Um, this isn’t why she was in such a hurry to get here, right? I was feeling done with her, so I shot Emilia an accusatory glare, and she must’ve noticed as she averted her gaze.
“Lady Mary, I suspect that you have plans of your own,” Sufia said. “Her Highness is easier to manage than Lady Elizabeth, I suppose. Ugh, this is the one situation that I wanted to avoid. She’s such a feisty princess...” Sufia had just decided to bear her heart to me all of a sudden. I thought I might’ve heard her say something rather twisted in the middle of it all, but perhaps it was just my imagination.
The people around us began to chatter.
“Lady Mary?”
“Y-You mean, she’s...”
“The Argent Holy Woman!”
Cold sweat trickled down my back as a certain dangerous nickname began to resurface.
“There’s no mistaking it!” someone said. “That silver hair, and those eyes! She must be the Argent Holy Woman!”
Cheers echoed throughout the port. The soldiers that had appeared to block me now had to block the citizens from pushing their way toward me. Chaos ensued, and I was terrified by the energy. I could only back away with a forced smile.
“Raaaaah!” Emilia roared. “Shoo! Scat! Make way, everyone! Now is not the time for us to be stopped heeeere! Curses, Sufia! You did this on purpose, didn’t you?!”
“Wrong!” Sufia replied. “I made a tiny mistake, that’s all! Now then, Lady Mary and her friends! This way, please!”
The soldiers pushed back the crowd as we walked ahead, guided by Sufia. It made me feel like a celebrity who’d been spotted in the middle of the city.
“Argent Holy Woman?” Noa asked. “B-Big sister, you’re famous, aren’t you?”
Along with being overwhelmed by the crowd, Noa looked up at me stunned and I immediately corrected her.
“I-I don’t think so,” I replied. “Princes Reifus, Magiluka, Safina, and Sacher are all very famous, I’ll have you know.”
“Oh dear!” Sita butted in proudly. “No need to be so humble! Even in Kairomea, the Argent Holy Woman was—”
“Ahhhh! La la la!” I interrupted, clapping a hand over her mouth. “I don’t think we caught what you said! Oh well! Come now, Noa. Let’s go. Emilia is waiting for us, I’m sure.”
I pushed Noa’s back gently, and we swiftly left the area.
“All right, Sufia!” Emilia shouted. “We leave this place to you! We shall go on ahead!”
“Huh?!” Sufia cried. “Y-Your Highness! You can’t do that! If you act any more independently, I’ll— Gyaaaaaaah!”
When Emilia spotted the carriage, she grabbed Sufia and flung her into the middle of the commotion. Sufia, true to her catfolk instincts, managed to land on her feet beautifully as she was lost among the people. Will she be all right?
“Now then!” Emilia shouted. “With the nuisance gone, we shall head for the royal capital! Everyone, board the carriage!”
The terrible thing I just witnessed made me question whether I should really be following along with her, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t like my last visit to Relirex was all that relaxing either. With Emilia around, I didn’t have to take things too seriously. Maybe this was just how Relirex was.
“The royal capital, huh?” I said. “I wasn’t able to visit the city last time, so I’m a bit excited.”
“We apologize for putting a damper on your tourism, but this time around, we must act under the cover of the night,” Emilia replied. “You don’t have time for a leisurely stroll through the city.”
“Are you sure that you aren’t planning something?”
“S-Suspicious to no end, are you?” Emilia replied, flustered. Then she mumbled “We haven’t done anything...for now...” so quietly I didn’t hear it.
Despite all the fuss and commotion, we successfully made our way for the royal capital, arriving at sunset after we traveled through the port city.
“Whew, we should be safe now that we’re this far out,” Emilia said. “We’ll stay a night here, and tomorrow, we’ll sneak— We mean, enter the royal castle. That’s our plan.”
“Sorry, what?” I asked. “I think I just heard you say something awfully ominous...” I glared at her.
“Y-Your ears must be playing tricks on you,” she insisted, tacking on a terrible attempt to whistle afterward to really sell her innocence.
“Um, pardon me, but are you sure that we don’t need to be vigilant?” Sita asked. “This is the Ice-Blooded Witch we’re talking about—I’d expect she has an intelligence network that keeps her in the know.”
“Heh heh heh,” Emilia cackled. “Why do you think that we’ve been obediently listening to our aunt’s orders and governing the city? We’ve made all the arrangements. It’s not an understatement to claim that we hold control over this area.” She flashed a menacing and triumphant smirk.
It figures Emilia isn’t the type to just do as she’s told. Honestly, I’m not sure I should let myself be impressed by this kind of thing... I’ll just chalk it up to a difference in family values and say it’s none of my business.
Meanwhile, Sita and Noa, who were much more forthcoming with their feelings, immediately gasped with awe and nearly started to clap at Emilia’s revealing her master stroke, but I quieted them down to keep their compliments from getting to Emilia’s head.
“Good grief,” Orthoaguina grumbled. “Here we are, in the land of magic, and we aren’t allowed to take our time to carefully do our research? How lackadaisical must we be? It’s not too late. Why don’t we go and investigate some ruins nearby or some other place? The night is long, and we will be safe here, correct?”
“Ooh! That’s a great idea,” Sita said. The two of them began eagerly preparing to leave my side and head out and explore.
“Like heck it is!” I snapped. “You two clumps of curiosity are always such a handful...” I managed to stop them and calm them down for now, but I couldn’t help but sigh wearily.
“Rachel, can you please give them a piece of your mind?” I asked. “Those two are trying to pull all-nighters again.”
“Right,” Rachel said. “Sita, a night of research won’t garner much. If you’d like to do some investigating, at least do it when you have a full week to yourselves.”
I thought that Rachel would be my ally and rightfully scold her sister, but I suddenly realized that Rachel was also on her sister’s side. I slumped my shoulders with defeat. It may not have been the harsh scolding I’d expected, but so long as it helps me keep Sita and Orthoaguina under wraps, it’s good enough for me.
“Then why don’t we spend the entire night talking about our voyage?” Emilia suggested.
“Then we’d pull an all-nighter regardless!” I snapped. Just when I’d thought we’d settled the matter, Emilia failed to read the room once again...