The princess surprised us all by declaring that we were still going to see the historical sites. We’d all thought those plans would be canceled.
Prince Severin took pity on her. “Please, don’t force yourself. We can tell you’re not in the mood for something like this.”
He suggested we cancel the event, but Princess Mira shook her head. “I’m terribly sorry for how panicked I became last night. I have decided to simply wait for updates on Mace. It’s my duty to represent Vissel as its crown princess right now.” Her complexion still hadn’t returned to normal, but she straightened her back with grace and put on a display of dignity. “I visited Lagrange to improve the relationship between our kingdoms, since our shared past is riddled with problems. You have all welcomed me with open arms, yet I ignored that and only thought of myself. I’m ashamed.”
“Don’t be. You had every right to waver in that situation. Please don’t speak of yourself in such a way.”
“Thank you very much, but I showed a very pathetic side of me yesterday. It was nothing less than shameful. My first order of business should have been to apologize to you. A man of my kingdom—my secretary, no less—plotted something so horrible. Had he succeeded, Mrs. Marielle would’ve...been involved...” She trailed off halfway through, unable to bring herself to say the words. But she raised her downcast eyes and apologized yet again. “In the worst-case scenario, this could have incited war. I’m truly, truly sorry for the trouble we’ve caused.”
I checked Lord Simeon’s and Prince Severin’s reactions: Their expressions weren’t blaming the princess in the slightest. Even my husband, who’d been troubled by her actions before, wasn’t giving her a cold gaze now.
His Highness went ahead and offered his conclusion. “It’s true that some of Sir Kessel’s actions were suspicious, so we have no choice but to consider him involved, but we still don’t know the truth. Let’s leave it at that for now. Nothing will come of us grasping at straws when we don’t know the details. All we have are theories, and we can’t take those as truth. The local police are assisting us in our search. We’re sure to receive more information soon enough.”
“Yes, sir...”
The original itinerary was for the princess to depart and cross the border this afternoon. Did she intend to continue receiving the reports in Vissel?
It might be...unlikely that Mr. Mace will be found before she departs...
Princess Mira wrapped up the conversation. “Today’s visit to the historical sites is not just for sightseeing; it’s for us to look back on our two kingdoms’ histories and learn from them for the sake of the future. We must also mourn those who lost their lives in the process, which is why I believe we should continue with our plans for today.”
Prince Severin didn’t argue. A message was sent to the governors, who were on standby. There was no telling when the rain would fall today, so we hurried to prepare and set off.
Our carriages, which had been thoroughly inspected by then, trudged down the hill, and we crossed the bridge along the cliff by foot and horse. The princess rode a single horse by herself. She was evidently skilled at riding, so she didn’t teeter at all. Since I didn’t have my own horse, I walked alongside the local staff.
Low tide had come at dawn, so now the waves were creeping back up. The water had already risen up to the bottom of the bridge. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have been able to contain my excitement at the notion of crossing a bridge over the ocean, but as you would expect, I couldn’t bring myself to revel in a mood like that here. I quietly followed after Their Highness’s horses.
Tons of seabirds were flying around the island. They seemed to reside there instead of people. Were they raising chicks in their nests this season?
I gazed up at the approaching island and its buildings and whispered, “Seeing it from down here... This place makes quite the impact.”
The island was much smaller than its counterpart; it was lower in elevation and couldn’t be called a mountain, yet it seemed more significant somehow. The walls of the castle that sat atop the cliff towered high, as if to reject all around it.
Lord Nigel was behind me, leading his horse along but not riding it. “This must be the execution site of the north. No wonder it’s so imposing.” Arthur and Lady Eva weren’t here with him today, strangely enough.
“It wasn’t an execution site,” I corrected. “It was a prison.”
“But they conducted executions here too, did they not? Sans-Terre was famous for that in the south, while Terrazant served that role in the north.”
“Well, I suppose...”
The castle on this island had been used as a prison. Executions were a part of that. A monastery on one island and an execution site on the next one over... On one hand, the difference was striking, but on the other, perhaps it was logical, in a way.
Lord Nigel turned to a staff member walking near him. “Is it still being used today?”
Being called out to by an ambassador with such beauty made the young staff member nervous. “The last execution was held here six years ago. We haven’t had one since.”
“So it isn’t allowed anymore?” Lord Nigel looked back at me. “It’s still legal in Lagrange, is it not?”
“It is,” I answered, “but we hardly conduct any.”
In Lagrange, executions had been a type of exhibition until fairly recent generations. That was why an execution site was present in our capital, Sans-Terre. I didn’t have the slightest clue what was fun about watching someone lose their head to a guillotine. If I witnessed something like that, I would surely faint.