Regression After Proposing to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 20
Unlike Beatrice, who felt her insides churning as she awkwardly adjusted to becoming a local, the preparations for the delegation proceeded rapidly.
In the end, a total of five people were selected.
Clyde, who would lead the team, one knight of his choosing, two individuals recommended by the aides, and Beatrice.
With everything moving along smoothly and only the departure remaining, the head maid approached.
As she offered a casual farewell, as if wishing them a safe trip, she whispered softly.
"I apologize for acting without consulting you. But it seemed you truly wished to see the inside for yourself."
"Oh, no, it’s fine. But are you sure this is okay? I’m not actually from the marquisate..."
"It is fine. Once you are inside, it won't hold much significance, and one of the aides is actually from the marquisate."
The head maid gestured toward one of the members of the delegation. A woman with high-tied purple hair stood there.
"That person is..."
"That is Aide Astrid Sharon."
Beatrice’s eyes widened slightly at the head maid’s words.
'Sharon? That Lady Sharon who passed away?'
Beatrice hesitated for a moment before quickly shaking her head.
Even if she couldn't remember every detail of the past, she certainly remembered the hair color of Lady Sharon.
'Surely, I even attended the funeral.'
The image of her father, who had bid farewell to the deceased with an expression mixed with misery and doubt at the funeral, was still vivid.
It was just as Beatrice was recalling these memories while looking at the purple-haired woman.
The head maid, misinterpreting her silence, added lightly.
"The Crown Prince’s aides are already aware of the facts and are cooperating, so please do not worry too much. They will assist you."
"Ah, oh, yes!"
At that moment, the knight processing the procedures at the gate raised his voice.
"Everything is cleared on this end, so you may depart whenever you are ready!"
"Oh, thank goodness."
Even if they were blocking entry for some reason, it seemed there was no justification to stop the delegation once the Crown Prince was involved.
Glancing at Clyde, who was having a low-voiced conversation with the Crown Prince, Beatrice offered a light expression of gratitude.
"Then I should join the group as well. Thank you for everything! I’ll be back safely!"
"It is for the sake of the Empire. I shall pray for your safe return."
Beatrice took a short breath and walked toward where the attendants were gathered.
Just as she joined the group naturally—looking for all the world like a maid—and was about to pass through the gate while presenting her identification,
"You there, wait."
A soldier of the marquisate guarding the gate called out to her.
Beatrice’s body stiffened for an instant. Even though she thought it impossible, she feared her forged identification had been discovered.
'Oh, you weak-hearted fool!'
Ignoring her heart, which was pounding uncontrollably, Beatrice looked at the soldier as if to ask what was wrong.
The soldier, who had made eye contact with Beatrice, hesitated for a moment before pulling a sack from inside the guard post.
"...Since you’re part of the Crown Prince’s delegation, it felt wrong to just send you off. You said you were going all the way to the Marquisate, right? You won't be able to reach the capital within today, so you'll likely spend the night in Brelin village. You’ll need this when you get there."
"This?"
"Yes. Now go on."
...What is this?
She wanted to open the sack immediately to check the contents, but the atmosphere was not right for it.
Though it was actually light, the pouch in her hand felt strangely heavy.
As the check at the gate delayed them, Clyde approached and asked.
"Is there a problem?"
"Ah, not exactly..."
Beatrice trailed off. She feared that if she opened her mouth for too long, she would habitually treat him as Beatrice.
Instead, she held out the sack she was carrying and glanced toward the gate.
It was a silent gesture, but it would be enough.
As expected, Clyde, having grasped the situation, gave a slight nod.
"If there are no issues, let's move."
Beatrice followed him without further question.
It was only when the gate had sufficiently disappeared from view that Beatrice carefully opened the sack.
What came out of the sack was none other than...
"Dolls?"
They were dolls. From dolls seemingly woven from straw to cloth dolls, and even ones made of wood.
The only commonality was that all the dolls were in the shape of humans.
"...Is there a custom related to dolls in the marquisate?"
At Clyde’s question, Beatrice immediately shook her head. As far as she knew, there was no such custom in the marquisate.
'There... there isn't, right?'
Suddenly losing her confidence, Beatrice cast a sidelong glance to check on Aide Sharon.
She, too, looked bewildered, as if it were her first time seeing such a thing.
'Phew. Thank goodness!'
As she felt relieved and turned her eyes back to Clyde, she saw him silently furrowing his brows.
'Hmm, he must have remembered information from before the Regression.'
It was perfectly understandable.
As soon as she saw the dolls, she, too, had recalled the story of the person who discovered the place before the Regression, saying, "There was nothing but dolls in the village."
Clyde, who would have investigated the marquisate himself later, must have even more coming to mind.
Watching him intently, Beatrice put on a timid voice and spoke up.
"Um... it will be difficult to reach the capital within today anyway... So, how about we stay in Brelin village first and observe the situation? The dolls, too... it feels like they were given to help us..."
Beatrice was merely repeating what the soldier had said earlier, but no one knew that.
The people nodded at her remark, which sounded quite like a local's.
"Let's head to Brelin village. However, I have a feeling the situation within the marquisate will be even stranger than we anticipated. If possible, do not stray from one another, and if you are unavoidably separated or if a problem arises, we will follow the Knights' protocol and use this."
"This is..."
"It is cloth marked with special pigment."
Oh, so they use this to mark their movements, right?
She had only ever heard of it from Clyde, but she never expected to use it herself.
Beatrice lightly rubbed the cloth she had received with her fingertips.
Since it was for emergencies, it would be best if she never had to use it, but for some reason, she had a bad feeling.
* * *
'My mother said that if even I, of all people, could feel something, then there really must be something there.'
To think that those words would turn out to be true.
Beatrice swallowed hard as she looked at the note that had been slid through the gap in her door in the middle of the night.
In truth, when she first arrived in Brelin, she had thought everything might just be groundless worry.
This was because the appearance of Brelin village on the surface was no different from any other gate village of a territory.
There were inns to welcome outsiders, shops displaying local specialties, and even restaurants soliciting customers.
If there was one difference, it was that, just like in the interview she had seen in the news before the Regression, dolls were placed all over the village.
'To be precise, it looked like it was decorated with dolls. The dolls were arranged as if they were people going about their daily lives.'
Dolls bent over as if harvesting potatoes, dolls holding hands with friends at the edge of the village as if taking a walk, and even dolls appearing to sell flowers on the street.
Anyone would think a festival related to dolls was being held.
Not only Beatrice and Clyde, but the attendants who had sensed something suspicious also examined the village in tension, but there were no visible anomalies anywhere.
'So we decided to head toward the capital tomorrow and look into it further, and then we parted ways to our respective rooms...'
To think she would receive such a suspicious note.
Instead of touching the note with her hands, Beatrice crouched down and began to read the contents.
[I am sliding this note in quietly, not wishing to disturb your rest.
If you feel something pressing down on your body, or if you break into a cold sweat from a chilling sensation, please lay the doll in the drawer on your bed and come down to the lobby.
Even if it is not the symptoms above, if anything strange occurs, please follow the same instructions as above.]
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