“That’s not why I’m here,” Haley said. “You have a guest.”
“Oh...?”
As Lucy was rising from the sofa, she froze at the unexpected words. There were very few people who would intrude in the magic commander’s mansion without an appointment—Beryl was one of those few people. Haley handled any visitors and turned away those Lucy didn’t care to meet. In other words, by relaying this information to Lucy, Haley wasn’t able to turn this guest away at her own discretion.
“Hmm... Who is it?” Lucy asked.
“Lady Allucia.”
“Ooh... Very well, let her in. Oh, before that, could you clean up this tea?”
“Of course. Excuse me.”
Now this was a rarity. It wasn’t the first time the Liberion Order’s commander—Allucia Citrus—had visited Lucy’s home, but she usually sent word ahead of time. As far as Lucy knew, Allucia was one to strictly keep to rules and regulations. It was quite odd for her to suddenly show up without an appointment, and she wouldn’t do so unless her business was very serious. Lucy was often in a position to instigate trouble, but now that someone else might be dragging her into it, she found herself feeling somewhat listless.
After quickly cleaning up the tea that’d been prepared for Beryl and making preparations for the next guest, Haley turned to Lucy once more. “I shall go let her in now.”
“Mm.”
Haley was excellent at her job, but she would surely retire after another twenty years. Looking for someone new would be a lot of work. Lucy occupied herself with such thoughts of a distant future as she waited for her guest.
Soon, a beautiful woman with dazzling silver hair and a tranquil air about her entered the room.
“Commander Lucy, forgive me for the sudden intrusion.”
“I don’t mind. I am always busy and always have more free time than I know what to do with. Come, take a seat.”
“Is that so? Thank you.”
Lucy didn’t like these overly formal greetings—they took too much time. This was the commander of the Liberion Order, though. She knew the situation called for it.
Allucia took a seat on the sofa, her expression stiff. As always, she didn’t appear particularly cheery or gloomy, but there was an impatience on display, combined with clear determination.
Lucy could tell that this had to be serious. If this was business for the magic corps or the order, the knight commander wouldn’t be visiting the magic commander’s home. That was simply not the way organizations got things done. It seemed like this was going to be a huge bother.
“So? What brings you here out of the blue?” Lucy asked.
“To get right to the point—I want to lay some groundwork,” Allucia replied.
“Groundwork...?”
This was unexpected. Lucy was unable to immediately grasp the meaning behind that choice of words. She raised a quizzical eyebrow.
Allucia had to mean getting things approved ahead of time. But what for? And why? Silence fell over the room for a moment, and many questions circled around in Lucy’s mind.
“To tell you the truth—”
“Ah, wait,” Lucy said, cutting Allucia off. “I just figured it out.”
Allucia wasn’t one to make a move out of self-interest. She was the very best fit for performing the duties of the knight commander. And here she was trying to lay groundwork for something.
This was a declaration that she was about to take action out of self-interest. There were extremely few things that could make Allucia Citrus prioritize her personal feelings, and Lucy came up with a single possibility: It was the exact problem she’d been agonizing over just minutes ago.
Allucia, of all people, was trying to force things into motion, and there was only one person she would do that for. Lucy found herself narrowing her eyes in delight at the knight commander’s unprecedented behavior. She had long since lost any such passion for another individual.
“I don’t mind, but I have a condition,” Lucy said.
“Go ahead.”
“Let me in on it.”
“What...?”
Lucy’s puzzled expression vanished, replaced with an ominous smile. Now, it was Allucia’s turn to look at her in confusion.
“I’m not the only one you need to visit, am I?” Lucy continued. “It’ll be easier to get things done with the both of us present.”
“That’s true...”
Allucia had yet to explain what exactly she was laying the groundwork for. Still, she’d kept things short, thinking that Lucy might be able to figure it out just from that clue. Basically, this woman was doing the tiresome work that Lucy had just been considering doing.
Her proactivity was impressive. Even Lucy had hesitated somewhat, despite her interest. She couldn’t help but think that living for so long had affected her negatively in this regard. But Allucia was forcing the issue without a moment’s hesitation—she was just that blindly dazzling.
For Lucy, the most important thing was being able to split up the annoying work between two people. Frankly, she was considering throwing it all into Allucia’s lap and departing ahead of her. That was how highly she assessed Allucia’s abilities—Lucy was sure she wouldn’t mess anything up.
“Strike while the iron is hot,” Lucy added. “First, we need to get things past Gladio.”
“His Majesty? Yes, well, that’s true, but...”
“Don’t worry. If we show up together, it won’t be a problem.”
“No, that’s not it, but... I suppose... Very well.”
Put a strong foot forward and let the flow of events propel the rest—Lucy generally executed whatever plan she came up with on the spot. This was practically cheating, since there was nobody out there who could refuse her. The only people who referred to the reigning king of Liberis casually by his given name were Lucy and his parents.
Even though Allucia had come here for this exact purpose, she was overwhelmed by how quickly things were developing. Still, having an unrivaled conspirator was a huge boon. She immediately shifted gears and agreed with Lucy’s plan.
Now that Lucy had decided to act, she got moving right away. She immediately left the room and informed Haley that she was going out.
“I’m going out for a bit with Allucia,” Lucy said. “I’ll be back at night.”
Haley nodded. “Understood. Take care.”
She didn’t even ask where Lucy was going and what for. Lucy hated such tedious conversation, so Haley was very easy to speak with in this regard. Losing her would truly be a serious blow.
“Ooh, it’s gotten rather hot outside,” Lucy remarked, somewhat moved as the late spring air brushed against her cheeks.
“Perhaps you should spend more time outdoors,” Allucia quipped heartlessly.
“Quiet, you. Don’t grumble like Beryl.”
Lucy immersed herself in her research at any given opportunity. The frequency with which she went outdoors fluctuated violently. When she decided to stay indoors, she did so for what seemed like an eternity.
“Well, I suppose a nice long trip isn’t so bad every now and then.”
Cheering herself up with that thought, Lucy made her way to Liberis’s palace. These two commanders held the highest ranks in the entire kingdom and were now conspiring completely out of self-interest.