Cain paused. “Are you saying that if Cecily wasn’t in love with me to begin with, there was no point in giving her the love potion?”
“I didn’t say that there was no point. However, while you’ve been standing by worrying, it seems that Zeke has been making some plans of his own.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” A trace of doubt had trickled into Cain’s words.
“You see, to try and win back Cecily’s heart, Zeke has gone off in order to find a certain mythical spring. I expect he’s finished packing and has headed off already.”
“Hold on a second... You’re kidding?” Cain laughed as if this were all a joke, but his laugh soon petered out. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “By ‘a certain mythical spring,’ you mean the spring deep in the mountains where the fairy king is said to live? He intends to retrieve the legendary water that’s supposed to heal any and all ailment? That’s just a fairy tale—literally! You’re telling me he believed that cock-and-bull story? For real?”
“I did tell him that it was merely a legend, but Zeke was willing to accept it. He probably forced himself to believe it.”
Silence filled the room for several moments.
“Is that right? Well, I suppose this is out of my hands. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
“Oh no!”
Charlotte panicked. He was taking his leave way too fast!
At this rate, Cain would discover them. If he noticed she had been eavesdropping on him, there was no telling what that hateful man would say.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hide in the corridor. While Charlotte was panicking about what to do, Alphonse spoke.
“You may hit me as much as you like later, Your Royal Highness.”
“Whuh?!”
Charlotte didn’t have time to say anything else. After letting out this ridiculous sound, she found that she had been scooped up in Alphonse’s strong arms.
“I—” She was about to scream, but a large hand covered her mouth. In the next moment, Charlotte’s world started to shake—Alphonse had started running.
Alphonse swiftly and silently opened the door to the room next door and slipped inside. She heard his shoes make a squeaking sound on the floor, but it went dark in the next moment as he held her close by the wall, out of sight.
He’s standing right behind me.
Charlotte could feel the warmth of Alphonse’s body, and his breath above her head. She held her own breath.
From outside, she heard a door open. Then, footsteps growing quieter. Cain had walked through the entrance hall and back outside.
Alphonse let out a sigh of relief, then gently removed himself from Charlotte’s side.
“A-Alphonse, y-you...”
To have picked up a princess like a child! Wait, no—to have picked up Charlotte, a princess who had a phobia of men and then to clasp his hand over her mouth...!
Distancing himself from the shivering princess, Alphonse fell to one knee with his head bowed low.
“My deepest apologies, Your Royal Highness. I will accept any punishment you deem acceptable.”
Charlotte let out a confused sound. Alphonse’s cool demeanor flustered her even more.
When the Celestial Knight Brigade had first been appointed to guard the Snowflower Palace and also to act as Charlotte’s personal guards, various decisions had taken place between the two parties of the royal family and the knights.
One of these was that no one was permitted to lay even one finger upon Charlotte, their charge, apart from in the most dire of situations.
However, Charlotte now realized that this had in fact been an emergency. There may not have been a direct threat to her life, but Alphonse had acted quickly to protect Charlotte’s good name.
Yet these rational thoughts were completely overwhelmed by adrenaline—adrenaline caused by the realization that this was the first time someone of the opposite gender had held her since she had stopped being a child.
Well, there was the time just a few hours ago that he had stroked her head with his pinky—by the way, Lottie had been feeling really down in the dumps back then, so yes, that did count as a dire situation—but they had been much closer than that just a moment ago. So close that she could catch his scent, and he, hers.
Men were objects of fear for Charlotte. Lust personified. Wicked beings. Yet, she hadn’t found Alphonse’s fragrance, tinged with sweat, detestable.
“No,” she said, eventually. “I will not hit you nor punish you. You saved me from a potentially horrible situation. I should be thanking you instead.”
“You don’t look very thankful to me...”
A vein was bulging on Charlotte’s forehead. Her expression didn’t look grateful either. However, this was merely a result of trying to hide the embarrassment bubbling within her.
Charlotte let out a huff and tossed her hair back. Then she let out a small gasp of surprise. There was Cecily, sitting by the wall.
“If it isn’t Cecily! What are you doing here?”
“Lady Lottie...” Cecily said, looking up. She was hugging her knees to her chest.
It seemed like it wasn’t just Charlotte and Alphonse who had been eavesdropping on Cain. Cecily must have been keeping quiet in here while listening to the conversation next door.
No, that wasn’t all there was to it. Thinking back on what Cain had said, Charlotte lit upon another possibility. Cecily had been worried about Zeke. Despite the way the love potion was playing with her mind, she couldn’t stop thinking of him, somewhere deep down.
If that was the case, there was something only Charlotte could do for her best friend.
“Cecily, you look pretty gloomy,” Charlotte said jokingly, her tone bright. “I was so happy to see you looking so cheerful here back in your hometown, so it saddens me to see you like this.” Charlotte gave Cecily, whose eyes were filled with an uncertain sadness, a smile. “Oh, yes—what did you do with your things in the end?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you remember? You said that you put that valuable thing in your travel bag to keep it safe. If you’re going off to look for the captain’s loins, it might be better to bring it with you, no? I expect it might help when the time comes.”
Cecily’s expression was unreadable. She seemed a little confused. Soon she stood up, wiped down her skirt, and left the room. Her footsteps eventually faded out of earshot.
Alphonse tilted his head in confusion, unsure what that was all supposed to mean.
“My lady, what’s this ‘valuable thing’ you mentioned?”
“I can’t tell you. Cecily made me promise to keep it a secret.”
Charlotte gave a sigh, then slumped down to the ground and held her knees to her chest, just as Cecily had been doing.
Should she have gone with Cecily? It was true that it would be dangerous for even Zeke—captain of the Celestial Knight Brigade, lauded for his unparalleled strength, and gifted with countless medals—to be wandering around in unfamiliar mountains at night.
But something had stopped her. Charlotte had realized that Cecily was fighting something on her own—she knew her presence would only get in the way of those struggles.
“How was your little eavesdropping escapade, you two?”
“Eep!”
Charlotte bit her tongue in surprise at the sudden voice from the next room.
“W-We’re so sorry! We can explain!”
“Oh, there’s no need to apologize. You were concerned for my little Cecily, right?”
Charlotte felt a pang of sadness at Greta’s relaxed tone.
“Mrs. Greta...aren’t you worried about Cecily?”
“That I am. But Cecily’s not a weak girl.”
Charlotte thought the same. But she wasn’t strong enough to be as confident in Cecily as Greta was.
“I sent Rolo to follow her, so nothing terrible should happen,” Greta said. “Now then, I should return home to my darling.”
Charlotte heard her leave. Then, as she remained there on the cold floor, Alphonse called out to her.
“How about some tea? I’ll pour some for you.”
“Alphonse’s loins... I really am weak, aren’t I?” Charlotte’s emerald eyes were swimming with tears, and not just from the pain of biting her tongue. “I wanted to help Cecily, but I couldn’t do a thing.”
Alphonse shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“I don’t need your sympathy!” Charlotte cried. Sometimes she wanted to be consoled, but at others, she wanted to be left alone.
Making use of a stove in the room, Alphonse began to prepare some tea. As he did so, he said, “To me, it looked like some color had returned to Cecy’s face, you know?”
His voice was warm and optimistic.