“Oh, no.” He tried to dissuade me. “You have every right to ask, madam. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help when you’re the one being troubled here.”
“It’s fine. Please don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t my place to pry, since we didn’t know who could’ve been listening in. “What are the princess’s plans for today?”
“She’s visiting the university in Sans-Terre.”
“Oh my... Father-in-law mentioned no such thing. He’s always so spaced out that he can’t remember anything except for his own research.”
“Ha ha ha. Maybe he was never told.”
“I could believe that. He’s always holed up in his lab, outside of lectures.”
Lord Simeon was most likely accompanying Princess Mira again today. I wondered if he’d meet with his father there.
The ambassador adjusted his lapel. “I’ve heard that Sans-Terre’s university has begun accepting female students. Her Highness was very interested.”
I nodded. “It’s still a very new practice that isn’t fully developed yet. These female students are sure to struggle, even after being admitted. I hope they’ll do their best to open up new paths for others. The more that women progress in society, the more the world will change. How does Vissel fare on that front?”
“It isn’t too different from Lagrange. The government doesn’t address such issues, so our royal family supports progressive organizations. Princess Mira is interested in committees for the education of women, so I’m sure she’ll be supporting ones of that nature in the future. She’ll probably have trouble with the thickheaded old men in official positions, though.”
The ambassador said this teasingly without showing any sign of looking down on women. But this attitude was not common among Visselian men. Even a kingdom that would be transferring power to a princess still had its problems.
We didn’t plan to chat for very long, so I parted ways with Ambassador Van Rail and searched for Lord Noel.
While looking around, I noticed a small girl walking my way. She wore meager clothing, so she must have been a member of the almshouse. She didn’t even look to be ten years old, yet she was carrying products with all her might. The box looked too heavy for her thin arms. Her gait was wobbly.
I approached her, thinking I should help, when the girl noticed me. Her face took on an expression of severe shock. Oh, did I scare her?
I tried to give her a kind smile, but she screamed.
“Watch out!”
“Huh?”
Watch out for what? As that thought crossed my mind, a clattering noise rang out. And before I could even turn around, something slammed into my entire body. I was quite literally sent flying.
An incredible clanging noise resounded around the area. Had something fallen and crashed? Or rather, crumbled? I didn’t have the leeway to check. As I fell forward, destined to slam into the ground, I squeezed my eyes shut. But despite the initial impact, I didn’t end up in any pain.
Someone was screaming. The whole bazaar was instantly sent into an uproar.
“Phew.”
An unknown figure had pulled me into an embrace and broken my fall. For a moment, I thought the huge body under me was Lord Simeon, but I soon realized that it wasn’t. Extravagant, honey-colored curls flowed down right before my eyes.
“Lord Nigel?”
Lifting my head, I could see his beautiful foreign hair and eyes peering back at me.
“Are you all right?” He smiled the best he could in that position. “Did anything hit you?”
“No... I don’t feel any pain.” My thought processes seemed paralyzed with shock. I gave an absent answer and pushed myself over to the ground next to him. The only thing I could think of was that I shouldn’t be lying on top of a man.
Once I was kneeling, Lord Nigel sat up as well. People came rushing over in droves.
“Are you two okay?!”
“Are you injured anywhere?!”
All the blood had drained from their faces, making me wonder what exactly had happened.
Lord Nigel stood and brushed the dirt from his clothing, then held out his glowing, golden-tan hand to me. “Can you stand? Should I pick you up?”
“Thank you, but I’m fine.”
I placed my palm in his and he pulled me to my feet. The onlookers all sighed when they saw that I wasn’t hurt.
“Oh... Was that what fell?”
Nearby, wooden boxes were strewn about—the ones that had been stacked along the wall. They’d apparently been empty, as only the bodies of the boxes and their lids were littered across the ground. However, that didn’t negate the fact that they were large and heavy-looking, so getting hit by them would’ve left plenty of bruises. I almost became fodder for those things... And what if their corners had struck me?
I shivered. “Whoa... I’m getting chills just thinking about it.”
“I was in a cold sweat as well.” Lord Nigel eyed the scene alongside me. “I’m glad I made it in time.”
My mind finally began to function properly, in turn making my knees almost give out. If only Lord Simeon were here...he’d be able to comfort me. I did my best to overcome the anxiety by myself.
Lord Nigel brushed some of my hair out of my face. The strands had gotten covered in filth during the fall.
“Thank you very much for saving me.” I mustered a smile for him and wiped the dirt from my clothes. He’d suffered more damage than I had; I could tell that some of the stains on his fancy jacket wouldn’t easily lift. Ack, I’m so sorry!
A voice of anger rose up from the crowd. “Who piled those boxes there?! Whoever’s responsible for this, get out here!”
A young man was yelling at one of the facility workers. I wasn’t sure who he was. Sir, why are you getting mad when you weren’t involved? Even I’m not mad, and I’m the one who was under the boxes! They didn’t look like they’d been stacked precariously either, and I hadn’t anticipated that they might fall on their own...
I looked around the boxes and found the girl from earlier sitting on the ground. She could’ve fallen from shock, or perhaps she’d been struck by a box.
Scurrying over to her, I knelt down to check for injuries. “Are you okay?” There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her, so perhaps she’d just tripped. Thank goodness. “That was scary, wasn’t it?”
It seemed she hadn’t even had time to protect the products she’d been holding—they were also scattered across on the ground. I picked them up one by one and placed them back in her crate. Thankfully, they hadn’t been food or fragile objects. I gave her a smile, but...
She was shaking with tears in her eyes. “No!”
Even the angry people of the crowd heard her high-pitched screech—it’d been strong enough to pull all their attention toward her.
“What’s wrong?” I held my hand out to her, but she dodged it and stood on her own.
“That wasn’t an accident! Those boxes didn’t fall by themselves—someone pushed them! I saw it!”
“Huh?” I froze, surprised.
Everyone around us was thrown into confusion. Since no one seemed to believe her right away, the girl hurriedly added more.
“Someone pushed those boxes onto this lady! They did it on purpose!” She pointed her tiny finger at me. Someone intentionally tried to hurt me?
Right before the boxes had fallen, this little girl had been terribly surprised by something, and she’d shouted for me to watch out. She’d apparently not only seen the boxes fall, but had also seen why they’d fallen.
The angry man from before turned his ire on her. “As if anyone would believe that! Keep quiet!”
“I’m not lying!” she protested. “I really saw it!”
“Who did it then? Go on, tell us!”