With the perpetrator of the incident deceased, there was no longer a way of knowing what his true motive had been. Those of his comrades who’d survived were arrested, but they’d only been hired to follow orders, and they claimed to not know any of the details.
The knights who’d been shot were treated—they’d effectively evaded any serious wounds and were even able to speak again upon regaining consciousness. We were all relieved that everything had been resolved.
Princess Mira’s return home was delayed by one day, and in the meantime, Mr. Mace told her he was sorry for the umpteenth time. “My deepest apologies for worrying you.”
Though she’d celebrated his safe return at first, the days of worrying caught up to the princess and caused her to despair once more. She sulked and lashed out to the extreme, forcing Mr. Mace to prostrate himself on the ground in front of her.
“I regret leaving by myself. It was careless of me to assume that the danger would be minimal. Had the people of Lagrange not aided me, I would have drowned there.”
According to him, he’d headed to the bridge thinking that he could handle any suspicious figures since he was a former soldier. He’d been expecting just one or two enemies, but there had turned out to be a lot more, and they were mercenaries, not civilians. After being struck and losing consciousness, Mr. Mace had been thrown into the ocean, and he’d almost drowned without anyone noticing. The knights who had been monitoring him from afar saved him, but he had opted to stay in hiding even after regaining consciousness to make Mr. Meyer and his comrades think him dead.
Prince Severin apologized to Princess Mira as well. “Lagrange would also like to extend our apologies for being unable to inform you of the situation. We could not confirm the culprit’s aim, and the evidence we did have was weak at best. Thus, we preferred to arrest them in flagrante delicto. They would have noticed had we reported to you early on, so I ordered our knights to keep our information secret.”
The princess accepted this, albeit reluctantly. She’d been equally worried and upset, but in the end, her elation prevailed. She seemed happy to have reunited with Mr. Mace. However, she couldn’t help but ask, “Why did Meyer plot something so outrageous in the first place?”
Both she and Mr. Mace were at a loss in the face of this unsolved mystery. Prince Severin exchanged glances with Lord Simeon, then merely said, “I’m not sure. We may be able to uncover something if we investigate further. We’ll report back to you at a later date.”
“Thank you very much. We’ll be looking into it on our side as well.”
The perpetrator had been a man of Vissel, so no one would be accusing Lagrange of anything. On the contrary, the Visselian officials and soldiers were worried that they’d be accused of being accomplices.
That night, we rested our tired bodies, then the next day, we said our farewells to the princess and her entourage once they had prepared to leave. She offered her final farewells to His Highness, then called out to me.
“I’ve caused so much trouble for you.”
“Not at all. Meeting you, and the experiences we had together—these memories are very precious to me. Please be careful on your way home, and be well.”
“Thank you... I’m very sorry to you as well, Lieutenant. All I did was throw you around without explaining anything, yet you still saved me. You were nothing but respectable.” It was clear to see that the princess didn’t need to pretend to chase after him anymore.
“I’m honored to hear so,” replied my husband. “I’m relieved to see you off safely.”
Even Lord Hilbert, who’d been so noisy since we’d met him, didn’t show his face that day. In fact, he headed home before anyone else. He’d ridiculed the princess and put her down to no end, yet when push had come to shove, he’d proven only capable of screaming in terror. Even when I’d been seconds from death right in front of him, all he’d done was sit still and watch, despite being able to move freely. After the incident, he’d gone so silent that it had been almost like he was a different person. It would’ve been nothing but awkward for him to have been here today.
I had a feeling he’d pop up again soon enough, acting as if nothing had happened, but fortunately, his lies would no longer affect anyone. Princess Mira had already spread her rumors and gained a true love of her own.
Mr. Mace kept a cool face as he stood by her side. This might have been the first time I’d ever seen him smile—he’d only shown dark expressions up until now. I could tell that he’d been worried for the princess. No matter how effective her rumor-spreading plan might have been, he simply hadn’t been able to agree with it because he knew it would worsen her reputation.
Also...it had probably been just plain painful for him to watch her flirt with another man. Just as I had wavered at the sight, Mr. Mace hadn’t wanted to watch, even if she was just acting. His morose gaze had hidden complicated emotions.
The princess motioned for me to come over to her, and we stepped out of earshot of Lord Simeon and Mr. Mace.
“Did your plan to make him jealous work?” I whispered to her.
A red flower bloomed on her beautiful, fairylike face as she furrowed her brows in embarrassment. “You realized that part too...”
I giggled. “It seems that a dash of jealousy is the ingredient to spice up one’s feelings. Too much will have the opposite effect, however, so be sure to keep it in moderation.”
“I will. I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t help but find her adorable even though she was older than me. She apologized genuinely but tilted her head as she asked me a new question.
“Were you not jealous as well? I never understood why you didn’t get angry with me and how you were able to stay calm the whole time. How was that possible? You seem to be very close with the Lieutenant, so I don’t believe your marriage is one of obligation. I’m curious.”
I glanced over at my husband, who was looking back at us with worried eyes. “Actually, it made me a bit hazy.”
“Just a bit?”
“Especially when you danced with him at the ball. But it was obvious that my husband didn’t want to do it, so I figured there had to be some sort of reason. Later on, even Lord Simeon sulked because I’d been too calm about it.”
Her eyes went wide, as if she were unable to imagine someone like him possibly sulking. Lord Simeon himself became restless when she turned that look over to him.