Raven looked back at Octavia, his eyes wide. Amazement, bewilderment, wariness—all of these emotions were laid bare now that she had thrown him off his guard, swirling around behind his eyes. As they exchanged looks, sizing each other up, a knock at the door interrupted them.
Raven seized Octavia’s arm as she sat up to answer the door. Then he swiftly locked the door from the inside. But the conductor stood on the other side; the lock could easily be opened.
“What are you doing?”
“Being told to keep out of something makes me want to stick my nose into it even more.”
“Huh?!”
Octavia was transfixed by the voice on the other side of the door: “That’s enough! Unlock the door.” Suddenly she found herself looking up at the ceiling, having been pushed onto the sofa from above. Hat, who had bounced to the floor when the cushion he sat on rebounded, cried, “D-Damn you! In the name of my omniscience and omnipotence, I’ll rip you to shreds!”
A man’s hand was clasped over Octavia’s mouth. Failing to understand the meaning of this, Octavia looked up at Raven, who leaned over her. He was close enough that she might have been forgiven for kicking him straight out the door. Still, she couldn’t read any harmful intent in his hazel eyes, which sparkled with delight above his nose. Strangely, there was no look of distaste, either. Only elation, the kind a child might feel upon overturning a box full of toys.
“Leave them to me,” Raven whispered in her ear. As Octavia felt an unfamiliar shiver go up her spine, the door opened.
They were vaguely aware that the two black-suited men who barged into the compartment had stopped in the doorway.
“Now, what’s this, then?”
With Octavia still sprawled on the sofa, Raven slowly got up from his place on top of her. He looked over at the men frozen in the doorway. “I’m fairly sure I locked that door, but can I help you in some way?”
There was a pause. “We’re looking for a woman. A woman named Octavia. That woman there—”
“Yes, that is what I’ve been calling her. Now, whether or not that happens to be her real name...”
“What?”
Raven gave them a throaty laugh. “Calling each other by our real names would be thoughtless, since we’re traveling in secret.”
“Hey, what’s this fellow’s name?” one of the men asked the conductor.
The conductor hesitated a moment, but then whispered to them. Upon hearing the name, the two men clicked their tongues in annoyance.
“So this woman is your companion?”
“Quite. But please, try to keep our presence here together a secret. We don’t want our stimulating journey to be spoiled.”
“Well, as long as you’re in good health,” spat one of the men, and left. The other man looked furtively at Octavia.
“Are you sure about this?” quizzed the conductor.
“The woman we’re looking for is almost certain to be traveling alone. I’ve also heard that she isn’t carrying much with her. Even if she was able to hide in first class, she can’t have reserved a seat. I’ll search the next compartment. We still have time before we reach the Royal Capital.”
“But...”
“What is this woman, Octavia, supposed to have done?” Raven asked, standing up before the man could close the door.
On the other side, with the door still ajar, the man narrowed his eyes viciously. “That’s none of your concern.”
“I do wonder about that attitude of yours, after you caused us so much trouble.”
In a quiet voice, the conductor answered, “She stole something, apparently, so we’re conducting an inspection. Please forgive the disturbance.”
The other man slammed the door shut, clicking his tongue. Through the door, they heard him say, “Be careful what you say.”
Octavia sat back up and sighed with relief. She picked up Hat, who had fallen on the floor. “You saved me,” she said, then paused. “I suppose I should say...thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Did I alarm you?”
“You did. If it weren’t for the circumstances, I would make you take responsibility for that.”
Raven, who had been grinning, slightly stiffened his expression. “Responsibility, you say. Once again, I must say—that seems a rather severe way of putting things.”
“My grandmother taught me to seize any misbehaving men at once, and force them to take responsibility.”
“For future reference, I’d just like to ask, what will you do if you catch hold of a man who can’t take proper responsibility?”
“Such men can be disposed of.”
Raven, who had now assumed a serious expression, stood with his back against the closed door and his arms folded. “You’re an unexpectedly wicked woman, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean? Flirting with men is proof of a lady’s discretion,” declared Octavia, clenching her fists tightly. “It was after many rounds of deliberation that my grandmother chose my grandfather. I must follow her example!”
“I see. Though now I only feel more disturbed.”
“What a coincidence. So do I,” agreed Hat, though there was no chance of reciprocation.
Raven placed his hand on his chin. “By the way, those men said something had been stolen. Do you really know nothing about that?”
“Nothing at all. In the first place, who were those men?”
“They were constables in the service of the royal family of Angelus.” Seeing Octavia blink in response, Raven stood up his own collar and showed her. “They had a star-shaped badge on their collars, right? And they wore black uniforms, with black shoes. Those men are the eyes and ears of the royal family of Angelus, scattered throughout the kingdom. They’re an organization subordinate to the Inquisition—you could say they’re in charge of doing odd jobs at the behest of the royals.”
“In that case, could they have been sent by Edward?”
“So you do know something.”
Raven bent forward and peered closely at Octavia’s face. Though it was a private compartment, they were still aboard a train. With the distance between them suddenly shortened, Octavia backed up slightly toward the window.
“Well, yes. Edward is my former suitor—” She broke off. “Well, no. More importantly, he’s a prince.”
“His Royal Highness, Prince Edward? Forty-third in line to the throne?”
Octavia nodded firmly, whereupon Raven straightened. “This is a surprise. A prince courted you?”
“No. More accurately, he courted the daughter of the Earl of Reine. In order to marry into the House of Reine, he came to our realm, seeking to marry me. Though I heard that he did so at the recommendation of his uncle, the queen’s younger brother.”
“Hmm? So, then, from the moment he laid eyes on Jessie, he undertook to drive you from the household, since you were an impediment to his plans to claim the right of inheritance?”
“Isn’t this fellow a bit too quick to understand things?” grumbled Hat. To Octavia, though, who wasn’t particularly well-spoken, this simply made the conversation easier.
“Your guess is correct, for the most part, but I really didn’t steal anything. If, by some small chance, something had been mixed in with my luggage, I still don’t think there was anything in our house worth sending men like that after me to search for it. Besides, it wasn’t me who packed my suitcase.”
As Octavia pondered this, furrowing her brow and crossing her arms, Hat spoke up, snapping to attention, though he still seemed like an ordinary piece of headwear. “Could it be that, after you left, following a concerted search of the house, they realized that there was even less left of Granny’s assets then they had expected, and so they started to suspect that you had run off with something? Or else they might be thinking that there’s something of value in the mansion in the Royal Capital.”
“Impossible. I’m sure they searched the mansion in the capital most thoroughly.”
“What? A mansion in the Royal Capital?”