Published: August 10, 2026
On top of the silver ship wrapped in ice, I could see Leticia and four women who seemed to be her attendants. Ferdinand's Mount descended toward them.
"Lady Leticia, I'm glad to see you're safe. Are you injured?"
After Ferdinand helped me down from his Mount, I tried to approach Leticia. But Angelica and Leonore, who had landed as my bodyguards, held out their hands a little, stopping me as if to say not to come any closer.
"......Could you be Lady Rosemine?"
Leticia blinked and looked at me. It seemed she hadn't recognized me because I had grown.
"I heard this from the Dunkelfelger person who rescued me. That Lady Rosemine stole Arensbach's foundation to save Lord Ferdinand and is now carrying out the purge of Lanzenave...... I don't know what I should say. After all, it was originally because of me......"
"Lady Leticia."
Ferdinand called out, cutting off Leticia's words. Leticia looked at Ferdinand and made a face as though she had seen something unbelievable. Within that shock, however, there also seemed to be deep relief, and I could see the tension leaving her body.
"You were safe after all, Lord Ferdinand. I was told by Lady Dietlinde that you had died......"
"It is thanks to Lady Leticia that you delivered me to Justox and the others."
Ferdinand interrupted her and smiled. That smile was so intimidating that even I, watching from the side, could tell he was silently saying, "Be quiet." It must have gotten through to Leticia as well. She covered her mouth and fell silent.
"The Rosemine who became Aub Arensbach by obtaining the foundation said that, knowing everything, she still wished to save you."
Leticia looked at me in surprise. Her attendants had the same expression. They probably had not imagined that I, who had come to save Ferdinand, would save Leticia, the one responsible for all this. Nor would they have thought that the one who had taken the foundation by force would save the former lord family.
"But, Lord Ferdinand. I......"
"Until we have arranged a place to hear all the details, do not say anything unnecessary. Act as though nothing has happened. Can you listen to my words this time?"
Leticia looked up at Ferdinand with a pale face, clutched at her chest, and nodded.
"......Yes. I sincerely thank Lady Rosemine and Lord Ferdinand for your kindness."
"We are going to close the gate so no more Lanzenave ships can enter. Lady Leticia, please ride back to the castle first with the Dunkelfelger knights. Then have your attendants prepare the grand hall and guest rooms so the Dunkelfelger knights can rest."
I was startled when Ferdinand immediately began giving instructions to Leticia, who had only just been rescued, and I stopped him without thinking.
"Lord Ferdinand, Lady Leticia has just been held captive until now. She needs rest as soon as possible. Such instructions......"
"The one who was poisoned by Dietlinde, and the one who came from Ehrenfest to dye the foundation and drive out Lanzenave, are you. Lady Leticia, who merely remained inside the ship, is likely to have more stamina and mana left than either of us."
"That may be true, but please also consider her mental state."
When I complained quietly to Ferdinand, who seemed to be thinking only of efficiency, he snorted and began explaining while looking down at Leticia.
In the current chaotic situation among the nobles, it apparently had great significance for Leticia, a noble of Arensbach, to say with her own mouth that she had been saved by Dunkelfelger and by me, the newly risen aub, and that the threat of Lanzenave had been removed.
...Certainly, it would be easier to accept than hearing it from someone in Dunkelfelger or Ehrenfest.
And, in a situation where anyone could see that she was under severe mental strain, if the young Leticia bravely did her best, it would make it easier to gather sympathy from those around her, helping to save Leticia herself. At the same time, if the lord family's Leticia had been saved, it would make it easier for others to hope that they too might be saved. And if young Leticia was trying so hard, it would spur the injured adult nobles to action, making them think that they too had to move.