As it turned out, our plan to explore the town succeeded beyond my wildest dreams! No one realized I was a princess, and I had a great time observing the lives of normal people.
When dinnertime rolled around, I bought some meat skewers at a street stall. A simple table with chairs sat beside the stall.
As we settled to eat, I flashed Scheat a smile. “See, Scheat? Nothing bad happened!”
“Nothing bad happened yet, you mean… Aaaah! I’m going to have to live in fear of Captain Sirius finding out about this until the day I die!”
He was blowing this way out of proportion. I ate my skewer in silence until a voice called out behind us.
“Why, hello there, young lady.”
A fashionably dressed man joined by two attendants approached us.
“My name is Baron Audubon, and I would like to invite you back to my estate.” He spoke rather pompously, his invitation presumptuous given this was our first meeting.
“Uh, n-no thanks?” I replied, flustered. Maybe my cover was blown and he recognized me as a princess. Why else would a noble like him extend an invitation like this?
He huffed and frowned. “Do you not understand what an honor it is to receive an invitation from one such as I? Ugh. This is the problem with commoners, I tell you…”
He shook his head and reached out to grab my arm. Canopus and Scheat cut him off, but before they could reprimand the baron, someone grabbed his outstretched arm from behind.
“Huh? Who—”
His entire body spun into the air, his arm cracking.
“Gyaaaaaaaah?!”
He thudded to the ground, cradling his arm against his body as he rolled back and forth and screeched.
Familiar silver eyes stared expressionlessly down at the baron. It all happened too fast to process, but somehow this gray-haired man had appeared out of nowhere and tossed the baron to the ground. My eyes went wide as the man planted his foot on the baron’s shoulder to stop his rolling about.
“Eeeeeek?!”
The man glared down at the baron, mouth twisted with annoyance. “I seem to have broken your arm,” he said indifferently. “Do you need my address to bill me for the medical fees?”
His voice cut like a honed blade. Even the simplest fool could hear the threat he leveled at the baron. If someone shared their address with you, it was customary to share yours in return—but that would mean this demon of a man knew where you lived.
The baron was wise enough to grasp his peril. He squirmed under the man’s foot but couldn’t escape. This time, when he shrieked, he foamed with fear.
“Th-th-th-th-th-there’s no need for that, sir!” one of the baron’s attendants said, pale-faced. He and the other attendant quickly hoisted the baron up so all three could scramble away.
“See?! See?! See?! What did I tell you?!” Scheat whispered like he was chanting a magic word.
Canopus gritted his teeth and lowered his head as though waiting for a scolding.
But the gray-haired, silver-eyed man—that is to say, Sirius—didn’t so much as glance at the knights, instead extending a hand to me.
“Why, hello there, young lady.”
“Huh?” My eyes shot wide. He was treating me like a stranger.
He took one of my hands and stared at it. “Your hands have been looked after well, almost as if you were royalty or nobility.”
“O-oh, well, that’s because…”
“Ah, where are my manners? I am Sirius Ulysses, a knight.”
I blinked at him, bewildered, and wondered at his introduction. “U-um, right. Why—”
“Can I ask your name?”
“Huh? I’m Serafina,” I replied out of reflex.
He nodded to himself. “I see. You share the same name as an acquaintance of mine.”
“Huh?!”
Wait, does Sirius actually not realize it’s me? He’s treating this as though it’s our first time meeting… I cocked my head.
Scheat spoke through clenched teeth.
“As if! Hell would freeze over before he failed to recognize you!”
“It’s as Scheat says. Captain Sirius most definitely recognizes you!” Canopus added.
…Right. A black wig isn’t going to be enough to fool him. The next question, then, was what Sirius was doing in the capital when it was only evening. “You’re back sooner than I expected, Sirius. I thought you would spend the night outside the capital.”
“Ha ha, you warm up to others rather quickly, Serafina. You speak to me as though I were an old acquaintance.”
“Huh?”
Wait, maybe he really doesn’t realize it’s me? My brow furrowed.
In unison, Canopus and Scheat said, “Lady Serafina, do not be deceived! Such a thing is impossible!”
“O-oh, right.” I collected myself and cut straight to the point. “Sirius, you know who I am, don’t you?”
He clasped my hand in both of his and kissed the back. His silver eyes narrowed, heat roughening his voice. “Of course. It took but a single glance for your charm to strike me. You must be the one I’m fated to be with. I never suspected my future partner would be a woman with black hair and golden eyes.”
“S-S-Sirius?!” I stepped back, but he followed, body pressed against mine. “S-S-Sirius! W-w-we’re touching!”
“I’m aware.”
“You’re aware?!”
Just what has come over him?! I shot a look at Canopus and Scheat, but the knights were pale and shaking their heads. “Oh, come on!”
I couldn’t count on any help from them, it appeared.
“So you would seek the aid of other men while making advances on me? You’re quite the sinful one, Serafina.”
“Advances?! Sinful?!” I exclaimed.
He drew even closer, coiling my hair around a finger. “Just how far must I go before you only have eyes for me?”
“S-S-Sirius! You…!”
“Tell me, Serafina. How far must I go?” As he spoke, he slowly drew closer, and then…my legs gave out on me.
A strong arm caught me before I fell flat on my face. Draped over his arm, I looked up to find him smiling broadly.
“Ha ha, your legs gave out, did they? Have you learned your lesson at all, you rascal?”
“S-Sirius! So you did know it was me all along!”
He simply shrugged.
“But of course. If anything, it’s your own fault for thinking there was a world in which I’d fail to recognize you.” He took off the mantle covering his shoulders and draped it around me, then carefully lifted me into his arms.
I clutched his shirt. “But if you knew it was me, why’d you pretend you didn’t?”
His expression was frightening. “I’ve warned you before not to leave the castle without me, and yet you thought it would be okay to slip out so long as you had Canopus and Scheat with you. I had a duty to show you how wrong you were.”
“Huh? Wait, so that’s why they didn’t help me?”
“Exactly. Now do you understand that there are threats in this world even Canopus and Scheat are helpless against?”