Sir Alain entered the room, whispered into Lord Simeon’s ear, then addressed everyone else. “We’ve finished the investigation. Parts were removed from the carriage. The brakes weren’t broken—they were tampered with, modified to malfunction from the very beginning.”
My mouth fell open in shock. It hadn’t been a defect—the parts had been removed? I wasn’t sure I could believe it, but I also wasn’t sure I could deny these findings.
Mr. Meyer glared at me. “And still, you used it? How dare you force our princess to ride in an ill-prepared carriage!”
I bit my lip, not knowing how to answer. Not arguing back made Mr. Meyer come at me even more.
“You can go ahead and get into an accident yourself if you want to slack on proper management, but you shouldn’t be involving others! It’s nothing less than irresponsible!”
I shrunk into myself at his harsh words. I wanted to say that we hadn’t slacked on our inspections, but the truth of the matter was that an accident really had occurred.
Mr. Mace came to my defense. “Sir Meyer, I was the one who requested that we use her carriage. You don’t have to speak that way.”
Mr. Meyer wasn’t having it. “It doesn’t matter who asked. She should’ve told you that the carriage was unfit for travel.”
“But no one knew it was.”
“I’m talking about whomever takes responsibility for this improper management! And I haven’t forgiven you either!”
“Well... Yes sir, my apologies.”
Lord Simeon, who was sitting next to me, gripped my hand. I looked up at him, and his gaze was reassuring. That’s right. I’m not scared as long as Lord Simeon’s here.
But really, why had this happened? My head was filled with questions.
Mr. Meyer ended up leaving while muttering complaints to himself. Mr. Mace stood up, but he didn’t leave right away because he wanted to apologize to us.
“I’m sorry for how rude he’s being. He shouldn’t be acting like that when we haven’t even figured out the cause. It’s also my fault for making the carriage go too fast. My deepest apologies.”
“No...” I felt sorry for him. “Like Her Highness said, at least everything ended up okay.”
It was a difficult situation. We couldn’t tell who should and shouldn’t be apologizing.
In contrast to my ambivalent, muddied words, Lord Simeon remained matter-of-fact. “You also knew that they’d been watching from afar, yes?”
“No sir,” answered Mr. Mace. “They told me no such thing. They probably thought I’d tell the princess had I learned of it.”
He let out a faint, bitter chuckle. I assumed he didn’t have a very good relationship with Mr. Meyer. It was easy to tell that Mr. Mace was being looked down upon.
“Mr. Mace, I heard that you’re Her Highness’s personal attendant,” Lord Simeon said, clearly assessing him.
“Yes sir. I’m her secretary. However, I was able to obtain this position because I’m her old friend, so to someone like Sir Meyer, who worked his way up to being an official, I lack legitimacy.”
Ah, I see. That explained something I’d been wondering about. This was why Princess Mira treated Mr. Mace differently than other people.
His full name seemed to be Mace Kessel, so the princess should ostensibly have been addressing him using his last name—Mr. Kessel—like she did with Mr. Meyer. Yet she used his first name, which had made me think she was particularly close with him. That could also have been a source of disdain for Mr. Meyer. He and his group had most likely guarded the princess from afar today to spite Mr. Mace.
Once Mr. Mace took his leave, Prince Severin spoke again. “I wonder what this is all about. Is it a combination of coincidences? Or were these incidents planned?”
Lord Simeon pondered with him. “We’re left with questions either way. I don’t know how that could have happened to the Visselian carriage, but the equipment inspections for my house’s carriage should have been thorough. It’s impossible for our staff to have slacked on maintenance.”
He flicked his eyes to Sir Alain, who replied, “That’s right, sir. The entire body of the carriage had been well taken care of, as far as we saw. It’d be hard to call it defective.”
Prince Severin hummed in acknowledgment.
Lord Simeon shook his head. “But of course, there’s no guarantee. It’s possible that someone removed a part and forgot to put it back. I shall check with our manservant later. As for the possibility of sabotage... While it’s certainly plausible, I have no idea what their goal could have been.”
“Indeed.” His Highness crossed his arms. “Accidents result from overlapping coincidences. Had Sir Kessel not gone so fast, he wouldn’t have had to use the brakes. The hill wasn’t so steep that he’d have needed to. And I doubt anyone could’ve predicted that Princess Mira would use Marielle’s carriage.”
“I agree, sir. Had Sir Kessel not checked on the Visselian carriage during his downtime, the princess would’ve boarded it without anyone noticing the defect. It may well have held out until the palace, but it also could have broken down midway. Though I don’t believe that would’ve resulted in casualties unless her luck had been especially poor.”
“Right. Hmm... I’m not sure.” Prince Severin unfolded his arms and heaved a deep sigh. “Have that carriage inspected first. And Marielle?”
“Y-Yes sir!” I jolted upright at being called out of the blue.
His Highness put on a kind face to let me know that I didn’t have to be nervous. “I just wanted to ask what Princess Mira invited you out for. Since you were at the Visselian embassy, she had to have been the one to call for you.”
“Yes, she invited me to a tea party. She was already there by the time I arrived.”
“So she wanted to keep your talk a secret.”
“A secret?” Are you sure about that? I thought back on my conversation with Her Highness. She didn’t order me to keep silent about anything, so it should be all right for me to talk about it, right? “Princess Mira wanted to apologize to me. She slipped away from her busy schedule at the castle in secret so she could speak with me privately. That’s why she was in such a rush to get back.”
“Apologize, huh? That’s rather impudent of her, considering how much she’s put you through.”
“I believe she has a reason for doing all this. After speaking with her, I don’t feel she’s a shallow person at all. There’s thought behind her actions. She didn’t explain anything to me, but she asked me to turn a blind eye until she returns to her kingdom.”
Prince Severin’s eyes went wide. His gaze locked with my husband’s. “Really? She isn’t truly going after Simeon?”
“No sir. Though her words imply that she is, her heart must say otherwise. This may just be my own read on the situation, but I don’t believe she’s in love with Lord Simeon.”
All the men in the room became more confused. Sir Alain worked to keep his expression blank, but I knew he was enjoying this on the inside. Lord Simeon must have sensed this too, since he glared at his subordinate.
His Highness put his chin in his hands and grumbled. “I can never tell what women are thinking. But if what you’re saying is true, I suppose we don’t have to worry...?”
Lord Simeon seemed a bit miffed. “She could have just consulted with us if she has extenuating circumstances.”
Did he resent the fact that he’d been thrown around? Surely he wasn’t upset because she’d been stringing him along, right?