After the banquet, everyone gathered in the guesthouse lounge for tea. Possibly to rinse the tush-tainted meal out of their mouths.
“Hmm! Lloyd does make a fine cup of tea!” Sardin cried, totally in the moment.
Threonine, however, was still on high alert.
“You’re confident, Sardin. I can’t help but squirm… Where has my fool of a son gone?”
“Allan?” Anzu had an idea. She looked up from her cup, wincing. “Renge dragged him off for a palace date. Like this isn’t enemy ground at all.”
“Ah…well, if Renge’s with him, there’s not much danger.”
Next to Sardin, Ubi looked rather taken aback.
“We can’t explore the palace with total freedom, but I didn’t expect that to begin with. I mean, this is Profen.”
“Like the ID card and inspections. If they say a section’s off-limits, we ain’t getting in,” Riho said.
“It shows confidence in her security,” Marie added. “She knows they won’t slip up.”
“That’s all true,” Mena said. “But I bet she’s letting us roam to see what’ll we do.”
“Well put, Mena! My daughter!”
“Get off me, Dumb Dandy.”
Lloyd was watching with a smile, and Phyllo whispered, “……Take a seat, Master.”
“Oh, right. I should.”
“……Why are you so fidgety?”
He scratched at his cheek.
“Oh, um. I mean, this is enemy territory. Should I not be nervous?”
Marie sympathized. “I get that! You’re fine as long as you’re busy, but it catches up when you try to relax.”
Marie had been relaxing and sipping tea for quite some time, so she was not practicing what she preached.
“I was absolutely convinced Marie’s butt had fused with that chair.”
“Yup. So what happened to the circus and their clowns?” Riho inquired.
“I asked,” Anzu said. “Since they had wild animals with ’em, the circus is staying elsewhere. Not that far off— If anything goes down, they’ll come running.”
“Unlikely as it is, should anything untoward happen to us, it’s reassuring to have another team present.”
Threonine’s mind was always on worst-case scenarios, so their entrance had really taken a weight off his shoulders. Likely a major reason for their infiltration.
Lloyd sat down, but he was still clearly antsy.
“What else are we doing today?” he asked.
Sardin started massaging Lloyd’s shoulders, trying to help him relax.
“Mm-hmm, you know… Get plenty of rest, prepare for tomorrow.”
“Yes, that’ll be the main event,” Threonine said, trying not to pressure the boy. He was just as devoted to the lad, and always gentle. “We’ll settle everything at the summit. At best, read over your notes one more time before you sleep.”
“Yup. Let these old farts handle the tough questions,” Anzu added. “You just speak from the heart, tell them what you think. That’s the best way to reach people.”
Ubi nodded. “People who are used to playing mind games tend to struggle with candor and honest questions.”
“They do?”
“……They do.”
“You excel at that, Lloyd.”
The Quinone sisters made him blush.
At this point, Allan and Renge returned.
“Pardon our absence, all. We have returned.”
“Ah-ha, keeping them fires burning?” Anzu teased. “How’d it go?”
Renge looked disappointed. “They would not let us be alone together. A most inelegant escort was watching our every move.”
“I figured. We gotta watch ourselves whenever we step outside the guest house.”
Anzu had encouraged their date as a means to scout the lay of the land. Renge had probably just wanted to enjoy the date.
“Whew… I’m noticeably thinner…”
Between the guards and Renge, Allan’s last nerve was fraying. He had visibly lost weight.
“Have some tea, Allan. Renge, it’s your favorite kind.”
“Oh, thank you, Lloyd.”
“Elegantly brewed. You never disappoint.”
Allan must have been thirsty, because he knocked it back. Then he started reporting what they’d seen.
“We were able to see just about every part of the castle, surprisingly. They had very friendly guides leading us through each area, the real VIP treatment. In a very different sense than I’m used to.”
“Your guides were there to watch what you did, then.”
Allan nodded.
“Anzu,” Renge said, looking grave. “They’re good. The guides, the guards behind pillars, in shadows, behind bushes, underground—they were watching from every angle. There was no chance to make out at all. Inelegant!”
“Your father-in-law is right here!” Allan shivered as if he’d narrowly escaped danger.
Anzu looked appalled, but Selen offered encouragement.
“You can do better, Renge. Sometimes watchful eyes merely add to the thrill. Show off to them—make it a fait accompli.”
“S-Selen…ya speak the god’s truth!”
Even coming from a god, we reject that advice.
Anzu abandoned the idea of arguing, and just rested her cheek on her palm. Marie did her best to get everyone back on topic.
“W-well, point is, dangerous people are everywhere.”
She meant that last word. Even on their side—but she didn’t spell that out. It was unclear if she was being nice or had just given up.
“Yeah, probably advisable we stay on our best behavior. Selen, be still.”
“……Be still.”
“I am well aware! Sir Lloyd, let us be still together. At least, the parts visible above the covers.”
“Ah-ha-ha, seconds after we warned her, too. How many filters does her brain have?”
They had to laugh.
Except for Lloyd, who was diligently circling the room, occasionally glancing out the windows.
“What’s wrong, Lloyd? Looking for someone?”
“N-no…but where could she be?”
Yes, Lloyd was still concerned about the yet-to-be-seen princess. If their movements were being watched, all the more so. The king had said she was reckless and prone to getting carried away.
The king asked me to look after her, so I can’t just leave her at the mercy of these dangerous guards. Should I go look for her? I hope she’s not doing anything too risky.
Naturally, the king had been applying those adjectives to the real princess (if you could actually call her one), Marie.
“Right on! Let’s go to our rooms, pull up the covers, and get drunk!”
Marie, who was inexplicably enthusiastic about her imbibement.
“Don’t drink too much, or you’ll regret it tomorrow. But…enough to help relax should be fine.”
“I doubt it’ll be poisoned, but just in case, the elegant solution would be to have Anzu taste-test it.”
“Yo, what, Renge? If she poisons her guests, we won’t need to make accusations, it’ll be an instant incident. Which might help us, really.”
“Agreed! Let’s drink.”
The grown-ups seemed to be all-in on that.
“I can’t keep up with these lushes. I’m going back to my room.”
“Good idea. Let’s have a pajama party.”
“……Mm.”
The company began to scatter, finding their own ways to prepare for tomorrow.
Late that night, Lloyd took action to search for the absent princess to tell her of the king’s concern.
No one could have predicted he would first encounter Eve, attempting to capture him.
Or that this would be the start of Eve’s downfall—Lloyd bringing disaster she could never have predicted.
Strap in, for Eve’s villainy is about to go off the rails.