“It means nothing. Is there something uncomfortable?”

As if she had done nothing wrong, she shook her head.

“There can’t be anything like that.”

“You keep lying. Do we need to talk about it for a long time? If not, answer properly. If you don’t talk about the Crown Prince, you’ll appear to be hiding something again. Trying to hide about this won’t do you any good. No, it would be very bad. It’s different from the Empress’s case.”

I laid the groundwork by mentioning the Empress. By saying this much, she would have no choice but to answer. When she was the Empress, there was a reason, but there was no reason for her not to talk about Lhedello.

As her expression hardened, I opened my mouth.

“Do you know about the Crown Prince?”

For a moment, a relieved expression appeared on her face. When I, directly from the imperial family and the Empress, talked about the Crown Prince, her worry about whether I would discuss the Crown Prince seemed to disappear.

“Oh, I know. You just mentioned Lhedello.”

“He will soon become the Crown Prince.”

“I’m glad that the child who was in our daycare center will become the Crown Prince.”

“It may not be an unconditional joy.”

“What do you mean?”

“How did Lhedello come here?”

To my question, the daycare director nodded without much hesitation.

“Someone brought the child who lost their memory and was wandering.”

“A man?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“Yes. Who did you hear that from?”

“I heard it from Lhedello.”

“Is that so? Did he testify directly to the Empress, saying she saw it?”

Seeming a bit confused, the daycare director awkwardly smiled.

“Well, did he? I can’t remember well.”

“That’s right. After all, a little more time has passed now than when he first talked. What he said at the beginning would be more credible than what he is saying now.”

“Is that so?”

“And a problem arose. Although you, the daycare director, testified like that, Lhedello’s memory returned. Thanks to Lhedello’s returned memory, what you said, daycare director, became a lie. It’s none other than the Crown Prince. You will not easily pass over lying about Lhedello, a child of the imperial family.
“It’s possible that the child came after experiencing something bad, or perhaps, because there was no one to protect the child, someone took advantage without verifying. It seems that not only an investigation into the daycare facility but also a thorough investigation into the children is needed.”

“Be reasonable.”

“What needs to be reasonable is you. Daycare Director Jane. I gave you a chance until the end, but you didn’t take it.”

Her lips trembled.

“A chance?”

“A chance to justify your lies. But you kept blaming the child to the end. What the child remembered was not just that. He said you saw his birth mother bringing him here.”

“Why didn’t you mention that first?!”

“I told you. I tried to give you a chance. And you, to the end, shifted the blame to the child. The person who brought the child here probably knew that the child’s memory had returned, but it seems you didn’t tell them, right?”

Her mouth remained closed.

“Lying won’t help anything. Not now, as it is.”

“……”

“Then let’s talk about something a little different. Do you know the Princess?”

“I said I wouldn’t talk about that matter.”

“Okay. There’s no need to investigate that matter. We’ve already thoroughly investigated.”

Her eyes, which had been firmly closed about being the Princess, shook.

“What, what investigation did you do?”

“The stories we didn’t know at that time were revealed now, thanks to the thorough investigation by the Substitute Official. As I said before, we couldn’t forcibly do it since you were a witness, but not anymore.”

Her hand holding the teacup was trembling slightly. The tea, supposed to be calm, was swaying as much as her emotions.

“Meanwhile… the Emperor sent me a letter.”

“……. ”

She looked at me as if questioning why she was being told this.

“Don’t understand? Why I’m telling you this kind of story?”

“Yes.”

“He asked me. He said he would tell me where the Princess is.”

Just saying that made her bite her lips tightly, as if trying not to reveal her emotions in any way.

“And… doesn’t it strike you as strange why we came to this place today? Why I went so far as to ask the Substitute Official to investigate this place.”

I was convinced by the daycare director’s trembling hands. There was something here.

“You don’t have to say it. You… holding hands with both places, you might have thought there was nothing to worry about, but… I hope you know that both of them think they can abandon you anytime.”

“……. ”

“And both incidents are related to the imperial… aristocracy. Trying to hide, trying to bury it in lies will only bring harm to yourself.”

Looking at her who couldn’t say anything, I stood up from my seat. Along with the untouched tea.

“And.”

Then, I approached a small flowerpot nearby.

“Even trying to harm me, who is the Empress. It’s not something that can be easily overlooked.”