Mr. Mace flinched. “I’m sorry, sir. I was rushing since I didn’t want Her Highness to be late... And once I tried to slow down, the brakes wouldn’t work.”
“Don’t make excuses!”
Was Mr. Meyer of a higher rank than Mr. Mace? He was fervently scolding him. I started to panic a bit—while it was true that Mr. Mace had driven too fast, my carriage was also at fault. Perhaps I should let them know... But then I’d be the one getting scolded. Then again, I can’t let Mr. Mace take the fall for everything. I watched for an opening to cut in.
Lord Simeon leaned down to whisper in my ear. “The brakes weren’t working?”
“Apparently not.”
“What about our driver?”
“I had him go home alone, since adding him would’ve put us over capacity. He said he’d walk home, so he won’t be catching up for a while.”
“Joseph?”
“No, Remy. We went slow on the way here, so we didn’t notice that the brakes weren’t working.”
Lord Simeon nodded slightly and looked back at the Visselians. Princess Mira was trying to deescalate Mr. Meyer, to no avail.
“Please calm yourself, Mr. Meyer. I’m fine, see? Isn’t that enough?”
“This is unbelievable, Your Highness. You were only saved by a miracle. The worst could’ve befallen you. We can’t just let it go!”
“I understand, but no one could’ve predicted this. There’s no use worrying about it.”
“Incidents of this nature could easily be accounted for. Just because you were rushing doesn’t mean—”
“U-Um...” I was having trouble finding an opening to cut in, so I tried to interject, but I felt Lord Simeon’s hand grip my shoulder.
He’d stopped me so he could speak. “Let’s talk after we return to the palace. I believe it would be best for us to change locations first.”
Mr. Meyer turned his accusing eyes this way. “How can you be so nonchalant? It’s your household’s fault in the first place that—”
“I’m saying this for your sake. Do you believe it would be better to stand here and argue?” Lord Simeon was completely calm as he said this. His quiet pressure finally made Mr. Meyer lose steam.
If we kept making a fuss here on the road, it would be the Visselians whose reputation would take a hit. This thoroughfare was always full of people. Residences were lined up nearby, and even at that moment, carriages were passing along the road. Some people had even come over to investigate the commotion. A carriage stopped in an odd spot that was surrounded by a lot of people, including uniformed knights, was enough to pull onlookers’ attention. Rumors would spread once these bystanders realized that the princess was among us.
Having finally registered the situation, Mr. Meyer closed his mouth. We then put the carriage back on the road to make our way to the palace. The Flaubert carriage was approved for travel once we’d confirmed that there weren’t any issues with the brakes. Mr. Meyer was displeased with that outcome, but Lord Simeon didn’t bother with him, and just coldly said, “I won’t force you. Do as you please.”
Lord Simeon provided no other options, implying that he would leave them on the side of the road if they didn’t like it. This worsened Mr. Meyer’s mood even further, but he reluctantly backed down at the princess’s behest. Even he knew that we shouldn’t make any more of a scene. He watched Princess Mira climb into the carriage again with an extremely discontented look on his face.
Within the carriage, which was being protected by the knights, Her Highness let her shoulders drop. “The lieutenant is angry...” Ah ha ha... So she really could tell. “He’d been going along with my orders this whole time, albeit with a troubled face... This was the first time anyone’s ever looked at me so coldly.”
“Ah...” I wasn’t sure where to begin. “Er, well... Perhaps Lord Simeon is a bit cross. B-But that’s how he expresses worry. Yes, that’s right. It’s anger stemming from kindness and concern for his loved ones. He spoke curtly so that we wouldn’t waste any more time there. He didn’t mean to ignore you.” I struggled to defend him.
Princess Mira stared at me with a strange expression. “You’re odd as well. You’re really all right with your husband worrying about another woman?”
Hmm... I wonder about that. I tilted my head. “Isn’t it only natural for people to worry? I’d much prefer to boast that my husband is kind than have him be a thoughtless, cold person.”
“I see...” She chuckled briefly, then turned her eyes away again, never to look back from the window for the duration of the ride.
I wondered why I saw a bit of pain float across her expression.
I wavered on whether to speak to her or not. We ended up making it to the palace without a single word shared between us.
I underwent questioning as Princess Mira went off to the business she’d been tardy for. Starting with our departure from the embassy, I explained why the princess and Mr. Mace had ended up using my carriage and how the accident at the riverside hill happened.
Come to think of it, Lord Simeon and his subordinates had helped us without knowing what the situation was. They’d heard from Ambassador Van Rail that Her Highness had left in a hurry, and then they’d found our rampaging carriage on their way over. Once they’d saved us, they had found not only me but also the princess. Lord Simeon must’ve wanted to cradle his head in confusion, yet he’d swallowed down the questions, shock, and irritation and had prioritized moving the scene along. As expected of our calm and collected Demon Vice Captain! Thanks to him, there had been no big changes to the palace proceedings, and the whole incident was mostly shielded from the public.
And so, after everything had finally calmed down, I was here for questioning in place of Her Highness.
“So the brakes hadn’t been working from the very beginning? Are you sure they didn’t fail due to having too much pressure put on them from the hill?”
Mr. Mace was being questioned alongside me by His Highness Prince Severin. He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Yes sir, I believe so. There weren’t any impacts or strange sounds before then. I was certainly going too fast, but I kept it at a level I could control if need be. That shouldn’t have been enough to disable the brakes.”
He’d originally intended to slow our speed at the proper time, as he’d noticed the oncoming carriage way beforehand. The speed of the carriage combined with the faulty brakes had caused this incident. It could’ve been avoided had we not rushed in the first place, but no one could blame Mr. Mace entirely.
“Hmm...” His Highness put his hand to his chin. “In that case, the brakes were defective from the start.” He turned to me.
I straightened my back. “My apologies. I’d have to check with our manservant to confirm.”
“You didn’t encounter any issues on the way there?”
“No sir. Though I’m not sure whether he’d used the brakes or not.”
Since it was summer, the sun set late. The Flaubert manservant was slowly walking back to the manor, so I wouldn’t be able to speak to him for a while.
Prince Severin crossed his arms. “So there was an issue with Princess Mira’s original carriage...and then one with Marielle’s. That bothers me, but there’s no guarantee it’s not a coincidence.”