Chapter 60

At first glance, Connie was merely the unremarkable daughter of a low-ranking noble. But she knew both Queen Alexandra and Lucia O’Brian, and most importantly, she was engaged to the one and only Randolph Ulster. The powerful lieutenant commander could make hardened military men quake in their boots, and if he went along with the party traveling to Soldita, they wouldn’t need a large escort, allowing them to maintain the front of an innocent holiday. At least, that was what the big shots in Adelbide seemed to think. This worked out well for Connie, of course. She doted on Lucia and would be happy to see her enjoy herself. But best of all, it was an unexpected opportunity to spend some quality time with her workaholic fiancé, Randolph. In fact, she was thrilled to volunteer for the role. Scarlett had been the one to drag her feet. “—I just don’t like it,” Scarlett said when she’d finished reading the letter from the House of O’Brian detailing the events leading up to the plan. “Her ally? Alexandra and His Highness only cooperated on the Daeg Gallus affair because their interests happened to align. Saying they pulled the wool over each other’s eyes would be putting it generously. I can’t think of anything fishier than a personal letter in a situation like this. And besides, Alexandra isn’t touchy-feely enough to be that worried about her little brother.” “Those are some nasty accusations,” Connie said. Scarlett snorted. “What accusations? Ulysses kept himself together in the worst situation imaginable. Spending a little time away from his family in a foreign country should be nothing for him. It’s not like his life is in danger. Alexandra should know that. She must have some ulterior motive, like wanting the O’Brians to back Ulysses.” “You really think San would do something that sneaky…?” “Idiot, it’s not sneaky; it’s a negotiation. That’s why His Highness sounded Abigail out and she accepted the proposition. I don’t know what her thinking is, but she obviously concluded that it would be to her advantage to do Faris a favor. Plus, she’s made a show of naming you to avoid being taken advantage of by partisans opposed to the new queen. In other words, we’ve been roped into an annoying job with no benefits!” Connie was confused. Knowing Abigail, she probably went along with the plan simply to make Lucia happy, not because she was calculating the advantages. And… “This means Randolph will be able to take a real vacation from work.” Randolph’s job was demanding, to put it mildly. Holidays were practically nonexistent, and in the rare event he was off duty, he inevitably got called back in. Three days off in a row was a distant fantasy. But since this was practically a royal mission, he’d been officially granted an extended leave. In other words, they could be together, uninterrupted by work. Connie smiled without meaning to, provoking Scarlett to shoot up her eyebrows. The apparition then narrowed her eyes and said irritably, “Why should I care about that?” Connie staggered at this verbal slap. Apparently, Queen Scarlett was cross. “Listen to me, Connie. You might be engaged, but you’re not married yet! If you think you’re going to be spending night after night alone with him, you’re one hundred years too early! At least!” “Lucia will be with us, too, you know.” In fact, Lucia was the whole reason for the trip. Not wanting to poke the hornet’s nest, Connie decided not to mention that in a hundred years they would all have moved on to the next world. “…So you’re against the trip, Scarlett?” “Do I look like I’m for it?” she snapped. Connie slumped her shoulders. “Oh…I thought you would be excited since Lady Aliénore was from the Republic of Soldita.” “My mother grew up on an island,” Scarlett sulked, looking away. “An island?” Connie asked. “She wasn’t from El Sol, was she?” Scarlett looked slightly startled. “I’m surprised you know that much about Soldita,” she said. “But that’s where we’re going.” “What?” “It’s supposed to be cool in the summer. It sounds like most of the old noble families in Soldita have villas on the island and spend the season there.” Connie had heard that Ulysses was already on El Sol for summer vacation. “…Is that so?” Scarlett appeared lost in thought. Then, unexpectedly, an unnatural smile spread over her face. “Get packing, Connie.” “Huh?” Her grumpiness of a minute earlier was gone. Connie was happy to see Scarlett smiling, of course, but the speed of her transformation was extremely suspicious. “Why the sudden change of heart?” she asked. “I haven’t the slightest interest in Soldita, but I’ve always wanted to visit El Sol.” “You have? Because Lady Aliénore grew up there?” “Partly…but also because Cornelia Faris’s starry crown is supposed to be on that island.” “Her crown…?” Connie blinked her pale green eyes. “Um, you mean the kind of crown royal people wear on their heads…?” That glittering gold symbol of power? “Idiot. Of course it’s not a real crown. My mother told me about it a long time ago. ‘If you want to lay hold of the world, search for Cornelia’s starry crown.’” “That’s a little scary…” “Lay hold of the world” was quite the unsettling phrase. Connie had a creeping suspicion it would inevitably involve a lot of blood. Her excitement plummeting, she had a sudden urge to turn down Abigail’s offer. But a moment later she reconsidered. “So you promised Lady Aliénore…” This must be one of Scarlett’s few memories of her mother. Didn’t that mean Connie had to go along with the plan, for Scarlett’s sake? As she scolded herself for being such a coward and clenched her fists in an attempt to fire herself up, Scarlett gave her a strange look. “It wasn’t a promise. She just mentioned it in passing.” “Really?” Connie was puzzled by Scarlett’s overly casual tone. “Um, so then why…?” Scarlett smiled seductively at her. “Oh, I’ve just been so bored lately.” “Bored?” “Yes, bored. Remember this, Connie. Boredom kills.” Connie wanted to point out that Scarlett was already dead, but she decided that would be insensitive and said nothing. “Anyhow, this is just perfect. Don’t you think laying hold of the world sounds fun?” Um, no. Not at all, thought Connie honestly. But those sparkling amethyst eyes got the better of her, and she found herself unable to say so. Two weeks later, they were on the boat to El Sol. With a long toot of its horn, the boat pulled into a brick-red harbor. They had arrived at Cyon Port, known as the doorstep of El Sol. As they glided up to the wharf, a crew member tossed a rope from the bow. Some men in charge of mooring caught it and wrapped it with practiced motions around a post. Connie watched the unfamiliar scene curiously. Presently, a crew member appeared on deck and announced that they could now disembark. Someone was already waiting to meet them at the bottom of the gangplank. The boy looking shyly up at them was a little older than in Connie’s memory. But the fragile beauty that reminded her of a tenderly raised maiden was unchanged. His eyes were violet. No doubt about it, this was Ulysses Faris, Alexandra’s youngest brother and the seventh prince of Faris. Standing next to him was a boy who looked about the same age. He was the same height and had the same haircut as Ulysses, but his cheeks were freckled and he wore an extremely sour look on his face. As Connie wondered who he could be, Randolph whispered, “He’s probably a member of the Duke of Fargo’s household. I’ve heard the current duke, Basilio, has a son. If memory serves, he’s at boarding school and should be in the same grade as Ulysses.” Fargo? Connie had never heard that name before. “Ulysses’s mother’s family,” Scarlett explained. “Basilio is Ulysses’s uncle, which would make his son the boy’s cousin.” Funny, she thought. They don’t look much alike. As Connie walked down the gangplank, the cousin in question stared at her. She had been about to greet him but clammed up under his rude gaze. After he looked her slowly up and down, an extremely disappointed look came over his face. Incomprehensible. As Connie examined him skeptically, a golden mass flew past her down the gangplank. It was Lucia. With a shout of “Uly!” and an ear-to-ear smile, she threw her arms around the prince. She must have hit him harder than he was expecting, because he groaned and staggered back a few steps. The boy standing next to him gaped in amazement, but the moment his eyes met Lucia’s, he turned beet red. He coughed, then said to her, “I—I’ll be friends with you, too.” Connie tilted her head. What did that mean? She thought she heard Scarlett say, “Oh, so he’s just shallow,” but then decided she’d imagined it. Lucia looked confused for a second as well, but then smiled broadly and said, “I’m not allowed to talk to anyone whose name I don’t know!” The boy froze at this clear rejection. Then, in a tiny voice, he said that his name was Antonio Fargo. Connie could see tears gathering in his eyes. As Scarlett had said, Antonio’s father, Basilio, was the older brother of Ulysses’s mother, Irene, making him Ulysses’s cousin. When the greetings were done, Antonio announced that they would head to the boarding pier. Lucia looked up at Ulysses with a puzzled expression. “We’re going on another boat?” she asked. “Just a gondola. People mostly get around El Sol on canals,” he answered, smiling kindly. He explained that the roads on the island were as tangled as a maze and so narrow a carriage could never fit down them. But the broad Canal Grande spanned the island, with a network of canals large and small branching off it. That was why islanders used the peculiarly shaped gondolas for almost all their travel. Some of the gondolas were like hansom cabs, which could be shared with other travelers for a fee, but most were privately owned. Connie and the others would be taking a gondola owned by the House of Fargo that was tied up at a nearby pier. When they reached the pier, they were shown to a gondola with a laurel bough and lily carved into the bow—the Fargo family crest. The gondolier was a cheerful young fellow named Marco. His family had been in service with the House of Fargo since his father’s generation. Marco himself was not a full-time gondolier, but rather Antonio’s servant. Since he was athletic, however, he rowed the gondola when the family was staying on the island. “I’m happy to see such a crowd today!” he said. “And two lovely ladies among them! Aren’t we lucky, young master? I must tell you, my young master has a weakness for pretty faces.” “That’s not true. And there’s only one ‘lovely lady’ in this group,” he snapped back rudely. Marco froze, throwing a panicked glance at Connie. As she was trying to make sense of the situation, Randolph softly rested his hand on her shoulder, like he wanted to comfort her. Huh?