“Hm? Are you looking for something, Louis?” A young bureaucrat called to Louis as the young man rifled through old papers in a study within the palace. Not many people frequented this room, which was mainly used to file away documents. There were only two or three other people here besides Louis.
“Pardon? A-ah, yes. There was a mistake in a document I filed, so I was just making sure I didn’t make the same mistake before…”
“You don’t have to look for that yourself, sir. I can do it for you.”
“No need. It’s not imperative right now. It’s just personally bothering me.”
“Oh? Well then, if you’ll excuse me.”
“Of course.”
Louis waited until the bureaucrat left and then resumed his search. He was skimming through every file related to the military’s budget. If he didn’t find the information he was looking for in a particular document, he’d put it back in the folder and pick up the next stack. He was devoting every free moment he had to this search in addition to doing most of Romello’s work.
The men who were plotting to kill the Rimmel dukes were wearing Tasmerian army uniforms. If Nort had somehow bought these new, then there had to be a paper trail somewhere. And if there was, then that could lead him back to who was involved.
Of course, if they were wearing military uniforms that were used, there would be no record of that, and the trail would be harder to follow. New uniforms were needed in times of war, but since there was no fighting at the moment, it would probably be difficult for someone to get their hands on thirty brand new ones.
And if the buyer hadn’t used the proper channels, there might not be a paper trail either. It was quite possible the enemy had used a different route to obtain the uniforms.
Louis suddenly paused, smiling to himself. In his hands sat an invoice for thirty military uniforms, dated before the dukes came to Rimmel. He took the document from the pile and left the room. He lost all track of time while he worked, and he didn’t get back to the mansion until late that night.
Louis walked down the hallway and decided to stop by the library so that he could get some additional documents before returning to his room. This library wasn’t as big as the one at the mansion back in the duchy, but it was still quite large, boasting many books and documents.
He walked inside and started to search for the book he was after.
And then he spotted someone on the floor.
“Mother? Mother!” he yelled. Aurelia had collapsed on the floor. He rushed over to her and picked her up in his arms. She was so light, much lighter than he remembered, and it filled him with fear.
“What is it…? What’s all the commotion?” She regained consciousness as he held her, frowning at the noise.
“Commotion… Mother, you were lying on the floor, unconscious!”
“It’s nothing to raise your voice about. It’s not a big matter.”
“I’ll get the doctor right away!”
“I’ll call someone over tomorrow. I just felt a little dizzy, that’s all. There’s nothing to fret over.”
“But…”
Louis’s mother was so much thinner and frailer than he had realized. Her face was so pale there was no way he could calm down. But she refused his pleas for a doctor.
“Listen to me. I don’t want you making a commotion about this. Because if you do, Romello will find out. He’s in the midst of doing some very important things right now. He doesn’t have time to worry about me. I’m much too proud as the duchess of Armelia to interrupt him. And you have work to do too. Now, don’t worry about me, and you go rest. You have to get up early tomorrow, isn’t that right?”
She would not relent. She seemed very clearheaded. It was hard to believe she had been unconscious shortly before.
Aurelia and Louis stared at each other for a while.
“All right. But promise me you’ll have the doctor take a look at you tomorrow? I’ll send him to your room.” Louis said with a sigh.
“As I said, there’s no need for you to worry. But yes, I promise.” She took his hand and stood up.
“What are you doing here alone, anyway?” he asked.
“Everyone here is so concerned, and they won’t let me out of bed. But when I lie in bed all day, I can’t get to sleep at night. I snuck out and came here to the library.”
“Everyone is worried about you… Do others know about your condition too?”
Aurelia didn’t answer him right away. Finally, she let out a sigh. “Yes. I haven’t been well at all lately.”
“But why didn’t…”
“I forbid them from telling anyone else.”
“I know you don’t want to worry Father or me, but you’re my mother, and I love you. If anything ever happened to you, Father and I would be devastated!”
“You’re so sweet. But…yes, I’m sure Romello is worried about me…”
“Then…”
“This is what I want. If he knew what was going on, he would be worried sick that he couldn’t come be by my side. There are so many people who need him right now. He can’t spare the time worrying for me.”
“How do you know that, Mother?”
Neither Romello nor Louis had told her about the attempted murder of the Rimmel dukes, but it almost sounded as if she knew.
“I don’t know any details of what’s going on, of course…but I can tell that there’s something very serious afoot, just by watching you and your father.” She sounded so sure that Louis couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle. “I gave my heart to Romello. That’s more than enough for me. But right now, there are people who need him, and it is my duty as duchess of Armelia to let him do his job.”
“I see. Then please, at the very least, promise me you won’t sneak out alone anymore.” Louis let out a sigh, sensing that his mother was not going to relent. He didn’t think his father would agree with this choice, but how could he say no to his mother when she was looking at him with such strong resolve in her eyes?
“You sound just like the servants,” she laughed.
“Of course I do. Everyone’s worried about you, Mother. So please just take better care of yourself.”
“Yes, all right… I’ll do that. Please forget what you saw tonight, however.”
Louis escorted his mother back to her room and stayed by her side until she got safely back in bed. He then returned to his own room.