“Adele, are you here?!”
“Ngh...”
My sister, clad in my duck-blue dress, was lying within the tent. Wibble let me out of its body, and I rushed to her side to check her condition.
“Adele, are you all right?!”
“Fra, she’s just sleeping. Don’t worry!”
According to Wibble, my sister was under a sleeping spell and would wake up later when it wore off. The slime transformed into a knife to cut the bindings around her hands and feet while I removed the cloth tied around her mouth. Her wrists and ankles were slightly reddened from the tight ropes, but other than that, she seemed unharmed.
“Thank goodness!” I cried out.
However, my relief didn’t last long. The tent suddenly tilted sharply to one side, and a tremendous roar rang out, seeming to make the air shake.
“What?!”
“Fra!” Wibble swallowed me up and leaped out of the tent.
“Eek!”
I looked up from inside Wibble and couldn’t believe my eyes. A massive golem was lifting the tent—with my sister still inside—high in the air.
“If you don’t release us and hand over what we demanded, the girl’s dead!” one of the men shouted.
The criminals were still bound, but they were attempting to turn the tables with the golem they’d hidden underground.
“Don’t move, Slime Duke!”
“A-As long as you don’t try anything, nobody gets hurt.”
We’d come so close to apprehending them, but we’d never expected them to have a golem at the ready. Gabriel glared at the two men, a frustrated scowl coming over his face. To make matters worse, the golem had noticed Wibble’s presence and made several attempts to stomp on us.
“That pink slime isn’t allowed to move either!”
“Grrr, not fair!”
What could we do in this situation? The tent was being lifted quite high, and my sister would probably fall out if Gabriel were to attack the golem.
“Let us down first,” said the older man.
“Gently, please,” said the other.
The moment Gabriel raised his hand to command the slimes, something—or someone—fell from the sky.
Shouting, “What do you idiots think you’re doing?!” the new arrival drop-kicked in, striking the older man with the force of a meteorite.
“Guh!”
“F-Father!” the other kidnapper cried in concern.
The figure then punched the younger man in the face.
“Gah!”
Still restrained by the slime-ropes, the kidnappers bobbed up and down in the air, their eyes rolling back as they both lost consciousness. They hardly mattered at this point, though—I was more startled by the identity of our visitor.
“I’m sorry we took so long!” came a familiar voice.
“Lady Emilie?!” I exclaimed. The person who had arrived out of the blue was none other than the ogre duke.
“It seems my uncle and cousin have caused a mess. I can’t apologize enough...”
As expected, the culprits had been from the ogre duke’s territory. I didn’t know what to say.
Apparently, the magic user had been Emilie’s cousin. To prevent him from casting more spells, she gagged him with a handkerchief. She gave her uncle the same treatment, but in his case, it was because she didn’t want to hear his complaints.
Gabriel immediately redirected his slimes to the golem, having them wrap it up to restrict its movements. He also had the slimes carefully pick up the tent and bring it down.
This time, I’ll save my sister, I thought as I stepped out of Wibble’s body.
“Adele! Adele!” I embraced her, tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Ngh...” My sister’s eyes slowly fluttered open. When she saw me crying, her eyes widened. “Why, what’s the matter, Francette?”
“Adele, does it hurt anywhere? Are you in any pain at all?”
“No, but really, what’s wrong?”
Apparently, my sister wasn’t aware that she’d been kidnapped. The last thing she remembered was being at the duck race venue. The culprits had likely put her to sleep with a spell and teleported her here. At any rate, I was relieved that she was unharmed.
My sister looked surprised when I explained what had happened. “Francette, you came to rescue me?”
“Not just me—Gabriel and Lady Emilie also rushed here to save you.”
“Lady Emilie?”
“The ogre duke. She’s over there.”
Emilie, having finished punishing her relatives, ran up to us and fell prostrate in front of my sister.
“Are you Emilie?” my sister asked.
“Yes, I am Emilie, the ogre duke. I deeply apologize for the trouble these lawbreaking scoundrels from my domain have caused you.”
My sister hadn’t yet gathered her bearings, so we decided to leave the discussion for later. First, we had to get her to a safe place. We teleported outside the forest and found Prince Axel there, just about to begin his investigation with a team of knights. Even the imperial knights had placed themselves under his command, which spoke volumes about Prince Axel’s virtues.
He looked relieved when Gabriel explained that we had located my sister and apprehended the kidnappers. While they were talking, my sister was taken to a secure area by her attendant and guards.
I’m so glad we found her.
Emilie came up to me and asked, “Um, was anyone else injured?!”
“No, Gabriel, the slimes, and I are all fine thanks to you.”
“Th-Thank goodness.”
Apparently, Emilie had come to Triste early to assist in her bridesmaid duties. She had tried to write to me in advance to inform me, only to inadvertently arrive in person before the letter did.
“I happened to run into the dragon duke, who told me that you and Lord Gabriel were dealing with an emergency. He explained the situation as we flew to the forest on his dragon’s back, and when I heard that someone had tried to kidnap you for the pearl cultivation materials, I just knew it had to be my uncle’s doing!” She clenched her fists and trembled with anger.
“I’m surprised you were able to survive falling from that height,” I remarked.
“Oh, that was no problem at all. In my territory, we have a hunting tradition where we jump down from cliffs to catch prey, so I’m used to it.”
“I-I see.”
At any rate, the culprits had been caught. I’d have to thank everyone who had helped us.
After my discussion with Emilie, I returned home with my sister and let our mother know that we were both safe. She was surprisingly calm—upon seeing my sister, she merely replied, “Ah, you’re back.”
“M-Mother, weren’t you shocked when you heard that Adele was missing?” I asked.
“Why, of course I was surprised. However, I had faith that you, the slime duke, and Prince Axel would bring her back safe and sound, and it looks like I was right.”
My mother-in-law had called for a doctor just in case. Even if my sister claimed she was fine, it would be better to have her examined by a medical professional.
“Adele, I’m so sorry for getting you caught up in this incident,” I said.
“It was my fault, so don’t worry about it,” my sister replied.
“That’s not true. They were after me.”
“No, I was the one who wanted to go to the festival, and I was the one who suggested switching places.” She hugged me and whispered, “I’ll do my best to prevent this from causing an international dispute. You don’t have to worry about a thing, Francette.”
“Thank you.”
After that, my sister was entrusted to our mother and the imperial knights.
My mother-in-law had been beside herself when she’d learned that my sister had been kidnapped. “I could hardly breathe at the thought of harm befalling the imperial crown princess,” she said.
“I’m sorry for the worry we caused,” I apologized.
“You did nothing wrong, Miss Francette. It’s the kidnappers who are to blame. They are the only ones who should feel guilty.”
“I suppose...”
My mother-in-law still looked pale. Mrs. Molière gave her water to drink and began rubbing her back. I was sincerely glad that my mother-in-law had her sister by her side.
“It’s good that the princess is safe and sound, but I hope this won’t cause an international incident,” my mother-in-law murmured.
“My sister said that she would handle things,” I said. I couldn’t say I wasn’t worried, but for the time being, all I could do was trust in my sister and wait.
Later, Emilie’s uncle was investigated, and as a result, an unbelievable truth was brought to light. It turned out that he had tried to steal money from the ogre duke family’s strongbox, only to find nothing but letters—the ones Emilie and I had exchanged. That was how he had learned that Triste was producing pearls. He had believed that if he kidnapped me, then Gabriel—who was known to treasure his fiancée—would surely relinquish the pearl-cultivation technique. And so, he had attempted to carry out his plan, only to kidnap the imperial crown princess by mistake.
It was quite the serious crime. Apparently, the knight who had taken the men into custody had said, “Don’t expect to ever see the sun again.” At any rate, the Crown would decide their sentence. I sincerely hoped they would reflect on their actions and repent for their crimes.