Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 26. Shameful valor (2).
After soothing the crying Chelsea and listening to her story of what had happened, Kevin straightened up and faced the Crown Prince Alexis and his fiancée Amanda, who were sitting in front of him.
“Your Highness, Lady Amanda, thank you for helping Chelsea.”
“There’s no need to thank us… Rather, as I told her earlier, the reason we came here is, in a way, similar to the reason those men came.”
Kevin’s expression hardens at these words.
Alexis instructed the young man escorting them and laid several written documents on the table.
“These are …?”
Kevin and Chelsea turned pale as they saw the IOUs laid out in front of them, signed by Flora, for various amounts.
“Please stay calm. Some of these have already been exposed as obvious scams perpetrated by poorly thought out individuals.”
“Unfortunately, such fools are everywhere. The problem is …… this one, and a large one at that.”
The amount of money on the IOU that Alexis pointed to was far more than a commoner could possibly pay back with their earnings.
“This is the amount of money those people were talking about earlier. But I find it hard to believe that Flora-san would borrow this kind of money. ……”
Chelsea said in a tearful voice, and both Alexis and Amanda nodded soothingly.
“Yes, there were rumors among the townspeople that Flora had been borrowing money and living a lavish lifestyle. We know that this is false. For example, if she bought expensive jewelry, there must have been a jeweler who sold it to her. We can find that out by looking into it.”
“That’s right. The only problem is that the signature on this IOU matches Flora’s handwriting. ……”
Alexis smiles at Kevin and the others who are upset to hear this.
“That will become clear once you line them up.”
Alexis then laid out several IOUs.
“Not only the handwriting, but the size and width of the letters, everything matches perfectly. These must be precise copies. But ……that’s something we can only tell now by comparing them side by side. If you were shown just one copy without any other information, if you were asked if you could figure it out, I think it would be difficult.”
Kevin nodded, but he also expressed his doubts.
“But in the end, it’s something you can figure out when you investigate it, right. ……?”
“Yes, if you have the ability and time to do it.”
Kevin looked down at Alexis’s words. The crown prince’s authority is what allows him to collect and compare IOUs in this way. And it is only because Amanda is the daughter of a Marquis that she was able to investigate the rumors of her lavish spending and prove that they were false.
It is unlikely that Kevin, Chelsea, and of course Flora, who are commoners, would be able to easily prove their innocence because of their status. In fact, even today, Chelsea was in danger of being caught without being able to make a good counterargument.
“Who would do something like this, and for what purpose…? Is there someone who would gain from framing Flora…?”
Kevin muttered in exasperation.
“We are currently investigating who instigated the money and what their purpose was. But, we can make some guesses as to what they were going to use the money for. This is just at this stage, though.”
After this preface, Alexis looked Kevin in the eye.
“For example, ……, today, you thanked me and Amanda first for…saving…Miss…Chelsea.”
“Chelsea, you may have been aware of who we were, but your relief at being out of a difficult situation made you less wary of us, didn’t it?”
Kevin and Chelsea both nodded in agreement.
“So, hypothetically, what would you think if those men had been planted by us beforehand?”
Kevin frowned.
“So that’s how it is… the fake IOU was just a prop they fabricated to make us trust them…?”
“As I said before, I’m just guessing. But it is true that there are those who want to keep the Holy Knight around for political reasons, and of course there are those who thought of the wife as a stepping stone to that end. Yet there is a big gap between commoners and nobles. If you approach them in a normal way, they will be afraid of you and keep their distance from you, or they will be wary of you, wondering if you have something to hide.”
Amanda continued after hearing Alexis’ words.
“An IOU that I have no recollection of, clearly signed in my own handwriting. I’m in a weak position with no way to prove my innocence. Then someone powerful shows up to help me. … Like you people, Flora seems to be a good person, so I think she will be grateful without any doubt and will believe them.”
Alexis and Amanda’s story implicitly suggests a ruling class involvement.
“But it didn’t seem like that was the case. I went to Flora’s place every day, so I think I would have noticed if anything strange had happened. I only found out about this IOU today…”
Alexis smiled and nodded at Chelsea, who looked unconvinced.
“I suspect that the plotter’s plans may have changed along the way. In fact, this fake IOU was somehow delivered to Saint Knight Elliot six months ago, without going through Miss Flora.”
“What, ……?”
Alexis gave a wry smile to Kevin, who looked dumbfounded.
“This was made about nine months ago, around the time the fame of the Holy Knight had spread throughout the country. However, a while later, a new rumor arrived in town. There was a new rumor in town that another woman was close to the Holy Knight.”
Kevin frowned broadly.
“…So, they heard what was going on and changed their plans?”
“Well, we won’t really know until we ask the person who planned it.”
“Do you have your sights set on anyone……?”
Alexis gave a vague smile in response to Kevin’s question. Then, with a chuckle, he whispered in a barely audible voice,
“I hope it’s not my …… father.”
Unable to tell if he was being sincere, sarcastic, or making a bad joke, Kevin’s face scrunched up and he pretended he hadn’t heard anything.
–they wouldn’t tell a commoner, low-ranking knight that much In the first place…
“I’m glad I came by today, though. I caught a lead, albeit a small one.”
Amanda was smiling, looking somewhat amused. Kevin wondered inwardly if they were going to torture him.*
“The reason for our visit is that they have suddenly started looking for Miss Flora of recent.”
“If what Your Highness said earlier about their purpose changing is true, then they must have no further use for Miss Flora, right?”
Alexis nodded solemnly in response to Kevin’s question, and Amanda continued speaking.
“They’ve been making a lot of noise for the past few days. Since they made the fake IOU, they haven’t had any contact with Flora at all, and now this happened so suddenly, so I thought something must be up.”
“Do you guys have any idea what it could be?”
Kevin and Chelsea looked at each other, but couldn’t think of anything in particular. When they answered honestly that they didn’t know, they received a gentle smile in return.
Ad
“We will carry out the rest of the investigation, and rest assured, we’ll be fair, I won’t make things worse for you.”
Hearing this, Kevin looked up and straightened his posture again.
“Your Highness, please look after of Miss Flora.”
“…… you don’t underestimate me, even though you are a knight of the Royal Order of Knights?”
However, Alexis replied with those words to Kevin, who bowed his head vigorously.
“I know what I’m called in the Royal Order. And yet you’ve been so sincere with me today…”
Perhaps because he is a member of the royal family, the way he speaks and acts make him appear older than his actual age, but Alexis had an embarrassed look on his face and for the first time, he looked his age.