While Celestine had made the trip to the pioneer village specifically to see him, she hadn't stayed at the cottage with Rest and the others.
She had reportedly rented a separate cottage nearby, where she stayed for a single night to handle a few errands before returning to the Royal Capital. It might have been different for a free-spirited girl like Yuri, but for a typical noble lady, it was the only sensible choice. As the daughter of a Duke and a paragon of ladylike virtue, the idea of staying overnight in a young man's house was strictly out of the question.
(Setting that aside... what Celestine told me is still weighing on my mind...)
Shoko Sanada.
It was the pseudonym the Queen Dowager had used in that specific region. The name was unmistakably Japanese—a name that could only belong to someone from his former world.
(Could it be? I’d considered the possibility, but... it looks like Her Majesty the Queen Dowager really was a reincarnator like me...!)
The thought had been nagging at him for a while.
The Queen Dowager, Frederica Aiwood, had been born into a family of lower nobles, yet she had caught the eye of the Tyrant and become his Queen. Afterward, she had won over several powerful figures—including Celestine’s grandfather and Marquis Eiger—and successfully overthrew the Tyrant. She was the one who had truly laid the foundation for the current Aiwood Kingdom.
Her political maneuvers as a woman changing the course of an era were reminiscent of figures like Hojo Masako or Queen Elizabeth. Her life was grand enough to serve as the plot for a historical epic. If he were told she was a reincarnated person, it would actually make a lot of sense.
(So they really do exist... I never assumed I was the only one. There were others after all!)
Rest had wondered about this for a long time. Was he the only special person? Were there no other reincarnators out there? He didn't have such an inflated ego that he believed he was the only one ever chosen. It wasn't strange at all to think there might be others.
(The Queen Dowager was a master of manipulation... She was chosen as the Tyrant’s wife and managed to turn many powerful men to her side. It probably wasn't a case of having infinite mana like me, but perhaps a Charm or Mind Control ability?)
She was already long dead, so there was no way to confirm it. Still, if there was anything he could do, it was to investigate the land where she had spent her final years. This was the property Rest was set to inherit. Since she had gone to the trouble of using a Japanese name like Shoko Sanada, there was no doubt it had been a special place for her. If he investigated, he would surely find some kind of clue.
(Though... I can't leave right away. We're in the middle of development, and I can't just go running off on my own.)
He was curious about the Queen Dowager, but Rest was now a Count. Gaining status meant shouldering the responsibilities that came with it. He had been granted territory, and it was his duty as a noble to develop and manage it. If Rest were to disappear, it would cause trouble for everyone else. He couldn't afford to act selfishly.
(I can't move now, but I have to find out eventually. I need to know why she pampered Rodel so much... and why she did it!)
At this point, whether she was a reincarnator or not was secondary. That was important, of course, but he was more concerned with why she had raised Rodel in a way that twisted his personality so thoroughly.
Rodel hadn't been rotten to the core from the start. Perhaps only Rest, having clashed with him so directly, could say that. The people who had actually suffered because of him—like the classmate who was burned to a crisp for trying to protect his girlfriend—likely thought Rodel was a demon from birth. Celestine, who had been burdened with their engagement for years, undoubtedly hated him too.
Yet, Rest still felt that if Rodel had been raised with even a modicum of decency, and if he had been someone capable of objective self-reflection, they might have even been friends.
(Well, maybe it’s just one of those things... like how the biggest jerks are the ones you miss the most once they’re gone...)
Of course, he knew the truth. Rodel was a villain. There was no denying that. A character who only shows a shred of goodness in a movie remake is still just a jerk in reality. For a delinquent who causes constant trouble to be praised just because they occasionally do one decent thing—from the perspective of those who live their lives honestly, it was nothing but absurd.
Regardless, Rest decided he would look into the Queen Dowager. Once the development project reached a milestone, he intended to visit the land he had inherited—the place the Queen Dowager had used as a villa—and conduct a thorough investigation.
To reach that milestone, however, he needed to finish his current tasks. In order to stabilize the Center of the Plain, which was Rest’s assigned area, a barrier had to be established.
(Once the barrier is up and the mana density in the Center of the Plain is thinned out, it’ll be safe. No new Master of the Magical Wilds will be born, and the barrier will keep the common monsters at bay. Once that's done, I can finally go look into the Queen Dowager’s property.)
According to what Andrew had told him, a Court Mage specializing in barrier magic was scheduled to arrive any day now.
"So... why the hell are you the one here?"
Andrew’s timing had been perfect. Less than a week after Celestine’s visit, the Court Mage arrived.
"Honorary Viscount Lucas Ebern... I never expected to cross paths with you here."
"Guh..."
As Rest instinctively glared at him with narrowed eyes, the Court Mage’s face twisted into a look of profound discomfort.
The man’s name was Lucas Ebern. To Rest, he was his biological father—the man who had coerced and abandoned his mother, and the person responsible for the years of abuse Rest had endured as a child.