He realized I was suspicious of him and let out a deep sigh. “You probably won’t believe this, but I’ll tell you later. I can’t have Tasmeria attacking Rimmel either, so will you please let me take care of it?”
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t listen to someone acting so suspicious. But it was true that he had knocked out one of my enemies. I imagined we had the same goal. Still…
“No.” I refused, and I watched his gaze grow sharper in response. Ever since we had crossed swords, his entire demeanor was so intense, a far cry from the gentle personality he’d shown while we trained together. Or perhaps he’d only shown me a fragment of his true nature back then. Still, he seemed like a totally different person…and it was so amusing that I laughed.
But my excitement cooled in an instant, replaced by another emotion. “Did you really think I’d withdraw?”
Abel’s face tensed up slightly.
“I’m mad. I’m mad at the people who tried to ruin this party. And now that I know they’re here, there’s no way I’m backing down.” I glared back at Abel, and he stared back at me.
We just silently stared at each other, but he was the one who backed down first. He let out a deep sigh and gave me a sheepish smile. “Unfortunately, I just don’t know how to convince you otherwise. I’d rather cooperate with you than have you get in my way. I’d appreciate your help.”
“Of course. I was just thinking it would be difficult for me to take care of all the enemies who snuck in the palace on my own. It was a good thing we ran into each other. You can tell me why you don’t want Rimmel attacked later, but since we have the same goal, I’ll trust you. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m suspicious of you, though. And if you don’t tell me once this is all over, I’ll arrest you and take you to my father.”
“I know you won’t keep quiet about meeting me here, so let’s share the information we have about the situation with each other.”
We went ahead and did that. I told him where I killed the other men and what I had found out. He told me where the others were and how many of them were in each place. He said the enemies all had the top two buttons of their uniform unbuttoned to distinguish each other from legitimate guards. But they were fools, because like I said, there would be no occasion where the royal army would ever come guard the castle, so if we saw anyone wearing that uniform, we could attack them without question.
After we were done talking, we went our separate ways to hunt our targets. I snuck toward the first location Abel had told me about, careful not to draw attention to myself. It seemed they were stationed in these locations and weren’t moving.
I approached them, confirmed that their top two buttons were undone, and attacked. One fell to the ground while the other two lunged at me. I dodged and took both of them out. They were weak. I should’ve been relieved, but I was surprised that they fell so easily. Abel said he’d take care of the bodies later, so I headed toward my next goal.
I went after the enemies in that manner and checked all the locations Abel had told me about. Once I was finished, I returned to the spot we had promised to meet.
“I finished that up faster than I expected, thanks to your help. I’ll take care of the rest,” said Abel.
“Excuse me? Where’s my explanation?”
“I’ll be returning to the Anderson manor to train in three days. Will you let me have until then?”
Honestly, I wanted to know what was going on right that instant. But since the army must know his true identity, if he didn’t show up when he promised, they wouldn’t be able to tell me they didn’t know who he was. I also couldn’t stay here for much longer. I slipped away from the party without telling anyone, so I had to get back soon. It was best for me to withdraw for now, so we agreed to meet again in three days.
“Fine. But if you don’t show up, I’ll spring into action immediately.”
“I know.”
We went our separate ways and I returned to the room where I had changed. I put my dagger away, took off the tablecloth, and put my shoes back on. I grabbed my coat and petticoat and gave them to Anna who was waiting in my dressing room and then returned to the party. I had been gone for a very long time. I could tell by the mood inside the castle that I had made the right decision by not mending my bustle.
Since I wasn’t wearing my coat or petticoat anymore, it revealed my empire waistline dress. Anna had given me a stole to wear over it though. However, it was a drastically different look than when I had left. I coincidentally ran into Louis on the way back.
“Are you all right?” I could tell he was worried by his tone of voice and the look on his face. I felt bad about it, and I cursed my own powerlessness and carelessness. But at the same time, it made me happy that he cared so much.
“Yes. I just wanted to clean up a bit.”
Louis immediately realized that I wasn’t talking about changing my dress or fixing my makeup. His face clouded over, but then he smiled. “You look beautiful. That dress looks wonderful on you.”
I smiled, wondering how he knew what I meant. I slipped my arm through his, and we returned to the party together. The guests all noticed I had changed outfits, so I went around and chatted with them some more. At the end, I stayed behind to say goodbye to the dukes from Rimmel.