The Knights' Order headquarters office.
The Knight Scribe came in carrying a stack of files.
Olin looked up. "Leave the important ones. You can handle the rest."
"Are you going out?"
"I want to get back early. Annan is here."
A face handsome enough to be called beautiful flashed through the Knight Scribe's mind, and understanding dawned on him.
"...I mean, he and his Free City are just outside the Outskirts." Olin frowned slightly.
"I understand..."
His expression made Olin frown harder. Then he said, "There's no important business today," and turned to leave.
Olin was about to call him back when the Scribe returned, wearing a smile that irritated her for no reason. "Commander Olin, Young Master Annan is here."
"Let him in." Olin sighed.
Soon, Annan entered the office in a cloak.
"Why is a traitor here?"
The blunt question caught Olin off guard. "What?"
"I saw the Montreal family's carriage on my way here."
Not one of the Golden Families, but the Montreal family of the Rikaner Kingdom.
Olin pulled off her long silk gloves. "...They're on the list for the Victory Parade too."
The list? In what capacity could the Rikaner Kingdom join the parade—as prisoners?
"Who allowed it?"
"Another faction within the Empire."
Right. More damned politics.
"If you want, I can explain."
It was simple enough. The Rikaner Kingdom wasn't united, and neither was the Empire.
The Empire's Moderate Faction had found common ground with the Kingdom's opposition.
Of course Annan knew it would be wrong to condemn everyone in the Rikaner Kingdom. Plenty of its soldiers and citizens might not have followed the Kingdom willingly. But the Royal Family?
Could there really be good people in the Montreal family?
"Really?"
"Who knows..."
If it were up to Olin, she would have rounded up