The Island of Madness
A few more days slipped by after she had soothed Lucy.
Chloe remained bedridden, Isabel wept every single day, and the servants traded ominous whispers in the halls.
And then Canna received a summons from the Emperor.
Why me?
A sense of foreboding settled over her. She wanted to avoid it at all costs, but an imperial order was not something one could refuse.
“Lord Claude, I must visit the imperial palace. Prepare the carriage.”
“Yes, Duchess.”
For the first time, Canna called upon the guard knight Kallen had assigned her.
Nothing bad will happen… right?
Her nerves pulled tight. Just what could the Emperor possibly want with her?
It doesn’t feel like good news.
“You are to go to Pailon Island.”
So that was why the air had felt so heavy.
Canna stared blankly at the floor before slowly lifting her gaze. She met the Emperor’s sunken, exhausted eyes.
Pailon Island?
Pailon Island was the very place where Orsini had gone missing.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but there is something I do not understand.”
“Speak.”
“While I am of Addis blood, I have never received the baptism. Therefore, unlike Orsini, Kallen, or my father, I cannot manifest holy power.”
“I am aware. I do not expect you to fight the Black Fog on the island.”
“Then…?”
“Your reputation has reached my ears. You cured Princess Amelia’s skin disease and even resolved the strange affliction that struck the Eastern Continent trade sailors.”
She ought to have felt proud, yet an uneasy discomfort crawled over her instead.
“Strange occurrences plagued Pailon Island long before the Black Fog ever appeared.”
“What sort of occurrences?”
“Every year, at a specific time, the islanders are said to suffer collective madness.”
The Emperor turned his gaze toward the window. Rain was falling.
“It happens to be that season now.”
BOOM! Lightning cracked across the sky.
“During the rainy season, the villagers fall into collective madness. Is that not strange, Duchess?”
“…Yes, it is.”
It truly was bizarre, so Canna could only nod in agreement. If the same phenomenon repeated every year at the exact same time, it was almost certainly some kind of illness.
“For such an eerie matter, a renowned physician like you is needed. Go in person, investigate, and return.”
He added one final line.
“This is an imperial decree.”
“Canna!”
Had she already heard the news?
The moment Canna returned to the mansion, Chloe rushed forward to greet her.
“I heard you are going to Pailon Island. Please, find Orsini for me!”
“No, I’m not…”
I’m not going there to look for him. I couldn’t care less whether that bastard died there or not.
“Orsini can’t be dead! Right? He must still be alive!”
“…”
“You know how Orsini is! He’s always done whatever he pleased! He’s probably just drinking himself senseless somewhere on that island, isn’t he?”
“…”
You certainly know your son well.
Canna wanted to say it aloud, but Chloe’s face was so grave that she kept her mouth shut.
Chloe cried out through a flood of tears.
“Please find Orsini for me. Yes? Then…”
“Mother. Duchess of Addis.”
Canna smiled and cut her off.
“Do you not remember who I am?”
Chloe stared at her in a daze.
“It’s me. Canna.”
“…”
“Canna. Have you forgotten?”
The same Canna whom you and your son tormented so viciously.
Canna let out a soft laugh. No further words were necessary. She shook off Chloe’s hand that had clutched hers.
“I am going at His Majesty’s command to investigate the villagers’ illness.”
“…”
“Whether I will have time for anything else… well. I’m not sure.”
She wanted to speak more harshly, but she chose patience instead.
Because she is Kallen Addis’s mother.
And Kallen Addis was still a very useful chess piece. It wasn’t yet time to discard him.
So she offered these words instead.
“Believe in Orsini.”
Words she did not mean.
“He’s not the kind of person who would simply drop dead in some foreign land, is he?”
It had been a thoughtless remark.
“You’re right… Yes. You’re correct, Canna. You’re right.”
“…”
“My son, Orsini. Yes. I must believe in Orsini. That child is trustworthy.”
Absurdly, Chloe seemed genuinely comforted by those words.
What? I shouldn’t have said that.
If she had known it would actually bring comfort, she never would have spoken.
Canna felt a wave of displeasure.
Her traveling companion to Pailon Island was the guard knight, Lord Claude.
“Do not worry about safety, Duchess. I am worth a hundred men.”
Even in this situation, Claude smiled brightly.
“Worth a hundred men?”
“Of course. If I had gone to Pailon Island with Lord Orsini, our comrades would never have been wiped out.”
“…”
When Canna stared at him, Claude scratched his eyebrow awkwardly.
“Ah, I’m sorry. That was a joke.”
“No need to apologize to me.”
“No, no, I am sorry. Lord Kallen specifically warned me to be careful, yet here I am.”
Claude ruffled his hair.
“I’ve always had a loose tongue. I made a joke when I really shouldn’t have.”
“You certainly did.”
“Right?”
“Yes.”
“I get scolded for it all the time. People have told me more than once that if I don’t learn when and where to joke, I’ll end up stabbed on a dark road someday.”
Canna let out a small chuckle.
“Who told you that?”
“The comrades who died this time.”
Claude shrugged.
“I still don’t understand why Lord Orsini sent that letter.”
The knights had been annihilated, yet under no circumstances should reinforcements be sent.
“He sent such a bizarre letter and then cut off all contact…”
“I am not going there to find Orsini.”
In case he harbored any such expectations, Canna spoke firmly.
“Therefore, I will not be spending any time searching for him.”
“Ah, of course. Please don’t misunderstand, Duchess.”
Claude flashed a bright smile.
“Lord Orsini is probably carrying out his duties without any trouble.”
“…”
“So there’s no reason to waste time looking for him.”
Canna was at a loss for words. It seemed Orsini enjoyed far more trust among the knights than she had realized.
Ugh, that sparkling faith. It’s unpleasant.
Though it irritated her, quite apart from that, she found Claude rather likable.
His personality is far from ordinary.
In truth, he must be the saddest of all over his comrades’ deaths, yet he showed none of it. Instead, he cracked jokes.
Moreover, he displayed no discomfort whatsoever toward her black hair and black eyes.
It didn’t seem like an act; he genuinely appeared to have no particular thoughts on the matter.
I’ve always been rather fond of this kind of frivolous type.
Opinions on such personalities varied wildly, but for her, it was favorable. If he had been endlessly serious or sunk in gloom, they would never have gotten along.
Claude Azel, was it?
Not only his eyes but his personality was similar to Seonhong’s as well.
Canna found herself liking him even more.
We might actually get along well.
On the way there, Canna thought about Pailon Island.
It’s an island that was only discovered relatively recently.
Pailon had not originally been imperial territory.
The island’s natives had lived without outside contact, but roughly two hundred years ago, an imperial noble discovered it by chance. The emperor at the time decided it would be a waste to leave it alone and simply annexed it as imperial land.
In the end, they stole it by force. This really is a world ruled by bandits.
About a hundred years ago, a devastating epidemic swept the island and killed half its population.
Yet instead of offering aid, the empire had practically abandoned it.
All they did was continue collecting taxes with meticulous greed.
Perhaps because of that, she had heard the people of Pailon Island harbored clear hostility toward the empire.
“You must always be cautious on the island, Duchess.”
Lord Claude spoke with that same bright smile.
“The people of Pailon Island have extremely low loyalty to the imperial family. Moreover—”
“Moreover?”
“A high priest is currently staying on the island.”
This was the first she had heard of it. A high priest—meaning a senior priest from the Great Temple—was on Pailon Island?
“The islanders have suffered from collective madness for a long time. You know this, yes?”
“Of course. That’s exactly why I’m being sent there.”
“Indeed. Upon hearing the story, the high priest declared he would save the island and went there himself.”
“Since I’m being dragged over there, it seems the high priest has yet to succeed in saving them.”
“Yes, not yet.”
A high priest. That would be quite a high rank even within the Great Temple.
Will he be similar to Raphael?
Polite, blunt, inflexible, upright, and innocent.
Maybe all the priests in this world are like that.
Thinking of Raphael made her curious about what kind of person this high priest would be.