Claire’s POV
RAE’S PLAN WENT OFF without a hitch. Yu revealed her gender and renounced her seat in the line of succession during the ceremonial dance, thus making it public knowledge. Some people of the royal court tried to amend things by claiming Yu had been made a woman by the Crosswise Curse and was merely temporarily confused, but that was unlikely to work. It had been clear to all that Yu was herself then, what with how resolutely she spoke. There were too many witnesses for the truth to be buried too. Perhaps Rae had chosen the ceremonial dance precisely for that reason? Who knows how far she thought ahead.
Still, problems remained. Yu and the rest of us all had our stories straight, but it was still up in the air whether Rae would be punished or not. Her actions were clearly against the wishes of the palace—particularly those of Riche’s. It was quite plausible that someone would try to harm Rae while she was imprisoned.
“…Which is why I need your influence to free her as soon as possible.” I was currently with my father in his study at the François manor. He puffed his pipe while listening to me. “Queen Riche is a frightening individual. Many a noble has fallen from grace after opposing Lady Yu. It is unlikely she would simply stand back and do nothing here. Rae is in danger.”
Yu had renounced her claim to the throne as the third in line, the last of all three princes. By no means had she been likely to inherit the throne. Despite that, it was a well-known fact that Riche was obsessed with having her child be monarch one day. She was even the main political opponent of the most influential prince, Rod. While she never dirtied her own hands directly, she did make all kinds of efforts to whittle down his influence where she could. It would be unthinkable for her not to take vengeance on Rae.
At any rate, I was worried for Rae so much that it hurt. My father, on the other hand…
“Your fears are unfounded,” he said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “That Rae is sharp. She can fend for herself.”
“Surely you aren’t serious?!”
“What do you think might happen to her, then?”
“Well… What if she’s secretly killed behind closed doors?”
Riche was this kingdom’s queen. Surely she could order a few people discreetly killed.
“Rae is a maid of House François. Not even Queen Riche can carelessly lay a hand on her knowing she’ll incur our wrath.”
“Perhaps so, but maybe she won’t think anyone will care much about a maid or two going missing.” As sad as it was to say, commoner servants were not particularly prized by high society.
“You worry yourself too much, Claire.”
“But Father!”
“Rae will be fine. Now leave me be.”
“Father…”
He clearly had no intention of listening any further.
“Very well. I shall take my leave.”
I left the study, unable to hide how dejected I was.
“I’m worried about Rae.”
“Oh, Miss Claire…”
I joined Pepi and Loretta for a tea party alone, having not felt like hiring a temporary maid in Rae’s absence. The two gave me worried looks. Ralaire, entrusted to me by her master, felt somehow worried for me as well.
“You are very kind, Miss Claire, to care about a servant so much.”
“…Yes, well, Rae is an exemplary maid. She would not be easy to replace,” I replied. Of course, in truth, I no longer thought of Rae as just a mere maid anymore. She was something more to me now, something irreplaceable. But I could not be so forthright as to say so and insisted I was just worried for Rae as her master.
“Be strong, Miss Claire. This is that commoner we’re talking about here. It would take a great deal to make her falter.”
“I’d hope so,” I replied. That was when I noticed it was just me and Loretta talking. Pepi seemed off in her own world, distracted with a gloomy look on her face. “Pepi, is something the matter?”
“Oh… No, it’s nothing. I’m sorry for blanking out.”
“That’s nothing to apologize for. If something’s the matter, though, please do tell us. We’re friends, after all.” I was worried about Rae right now, but I wasn’t so selfish as to ignore the plight of my friends.
“Well…the thing is…” Pepi began to say something, but quickly slunk into silence.
“Pepi?”
“…No, I’ve changed my mind. You have a lot on your plate as is already. Perhaps another time, if you’re so willing.”
“All right. Feel free to tell me whenever you feel the time is right.”
“Thank you.” She smiled weakly. I now knew she was bearing a great secret concerning her family, but I already had my hands full with my own worries then and couldn’t help her.
“Yeaaah, that is worrying.”
“Right?”
Later that night in my dorm room, Catherine and I had tea, talking rather early in the night for once. She was sucking on one of her usual candies again. I was pretty sure candy and tea didn’t go together, but oh well.
“That being said, you can’t do anything reckless,” she said. “That’d only put Rae in a worse position.”
“…I get that, but I’m just so worried. I can’t stop imagining the worst happening to her.”
Unlike when we talked before, I didn’t have it in me now to hide my feelings for Rae. Catherine made no move to tease me, however.
“I won’t tell you not to worry, but I don’t see anything you can do but wait things out. From what I’ve heard, though, it doesn’t seem like His Majesty l’Ausseil wants to make any waves out of this incident, so I doubt anything bad will happen.”
“…I sure hope so.” Feeling glum, I took a sip of my black tea. It was a high-grade tea procured by House Achard, but I couldn’t appreciate its flavor at all as I was.
“Hm… Let me guess, you’re thinking of what happened to your mother, Lady Melia?”
“…You’re too sharp in all the wrong ways.”
“Aha ha ha, my bad.”
As she guessed, I was being affected by my past trauma with my mother. I was afraid of Rae being killed before I could tell her how I felt about her, just like how my mother passed away before I had a chance to properly reconcile with her.
“But yeah, I suppose it would be tough for you to just sit back and wait for things to play out, then.”
“Indeed. I’m well aware I’m overthinking things, but I cannot help but worry.”
“I see, I see.” She crossed her arms in thought, remaining silent for a few moments. “Hmm, but I still think you shouldn’t openly do anything.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re part of Master Rod’s faction,” she said. I expressed confusion, prompting her to continue. “If Queen Riche found out Rae was important to you, she would have all the more reason to harm her.”
“…Oh. I see what you’re saying.” Riche was a part of Yu’s faction, and House François was the head of Rod’s faction. The odds Yu would inherit the throne were slim now, but there was a good chance Riche still hadn’t given up on it. She would be more than happy to harm Rae if it meant it would affect me, a lady of House François. That was why Catherine said I shouldn’t be reckless.
“But Queen Riche wants to avoid making an enemy out of my father, doesn’t she?” I said.
“She does, I’m sure. That’s why she’s only targeting Rae through official channels, denouncing her and such, to not get on Lady Yu or Master Dole’s bad side. But if she knew just how important she was to you and Master Dole, that might change. She could do something more drastic, like have her assassinated for instance.”
“Assassinated?!”
“Yep. That’s why it’s safer to just let Riche think Rae’s some annoying commoner, and nothing more. I think that’s why Master Dole’s not openly doing anything either.”
Really…? Had my father thought that far ahead? “But if that’s the case, then why wouldn’t he just tell me?”
“Well, given how close you are to Rae, it would be strange if you were too calm. It’s much more natural if you’re panicking a bit.”
“I see… Wait, what are you talking about?! Rae and I aren’t close at all!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” she said, unbelieving.
“…This is all rather frustrating.”
“I’ll bet. You’ve never been all that great at sitting still. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing or anything. It means you’re a woman of action!”
Just as our conversation reached a stopping point, a knock came at the door.
“Pardon my intrusion. I see you two are still awake?”
“Aha ha. Sorry about that, Emma.”
It was Emma, Catherine’s maid.
“Please rest now. Staying up late is not good for your body.”
“Whaaat? Surely a bit more wouldn’t hurt?”
“I disagree.” Emma extinguished the flame of our room’s candlestick.
“What are you doing? That is no way to treat your master, Emma,” I rebuked.
“It is precisely because she is my master that I do this. Taking care of her health is one of my duties.”
“…That is still no way to—”
“Hey, hey.” Catherine cut in as things got tense between Emma and me. With a carefree smile, she said, “Emma may seem strict, but she can do a lot of good for me, Claire.”
“My lady, please…” Emma urged Catherine not to continue, but Catherine paid her no mind.
“You remember that wheelchair you got me, right?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Emma helped pass that off as a gift from Lambert back when he was still around.”
“…And whyever would she do that?” I said, a bit indignantly. Emma seemed indifferent.
“No, no, you misunderstand,” Catherine quickly explained. “My father would have definitely taken it away if we told him that it came from you, so Emma begged Lambert to say it was a trial product he was working on.”
“Oh, I see. That’s what you meant.”
Clément certainly wouldn’t take kindly to hearing Catherine had been gifted something from a political opponent. Emma’s actions were quite justified in that regard.
“Why didn’t you say just that then, rather than let yourself be misunderstood?” I asked Emma.
“I saw no need to.”
“See? She may not always seem like it, but she’s a good person,” Catherine said with a smile. I had always had an issue with their relationship, but it seemed I had been misunderstanding things. They trusted one another in their own way.
In the end, our tea party came to an end there.
Since my father and everyone else I talked to recommended I not do anything rash, I begrudgingly decided I would abide. Thankfully, I had Catherine’s logical explanation to ease my worries over my decision.
“Rae…please be safe…” From the bottom of my heart, I wished for nothing more.