I watched a carriage set off, followed by a cohort of royal knights riding on horseback, from my window. That carriage was reserved for the Dragon Duchess consort. But since I was right here watching it from my window, its passenger certainly wasn’t me. A knight who knew magic had cast a spell on the carriage to make it appear that I was the one riding in it. In other words, a body double had been sent out in my place.
An event was being held today to celebrate the completed construction of a new cathedral. A large crowd was free to come and go as they pleased, so I had decided to avoid the event and send out a body double in my stead. Even if there wasn’t much of a crowd, there was no guarantee that it would be safe for me to attend.
I had also warned Madeleine not to go. I would be devastated if something were to happen to her because of me.
Additionally, a spell had been cast on the room I was in to repel anyone with ill intent. Van had spent three days developing this special barrier. Shutting myself off in this room was the safest course of action.
Lady Opera entered the room I was in just as the carriage went out of sight. She strutted across the room as if she owned the place and took a seat on the couch.
“Mille-Feuille, I see you have decided to skip the celebratory rites today,” Lady Opera said.
“I did. I had a bad feeling about it, so I asked Van to prepare a body double for me.”
“Ah, it was at your own discretion. I’d thought my brother would have been the one to issue such an order.”
“Van would never force me to follow such orders,” I told her. I had decided to be cautious as the event was organized by one of Van’s councillors. When Van learned of that, he had approved of my decision.
“How unusual. I would have thought that my brother would take the lead in your relationship.”
“There’s no such power imbalance in our marriage,” I told her. “If we have a disagreement, we talk it out until we reach a satisfactory solution.”
“That is wonderful to hear. I wish I could show those old councillors my brother’s attitude toward you.”
As expected, her relationship with Van’s council was also strained. It seemed that the voices opposed to Van in his council had grown louder as of late, and more and more frequently, council meetings were being forcefully cut short.
“My brother is being too stubborn, so his councillors end up crying to me for help,” Lady Opera ranted. Not even Van’s sister, the royal lady, could do anything about his hardheadedness. “Those old fossils in the council already know that they just need you on their side to rein in my brother.”
“Well, most of them were against our marriage.”
“Indeed. They were pushing for that girl from our branch family—”
“Fenetra, right?”
Lady Opera had stopped herself before saying the name, and she looked shocked when I finished her sentence anyway.
“Why do you know that name?” she asked.
“I heard it from Van yesterday.”
“I’m embarrassed on behalf of my brother. How could he talk to his own wife about such a topic?”
“No, I’m glad that he talked about her,” I told her. “Thanks to that, I learned that the councillors haven’t been supporting me because they favor Fenetra.”
“Well, if you say so. I shan’t say anything further.”
A few moments later, Parfeil came in carrying two cups of hot milk.
“Ah, so this is the famed hot milk,” Lady Opera said.
“Please, have some,” I told her.
“Then I shall.” Lady Opera took the cup from Parfeil and blew on it to cool it down. Perhaps she had a sensitive tongue.
I sipped from my own cup of steaming hot milk. The gentle sweetness of the milk and honey filled my mouth. Lady Opera followed my lead and took a sip of her own.
“Th-This is simply exquisite!” she exclaimed, her cheeks slightly red as she showered Parfeil with praise. “Little bunny, you are a prodigy at making this!”
Lady Opera referred to Parfeil as a “bunny”—apparently, it was because she found the word cute and she liked the sound of it. Parfeil had never once complained about the nickname.
“Just as Mille-Feuille said, this hot milk really does calm you down. I thank you, little bunny,” she added.
“Your Highness, you flatter me too much. But I am glad that the hot milk pleases you!” Parfeil said.
I was about to relax when I noticed a commotion outside the room. It was followed by the sound of someone running down the hallway.
The door slammed open, and Van rushed inside.
“Mille-Feuille!” he cried out.
“Van, what’s going on?”
Before he answered, he rushed to embrace me. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he whispered into my ear.
Lady Opera raised her voice in protest at Van’s unusual behavior. “I would appreciate it if you two lovebirds were intimate with each other while I’m not in the room!”
“I wouldn’t call this ‘intimate’...” I muttered.
Just what happened? I felt Van trembling against me, so I put my arms around him in turn. I stroked his back to comfort him.
Roche entered right after Van, seemingly to explain the situation. “Lady Dragon Duchess, are you all right?!” Roche cried.
“I’m fine, as you can see. What happened?”
Roche began to explain the situation to us. “There was an explosion after the celebratory rites for the cathedral.”
“Wh-What?!”
Apparently, the incident had occurred right after the ceremony had ended, while the visitors were leaving the venue. A magic circle had been set up underneath one of the pews and had exploded.
“The explosion happened to be, uh, at the seat where the Dragon Duchess consort’s body double was sitting,” Roche continued.
“And then? What happened after that?”
“Your body double sensed that something was wrong and managed to avoid the explosion unharmed. No other injuries were reported.”
“That’s good,” I said. “I’m glad nobody was hurt.”
“If you had been there, I’d... I’d...” Van was crying as he held me. He had already known that I’d had my body double attend the ceremony instead. Still, he had been anxious enough to check whether I was all right.
Now that he was able to confirm my safety, his concern for me turned into indignation over the events.