On that day, the owner of the carriage rental shop was in high spirits.
"I'll unload the finest white horse and the platinum carriage!"
It was only natural. Although the baron's family was of the lower nobility, they were the lords of the Shadelan territory. With the eldest daughter's wedding, this would undoubtedly be a once-in-a-lifetime big job.
However, when the baron visited the shop and heard the price, he said this:
"---Ridiculous. If it were for a pre-engagement viewing dress, I could understand, but why spend so much on transportation? The cheapest carriage and driver will do."
At the sound of his voice, Jacob, who was cleaning up the horse droppings, raised his head. If it was a cheap job, it would be Jacob's turn. However, the owner hurriedly refused.
"That would be a small cargo cart where you can barely stretch your body. It will be very bumpy, and it would be too harsh for the young lady."
"It doesn't matter. The inn fees will be saved if we sleep on the cargo bed at night."
"That's impossible. Even the driver would ruin his body after four days on the ground."
"Let Anastasia sleep on the cargo bed with me."
"…My lord, all of my drivers are men?"
The owner, who was usually very concerned about making money, frowned and groaned. He recalled that the owner's daughter had apparently gotten a boyfriend, which he had lamented. Even without that, it was a normal reaction.
Especially for the baron's daughter, especially on the day of her wedding.
However, the Baron of Shadelan snorted.
"It doesn't matter. If it's too cramped to sleep, let Anastasia sleep on the ground. It would be more troublesome if the driver, rather than the luggage, falls ill. ---Just make sure there's no accident, alright?"
On the day of the event... in the end, thanks to the owner's arrangement, a slightly better covered carriage was prepared. The driver was still Jacob.
"Jacob, you better not lay a hand on any more customers. Especially the daughter of the lord. This time, it won't just be a matter of getting fired."
The owner, who was nastily hammering this point home. If he had just sat on the driver's seat, it would have been fine, Jacob thought, but he let it slide.
When Miss Anastasia saw the dirty carriage and the foreign driver, she was understandably a bit surprised. But she didn't complain and got in silently.
Jacob was curious.
The second daughter of the Shadelan family was famously a "ragged girl."
On the other hand, her sister Anastasia was said to be beautiful and loved by everyone. However, it was hard to believe. Anastasia was indeed beautiful, but it didn't seem like she was loved by her parents.
Anastasia, sitting on the hard wooden floor of the bumpy carriage, was expressionless like a doll, not even pouting. Jacob tried speaking to her in a casual tone.
"Hey, are you thirsty? Want some water?"
A normal noble would have been furious at this. But the young lady only frowned for a moment.
"…Thank you for your concern. I am fine."
She even smiled faintly.
Jacob tried a few more rude remarks. He called her by her name, as if it were out of affection, and frankly evaluated her appearance—mainly her figure—and mocked her.
He also asked impertinent questions. She didn't answer most of them, but she didn't get angry. When asked if she was a virgin, she only bowed her head in silence.
Jacob's doubts were cleared.
---So, this girl is just a puppet, living only to obey her parents, just as she looks like one?---
A noble daughter cannot defy the marriage arranged by her parents. Political marriages are the norm, and it's impossible for a lower noble to break them. A huge breach of contract fee would be required, and in some cases, the family could be dissolved.
It was clear that the baron's family was in financial trouble. And the man she was marrying was an upper noble and a wealthy man.
---This girl has been sold. And she understands it herself. No matter what happens, she can't run away---
That night—when Anastasia was washing her body with water, Jacob opened the tent of the canopy widely.
"Oops, sorry. I just came to get some luggage."
Anastasia didn't scream.
The next night, the baron's daughter was sleeping outdoors, having given up her place on the cargo bed to the driver. Jacob slipped out of the cargo bed and groped Anastasia's body. Anastasia didn't move. She wasn't asleep. She was curled up, stiff, grinding her teeth, and lying on the hard ground, pretending not to notice anything.
Jacob was very amused.
And the next night. Jacob, having reached just outside the capital, proposed to camp on the riverbank. The river, swollen by the rain during the day, was roaring loudly. A woman's scream would be drowned out.
Anastasia, for the first time, defied a man.
"Why are you stopping the carriage? We could just enter the capital as it is. It's just a stone's throw away, and the lights of the capital are visible there!"
Ah, this girl was relying on that—Jacob laughed at her bravery.
Her doll-like, cute face was distorted with fear and anger. Jacob felt genuinely amused.
In the narrow cargo bed of the covered carriage, Anastasia, with her back against the wall, still had a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She said:
"I am the fiancée of the earl. What do you think will happen if you lay a hand on me?"
Jacob replied:
"Who knows? What do you think will happen if the earl finds out that his fiancée has been defiled by a foreigner?"
At those words... the light in Anastasia's eyes disappeared. Jacob laughed. And then,
---Jacob screamed.
"Ouch! What, what's with this woman! She just twisted my finger!"
"Mio, I told you to stop. The story isn't over yet."
Reprimanded by Cyrus, Mio bowed her head silently.
The man, apparently noticing the ominous atmosphere, suddenly toned down his tone.
"That's the end of the story. I didn't do anything after that. No, I never intended to do anything from the beginning."
"…But the story I heard in the Shadelan territory had a bit more to it, didn't it?"
"No, that was just… a joke—ahh!"
"Mio!"
The man's scream and Cyrus's reprimand overlapped. Mio raised her hands.
"Thomas, can you take over? I might unconsciously pull out two or three more."
"Yes. Mio, please stand a bit away."
Thomas stood behind the man. The man turned pale, probably because he caught a glimpse of Thomas's expression.
Thomas asked:
"Hey, how did you get the hair and clothes used for that 'doll'?"
"…F…The clothes… I took them off her."
"What about the hair?"
"That… That wasn't me! The girl cut her own hair!"
The man, for some reason, spoke loudly and proudly, as if defending himself.
"She's a terrible woman. She cut my hand with scissors while I was holding her hair. With big scissors, like the ones used to cut fabric. My fingers were almost cut off! Look, the wound is still there, see how bad it is!"
"Ah, it's indeed a pretty bad wound. It must have been difficult to collect the fallen hair and dress with that injury. But it was good that you could sell them to the baroness for a high price, wasn't it?"
"No, that's not true. The baroness approached me. I didn't intend to sell them from the beginning."
"To cover up the evidence of your assault on the young lady, right?"
"No, it was just an accident."
"Hmm. Then why did you wet the carriage and damage it? What was the purpose other than to make it look like an accident?"
"The woman fell into the river on her own. She died by herself. I didn't kill her, it was an accident!"
The man's voice echoed in my head. I closed my eyes and whispered:
"…That's enough. I… don't want to hear anymore."
I don't want to know what this man intended to do to Anastasia, or how he enjoyed it.
"Marie"
Cyrus gently embraced me. I pushed his hand away.
There was still something I needed to confirm. I pushed Cyrus aside and stepped forward.
I asked the man:
"Anastasia ran away from you on the riverbank at night… and slipped, falling into the canal, didn't she?"
The man groaned.
"…N…No. I… I didn't do anything…"
"Anastasia died because of you."
The man's face was contorted. The small man, crouching on the stone floor, looked up at me with a wavering gaze.
…What kind of expression am I making now? No, what kind of emotion is this? I don't know. I can't understand anything.
My face hurts. My chest feels tight, and although I can't feel my body, my fingertips are hot. It was the first time I had experienced such intense emotion.
The man averted his eyes from me and muttered to himself:
"But… that woman was right not to marry her. She had men's clothes in her luggage. She was a terrible woman. She had a man other than her fiancé. She would wrap herself in a blanket and sleep, hugging it as if it were precious—"
My vision turned white. The next moment, a loud sound echoed.
I realized I had slapped the man's face a little later.
I screamed:
"Don't insult my sister!!"
As I screamed, large tears fell.
The man was dazed for just a moment, then glared at me, foaming at the mouth, and pushed Thomas away as he stood up.
"What are you doing, do you want to be violated too!"
The man lunged at me. But he was stopped just before he reached me by Cyrus.
Cyrus Granado, the earl, was tall. Just standing there, he repelled the small man's body. The man staggered as if he had been punched.
Cyrus approached the man, who was stumbling, and raised his arm this time.
"You made Marie cry."
Cyrus's palm made a sound so loud it made me forget my own slap, and it struck the man's face, sending him flying.
Like being hit by a runaway carriage, the man's body floated in the air.
He fell to the stone floor, rolled over, and lay still, his limbs spread out.