PandoraHearts ~Caucus Race~, Vol. 1 (20 page)

The suspicious spells and mysterious jargon the magic book held weren’t entirely unlike fantastic poems. Reim decided that must have been it.

I’ll return this to Ada-sama later
, he thought.

Magic book in hand, Reim turned the corner. Then he stopped.

While not as unexpected as Ada, a person whom it was quite unusual to see at Pandora Headquarters stood just around the corner. Reim had guessed as much from Ada’s words, but it was Vincent Nightray and his valet, the girl Echo.

Vincent was a son of the House of Nightray, another of the four great dukedoms, and he was also affiliated with Pandora.

However, he was notorious for almost never leaving the Nightray mansion.

Reim remembered that Ada had said she meant to recommend the magic book to Vincent-sama.

He considered passing it on to Vincent himself, right there, but almost immediately thought better of it.

No doubt Ada-sama wanted to give it to him personally.

Reim decided not to do anything too forward. He drew a small breath.

“—Vincent-sama,” he addressed him, bowing. Noticing Reim, Vincent smiled.

It was a decorous smile. However, it held no sense of affection for the other person. Echo was standing next to Vincent, and as he spoke, he stroked her head.

“We just came by for a bit of fun. Was that all right…?”

“Of course. I’m afraid I can’t personally accommodate you just now, though.”

Vincent only murmured, “I see.
”
He smiled tranquilly; he didn’t seem to mind.

Simply having Vincent smile at him made Reim feel as if it was a bit hard to breathe.

I’m really no good with this person…

Vincent left Reim, and Echo followed after.

“Papa,” she said… I’ve heard something shocking
, Reim thought. Still, he didn’t want to get too involved with the House of Nightray, and especially not with Vincent. He swore to forget what he’d heard, and chased the word from his mind.

His eyes fell to the magic book in his hand. He did have a curse to investigate, but first he thought he should find Ada and return the book. He turned on his heel.

Ada was standing right behind him.

“—?!” Reim was so startled that he froze up.

Ada seemed terribly flustered and anxious. She looked at the book in Reim’s hands, pointing.

“Umm…umm… I… That…”

“Oh. Oh, this? Yes, I’m afraid you dropped it. …Here you are.”

Reim handed the magic book to Ada, who was looking truly desperate. Ada hugged the magic book to her bosom and gazed at Reim. She seemed to want to say something. Reim cocked his head, puzzled, and asked her what was wrong.

“Umm…I…this… This book. Did you…look inside…?”

“Ah—” Reim responded, just to show he’d been listening. Ada’s whole body seemed to be radiating the wish
Say you didn’t see it! Say you didn’t see it!

Reim’s understanding was that Ada had mistaken a magic book for a book of poetry or some other romantic volume, and he interpreted the situation based on that understanding:
Ada-sama must be embarrassed by the idea of anyone knowing the contents of the book.

Reim smiled and—kindly—lied: “I didn’t look.” The instant he did, Ada heaved a sigh of relief so great that her shoulders sagged.

Ada thanked Reim over and over for picking up the magic book. Reim told her she’d probably find Vincent quite soon if she went after him now, but Ada only shook her head, red-faced, and walked away.
Women are complicated
, Reim thought.

Mentally switching gears, Reim returned to his investigation of the curse. Thinking he’d try Pandora’s books as well, he headed for the library. When he entered, Break was already there.

“Hullo, Reim-san.”

His friend—a “friend” he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he tried—waved at him cheerily. For some reason, the moment he saw him, Reim thought:

That little… Was he waiting for me?

If asked why he felt this, Reim couldn’t have answered. It was just instinct.

“Wasn’t today your day off?”

“As it turns out, no. …Rufus-sama had a request for me.”

“My,
my
. May blessings be upon you, industrious Reim-san.”

“Don’t mock me. Never mind that, do you have a minute?”

Did Break know? If not, Reim would end the conversation quickly. He didn’t have time to waste joking around with this amiable bad influence.

“Sure. What do you need?” Break cocked his head.

Reim’s conversation with Break had left him more tired than before.

He hesitated, wondering whether he should continue with his planned investigation of the library’s volumes as well, but in the end he left the library and headed for the third-floor office where Break had said he’d find Sharon. As he climbed the stairs, on the landing between the second and third floors, Reim spotted Gilbert.

Gilbert was looking out through the window on the landing.

The sky was already fading from sunset vermillion to the dark blue of night, and the moon was up.

Apparently, that night was the full moon.

A hazy memory rose in Reim’s mind. Something Rufus had said.

To a moonlit night like this…

What had they been talking about? He couldn’t remember.

“Reim?” Gilbert ended up speaking to him first.

Gilbert had worried wrinkles between his eyebrows, although that was nothing unusual for him. He seemed to have been deep in thought as he gazed outside.

Although Reim was on his way to the office where Sharon was, he thought he’d ask Gilbert as well.

“Gilbert-sama. Would you mind if I asked you a question?”

Before Reim could ask his question, Gilbert asked one of his own:

“Reim, what exactly are ‘women,’ anyway? I really don’t know.”