and it was the reason his trip down to the Reichnek domain had kept getting pushed back.

He couldn't put it off any longer, and had gotten train tickets for two days out — but he'd been hoping a letter might come before then.

On the envelope was the seal Harold had been waiting for.

A ship rising over the horizon. A Casablanca lily on the sail.

The seal of the Barbosa family.

Harold read the letter right away. Anne looked curious, but she didn't disturb him.

The letter wasn't long. After staring at the short letter for a while, Harold handed it to Anne with a complicated expression.

"Uh, are you sure it's all right for me to read it?"

"Go ahead."

"Then I won't hold back."

Anne read the letter at once.

"Hmm..."

Her face turned as complicated as Harold's.

"They followed up after being contacted and found out he had gambling debts? Several of the employees who were close with Renard were mixed up in it too..."

"And there's a record of deposits from an unknown source."

"They're still investigating, but wanted to pass the news along in the meantime... senior, how much of this can you trust?"

"You know the Barbosa family better than I do. You were the one who was close with my sister-in-law."

"That's true, but..."

Anne stared at the letter as if staring hard enough might change the words on it.

"Cecilia never really cared about the family. She wasn't on bad terms with them or anything, but... the distance is far, and the current head of the family is her cousin, right?"

"Right. It went to him after her older brother died."

"She used to say she wasn't interested in running the trading company. That anyone inheriting from her would be lucky just to keep it from going under."

If she'd cared about that side of things, she'd have thrown herself into the trade long ago. Cecilia Barbosa had loved her research.

"The current head has no reason to harm the Bertholdt family."

"They're not close relatives either. Don't take offense — but if the whole Bertholdt family were gone, what happens to the assets?"

Harold stroked his jaw.

"The remaining relatives... if the Barbosa family were Alharn nobility, it might have gone to them. But they're overseas, and even if they naturalized in Alharn now, the title and everything else wouldn't go their way."

"Right. So even if the Barbosa family sent Adrien Renard on purpose, there's nothing to be gained by it. Not that we can see, anyway."

Harold took the letter back from Anne.

The short letter closed with a promise to reach out again if anything new came up, since they were investigating alongside the local authorities.

Intelligence had sent someone too. If the Barbosa family were lying, Intelligence was more likely than Harold to catch it.

Harold tucked the letter away and got up.

"I should talk to Grisha."