No Secrets (2)

Vittorio's footsteps could be heard as he hurriedly ran to hide, while the two adults moved more leisurely. They muttered as if for the turned-back knight to hear.

"Vittorio really loves hide and seek… He'll be disappointed if it ends quickly, right?"

"No need to worry. A proper seeker would give a child enough time to hide."

After giving the poor knight a significant amount of side-eye, we moved quickly as well, looking for clues.

Having told Leonardo that we had something to find here, we swiftly divided the work. To thoroughly search the spacious room with an attached bathroom and study within the allotted time, we had to be agile. He went towards the bedroom, and I went towards the study. I turned the door handle and scanned the inside of the study.

The scent of old dust suggested that it wasn't a place frequently cleaned. The coolness characteristic of places rarely visited by people lingered. Perhaps the original Leonardo had sternly ordered that no one should come near, let alone clean. The desk stood desolate and barren, and behind it, the dusty wooden cabinet and the inside of the drawers were filled with nothing but dust. 

Just when it seemed that there wasn't a single clue or even an item to be found, a long couch by the window caught my eye. I cautiously approached and inspected it, noticing a slight gap between the couch's backrest and the window. As I slipped my hand into the gap, my fingertips brushed against something smooth. It had a recessed neck and a long cylindrical shape beneath it. A glass bottle, perhaps?

Carefully pulling it out, I revealed a dark-coloured glass bottle, its contents barely visible through the opaque glass, resembling a wine bottle.

[Find clues in Leonardo's room (1/3)]

This bottle is supposed to be a clue? It just seems like extra booze stashed here and there by a heavy drinker for emergencies.

Wondering if there might be something special about it, I tugged at the cork. But there was no smell at all. The characteristic of alcoholic odour was absent, and when I tilted the bottle slightly to pour out a bit of its contents, a clear, glass-like liquid dripped onto the back of my hand.

'This… this is just plain water.'

Huh. So much for being a drunken rogue. Or maybe, was he never a drunkard to begin with?

'…..'

Finding nothing else of interest in the study, I quickly straightened up and turned towards the bedroom. Leonardo was already there, looking through the nightstand drawer. As I approached, he held up a brooch for me to see.

[Find clues in Leonardo's room (2/3)]

On the brooch, a crude portrait of a woman with brown hair meticulously pinned up was painted. The brooch was too small for the facial features to be detailed, but I could just make out that her eyes were blue. Feeling a rough texture on the back, I flipped the brooch over and found the words "To Veronica" engraved.

Could this be a keepsake from the countess who died seven years ago?

At that moment, the knight's sighing voice drifted in from beyond the door.

"I will find it."

Darn it. We haven't found everything yet.

In my rush, I turned too quickly and tripped over my own feet. Losing my balance in the narrow space between the table and the bed, I fell onto the bed, sinking into its softness and staring up at the canopy ceiling.

'…..!'

There, dangling from a thread, was a small key.

'Leo, on the bed's ceiling!'

The creaking sound of the bed as I fell must have alerted the knight, as his footsteps were now heading in our direction. Leonardo, startled, glanced up at the ceiling, then leaned over me and reached out to grab the key.

[Find clues in Leonardo's room (3/3)]

The key vanished into his palm just as Leonardo, unable to regain his balance, toppled forward.

Thump— Leonardo nearly fell on top of me but managed to catch himself by placing his hand beside my face, avoiding a collision.

I almost got flattened! While I was still startled, I found myself making eye contact with Leonardo from an uncomfortably close distance. We were so close that I absurdly thought his eyelashes might touch and tangle with mine. At that very moment, the door creaked open, and the knight entered.

"I found…"

A brief, awkward silence ensued.

The knight muttered in a suddenly weary voice, "Both of you… have been found. Please wrap up and come out…"

The knight left, closing the door behind him with a click. 

Is this how hide-and-seek works here? The seeker just moves on to find the next person without having those found join in searching for the others?

As Leonardo's hair dangled and nearly brushed my forehead, we exchanged glances and then burst into laughter.

[Scenario Sub-Quest Condition Completed! – Finding Clues in Leonardo's Room (3/3)]

We straightened our disheveled clothes and got up from the bed, leaving the bedroom. The knight was still searching for Vittorio. Although the knight was likely trying to find the child last because of our earlier side-eyeing, it was mostly because Vittorio had hidden exceptionally well.

Finally, the knight found Vittorio hiding in the bathroom and returned looking thoroughly exhausted.

I expressed my gratitude to the MVP of this quest by ruffling his hair and then tried to tie it back neatly. Despite my best efforts, my skill hadn't improved much, so there wasn't a significant difference before and after.

"Thank you," I whispered, and Vittorio nodded in acknowledgment.

Not wanting to burden the knight any further, we concluded our exploration of the room. In one pocket, I had the brooch and the key that Leonardo had found. And then there was the bottle filled with plain water…

If the original Leonardo's drunkenness was merely a façade, if he only pretended to be inebriated, then why did he choose to do so?

I needed to find out why 'Leonardo Ertinez' decided to pose as a rogue.

As I pondered the implications of these clues in my mind, Leonardo, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped. I almost bumped my forehead against his back and pulled my head back, wondering what was going on.

The figure from the brooch was standing there. Her neatly braided brown hair was arranged impeccably, and her bright blue eyes—exactly like Ferdinand's—held the same vibrant hue as the blue lake I saw every morning when I woke up. However, her face was much younger than in the brooch's portrait. Given that this was the Rondine Tower for the Ertinez family, it wasn't hard to guess her identity.

[Accessing information on the designated entity.][Viewing Information.]

Rank – Minor Character (Scenario Weight: 15.00%)

Role – Lady Celestina

Script: [The youngest and favoured daughter of the renowned Ertinez family known for their swordsmanship. She is widely recognized as kind-hearted.]

[Currently 14 years old. At the time of the Countess' death seven years ago, she was very young and had little understanding of her mother's passing.]

[She had a decent relationship with 'Leonardo,' who is often treated as a rogue.]

Dialogue: "You're not our brother, are you?"

Oh no. The line at the end of the script about 'Leonardo' having a good relationship with her made me uneasy.

'Throwing a bomb with the script.'

The girl in front of me covered her mouth with her gloved hand and said, "Oh my."

I had assumed she might not be a family member who liked Leonardo much since she hadn't shown up in the banquet hall, but her expression now suggested otherwise.

"It's been a while, brother."

Seeing the girl who looked genuinely happy to see him, I sent a message to Leonardo.

'Celestina. It seems she and Leonardo get along well.'

Leonardo replied stiffly, "It's been a while."

"Right? How was the journey? Oh, who are the people behind you? Guests?"

Amidst Celestina's cheerful stream of questions, a peculiar feeling lingered in my mind. It was strange that while she knew Leonardo had been in Sinistra, she didn't know anything about his companions.

If she had heard even a rumour, she would have expected our identities to be obvious given the combination of an adult man and a little boy who followed Leonardo around.

"These are my companions."

"Companions?"

She looked as if she had never heard the term before, as if she were completely unaware of the conversations or rumours circulating in the banquet hall. There weren't many ways to know where Leonardo had been without hearing about it in the banquet hall. The most plausible explanation could be that she received a tip-off from the original Leonardo before running away.

Considering Celestina might know something, there was a chance our fabricated explanation wouldn't entirely hold up with her. According to the script, being suspected was already a given.

However, the level of that suspicion seemed to be more akin to light doubt, like what Count Ertinez or Ferdinand showed when they questioned, "Is this really the rogue Leonardo I knew?"

I still couldn't tell whether it would lead to sharp questions from someone who genuinely sensed that the soul of 'Leonardo' was missing.

Celestina glanced at the reticent Leonardo before turning her gaze toward me and Vittorio. With her bright blue eyes, she greeted us with a smile.

"Hello, Lady Celestina. I'm Isaac, and this is Vittorio. We're… friends of Leo."

"Oh, friends?"

Celestina's eyes sparkled with curiosity. Those glass-like blue eyes flitted between Leonardo, then me, and finally settled on Vittorio before curving into a crescent shape.

"Brother, I was just about to have some tea. How about we catch up over a cup in the garden? Isaac and Vittorio, you should join us too."

[A Scenario Sub-Quest has been triggered upon encountering the designated individual.]

This family, just like at the last banquet, seems to have a peculiar habit of using mealtimes as interrogation sessions.

「What should we do, Isaac?」

'We have no choice. We should go.'