"No, it's very strange from my perspective. After all, Marquis Stargaze was your father's best friend, who had gone through life and death many times."
"!!!" Noel widened his eyes in shock. "What… did you say?"
"You didn't hear it wrong. Your father and Marquis Stargaze were best friends." Raincart smirked.
"Then, are you telling me that Marquis Stargaze betrayed my father?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows.
"That's something I don't know, but I feel it's weird. I've heard the stories from your mother, Leysha. She told me that your father had always saved Marquis Stargaze with his timely support, mainly with supply. Meanwhile, Marquis Stargaze had repaid him so many times, including gambling with his life in exchange for your father's safety.
"With that kind of relationship, I hardly believed that either of them would betray the other. So, if this is not betrayal, then what is it?" Raincart asked.
Noel looked down, contemplating. He didn't know why but this kind of ridiculous thought appeared in his mind. "Now that I think about it, I heard that Anna Stargaze asked her father for my parents' execution. Meanwhile, the Marquis Stargaze had agreed with the royal family to spare my life.
"If it was the normal Royal Family, they would surely agree with Anna because executing all of us would mean solving the problems from the root.
"Does that mean Marquis Stargaze had been begging the Royal Family and stopping his daughter from executing me as well? But the best they could give was my exile. If that's the case, does that mean Marquis Stargaze actually saved me? Still, if they're best friends, shouldn't they be on the same side?"
"Exactly." Raincart pointed at Noel. "That's why I feel it is strange. There are three questions that can easily come up with this situation. The first question is about Anna Stargaze. Even if she's the most talented person in the kingdom, there's no way the Royal Family could follow her words.
"In other words, her words couldn't change anything. Whether she said anything or not, the judgment wouldn't change. Yet, why did they emphasize that they made this judgment because of her? Don't you think it's strange?
"I mean, if I'm from the royal family, I'd rather have her marry into the royal family to give her more right to speak. Yet, the royal family didn't do it and simply used that as an excuse, making people's focus shift to her.
"This surely gave the Marquis a hard time, considering it was the same as repaying his support with a slap on the face.
"Then, the second question is… about your exile. You're together with the heirloom of your family, right?"
"Yes." Noel nodded with a serious expression.
"After seizing all of your father's assets, why don't they keep your family heirloom as well? Imagine, since your father is no longer with you, don't you think it's fine if they just gave you some random sword instead of the family heirloom, which was the most important asset in your family since it was basically the symbol of the Ardagan Family?
"They'd seize all kinds of opportunities to get the sword, so it's weird when they didn't. At the same time, I haven't seen any signs that the Royal Family is selling your family's assets even now.
"The assets won't be useful if they don't sell them since your family is a merchant family instead of other kinds of family… I mean, if it's like the Ezenholm Family, a Spirit Magician Family, there's no need to sell anything since everything you've taken from here is better to be used instead of sold.
"That leaves the last question. Seeing how your father sent me a letter as if he knew about his execution, shouldn't he have made any preparation for it? Surrounded by all sides? I already told you that your father was shrewd as hell. If not, how could he steal my daughter? That's why I couldn't believe him not trying to smuggle you out of this country."
After listening to these three questions, Noel felt like he got another understanding of what had transpired behind his back.
"I see. It seems that the matter is more complicated than I thought…" Noel pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah. At first, it looked normal, considering your Ardagan Family is one of the richest nobles. Then, with your father's reputation, the rebellion could be started, so killing your parents was the right thing to do. But if you investigated further, why was your family the only one to suffer this kind of fate?"
"I don't know that answer." Noel shook his head. "There must be some shady dealing behind the entire execution."
"Exactly my point. But we don't know what kind of stuff happened in the dark. There were probably three people who knew about this."
"And they are…" Noel squinted his eyes.
"Your father, Marquis Stargaze, and the king himself."
Noel's expression darkened. Marquis Stargaze was his father's best friend and he might be the one begging so that his life would be spared. The royal family was the executor, so they might also know something. And his father might also be behind this.
"It's impossible for me to know the truth for the time being, especially since it's related to the major power…" Noel let out a long sigh.
"That's probably not the case." Raincart shook his head. "There's a possibility for you to dig out some information."
"Huh? From where?"
"Your parents."
"Are you asking me to dig out my parents' graves, Grandfather?"
"No. There's one more place to find out, no?"
"!!!" Noel finally understood his meaning as his tone became solemn. "My family's fief?"
"Yes. Your current territory belongs to the royal family, but there aren't many people guarding it. If you want to find some information, I think that's the right place. Don't you think so?"
Noel fell silent. If the royal family hadn't touched his family's mansion, it meant any kind of evidence would be present there. If he could sneak in, it might give him some information. In fact, not many people guarding the mansion alone was already a kind of invitation for him.
"I can't cross the border, but no one will suspect you. So, I'm thinking about sending you there to investigate it yourself. I said it earlier… your father was shrewd and knew about his execution, if he was actually the mastermind of his own execution, he should have hidden something in that mansion."
