After Iris finished explaining her reasoning, Christina, Cid, and the others all turned strange looks toward the utterly confident First Princess Iris. It was as though she had said nothing at all, yet somehow also said everything.
"What's wrong? Cid, Christina, do you think my reasoning is wrong? But think about it carefully. Shadow has both the speed and strength needed to carry out this plan. Slandering Marquis Despoht's reputation would help spread lies about the Cult of Diablos among the people and make Shadow Garden appear to be the side of justice. That perfectly matches Shadow Garden's original objective."
"He had the ability, he stood to benefit, he had a motive, and we have both eyewitness testimony and physical evidence. The facts prove that this was Shadow's conspiracy!"
Brilliant. Truly brilliant. Aside from the conclusion, reasoning process, evidence, investigation, speculation, and motive, none of which were right, everything else was absolutely correct. What a thrilling, earth-shattering deduction. Princess Iris must surely be the legendary detective Kogoro Mouri.
Cid gave Iris an admiring look before turning toward Christina, whose expression was every bit as strange as his own.
Given his status, Princess Iris speaking to him as an equal was already a favor born from her friendship with him and the others. But that was fine. There happened to be someone here who disagreed with Iris just as much as he did, except her status was far higher.
She could speak for him.
"Your Highness Princess Iris, I don't particularly want to deny your reasoning, but I can't help wondering whether your personal bias is influencing it too much. No matter what the truth ultimately turns out to be, we can't treat an absurd conjecture as fact. At the very least, we should first apprehend the other suspect, Marquis Despoht, who is still alive."
Just as Cid expected, Christina was furious at Princess Iris's almost nonsensical argument.
"We can't declare a theory true simply because Shadow has the ability to carry it out, and we certainly can't deny an obvious reality because of prejudice. The fact is that Viscount Haushold Hedd attacked me with a group of assassins dressed in black. Shadow may only have been there to kill Viscount Haushold Hedd, but he did save my life."
"Christina, how many times do I have to explain this before you'll believe that it's Shadow's evil scheme to provoke conflict? What you need to do now is come to your senses and avoid falling into the evil Shadow's trap. Please believe me. The Kingdom's Order of Knights will never falsely accuse an innocent person, nor will we let a guilty person escape punishment."
"Then what you should be doing right now, Princess Iris, is immediately arresting Marquis Despoht while he's still alive, not standing here trying to outsmart yourself because of your prejudice against Shadow! If you want me to trust the Order of Knights, then the Order of Knights first needs to know right from wrong!"
"The Order is absolutely impartial, and there is no bias whatsoever in my reasoning. Everything is based solely on the facts currently available. Christina, are you saying that Shadow, who ignores the Kingdom's laws, wantonly murders innocent people, provokes conflict, and disrupts the Kingdom's order, is a good person, while Marquis Despoht, who loves his country and its people, is the villain?"
"Miss Christina, are you in your right mind?!"
"The person whose sanity should be questioned is you, Princess Iris! Compared to being around you, I suddenly feel like I could even tolerate spending time with your sister Alexia!"
"You..."
"All right, all right. Both of you make very reasonable points. I think what we should do now is carefully analyze the situation."
Seeing their argument grow more heated by the second, to the point where they looked ready to start fighting, Cid quickly joined Kanade in separating Christina and Iris before they actually came to blows.
"Hah... hah... In any case, every clue we have now points to Shadow as the mastermind behind all this evil, while Marquis Despoht is a good man and a loyal subject of the Kingdom. Cid, you think so too, don't you?"
Princess Iris had been thoroughly worked up by the argument. The heated exchange had left her panting, but she still declared Shadow guilty with absolute certainty before turning to Cid for affirmation.
"Hahaha. I think your analysis makes a great deal of sense, Princess Iris."
Cid gave two awkward laughs. His dark eyes shifted slightly to the right as he calmly agreed with Princess Iris's conclusion.
"Exactly. You think so too. Whether you look at his actual conduct or the results of the investigation, Marquis Despoht is clearly one of the good nobles. So why is Christina so stubbornly convinced that there's something wrong with him? Isn't that exactly what Shadow wants? Shadow truly is evil by nature. To think he calculated their personalities so precisely."
When Iris spoke about Shadow, the words practically came through gritted teeth.
For her, seeing through Shadow's conspiracy yet being forced to watch helplessly as its intended victims still fell for it must have felt like yet another mockery and humiliation.
"Uh... Marquis Despoht is a good person?"
Cid had no idea what else to say, and he definitely couldn't let Princess Iris go back and continue arguing with Christina. Those two really would start fighting. So he could only change the subject.
"Yes. Marquis Despoht and the other twelve are all good people who serve their country and its citizens. The rumors surrounding the so-called Thirteen Nightblades, along with the claims that they persecute their subjects and exploit the common people, were all deliberately fabricated by others to frame them. The only people depraved enough to do something like that are the evil Shadow and Shadow Garden... This is yet another strong piece of evidence proving Shadow's evil conspiracy. I need to write this down. I need to write this down."
Halfway through condemning Shadow with accusations pulled out of thin air, Princess Iris realized she had discovered a new piece of evidence and hurriedly took out her notebook to record it.
"Good people, huh... Princess Iris, just to be clear, I only heard this as a rumor. A rumor. But apparently, in the homes of all twelve victims killed by Shadow, they found large numbers of civilians who had been tortured and murdered, along with evidence of embezzlement."
"You just said it was a rumor, and you actually believe it? Cid, you need to trust the results of the joint investigation conducted by the Capital Guard and the Order of Knights."
Without paying any attention to Cid's twisted expression, Princess Iris immediately began explaining the "truth" as she knew it.
"Several orphanages have been built throughout the territories controlled by Marquis Despoht and the others. They are charitable people who accept abandoned orphans from all across the Kingdom without turning anyone away. The defensive walls they built against foreign invasion are magnificent as well, and the welfare of the people in their territories is excellent. Prices may be somewhat high, but the goods are high-quality and constantly in demand."
"And we don't even need to talk about distant matters. Just look at what's happening right now. Because of the recent incidents, the royal capital is under martial law and the entire city has been sealed off. Despite being one of the nobles falsely accused, Marquis Despoht has never expressed any dissatisfaction toward the royal family. Quite the opposite. He fully understands the urgency of the situation and the difficulties faced by the Capital Guard. He has actively cooperated with our work and even supplied large quantities of daily necessities to the people of the capital free of charge, helping calm everyone's nerves."
"???"
Are you sure you haven't confused him with someone else?
Why does that sound completely different from the evidence I found when I searched their homes?
Weren't these people villains?
Utterly baffled by Iris's explanation, Cid reached into his pocket, took out one of the candies Kanade had given him, and prepared to eat it to steady himself.
"The candy you're eating right now, Cid, was also donated free of charge by Marquis Despoht. I've heard sugar can help soothe a person's emotions. I think that makes a lot of sense."
"..."
Cid abruptly stopped licking the hard candy in his mouth.
After hearing Princess Iris say that, he suddenly found himself in an awkward position. He didn't know whether he should keep eating it or spit it out.
"Never mind. I know Christina is still shaken after narrowly escaping death, so I won't hold what she said earlier against her. I'm going to continue my investigation. Cid, please pass along what I just said to Christina."
After watching Princess Iris leave, Cid swallowed the candy, thought for a moment, then turned around and opened the door.
"Christina-san, Princess Iris has already left, but she asked me to pass a few things along to you..."
Cid was already accustomed to the sight before him. Only a few minutes ago, Christina had been comforting Kanade. Now Kanade was the one comforting Christina.
He simply relayed Iris's words as faithfully as possible, softening them wherever he could.
After listening to Cid's message, Christina kept a completely expressionless face. She even nodded faintly, as though she agreed with Iris.
Then...
"Vermin! Alexia and Iris are both vermin!!!"
A roar of almost completely undisguised rage erupted from Christina as she slammed one hand down hard on the table.
"Why?! How did the Kingdom of Midgar and its royal family become like this?! How are we supposed to set the Kingdom of Midgar right while surrounded by this bunch of vermin?!!!"
Christina paused for a moment, then turned toward Cid.
"Cid, please give me the candy Princess Iris mentioned."
"...No problem."
Without the slightest hesitation, Cid handed over his snack.
After taking the candy, Christina immediately threw it into the trash. Then she took out her wallet, withdrew enough money to match the value of the candy, and placed the bills in Cid's hand.
"This House has no need for anything from the Nightsword Society. Everything they give us is a poisoned gift, a bribe meant to corrupt our hearts. We still have supplies stored at home. I would rather die than accept a single thing from them!"
After making that declaration with absolute conviction, Christina seemed to remember something. She walked over to a cabinet and took out a whetstone.
"Christina-san, what are you doing?"
"Sharpening my sword. The only member of the Thirteen Nightblades left now is Marquis Despoht. In other words, once he dies, at least half of the darkness hanging over the Kingdom of Midgar will disappear, perhaps even more. This is an opportunity. One we may never get again..."
She didn't say what kind of opportunity she meant, but anyone who wasn't an idiot could figure it out.
Cid felt someone tugging on the hem of his clothes.
He turned his head slightly and saw Kanade pick up a hat and put it on, covering the conspicuous center parting in her hair. Then she gestured for Cid to follow her outside.
"Hey, Cid, what do we do now? Lady Christina looks like she's gone crazy."
The moment they stepped outside, Kanade frantically grabbed Cid and asked him for a solution.
All she wanted was to keep her head down behind Christina until this whole disaster passed, then go back to her peaceful school life. She had absolutely no interest in directly clashing with the Thirteen Nightblades, the largest criminal force in the Kingdom.
She would get crushed.
"What do we do? Nothing. All we can do is pray. Pray that Shadow finds that hiding Marquis Despoht before Christina-san does and kills him first."
"Rather than counting on that lunatic Shadow to save us, I think the two of us should run away right now and gamble on Christina's mercy. Even if she catches us later, she probably won't kill us."
Kanade spoke without hesitation as she touched the hat on her head, feeling the clearly defined groove running through the middle.
Her trust in Shadow was zero.
"I told you to trust Christina-san a little more. This is your idea of trusting her?"
"Yeah. I trust that with Lady Christina's merciful nature, she definitely wouldn't have the heart to kill us. She'd only lock us up. That would also keep us from having to clash with the Thirteen Nightblades."
"You want to kneel again?!"
Cid suddenly raising his voice startled Kanade into taking several steps back.
Once she recovered, she glared at him.
"Why are you shouting? This was never something a low-ranking noble like me should be getting involved in. What does any of this even have to do with me in the first place? If I'd known you were going to react like this, I wouldn't have brought you along. Cid, you traitor."
Cid stared fixedly at Kanade, and Kanade met his gaze without the slightest fear.
She was cautious whenever she spoke to Christina or Princess Iris, but when facing Cid, who was only somewhat stronger than her, she had no fear at all.
"This world is already rotten enough. Even the smallest bit of kindness feels unusually precious. Compared to them, you're not bad."
"I have no idea what kind of riddle you're talking about."
Kanade curled her lip dismissively.
Cid couldn't be bothered arguing with this slacker any further, so he turned and headed back toward Christina's room.
Calling her kind didn't feel right. The moment trouble appeared, she chose to run away because she was afraid of it.
But calling her bad didn't fit either. She still had a little kindness and a basic moral line she wouldn't cross, so she wasn't capable of doing anything truly terrible.
Neither good enough nor bad enough.
People who were neither good nor evil were exactly the type who ended up dead.
Kanade was precisely that sort of person.
"At the end of the day, this is all that lunatic Shadow's fault. No wonder a freak who came up with a tacky name like Shadow Garden is either insane or suffering from Chuunibyou."
Hearing Kanade complain about Shadow giving her a center part, Cid, who had originally decided not to argue with her, suddenly froze in place.
"Boom!"
Kanade was slammed against the wall. She looked up in shock at Cid, who had suddenly come back.
"What did you just say?"
"Shadow is either insane or a pervert."
"The sentence before that."
"No wonder a freak who came up with a tacky name like Shadow Garden is either insane or suffering from Chuunibyou. What about it?"
"You think the name is tacky? I think it's actually pretty cool."
Cid narrowed his eyes at Kanade.
He would not allow anyone to question his naming sense.
"How is it not tacky? Who puts their own name in front of their organization's name?"
That perfectly aimed jab sent what felt like a bolt of electricity shooting from Cid's spine straight to the top of his head.
She had a point.
It really did sound like the kind of organization someone would name after themselves.
Who would put their own name in front of an organization's name unless they were ridiculously vain?
Once that thought entered his mind, Cid suddenly felt as though the entire world had closed in around him.
Endless shame flooded his heart, and overwhelming embarrassment swallowed him whole.
No.
He had to change it before anyone else noticed.
This kind of dark history had to be erased!
Cid's eyes hardened with resolve.
If that was the case, then he would be the one to put an end to Shadow Garden...
Wait.
Hadn't he already done that?
In that case, it seemed he had been surprisingly foresighted after all.
"What are you freaking out about?"
Watching Cid's expression change several times in rapid succession, Kanade muttered a complaint, crouched down, and slipped out through the gap beneath him.
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