by Funa
For something like this, however, it was only a matter of time before word reached the palace, the temples, and, eventually, all the citizens of the country, commoners and aristocrats alike.
Achille was slowly creeping his way to the door, taking care to make sure no one noticed him. Since Kaoru had gone off and disappeared somewhere, it was guaranteed people would start barraging him with questions any second now—but he had no answers to give them.
I have to get out of here, and I have to do it now! The door is so close! Just a little bit farther... Almost there...
At the same time, Kaoru had already successfully made her escape from the viscount’s estate, hopping into the carriage waiting for her outside and heading toward the Abili Trade Company. The driver was part of the company as well, and wouldn’t spill the beans about Kaoru to anyone. They took precautions against anyone tailing them back by taking a bit of a detour before they arrived at their destination. If there really was anyone trailing them, there was a group of children on standby, ready to interfere should the need arise. There wasn’t anyone pursuing the carriage however, so, in the end, their services weren’t needed.
A little while later, Achille was successful in his escape from the party as well. It was easier for him to slip out undetected since everyone still had Kaoru on their minds. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was going to be interrogated by his father and brother if he stayed at the mansion, and there was a chance the guests would jump in with questions of their own as well. The only choice left for him now was to flee to the workshop.
Since he’d left on foot, it was late in the evening by the time he made it there, and no one else was awake when he arrived. He crept inside and changed into his work clothes before laying down in a corner of the room.
Kaoru may just stay in hiding after showing off that power of hers in front of so many people, Achille thought to himself. She may never come back here again, all because I forced her to do this for me...
He didn’t have the courage to propose to Kaoru, who was still just a child. Though he said he just needed her to pretend she was his fiancée for a day, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t hoping it would only be a matter of time before it wouldn’t just be an act after he introduced her to his father. Though, Kaoru had refused the idea in the first place because she didn’t want to make it seem like she broke off an engagement... But if he could’ve just had his father meet her at the party, he was sure she wouldn’t have objected to that. He believed his father would have realized it wasn’t just Kaoru’s looks that were amazing, but also how special she truly was if they could have just talked.
But the truth was that Kaoru had lined up to participate in the courting ceremony instead, and even showed off her powers as a messenger of the Goddess before that huge crowd of people. Kaoru was smart, so there was no way she didn’t know what the consequences were for doing something like that. She’d even kept that a secret up until then exactly because she knew what would happen...
Was she feeling sorry for Calvin after I told her about him? Was it because she liked my brother instead? Kaoru may never come back here now. At this rate, she may just disappear forever...
His mind was clouded with regret, making it all the harder to get any sleep that night.
The next morning—
I’m used to dozing off in the lab, but my body still kind of aches a little after...
As I groggily thought that to himself, a voice called out to me, just like always.
“Oh, you’re awake, Achille. Your body’s gonna make you regret it if you keep sleeping like that.”
Kaoru greeted me with the same thing she said every time I spent the night here at the workshop, but... No, wait, what?!
“K-Kaoru?”
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something. Come on, I already have breakfast ready. You told me you didn’t need it since you’d be staying at your place, but then I found you sleeping here, so I had to scramble to make some for you, I’ll have you know!”
There she was, same as always, like nothing had ever happened.
Huh? Huuuh? What was all that regret and despair I felt yesterday for then?
A messenger from home came to the workshop a short while after we finished breakfast. The message: “Return home immediately.”
Yeah, figured as much...
I took Kaoru back to the storage room with me to ask her about what happened at the party yesterday. Alban and Brian were staring daggers at me when I took Kaoru’s hand to lead her there, but I swear I wasn’t doing anything, guys! We were just gonna talk, that was all!
From what she told me, it sounded like she took a carriage back to her friend’s place and got changed there before coming back. Since I’d come back to the workshop on foot, she was already in bed by the time I got back.
But that isn’t what I wanted to ask about!
“Um, Kaoru...about what happened yesterday...”
“Oh, the dress? My friend got that ready for me too.”
“No, not that! I’m talking about...you know...the thing with you healing Calvin’s wounds, and that power of yours...”
“Oh, that. It’s just something I got from the Goddess.”
Sh-She said it so casually!
I could only fall to my knees...
The story I heard from Kaoru went a little something like this:
She’d actually come from some faraway country, and the Goddess Celestine had taken a liking to her and gave her this strange power. But for some reason, she wasn’t able to stay in her country. In her own words: “I’ll leave it to you to guess why.”
She’d been living a normal life after coming to this particular country, but she was beginning to fret over whether using the gift she received from the Goddess to help those in need was the right thing to do. So eventually, she came to the conclusion that, “If I were to be hunted down if only a certain few found out about what I can do, then no one should be able to try and take me all for themselves if everyone knew about it.” That way, she figured, no one should be able to try and capture her for their own personal use.
“Last night was when I finally had a chance to go through with it with all those nobles there, and I went ahead and took it. Sorry about that.”
“Wait, so does that mean you didn’t line up for the courting ceremony because you were interested in Cedric?”
“‘Courting ceremony’? What’s that?”
“N-no, haha...it’s nothing. Haha... Hah...” A feeble laugh escaped my lips. “B-But that’s not the point here! What are you planning on doing now?! This is going to blow up for sure! How am I going to explain this to my father... No, making sure you’re safe should take priority here...”
As I panicked over what to do, Kaoru answered me with a calm look on her face.
“People will have a hard time believing what happened last night when they first hear about it, so I’m sure nothing is really going to happen today or tomorrow. With that many aristocrats there though, I’m sure the big wigs should be making their move in the next few days or so. The rumor should have spread pretty far by then, so that should at least mean other people in power wanting to hog me for themselves shouldn’t be able to do so without anyone knowing about it.”
“Um...big wigs?”
“Right. Like the royal palace, or other people like that.”
“...”
“Oh, you should tell your father I’m a girl who fled her country after they tried turning me into a political tool who you just happened to get close with. You should also tell him you’re the only aristocrat I trust right now in this country. It’s the truth after all. I’m sure the big wigs will come to you soon enough to try and get you to call for me, but I don’t mind you telling them about me when that happens. No one would think I’d be a commoner, let alone working as a housekeeper in a place like this, so I’m sure they won’t find me that easily.”
“Wh-What are you getting at, Kaoru...?”
/> “Um... It sounds like you wanted to see me, Father?”
“Mind your tongue! You’re going to tell me everything you know about that girl, and you’ll do so now this very instant!”
When Achille went back to his family’s residence, his father was there to greet him—and was absolutely fuming. They were in his father’s study, with Cedric in the room as well.
“What do you think happened after what she did last night?! At least there was still some semblance of it being a party since Cedric’s courting ceremony came toward the end, but do you know what sort of uproar she ended up causing?! Do you know the barrage of questions I had to endure?!”
Achille shrunk back, startled by how furious his usually gentle father was.
“‘What family does she belong to?’ ‘What’s her relationship with Achille?’ ‘She lined up for the courting ceremony, so does that mean she’s interested in Cedric?’ ‘What was that power she used?’ ‘Is she an angel sent from Celestine herself?’ ‘What does the Lyodart household have to do with her?’ I didn’t know a damn thing! There wasn’t a single question I could answer, but do you think that was enough to satisfy those people after they’d worked themselves up into such a fervor? Why did you run away by yourself, Achille?!”
I mean, it’s pretty obvious it was because I didn’t want all those questions being pointed at me, Father...
Achille explained everything to the viscount just the way Kaoru had told him to. The viscount was overjoyed upon hearing that his son was the only person the girl trusted, but that joy was accompanied by other things he had to take into consideration as well. This girl had earned the affection of the Goddess herself, so they’d want to stay in her good graces. If they could stay close with her, and the relationship between his son and the girl became more intimate, then eventually...
But would something like that be allowed for the family of a mere viscount? Wasn’t there a chance that earls, marquis, and maybe even the royal family would swarm to the girl because they wanted her for themselves? Would the Lyodart household be able to survive as the only ones the girl was close to? It wasn’t just being caught up in the strife over getting the girl he was worried about, but they could be wiped out entirely to get their family out of the picture. Even if he tried to distance themselves now out of fear of that, rumors of what had happened last night were probably spreading even this very second: the girl was close with Achille, had lined up to participate in the courting ceremony for Cedric, and had performed a miracle for the sake of Cedric and his servant. It was too late to back out now.
“All right, I understand. Achille, do you know where she is right now?”
“I do. No one should be able to find her for the time being.”
“Good. Then if we receive a royal decree, we will follow it and act as mediators for whatever happens next. Ignore all questions and pressure from the other noble families. Until then, I want you to protect and get closer with her. Be wary of people shadowing you when you go to meet with her!”
“Understood.”
“Achille, I want you to tell her something from me.” Cedric suddenly spoke up after quietly listening this whole time. “Tell Miss Kaoru that I happily accept her proposal of courtship, if you could.”
Oh, that... You know what, I think it’s time I mess with my brother a bit.
“Kaoru didn’t seem to know that was the courting ceremony line, Cedric. She told me she just wanted to say hello with you and Father and heal Calvin, that’s all. It was just a greeting, so she wasn’t actually interested in that sort of relationship with you. She also said that I’m the only aristocrat in this country that she trusts!”
“Wh-What...?” Cedric stammered, dumbfounded.
It wasn’t like he was a bad person or anything, but he was always so cocksure of himself that Achille wanted to knock him down a peg at least once. It was a little payback for how Cedric always looking down on Achille as his little brother.
Before Cedric could recover and say anything back, Achille had already made a mad dash to return to the workshop.
It was only a short while later a royal messenger from the palace came to visit the Lyodart household. Even Kaoru couldn’t have imagined where the three potions she gave to Francette and the others would be used, let alone the effect they’d brought about. When word of what happened last night reached those in the palace who bore witness to the miracle of the Goddess that had taken place months ago, they immediately sprung into action.
Achille made it back to the workshop and told Kaoru what had happened after he talked things over with his father, which came as a relief to her. Not long after, though, another message from the Lyodart house had come to the workshop:
“We have received a message from the royal palace. Come back at once.”
That was fast! That was way faster than I thought!
Kaoru was completely taken aback over how wrong her prediction had been. She was expecting for someone from the palace to have heard the story, then laughed it off and dismissed it as nothing more than fantasy. It should’ve taken hearing the same reports over and over again until word of it finally reached the king, which should’ve taken a few days at least. Then she thought there’d be some sort of meeting over what to do about the matter, but she definitely wasn’t expecting them to do anything the same day they heard about it.
“I’ll go if they call for me specifically. Make sure to confirm what day and time they’d want to see me, and tell them they don’t have to send anyone to get me.”
“Right, got it!”
After Achille left, Kaoru sank deep into thought. It’d be a bad idea to show up at the castle with someone from the Lyodart family, since that could be taken as a sign they were trying to keep her for themselves. The Lyodarts were only a point of contact so far, and it made sense for them to act as the mediators in this situation. That way, it would also make it so no harm should befall them either.
The main problem here was how this was all happening too fast. Things may take a turn for the worst if the royal family or others in power closed in on her before the rumors had spread far enough. The safest course of action would be to wait until word of what she did reached other cliques vying for power, as well as a good portion of the population.
How were they able to react this quickly anyway? Did I just overlook something? I need to find a way to buy more time... It’d be a good idea to come up with a plan so I don’t find myself forced into being married off to royalty or the son of some other hoity-toity aristocrat family...
Kaoru never would have imagined the knight she’d given those potions to would have used them in the audience chamber of the royal palace. Even though she had a good head on her shoulders, she wasn’t going to come up with the right answer anytime soon unless she had all the necessary information stored away in there beforehand.
“You got a royal summons from His Majesty himself, Kaoru. Sounds like he wants you to have an audience with him tomorrow morning.”
“Got it.”
By the time Achille had come back to the workshop, Kaoru was almost done putting the finishing touches on her plan.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, by the back gates to the royal palace—
The main gates wouldn’t open until a little while later, but the back entrance would open as soon as the sun came up to let in workers delivering food as well as servants who had the early morning shift. Only certain people were allowed in at night.
Kaoru was told to have a royal audience “in the morning.” This world didn’t have any accurate ways of keeping time, and it was simply out of the question to keep the king waiting. That was why it was normal for anyone told to come in the morning to arrive extremely early and spend hours on standby in a waiting room inside the castle. But even for someone who had an audience with the king, it was much too early to come and wait. The servant in charge of cleaning the waiting room wasn’t even awake yet.
“Excuse me, but may I go through?” a young
girl wearing what looked to be a servant’s outfit called out to the guard standing watch by the gate.
“Yeah, sure. Do you have your proof of passage?”
“I don’t, no...”
“Hm? Just here for a normal audience then? You’re still a little early for that. Well, whatever. Let’s see your royal audience papers then.”
Even a commoner could request an audience with the king in this country, but only after going through a rigorous pre-screening process and a meticulous background check. Only around one of every dozen or so leaders from various villages were granted an audience, but even then it was only when it was about something important; things like a danger that threatened the continuing existence of their village for example.
“I don’t have that, either...”
“What, so you want to get inside without any sort of permission? What business do you have at the castle anyway?”
“Well, I was hoping I could get in to see the king...”