The margrave spoke in a low voice. “Deplorable.” Though he said only one word, the aura he emanated was so intimidating that one could practically see the air around him waver and tremble. “Had this only been circulating within the kingdom, we could’ve dealt with the issue discreetly, but for someone from the empire to get their hands on a fake? This shall incontrovertibly affect the dignity of the royal family.” The margrave glared at the two members of the duke’s faction. They jolted and shuddered under his steely gaze. “Do you not agree?”
The two frantically nodded. Had Eizo been there, he would’ve thought they were headbanging to some music.
“We must investigate this matter thoroughly, Your Highness Prince Louis,” the margrave said.
“Indeed. I wholeheartedly agree,” the prince replied. It was unclear just how much he understood of this situation.
The margrave bowed his head. “Then please leave it to me. I shall get to the bottom of this nonsense.”
“All right. I’ll trust you.”
The margrave received the prince’s permission without allowing anyone from the duke’s faction to utter a word of protest. Now the main faction would be allowed to investigate the counterfeits without having to sneak around. This was akin to a declaration of war—the main faction would be targeting the duke’s—and they had just fired the first shot.
Marius was surprised that the meeting had gone much more smoothly than he’d expected. Perhaps there’d been no need for him to trouble the imperial princess. Or perhaps the two representatives the duke had sent were also part of the ploy. Had they already been cut off and abandoned by the rest of the faction? Marius could only discreetly offer some sympathy to the pair of them, who were clearly unable to hide their panic.
“Your Imperial Highness, I apologize for troubling you, but we will handle this matter,” the margrave said.
“Of course,” Anne replied with a smile. “That’s quite all right with me.”
She seemed like a lady completely clueless about worldly matters, but that didn’t matter. The margrave had personally received permission from the king’s younger brother and the empire’s princess—and right in front of the duke’s faction, no less. This was an important step that allowed the investigation to be a bit rough or elaborate if needed.
But it seems like this debacle will end with a representative of the duke’s faction being pinned as the mastermind. That person will take all the blame, Marius thought. While nothing was set in stone until the investigation was underway, the duke’s faction would inevitably lose some steam.
Plus, this was a huge opportunity to look for treachery beyond the knives—no need to stick to only investigations about the counterfeits like an honest sucker. This chance couldn’t be squandered. Indeed, the main faction actually had quite a few suspicions about the duke’s faction. While it was unlikely that the duke would be careless enough to get caught by someone just snooping around, both Marius and the margrave wanted to catch the tail end of whoever was involved in the schemes. The duke’s faction was going to be like a thorn in their side for a while still—painful and annoying—but they hoped that they could be completely rid of it one day.
Anne, on the other hand, internally let out a large sigh. She’d been away from the political scene for a while, but she’d still caught a whiff of the schemes that were running through everyone’s minds. No words spoken could be taken at face value; every action was thoughtful, cunning, and calculating. She was hit with a hint of nostalgia when she saw everyone acting so fishy, but she definitely preferred not being one of the players in this game. She almost knit her brows, wondering if this political maneuvering was ingrained in her body as well, but she thought back to her family in the Black Forest and found the strength to endure it.
She wondered if she should send Camilo a letter that he could deliver to her father, but she trusted that the envoy would share any information he deemed necessary. He was excellent at his work, but acting was just not his forte. Anne maintained a smile on her face, pantomiming the role of a clueless imperial. She wore the mask of her fake self, but her true self remained safe and concealed—it would burst forth when she reunited with her family in the forest.
⌗⌗⌗
Anne reported to Eizo and the rest of her family that the remainder of the meeting consisted of mundane conversation until, finally, it drew to a close. She felt no guilt or uneasiness about relaying the details of the meeting—though she was an imperial princess by name, she wasn’t the princess of anything right now, and she couldn’t care less about the secret truce between the empire and the kingdom.
Thus, Anne filled Eizo in on all the details. She wondered whether he was even interested in these affairs, since he maintained his usual stoic demeanor—he didn’t furrow his brow or look excited at all. Diana, Helen, and the rest of the family also seemed rather indifferent, implying that all of Forge Eizo, Anne included, weren’t impressed by the politics of it all.
But in my case...
Anne thought back to the time she’d spent at Forge Eizo. Her stay there had felt so long yet so short. In that forest, she felt like she could completely forget her social status as princess. Though Eizo does occasionally ask for my royal advice on something. One day, I’ll have to leave the forest and the cabin. I’ll have to go back home...
Anne was soon snapped back to reality by Eizo’s words.
⌗⌗⌗
“I guess the duke’s faction won’t have time to bother with us,” I told Anne.
“That’s right,” she replied. “They won’t want to act recklessly and get caught.”
“Fair enough.” I knew that neither the margrave nor Marius would let any mistakes evade their notice.
“But I don’t think the duke will stay quiet forever,” Helen pointed out.
“He definitely won’t,” I agreed.
It seemed likely that the duke and his faction would eventually target us—this investigation had merely put things on hold. We’d bought some time, but they would surely try to mess with us in the future.
“We should prepare ourselves when we return home,” I said.
Rike laughed. “Are we going to make our cabin into an even sturdier fortress?”
I nodded. “We can’t push it too far, though. Like if we soak our surroundings in oil and set things on fire, I think Lluisa’ll give us a good scolding. Oh, and Lidy will too, I reckon.”
Lidy, right on cue, puffed out her cheeks angrily, and we all giggled at her humorous antics, making sure not to be too noisy. She ended up cracking a smile.
Just then, we heard a gentle knock on the door. Samya, who had approached the door even before I’d known someone was there, glanced at me, and I nodded. Behind her was Helen, ready for anything that might bust through.
Samya didn’t answer. She just turned the knob and opened the door. Helen didn’t reach for her blade either. Judging by how they both reacted, the presence beyond the door wasn’t dangerous—we seemed a bit too on edge at our friend’s house, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Bowman stood in the doorway with a large smile. He didn’t seem at all alarmed that the door opened suddenly. He’s definitely an expert at his job.
“Everyone has now departed,” he reported.
“Thank you for letting us know,” I replied. “Guess we should take our leave too.”
“I’ll get everything prepared for you.” Bowman then turned and left.
“Well, everyone,” I said. “Time to head home.”
Everyone quietly agreed. Though we could probably shout at the top of our lungs now, we all remained subdued—it was a bit funny. Once we had collected all of our things, we stepped outside the manor.
“Krul!” Diana exclaimed.
Krul rushed toward us and nuzzled her face against Diana.
“Kululululu!”
“Were you a good girl?” Diana asked.
“Kululu!”
Krul licked Diana’s face, and the feel of the drake’s tongue seemed to tickle her.
“Arf! Arf!”
“Hey there, Lucy!” I said. “Looks like you were quiet too.”
The wolf pup charged at me, her tail wagging furiously. When I petted her head, she licked my hand eagerly. Man, it feels like a while since I played around with them. I stroked Lucy’s face lovingly.
“Arf! Arf arf!”
Her tail wagged faster still with delight, and after I enjoyed my time with her, she raced off to Lidy and Helen to receive head pats from them too. As we enjoyed our reunion (though we hadn’t been apart for that long), Matthias approached us.
“All three of them were very good,” he said.
“I’m so glad to hear it,” I replied. “Sorry to trouble you.”
“You didn’t. See ya.”
As usual, he was a man of few words, but when he turned to leave, I saw him crack a beaming smile. Seems like my daughters won him over. I was convinced that Matthias would happily take care of them next time too, though I knew that he wasn’t the type to slack off just because he didn’t like a certain animal. Still, it was best to have fun on the job.
“Okay, let’s head home!” I said.
“Yeah!” everyone cheered.
“Kululu!”
“Arf! Arf!”
“Kree! Kree!”
Guess I’ll pray for a safe trip back home.