Chapter 40
Elliot laid out what Anais already knew in a calm, even voice.
“Since His Highness claims that the violence committed by Number 33, who was a possessor, wasn’t violent against you, we can dismiss this complaint without charges.”
He then pointed out that the real issue lay with the extortion and profit-taking detailed in the complaint.
Now that Anais, or rather, Number 33, was being accused of fraud disguised as business dealings, the key question was what kind of illicit profits they had made and what scams had been executed using Cesar.
And Cesar had, unfortunately, admitted he enjoyed being used.
“That means you knew you were being used. In other words…”
Elliot crossed his arms and stood in front of Cesar.
“You knowingly aided and abetted Number 33’s fraud while using your influence and position.”
“…I can’t deny that…”
Deny it! Please, deny it!
Anais screamed silently, watching Cesar scratch his head with an embarrassed smile.
Elliot huffed and blew up his bangs, visibly irritated.
“Can you tell us exactly what you cooperated with?”
As much as Anais didn’t want to hear Cesar’s answer, Elliot’s questioning was fair and exactly what she had wanted to ask.
She desperately wanted to know if he had any idea where Number 33’s money had gone.
Anais stared as Cesar’s lips trembled and thought,
‘So this is what they call mixed feelings…’
That odd state of both wanting and not wanting to know at the same time.
What if something even worse came out like the truth about the jewels?
Even now, she couldn’t quite believe her hand had slapped that beautiful cheek.
And that this flower-like magician had enjoyed being hit. After discovering horrors like that during the engagement talk, who could blame her for not wanting to go further?
But Cesar’s response took them all by surprise.
“Let me ask something first. Lord Elliot Resaloniki, may I ask why you’re accompanying my fiancée?”
His tone was refined—elegant, even. Nothing like before.
Anais blinked. He no longer resembled the magician who had cried out, ‘Master!’, just minutes earlier.
And Elliot immediately grasped what the shift in tone meant.
“Lord Resaloniki, are you questioning my fiancée in your capacity as Captain of the Dragon Knights?”
Cesar sat with one knee up, hands clasped neatly, back straight.
Elliot straightened his own back and squared his shoulders before replying politely.
“No. To be precise, Miss Anais Fleur is accompanying me as my collaborator. The Dragon Lord ordered it.”
“A collaborator?”
“Yes. The Dragon Lord—”
Elliot calmly began to explain the situation.
‘Why do I keep having to hear my own story told to strangers lately…’
Anais thought, listening awkwardly from the sidelines.
Cesar, however, listened with the most composed and proper demeanor he had shown all day.
“So while there may be suspicion that I aided my master—I mean, Miss Fleur—in committing fraud, there’s no solid evidence. And Miss Fleur has no memory of any of it.”
“Correct.”
A prince was still a prince after all. Elliot silently revised his opinion of the magician, whom he had previously pegged as either eccentric or a bit of a deviant.
While Anais glanced between them in confusion, Cesar continued.
“Then Lord Resaloniki, you currently have no authority to interrogate me. All you possess is a complaint based on unproven accusations.”
Really? Anais turned to Elliot, eyes wide. Whether Cesar’s claim was true or not, Elliot looked more flustered than she had ever seen him.
“…That’s correct.”
“Isn’t it? What a relief.”
Cesar’s jet black hair swayed above his forehead like it was mocking Elliot.
Combined with his flower-like smile, it looked almost ornamental.
“For a moment, I feared my fiancee was pretending to have lost her memory just to escape our engagement and find someone better.”
“…Pardon?”
Anais blinked in disbelief. The prince beamed at her.
“Miss Fleur, if you don’t mind, may I share some of the private conversations between you, no, between ‘Master,’ whom you no longer remember, and myself with this gentleman?”
“That’s… that’s fine…?”
But I don’t remember anything… Anais answered hesitantly. Cesar nodded and replied,
“My Master used to tell me, she’ll switch to a better suitor whenever one shows up, so I should be prepared.”
”…Switch…”
“…”
It wasn’t even surprising anymore to see Elliot glaring at her with contempt. Though, honestly, it felt unfair.
‘That wasn’t me. That was Number 33!’
“Ah.”
Elliot seemed to realize it belatedly and quickly withdrew his glare. Cesar, still holding his knee, simply shrugged.
“You might’ve just been teasing me when you said it, but hearing those words only made me want to serve more loyally.”
“Don’t try! Stop trying to do that!”
Anais looked like she might pound the table in frustration.
But Cesar only smiled.
“In any case, I’m relieved. Honestly, isn’t Lord Resaloniki the kind of man any lady would fall for? Even though this is my first time meeting him, I’ve heard that Her Highness the First Princess was quite taken with him after a single encounter.”
“Is that so…”
Anais found herself glancing at Elliot instinctively.
Now that she thought about it, he was extremely attractive. It was just that, to Anais, he had always been a source of fear or too overwhelming a presence for her to consider him romantically.
But whatever Elliot was thinking, he met her eyes and answered with a frosty look.
“…There’s one person here who never will. Your ‘master,’ that is.”
“Eek! I’m not the master!”
Anais bristled instinctively and clenched her fists.
“And that’s right! Yes! Anais may be a proper lady, but she doesn’t like Lord Resaloniki! Got it? You better not like Anais either!”
“Yes, yes.”
Elliot responded halfheartedly, pretending to look off into the distance.
The beautiful magician blinked a few times at the scene, then smiled.
“But Miss Fleur must have a lot of questions for me?”
“Ah, yes. Especially about the engagement…”
Anais looked around awkwardly. The magician smiled brightly and waved his right hand in the air. With a poof! A scroll appeared, unfurling with a rustle.
Anais’s eyes widened. It was unmistakably—
“Ta-da! This is the engagement certificate between my master and me.”
“That’s impossible!”
Anais snatched the scroll and examined it. There was no mistake.
Anais Fleur and Cesar Rezaie.
Their engagement was clearly written, with the priest’s seal and Judy’s thumbprint as witnesses.
This must have been what Judy was talking about.
“This is invalid! It was made while Anais had no memories!”
Anais tore it up with a vengeance. Cesar gasped in awe, placing a hand on his cheek as he admired her.
“You can tear up as many as you like, Miss Fleur. I actually loved it so much, I made about a hundred magical copies. Oh—and of course, I’ve hidden the original somewhere no one will ever find.”
“Nooooo!”
Poof, poof, poof, poof.
Anais wailed and furiously tore through several more certificates as they appeared in the air.
Her rampage only stopped when Elliot gently grabbed both of her hands.
The magician watched them, eyes narrowing slightly, and said with a regretful look, “Oh my, I could give you more…”
But Elliot shot him a glare.
“Lord Cesar. I clearly stated earlier that this engagement was made while Anais was possessed and had no memories.”
“Hmm… yes, that’s true.”
“Then this engagement certificate is invalid.”
Cesar smiled faintly.
“I’m not sure how you see me, but I agree.”
“Then why show it to Anais?!”
Anais shouted, still held in Elliot’s grasp. Cesar brought his fists to his chin, his eyes glistening.
“I just wanted to show her a keepsake of our bittersweet memories…”
“This isn’t a keepsake! It’s a legally binding contract!”
Aack! If Elliot hadn’t been holding her, Anais might have fallen over.
He tried to hold her steady, but realizing that gripping her wrists too tightly might hurt her, he settled for holding her shoulders in what looked like an embrace.
Cesar noticed and narrowed his eyes.
“…Well, I have no intention of using this to force Miss Fleur to marry me.”
“Then why?!”
Anais, still in Elliot’s grasp, shouted again. Cesar shrugged lightly.
“I’m just curious if I might still have a chance.”
