What a perfect double act, I thought. But I didn’t have the time to indulge in their comedic rapport. “I’m going to get changed. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Let me know when you’re ready,” said Gabriel.
We split up to don our disguises. I walked past my rows of garments and selected a dress from the end of the vestiary, where it had made its home. It was a piece I had purchased from a secondhand store after my sweets had been bought for the first time. The dress was worn-out, but I had felt too attached to it to leave it behind when I moved to Triste. I’d never expected to be wearing it again. At first, the fabric had been too stiff for me, and it had chafed my skin. But now, I could wear any kind of clothing without issue since my skin was tougher.
I’d also brought a straw hat with me from the old part of town. Wearing it would make my flashy hair color less conspicuous. This hat had been given to me by a neighbor, who had seen me tending to the lawn one blazingly sunny day and said, “You must be hot. Wear this.” I had tried to return it when I was done, but they had told me to keep it. Later, when Gabriel had begun sending me meat and vegetables, I’d shared them with my neighbor to repay their kindness.
As I traced my fingers over the dress and straw hat, vivid memories of life in the old part of town came back to me. It had truly been difficult, but in hindsight, I felt that it had given me the strength to survive. But I reminded myself I didn’t have the time to wax nostalgic and hurriedly changed my clothes before going to find Gabriel.
“I’m sorry for taking so long, Gabriel,” I said.
“No need to apologize. I just finished getting ready too.”
Gabriel was wearing a worn-out shirt, a jacket that must have been many years old, and trousers with frayed hems. It was an ensemble commonly seen on men in the region. He also wore a hat, making him difficult to recognize at first glance.
“Oh, that’s a refreshing look,” I remarked. “Will you be all right without your glasses?”
“Yes. I’m augmenting my eyesight with magic. I can’t maintain it for too long, but a quick visit to the village should be fine.”
“Wow, that’s a useful spell.”
Without the glasses to obscure his beautiful features, I wondered if he would stand out in the village. He’d pulled the front of his hat low, though, so it probably wouldn’t be an issue.
“Shall we go?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, let’s.”
Since we were in disguise, we couldn’t teleport directly to the village—that would expose our identities. Instead, Gabriel intended to have us arrive a bit farther away. He recited the spell, and a magic circle appeared. We were slowly engulfed in bright light, and I closed my eyes as the scenery began changing around us. When I opened them, we were in the shade of a tree a short distance from the village.
Gabriel gently tugged my hand and led me forwards. After five minutes of walking, we arrived at Chagrin. There was a large crowd at the village entrance, as if a wyvern flight had just landed. As we continued onward, we found that the restaurants and shops were busier than usual.
I didn’t know if it was because our disguises were working or because there were so many tourists, but no one recognized us, allowing us to observe the village activity completely undisturbed. We couldn’t help but laugh that no one had noticed us—we joked that we felt like mischievous children who had succeeded in playing a prank.
“Anyway, this has had quite the economic impact,” I remarked.
“It really has. I never dreamed that my marriage would bring about something like this. Even though I’m seeing it in person, I still can’t believe it.”
Our country didn’t have much in the way of entertainment. For people who were always visiting the same tourist spots again and again, Triste must’ve felt like a breath of fresh air.
“We’ll have to think of ways to keep them coming back,” I said.
“Indeed.”
With the knights patrolling the streets, it didn’t look like safety would be an issue. The children weren’t too bothered by the crowds—they seemed to be playing happily like usual.
“I don’t see any major concerns at the moment,” I said.
“Neither do I.”
Relieved, we sneaked out of the village and headed back.
At home, Constance brought me a letter on a silver tray.
“Lady Francette, a letter from the capital has arrived for you.”
“Oh, thank you.” Is it from my father or someone else?
I turned the envelope over and found the seal of the detective agency I had placed a request with a few months ago. They were probably sending me the results of their investigation into Gabriel’s father’s whereabouts.
I hurried to my room with the letter, but upon arriving, I found my letter opener missing from my desk drawer. It then occurred to me that Constance had placed it on the tray with the message, but I had forgotten to take it in my rush. Just as I was about to tear into the envelope with my hands, Wibble hopped off of my head and held out a sharpened tentacle.
“Fra, use Wibble!”
“O-Oh my. Thank you, Wibble.”
I cut the seal with the slime-turned-letter-opener and took out the sheet of paper. It read, “We searched for Gabriel’s father in the capital and the surrounding cities but did not find anyone who seemed like they could be him.” The agency couldn’t even be sure if he was dead or alive. As they hadn’t found his name in any of the cemeteries in each city, it was probably the latter. Still, his whereabouts were a mystery.
I heaved a sigh.
“Fra, what’s wrong?”
“They couldn’t find Gabriel’s father.”
“Oh...too bad. Way back, when Wibble got in a fight with Gabriel and was about to dry out, Gabriel’s dad poured water on Wibble in secret.”
“He was a kind man, huh?”
“Yup! So Wibble was sad when he left.”
Even Wibble wanted to see him again. I still wasn’t sure whether my mother-in-law did or not, but perhaps Gabriel wanted to talk to him too. I couldn’t give up yet.
Come to think of it, Gabriel had said that he had a portrait of his father in safekeeping, hidden such that his mother wouldn’t find it. Knowing his father’s facial features would surely aid in the search.
The detective had written that investigating further would be difficult. In that case, I would just have to ask someone else. I picked up a pen and began writing a letter.