CH 23

Chapter 23 : There’s just no reason

The sixth month of the year 1215 of the Kingdom’s reign.

It was about three months since Beatrice had been assigned a personal bodyguard, Marquez, who called himself her second cousin.

The incident happened not to Beatrice, but to the Marquise of Reinalpha, Leopold’s family.

A cargo cart carrying goods purchased for their business was attacked by bandits in the mountains on the western border of Reinalpha territory, and all the cargo it was carrying was taken away.

The cargo cart robbery that followed the sinking of the merchant ship four months earlier. This was the second time they lost the goods they had purchased.

The economic blow to the Reinalpha family was not small.

“Brother, what does this mean…?”

Perhaps because she collapsed the last time she heard news of the shipwreck, it was already five days after the incident when Beatrice heard about it through others.

When Beatrice asked for an explanation, Rembrandt coolly replied with a question.

“What is it?”

“Brother is secretly taking countermeasures, aren’t you? That’s why you arranged an escort on me. But the target is Leopold-sama, not me. To prevent further damage, rather than allocating personnel to me, it would be better to protect that household instead…”

“Wait a minute. Why would I do that?”

Rembrandt interrupted Beatrice by raising his hand.

“…eh?”

“Why should I protect Leo’s household?”

“Eh?… because they’re after Leopold-sama…”

“I don’t get it. Why should I work for him? I’m a member of the Marquise of Strydom.”

Beatrice peeked at him in response.

“He found someone he likes, and because of that, he gained a person who resented him and wanted to destroy his household. What reason would I have to protect his household?”

“Eh… because…”

“Isn’t the person who should be working to save that house the one who caused it?”

A good argument, Beatrice thought.

This time in particular, Beatrice was not even involved in their meeting.

But that doesn’t mean that I’m convinced.

Beatrice confided in her brother about her rebirth in order to get a correct understanding of the current situation of the Reinalpha family. If Alejandro was doing what she assumed he would do, she wanted him to help out.

But her brother was not such a good-natured person.

He would not do anything that would not benefit the family, nor would he have any intention of doing so.

Therefore, the escort her brother put by her side was just an insurance in case she wanted to probe into Alejandro’s situation.

Beatrice bit her lip, feeling that she had discovered her brother’s true intentions and had to find a solution on her own.

Then again, Natalia is still Natalia this time, and Leopold is still Leopold.

Will it end with Alejandro tearing them apart again?

Without her, they would still get together without any obstacles and would have become the next Marquis and Marchioness.

Leopoldo has neither the good standing nor the cunning of her older brother. He is simply straightforward.

He is also not a detail-oriented person. Sometimes, if he is not told, he won’t even realize it until the end. If he is compared to her brother and Edgar, he is really too clumsy and too lacking for an aristocrat.

…so when he smiles, I know that he is truly happy.

When he is in a bad mood, the cause is usually lying plainly in front of him. He is such a simple and straightforward person.

Many people laughed at the sickly Beatrice behind her back, some even mocked her by pretending to pity her.

In front of Beatrice, they would smile kindly and weave words of comfort, but behind her back, they would sneer at her as a defective product.

He would not be a pawn in a political marriage, nor would any of his relatives, nor anyone else associated with the Marquise family.

Therefore…

So I really feel at ease when he is smiling.

Whenever Leopold was laughing, I felt relieved and felt that there was nothing wrong with me, and that I was okay.

Yes. I easily released my breath in front of him.

He doesn’t care about Beatrice, he doesn’t hesitate, he doesn’t scorn her, he just laughs at her when they are having fun.

“…”

Rembrandt let out a sigh in front of Beatrice, who remained silent while biting her lip tightly.

“…well, calm down.”

“…”

“I am not obligated to help Leo’s family. As a successor, Leo himself is the one who should be doing it. But to be honest, this is a heavy burden for him to bear. If it were a head-to-head match with a sword, that would be a different story, but unfortunately, they will not use such an easy-to-understand method.”

“Are you sure Alejandro is up to something…?”

It was a question that was now too late, but Beatrice has yet to hear a definite answer from her brother.

Rembrandt nodded his head and continued his words.

“We’ve already confirmed that he was acting suspiciously before and after the previous shipwreck. There’s not enough evidence to catch him, just a whiff of involvement… but the same goes for Nicholas Trad, and there is no doubt that a man named Alejandro was involved.”

“I see.”

Rembrandt took one big breath and looked at Beatrice’s face.

Then, after making firm eye contact, he continued speaking in a low, well-defined voice.

“As I said before, it is this family and you, Beatrice, that I should be protecting. It’s not my responsibility to protect the Reinalpha family. It is not my responsibility.”

“…I understand that, but Leopold-sama, he’s not like that.”

“Yeah, he’s not that good at it. He is not such a dexterous guy, is he? In a normal case, he would be no match for a snake like that.”

“But…”

“But he’s the one who should be making some actions. The next head of the family is Leopold. If Leo insists on making a move, I’m willing to help him a little.”

“…”

She raised her head from her prone position and looked at her brother.

Rembrandt chuckled.

“I have some affection for him as a childhood friend, too. I don’t hate him. Well… sometimes he was too thoughtless, and it pissed me off.”

“…oh, brother…”

“What, is that such a surprise?”

Rembrandt lowered his eyebrows and cheeks as if embarrassed.

“Well, anyway. I have to meet him and talk to him. First of all, we have to prepare a place for that.”

“Yes!”

Beatrice nodded significantly, and Rembrandt continued.

“And so. Trice.”

With a smile.

“You, get sick and fall ill.”

“…yes?”

Such things…