Not a single person had noticed something was amiss within the Queen’s Space.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was one AM.
Queen Cassandra pried her eyes away from the ticking clock as she turned, when she noticed someone behind her.
There knelt On, the liaison.
“Your Majesty, the ball has ended,” he said. “Salinger did not show.”
“Yes, of course. I figured as much.”
The queen let out a sigh of resignation.
“I grow weary of this charade. Let us return to the hall.”
“As you wish. However, there are still some guests remaining. Because we cannot dismiss the possibility that Salinger may be disguised as a guest, I will come back to accompany you once all the guests have vacated. How would you like to proceed?”
“That will do.”
“Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
The Zoa boy disappeared.
Only two individuals remained in the Queen’s Space.
Queen Cassandra and the Hydra guard Francoise, who stood ready at her side.
“Um, if I may, Your Majesty… I believe it would be best to stay vigilant!” The black-haired girl spoke timidly. “Salinger wants us to believe he will not appear and get us to drop our guards. Perhaps that is the very moment he hopes to strike…”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
The queen glared at the guard.
She hadn’t liked the girl from the start. Why did a seasoned astral mage like herself need an upstart as a guard?
“I am the queen. Do you have any idea how many near-death experiences and bullets I have dodged on the front lines against the Imperial forces? You dare speak out of turn without even looking into my history?”
“I—I am so very sorry!”
The girl prostrated herself in a panic.
Queen Cassandra ignored her and stared at the far rear door.
She heard the faint sound of footsteps.
“Who is it?!”
Was it finally Salinger?
“May I, Your Majesty?”
The door of the Queen’s Space opened. A man in a crimson suit appeared before the slightly on edge queen and gave her an exaggerated bow.
“It’s just you, Lord Arken?”
“I am here to make a report.”
The lord of the Hydra solemnly entered the room.
“I will provide my report starting with the conclusion. This evening, Salinger failed to make an appearance.”
“I’ve heard. On was a step ahead of you in reporting that information.”
“Oh? And where is that boy now?”
“He returned to the great hall. Is there an issue?”
“No. That will simply make this much faster.”
Make what faster?
Arken spoke so fluidly that Queen Cassandra did not immediately question it.
In that moment…
“Your Majesty, do you truly believe that Salinger was responsible for the chain of incidents?”
“Hmm?”
“Have you perhaps considered this? That the plot on your life came not from Salinger, but from within the palace itself?”
The man in the crimson suit held a hand to his breast as he looked up at the ceiling.
He was like an actor waiting for the spotlight.
“However, if an incident were to occur within the palace, anyone would suspect the royal family, to start. In which case, one must simply find an appropriate culprit outside the palace. A scapegoat, if you will. Salinger, who had publicly declared his intention to go after the royal family’s astral power, was a perfect fit for the role.”
“Lord Arken?”
“Now.”
“Hngh?!”
Queen Cassandra soared into the air. She had jumped off the ground and somersaulted backward, landing farther away. Right after she landed, she staggered.
“Gah… Hah… I see…”
A drop of red blood fell to the ground.
“Francoise!”
“I—I am sorry. Your Majesty, I just couldn’t…!”
Her guard started to panic.
Though the girl’s voice came out like the whine of a timid dog, there was a broad smile on her face and a look in her eyes like that of a predator toying with her prey.
“You left yourself wide open, Your Majesty… I did warn you, didn’t I? Not to let your guard down.”
“Yes, and it was a painful lesson to learn…”
Queen Cassandra let out a labored breath.
The Hydra were behind everything.
Now that she thought about it, it was odd the House of Hydra had not only predicted the threat from Salinger but also had set up the entire plan to capture him at the soiree.
“It has been seventy years since the time of our Revered Founder. This is the first case of treason in our nation’s history, you curs!”
“This isn’t treason.”
Clank…
Francoise threw aside the dagger she had used to stab the queen’s side.
“This was all Salinger’s fault, after all. No one would think that the Hydra would do such a thing to the queen.”
“Do you really believe your testimony would hold up against mine?”
Queen Cassandra let go of her flank and glared at the two.
The wound wasn’t deep.
Francoise’s sneak attack had been weak.
Had Mirabella from the Lou done the same, the queen would have been dead before she knew she had been stabbed.
“This isn’t nearly enough to kill someone like me, Lord Arken. Not when your guard is so feeble, and you lack the ability to fight.”
Arken’s Afterworld astral power could only make human copies. Though it was a powerful tool to control information, it had no combat utility.
In contrast, the queen’s astral power was specialized for offense.
Even while wounded, she was assured of her victory.
“Alas, Your Majesty…”
The man in the crimson suit suddenly smiled. He seemed to pity her.
“I am also just a double. The real me must remain at the ball for my alibi, after all.”
“What?!”
“Francoise will suffice on her own.”
Arken disappeared.
But not before leaving an order.
“Finish this in eight minutes, Francoise.”
“Y-yes…!”
The black-haired girl bowed deeply.
She was acting like a student who had been told to clean her room by her teacher. Put another way…
“You’re beyond saving, Hydra scum.” Queen Cassandra doubted they had underestimated her. “You think I would fall for the same trick twice?”
This was most certainly a trap, too.
A wise man like Arken wouldn’t leave such a fragile underling to kill the queen on her own. There must have been another assassin hiding somewhere.
“Um… I’m afraid it’s really just me…”
“I grow weary of this conversation. There must be an assassin hiding somewhere in this room. And I will find and dispatch them—”
A laugh interrupted the queen. It was off-kilter, as though the person it came from wasn’t quite right.