There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a refreshing morning, fit for the start of a journey. However, since Elliott was leaving the capital in disgrace, he couldn’t help but feel a little miserable. Today was the day he would leave to take up his new position in the Leaflane domain.
“Gosh, I never thought much about the scenery here before, but when I realize I don’t know when I’ll ever see it again, it gets me a little emotional,” Elliott said as he looked out at the trees in the gardens from the porte cochere.
George, who’d come to see him off, wiped a tear from his eyes. “Four months ago, I never would have thought it could come to this...”
“He he, don’t cry. It’s a relatively peaceful outcome, considering I lost in a struggle at court.”
In Elliott’s case, it wasn’t even a power struggle, though.
“Still, George, is it okay for you to come see me off?” Elliott asked. “Doesn’t it endanger your own position?”
It was a risky move for him to stay behind and see off someone who was essentially being sent into exile. No matter how times changed, it was always risky showing loyalty to the defeated.
“Thank you for your concern, sir, but I did at least get permission from Alexandra,” George explained.
“You did, huh? I guess she’s being considerate, in her own way.”
“I brought a parting gift from her as well. Here it is. A picture book for you to read during your trip, some pocket money so you can buy food along the way, and a little knight doll for you to play with in the carriage.”
“Does she think I’m still a child?”
Elliott refused to accept them, so George pulled out another bag in place of the gifts.
“And there’s this. Honestly, I wasn’t sure about offering it, though...”
“What is it?”
“It’s a parting gift...from my sister.”
“From Rachel?”
They both looked dubiously at the bag.
“I’d bet money there’s nothing good in there,” Elliott muttered.
“Yes,” George agreed. “I questioned whether I should even bring it.”
They looked at each other, then slowly opened the bag. Once it was clear nothing was going to jump out at them, they pulled out the objects inside one by one.
“Medical supplies?” Elliott said, confused.
“It sure looks like it,” George replied.
The bag contained motion-sickness medicine, salve for wounds, herbs to stop bleeding, antibiotic ointment, absorbent cotton, triangular bandages, painkillers, and more.
“There’s an awful lot of stuff for treating injuries in here!” Elliott exclaimed.
“Knowing my sister, there’s definitely no good reason for it...” George surmised.
The last thing to come out was a card with a message on it that said, “Good luck!”
“I’m not sure what to read into that...” Elliott murmured.
“Is there something wrong with the domain, or is it another problem?” George wondered.
Before they knew it, quite some time had passed since George came to see him off. Elliott couldn’t keep worrying about Rachel’s message, which could be read any number of ways, forever.
“See you, George,” he said. “Come visit sometime, when things settle down.”
“Yes, sir! Take care of yourself, Your Highness.”
As George started sniffling again, Elliott got into the carriage, leaving him behind.
The knight who would be guarding Elliott climbed aboard and gave the coachman the order to drive. The coachman lowered the door bar, then hopped up into the driver’s seat.
George kept on waving until Elliott’s carriage had disappeared out the main gate.
“I wonder when we’ll meet again?” He turned to head back toward the government office, but he stopped after just a few steps. “Hold on... Did the driver just lock the cabin from the outside?”
Once the carriage left the palace, it cut straight across town and headed out onto the highway. Elliott watched the plains roll by outside the window, and it finally sank in that he was leaving the royal capital.
“We’ve already come so far,” he said, feeling sentimental.
The knight removed the hat she’d been wearing low over her face. “Yes, we’ve finally made it out here.”
Taken aback by her rudeness, Elliott turned to look at who this knight was.
“Martina?!” he cried. It was the woman who’d subjected him to a night of torture in front of the dungeon just days ago. “Huh?! You’re not in a department that would have assigned you to guard me, are you? Why are you here?”
With a silly laugh, Martina smiled, but there was no light in her eyes.
“Hm? Oh, the fortress I’m returning to just so happens to be in the same direction, you see? Leaflane is only a short detour, so I took the job since it was along the way.”
As she smiled, she patted the palm of her hand with an all-too-familiar desk leg.
“You know, when I was asking you about your relationship with Sykes before, we only had one night, so I couldn’t do everything. I was thinking I’d like to take my time, do it properly... And that’s why I traded places with your guard.”
Elliott clutched the door handle, desperately pulling and pushing on it, but the door showed no sign of opening.
“Hey, driver! This is an emergency! Open up!” he shouted, pounding on and kicking at the door, but he got no response.
“It’s about three days to your new domain,” Martina explained. “I’ve asked him to drive nonstop so that we won’t be interrupted, but I couldn’t expect an ordinary coachman to do that, so Rachel hooked me up with one of her people.”
“Damn, was the medicine earlier an advance warning of this?!” Elliott’s eyes teared up as he tried to pry the door open.
Martina gently put her hands on Elliott’s shoulders. “Your Highness, I could only ask you about the contents of one volume that night, so try to be more talkative today, would you?” Martina plopped a stack of books down on the seat. “Look, I brought everything up to the latest volume so we could check over all of them together.”
Then, leaning close to the ex-prince as his teeth chattered in terror, she grinned.
“Hee hee, let’s enjoy our three days together, okay?”
Having received orders from the duke to drag Rachel out of prison somehow, Sofia reluctantly accepted the task.
“Young mistress,” she called, “the master is saying that it really is time you left the dungeon.”
“I’m sure he is,” Rachel replied. “But I’ve realized something important.”
“By which you mean?”
With a serious look on her face, Rachel declared, “This lifestyle really does suit me.”
Sofia stared off into space for some time before saying, “That is good to hear.”
“It’s not good!” the duke ranted from behind Sofia. “Rachel, stop talking nonsense and get out of there!”
“Master, if you were going to come yourself, couldn’t you have left me out of it?” Sofia complained.
Scowling at the impudent maid, the duke pointed at the prison. “You know Rachel better than anyone! Come up with a way to get her out of there!”
“I am not sure what to tell you, but...let us use our trump card.”
Sofia didn’t want to be caught in the middle of this, but as an employee, she couldn’t object too strongly.
Sofia clapped hands, and two maids came in carrying a large package.
“Hm?” Rachel watched as the maids set the package on the floor, unwrapped her, and even took the gag out of her mouth.
“Pfwah!”
“Oh, my punching bag! You came to see me?!” Rachel said excitedly.
The package was none other than that wonderfully punchable person Rachel loved so much.
Despite Rachel’s evident glee, Margaret snapped, “I told you! Don’t call me a punching bag! And don’t you have eyes?! I didn’t come here! They kidnapped me! What is wrong with you people?! Can’t you carry someone without tying them up?!”
“No, we were giving you special treatment,” Sofia claimed.
Rachel accepted this bald-faced lie with an innocent smile. “Isn’t it nice, getting special treatment?”
“No, it’s not!” Margaret hollered. “You people are treating me like an idiot, aren’t you?!”
Still rolled up in a mat, she flopped around and yelled as Sofia and the other two maids worked together and hung her from the ceiling.