“Understood. Lord Raven, was it? Thank you for escorting me.”
“Lose the title.”
“Huh?”
“Raven.”
“No! I mean, I come from an earl’s household, and you’re a marquis—”
“Raven.”
“Raven.” He’d pushed her into it. Seeing the man smile irritated Octavia, so she added, “In that case, I don’t mind if you call me Octavia. Apparently I can’t behave like a lady, anyway.”
“Indeed? Octavia.” Hearing his voice sound out each syllable of her name caused Octavia to stiffen reflexively. Raven swept the hem of his coat behind him and extended a hand, bowing gracefully. “You are a perfectly lovely lady. Now, give me your hand.”
Despite never really having been escorted by a gentleman before, Octavia wound her arm around Raven’s as a matter of course. Then, with the ticket counter behind them, they started walking. Octavia wondered what they were going to do about her train ticket, but from his manner, she knew without a shred of a doubt that he had all of this in hand.
Is this man a con artist after all? What was it about him? She suspected this was the last man she should be traveling with, but she also felt that having him around might make things more interesting.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch, Octavia,” sighed Hat from atop Octavia’s head, as she stepped onto the platform with a strange sense of elation.
The long-distance overnight train, which at its inception had catered almost entirely to the royal family, had added many more carriages as a result of the recent travel boom. The interior of these carriages was also quite spacious.
There were two first-class carriages, which were sleeper carriages; a dining car; two carriages in second class, as well as third class; and a freight car. It was a rather lengthy consist. The steam train, which departed at three o’clock in the afternoon, was scheduled to make a number of stops at major stations to pick up passengers. It would arrive at the Royal Capital by morning. Although the journey spanned two days and one night, the total time aboard the train would be just over twelve hours, or half a day.
“Your compartment is meant for two, so I don’t think you’ll find any trouble with the space,” said Raven, and handed Octavia her ticket from out of his frock coat.
“When did you... Is this sleight of hand?”
“I’ll be in the adjacent compartment. I’ll come to fetch you later. Let’s have supper together in the dining car. If we take supper just after five o’clock, we should be able to see the ocean.”
“The ocean. It’ll be my first time seeing it. Though this is my first time on a steam train, as well.”
“Well, well. It’s an honor to be able to accompany you through so many of your firsts.” Leaving Octavia with that unnatural turn of phrase and a pleasant smile, Raven opened the door of the adjacent compartment. Even as he left, his manner was elegant.
Octavia, left alone in the shuddering corridor, muttered sidelong to Hat, “Could he be...a decent man?”
“No, this man is no good. Don’t get too deeply involved with him.”
“Is he no good?”
“You’ll only be tricked.”
“I surely won’t be. Not when I’m this vigilant.” She no longer seriously suspected him of being a con man, but something about him just got on her nerves. She knew she was being disrespectful, but she couldn’t help it; she just felt uncomfortable. Could it be that she was just nervous, encountering such a young nobleman for the first time?
“In any case, just be careful,” Hat went on. “No one thinks they’re being tricked while they’re being tricked.”
“I guess that’s true,” sighed Octavia. “Hm? Hmm? Does that mean that, now that I’m convinced I’m not being tricked, I am actually being tricked...?”
“Just get in the compartment, already. We don’t know who might pass by, or when.”
Octavia opened the door to her compartment. She made sure it was shut behind her before sitting down on the loveseat. It was fluffy and could apparently turn into a bunk bed. A card had been left next to her on the seat, reading, “If you have any questions, please come to the crew cabin.” On the shelf next to the doorway was water and a newspaper. The washstand, shoved into a corner, had towels and even skin cream. Now it seemed they were passing through the country, as a river of greenery streamed past the train window.
“First class is just as luxurious as you’d expect, isn’t it?” Hat, hopping up and down on the sofa to test its softness, was extremely satisfied. Octavia also threw herself onto the sofa, lying down.
“Now that you mention it, I don’t think we’ve had a chance to relax since we were chased out of the manor.”
“Quite. You’ve taken a number of wrong turns along the way.”
“Ah... I wish I had a map.”
“If we had that fellow, indeed, we wouldn’t get lost again. But where might he be?”
“It would be nice if we could be friends.”
“There are no tools which would fail to live up to your desires— What’s that?” At the sound of a knock at the door, Hat flopped over, lying still. Thinking it might be the conductor, Octavia pushed her trunk into a corner and placed her hand on the doorknob.
“Who is it? Raven?”
“Octavia. Sorry. I’m coming in.” Raven slipped smoothly into the room, while Octavia stood by the door with a vacant expression.
“The nerve of this fellow! He can’t just barge into a lady’s room! Though,” Hat added, “it might be a stretch, or even a fib, to call you a lady.”
Octavia’s way of thinking wasn’t as antiquated as Hat’s, but she, too, was shocked. Had Raven just been buttering her up? It still seemed a bit too soon for him to be showing his true intentions.
“Wh-What’s the matter?” she asked. “It’s still a bit early for supper, isn’t it?”
But Raven’s eyes were serious as he looked back at Octavia. “Have you done something?”
“Huh?”
“Some men in black, accompanied by the conductor, just came in—one by one—from the carriage behind us.” Bang, came a noise that wasn’t the jostling of the train. It came from next door. They heard a door open, a man speak sharply, and then a woman speak in a high voice. Octavia couldn’t make out the words, but it was clear they were quarreling over something.
Raven quickly leaned out of the open window, then pulled his head back inside and closed the window. “They’re looking for you, all right. I heard them ask if she knew a woman named Octavia.” As Raven locked the window shut, his expression was severe. “What is it that you’ve done?”
Asked a second time, Octavia started to fret. “W-Wait. I have no recollection of doing anything that I should be tracked down for.”
“But there’s no doubt that you’re the one they’re looking for.”
“The House of Reine might have come after us,” Hat mused, “under the orders of that shit of a prince.”
As Octavia struggled to come up with an answer, she heard the sound of disorderly footfalls in the corridor. This room would probably be next. Raven sighed and raised his head. He was thinking about something. Seeing Raven’s too-sharp gaze, without thinking, Octavia grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t do anything.” Those were the words that finally came out of Octavia’s mouth.
Raven, looking back at Octavia, replied bluntly, “So you do know something about this?”
“I don’t. I don’t, but I’ll be all right. I’ll manage, somehow.”
Octavia didn’t know who her pursuers were, but they were rummaging around a first-class carriage like they owned it, dragging the conductor along behind them. These were not mild-mannered men. Even so, she would be fine. Octavia had allies.
“So, you can keep out of this.”