“You’re right. Her nosiness is just like old frog face. It makes me want to knock her flat,” Scarlett butted in. “Scarlett…!” As they strolled through the park after saying good-bye to the children, Connie turned to Randolph and said, “By the way, I noticed you didn’t change.” There had been men’s clothes and overcoats in the dressing room, but Randolph was wearing the same dour black clothes as always. He wasn’t wearing a mask, either. “Those clothes seemed hard to move in,” he answered simply. She was a little disappointed. Seeing him dress up would have been fun, considering it was a festival and all. Even a fun costume would have done well enough. Actually, she would have preferred something like that. “Speaking of costumes, I haven’t seen you in that color before,” he said, gazing down at her. Her gown was white, and the overdress was a reddish amber. In Adelbide, she usually wore grass green or light blue, so he probably wasn’t used to seeing her in something so understated. “D-does it look strange?” she asked. “No, I was just thinking that color looks good on you, too.” She flushed at his unaffected words. As she fanned herself, Scarlett scoffed, “What would a troglodyte like him know about colors?” For some reason, she snorted aggressively. “Where shall we go?” Randolph asked. “Um, let’s see…” What to eat first? Before she could decide, cheers erupted nearby. “Street performers, eh?” he said. “That’s what it looks like. I can’t see very well from here…” Squinting through the crowd, she made out some dancers and a clown. Scarlett floated over their heads. “Right now, one of them is standing on his hands and throwing knives with his feet,” she said. “You can’t be serious!” Connie looked in the same direction. Of course, she saw nothing. “If you’re curious, we could go have a look,” Randolph suggested. “I’m not brave enough to charge through that crowd,” Connie said, shaking her head. As they continued through the park, they came to an area lined with stalls. Connie trembled in fear at the sight of a strange wooden doll and peered curiously at some tourist masks, then stopped at the fragrance of herbs and sizzling fat. Skewered lamb! She was letting her nose guide her forward when she nearly bumped into a tour group before veering out of their way. “That was close,” Randolph muttered, holding out his big hand. She stared down at it. “…What?” he asked. “N-nothing.” Worrying that her own hand was sweaty, she wiped it on the hem of her skirt before slipping it into his. He looked mystified but squeezed back. Her heart was pounding. This is just like a date, she thought, then realized, this is a date. A man and a woman who cared for each other were out together without anyone else. And hadn’t Lucia called it a date? Have fun on your date! Connie felt like she was floating. Without her realizing, a smile spread over her face. “You probably want to get some food, right? Oh, that reminds me. We never did get that gelato yesterday. How about going to the White Rose?” Randolph suggested. A minute ago, she’d been solemnly debating what to eat, but now for some reason, she had a lump in her throat. She just wanted to keep walking together like this. But when she shook her head, Randolph tensed. “…Do you feel sick?” he asked. “What?” Her heart was pounding a bit fast, but basically, she felt wonderful. “Um, no, I’m fine…,” she answered. “But you never don’t want to eat.” “Oh, um, I, I just had a little heart palpitation.” “A heart palpitation?” The crease between his brows deepened. He gripped her hand tighter and said, “This way.” The spot he led her to was near Mezzaluna Pier. Although the Muro di Luche had been canceled, most of the boats underneath were still there, anchored to save a viewing spot. Maybe because the barricade was so close, there were hardly any other people around. Randolph sat her down in the shade of a tree next to the canal. “Uh, um…?” “Are you dizzy? Does anything hurt?” he asked, pressing his hand to her forehead before checking her pulse at her wrist. “…A bit fast,” he muttered. “I’ll take you back to the mansion right away and call a doctor,” he said, looking very concerned. “B-but I’m absolutely fine…!” “How do you know? You said you were having heart palpitations,” he said. He sounded offended. “It was your hand!” she blurted out. “My hand?” he asked, looking her straight in the eye. She was instantly embarrassed and unable to speak. “What about my hand?” Of course, he had no intention of letting her comment slide and was interrogating her intently. She gathered her courage and took a deep breath. “What I mean is, when we held hands, I was so nervous, I thought my heart was going to fly out of my mouth…! We haven’t been on a date in ages!” she shouted desperately, flushing bright red. Randolph blinked in confusion. “We’re on a date?” An awkward silence descended. Her fever of a moment earlier cooled instantly, her face went blank, and she asked quietly, “What in the world did you think it was?” Her voice came out lower than she’d intended. There was another silence. Perhaps having realized his mistake, Randolph froze. It was very unlike him. “A babysitting assignment?” Scarlett suggested casually. “A…babysitting assignment…?” Connie echoed furiously. Randolph, returning to his senses, began to spew a vehement flurry of words. “Oh, no, that’s not what I thought at all. It’s just that we were going to spend the day with Lucia and His Highness, so I just—I just had a bit of a hard time shaking the feeling that I was at work.” “At work…?” “I told you so!” Scarlett cackled. “So he was babysitting you after all.” The street performance was drawing a huge crowd. Standing on tiptoe to peek through a gap in the spectators, Lucia gasped, “Ooh! A man is blowing fire from his mouth!” “Darn it, I can’t see anything from here!” Antonio groaned, biting his lip in frustration as he glared at the wall of people in front of him. “I’m going to the front!” “Oh, me too!” The two of them pushed their way through the crowd. Marco chased after, shouting, “Hey, don’t run off like that!” Ulysses was left all alone and tried to hurry after them, but he wasn’t strong enough to push through the crowd. Instead, he was carried farther away by the tide of people. “Ooh, he swallowed a sword!” “Two swords! No, three…?!” The crowd was spellbound by a man in an exotic costume swallowing swords one after the next. “Uly, did you see that?!” Lucia asked excitedly, glancing over her shoulder. But Ulysses wasn’t there. Her eyes went wide. “…Uly?” “It’s fine, really. You’ve been working all the time recently and I never get to see you, and even if we have a date on your day off, you always get called in to work anyway. But it’s fine. It’s your job, after all.” “Constance.” Connie got the feeling someone was calling her name in distress, but she pretended with all her might that she couldn’t hear it. “And I know this vacation is work, too. Still, I was happy thinking we could be together. But you thought of it as babysitting. Lucia was sweet enough to give us some time as a couple, and I was excited thinking it was like a date, only to you, it was just babysitting.” “Constance.” This time the voice sounded more desperate, but she continued to pretend not to hear it. “Maybe you ought to quit the military police and become a babysitter full-time,” she muttered angrily before turning away. He placed both hands on her shoulders, looking panicked. “Listen to me, Constance. It was just a misunderstanding. I was looking forward to it, too.” “Really, you were?” She glared at him. He looked solemnly back at her. “Of course I was.” “…Really?” “Really.” There was honesty in his cerulean eyes. The surprising seriousness of his gaze calmed her. So he was looking forward to this, too. Her frayed nerves began to smooth. Her mouth was still downturned, but she met his eyes to signal reconciliation. He smiled in relief. As she stared at the unusual expression on his face, their gazes entwined affectionately. “Excuse me, but did you two forget I was here?” Scarlett interrupted. Without taking his eyes off Connie, Randolph reached out to softly touch her cheek. “Oh no, I don’t think so. You will not ignore me,” Scarlett continued. He stroked her cheek with the rough pad of his thumb, then tucked a strand of hazelnut hair behind her ear as carefully as if he were handling a jewel. “Connie? Are you going deaf?” His knobby finger sweetly traced her ear before sliding like silk down the nape of her neck. “Connie?” The hand embracing her neck pulled her close. A tiny flame of passion glowed in his blue eyes as he gazed down at her. “I said, Connie!” His face slowly approached hers, their soft sighs intermingled, and— “Constance Grail!” Connie ground her teeth and tilted her head up. “Scarlett, what in the world are you going on about…?!” “Isn’t that Ulysses?” “…Ulysses?” Scarlett’s slender finger was pointing toward Mezzaluna Pier. Beyond the yellow ropes, where no one was supposed to go, stood a man in a black cloak and a mask that completely covered his face. The two crescent-shaped holes for his eyes were like eerie smiles that reminded Connie of a storybook phantom. And in the arms of this phantom was— “—Uly?!” Alerted by her scream to what was happening, Randolph leaped into action. The man in the black cloak seemed to notice them as well. He turned on his heel, still holding Ulysses, and started running. “Scarlett…!” “I suppose I must,” she muttered grudgingly before floating upward. Soaring past Randolph, she fixed her gaze on the back of the escaping kidnapper. A second later, a steady stream of small rocks began rising off the ground. Then, all at once, they hurtled toward the back of the man’s head. A few little rocks obviously weren’t going to stop him, but they were more than enough to shock him. Perhaps thinking that reinforcements had come to Randolph’s aid, the man hesitated for a moment, glanced over his shoulder, and threw Ulysses down. Wide-eyed, Randolph thrust out his arms to catch the boy. The dull impact momentarily knocked the wind out of him. In that moment, the man in the black cloak vanished into a side street with Scarlett close behind. When Connie finally caught up to Randolph, she took one look at the limp boy and went white. “Your Highness…?!” “He’s just unconscious. My guess is the kidnapper made him inhale a substance that knocked him out.” Connie kneeled frantically on the ground and removed the laurel wreath mask from Ulysses’s face. He didn’t have any obvious injuries, and his breathing was even. As she sighed in relief, Scarlett returned from her chase. “He got away. There are too many people dressed just like him.” She clicked her tongue irritably. “Also, I ran into Lucia and told her to meet you here.” A few moments later, Lucia, Antonio, and Marco came running up to them. “Miss Connie…!” Lucia cried, on the verge of tears as she flew into Connie’s arms. When she saw Ulysses lying next to them with his eyes closed, she gasped. “Don’t worry, he’s only sleeping,” Connie said. Lucia sighed in relief. According to the children, they had been watching the street performers in the plaza when, before they knew it, Ulysses had vanished. When Connie told them that he was nearly kidnapped, Lucia gasped, and Marco turned white and apologized profusely. The bodyguards with them did the same. “I’m just glad Uly is safe…right…?” Connie said, noticing something strange about the mood. Randolph looked even sterner than usual, and Marco and the guards were shaking like newborn fawns who might collapse at any second. “…What?” she asked. If Ulysses was safe, why was everyone acting like they’d just been sentenced to death? “You idiot, Connie, use your brain!” “…I don’t get it.” “Listen to me. Someone just tried to kidnap Ulysses Faris.” “And…?” “Have you already forgotten that the same thing happened in Adelbide? It almost turned into a war!” Connie pressed her fingers to her temples and slowly closed her eyes. Finally, it hit her. Maybe… …this was what people called “a big problem.” When Connie and the others got back to the Fargo residence, they gathered in the drawing room. The master of the house, Basilio Fargo, sat in the middle of the room and listened to their news. The more he heard, the tenser his expression became. When he had heard the whole story, he let out an extremely long sigh. “…Thank goodness His Highness wasn’t seriously injured.” Then he looked up at the ceiling like he couldn’t fully comprehend the situation. “I never imagined someone would plot to kidnap the prince in a backwater like this.” “We still don’t know what their motive was. Our first order of business is to figure out what the criminal was after,” Randolph answered coolly, evidently used to situations like this. “Well, assuming it was someone from Soldita, they might have simply been after a ransom.” “Or they may have been hired by Faris. The new queen hasn’t been in power for long, and I assume she’s facing opposition from loyalists to the old regime. In any case, we’ll question His Highness when he regains consciousness. He may be able to supply a clue.” Whatever the kidnappers had made him inhale must have been potent, because the prince still wasn’t conscious. A doctor was stationed by his side. Connie was worried about him, but they expected him to wake up soon, and she was waiting it out. The tension in the room was enough to make even Connie cower. The children were listening silently as the adults talked. Basilio had told them to rest since they must be tired, but both refused to go up to bed. Just then, Connie noticed that Scarlett was staring at Antonio, a deep crease between her brows. Wondering what was behind her unusually harsh expression, Connie whispered, “What’s wrong?” “His mask.” “Huh?” “He’s got a different mask.” “He does…?” He’d taken it off when they came inside, but perhaps because of the rush to tell his father what happened, he was still gripping it in his hands. Connie glanced at it. It was a classic design with white wings across the eyes. “That’s the mask Ulysses was wearing,” Scarlett said. “It is?” “Yes. Antonio’s had a laurel wreath on it.” To be honest, Connie didn’t remember at all, but if Scarlett said so, it was probably true. “Antonio?” she said. He was listening to the adults with a slightly nervous look on his face. “Did you trade masks with Uly?” He looked puzzled for a moment, then registered her meaning and nodded. “Oh, yes. The one I was wearing was a little small and it made my ears hurt. Uly was kind enough to give me his.” Randolph looked up in surprise. “Lord Basilio. The Fargo crest is a lily and a laurel bough, isn’t it? Is Antonio’s mask—” “Yes. It was custom-made with our crest worked into the design.” “Would a stranger recognize it if they saw it?” “Anyone who knows our crest would recognize it, I’d think.” Hearing this, Scarlett smiled affectionately and said, “Aren’t you glad, Connie?” “Huh?” “Didn’t you hear what they said? Those two boys have the same hair and they’re the same height. Through a mask, their eyes look the same, too.” “…Huhhh?” “So the kidnappers were after that impudent boy over there, not the prince.” She pointed at Antonio, who looked anxious. “Which means that even if he was kidnapped or violated by some pervert, it wouldn’t start a war. Now let’s get back to the festival before we waste any more time.” “That’s not the issue here…!” What was this crazy woman saying? But as Connie was shouting at Scarlett, Randolph reached the same conclusion as the apparition. He narrowed his eyes and groaned, “I think they were after Antonio, not His Highness.” Which meant it was probably someone with a grudge against the House of Fargo. “Could it have been Carlo Vecchio again?” he asked quietly. Scarlett’s eyes flashed. “You think he’s really a pervert?” “No, I don’t think so,” Connie retorted without smiling. Frowning, Basilio shook his head. “No, Carlo is a coward, as you’ve seen. He’s a good-for-nothing scoundrel, but I don’t think he’d do something like this. If anyone would, it’s Gregorio.” Carlo had warned them to watch out for his father. If Gregorio really was behind this— Tears formed in Connie’s eyes. “This might be my fault,” she said. “No, you were simply pulled into it,” Basilio said, flatly rejecting the notion. She could see the concern for her in his eyes. She was impressed by how calm he was, even though his own son had been the intended target. “There’s only one person at fault here, and that’s the criminal. I won’t stand for it.” He jumped up from the sofa. “Where are you going?” Connie asked, startled by the abrupt end to the conversation. “To the Vecchio residence. There’s someone I need to beat to a bloody pulp.” “So you weren’t calm after all!” In fact, he was burning with rage. As Connie took this in, the door opened and someone entered. “Would you mind waiting a little longer before raiding the Vecchio house?” It was Ulysses, evidently conscious once again. “Uly!” Lucia cried, running to his side. He was still white as a sheet. “Don’t you need to rest?” “I’m fine,” he said with a smile before turning to Connie and the other adults. “There’s something I want to tell you about the man who tried to abduct me.” First, though, he apologized for getting lost in the crowd during the street performance. “I tried to go back the way I’d come, but before I knew it, I was near the pier.” This was puzzling. “Isn’t the plaza quite far from the pier?” Connie asked. “Uly’s sense of direction is a little unreliable,” Lucia whispered. “A little…?” Come to think of it, Ulysses’s half sister Alexandra had been lost, too, the first time Connie met her. Maybe it was a trait common in the royal family of Faris. “As I was looking at the anchored gondolas and wondering what to do, a man in a black cloak attacked me from behind.” The prince struggled, but the man pressed a handkerchief over his mouth and he quickly lost consciousness. “But just before my vision went dark, I saw something quite clearly.” “What was it?” Ulysses narrowed his violet eyes. “The man…had a tattoo of the sun on his wrist.” The room fell silent. “Daeg Gallus,” Randolph whispered in a chillingly low voice. The hair stood up on Connie’s arms. Daeg Gallus, a criminal organization whose network sprawled across the entire continent. Connie had never wanted to hear that name again. Why are they on this island? As the tension rose, someone knocked on the door. Connie flinched in surprise. Into the room walked Daniella, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry to interrupt. Basilio, may I have a word with you?” “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I’ve just heard something strange from Natalia.” “Something strange?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Daniella nodded. She looked upset. “Yes. You might recall that Natalia is a member of the women’s division at the island Chamber of Commerce. It seems she overheard some of the officers talking. Those weren’t masks on the boat that sank. They were firecrackers for the Muro di Luche.” “…Firecrackers?” “The ship seems to have come by way of Melvina. According to Natalia, that’s probably where they got the fireworks.” Connie blinked in surprise. Melvina was famous for saltpeter, wasn’t it? But before she could think through the implications, the conversation moved forward. “So they weren’t damaged by a flood—they were never here to start with.” Even Connie understood that much. The cargo probably sank to the bottom of the ocean long ago. “But why lie about it?” “I heard the account book says they were ordered from the mainland. Lady Berta said before that firecrackers from Melvina are quite a bit cheaper than ones from the mainland. But with all the tariffs, the end cost is almost the same. So if they bought firecrackers somewhere cheap and said they were a mass shipment of masks…” “…They could pocket the difference.” “I hate to think this, but some of the officers may be working with Gregorio Vecchio to embezzle funds.” “…Just how many firecrackers are used in the Muro di Luche?” Randolph asked. “Probably a few hundred chains of ten,” Daniella answered. “That’s a lot.” Randolph sighed. “Have the bodies of the crew on board the sunken ship been found?” When Basilio answered, he sounded slightly confused by the change of subject. “Not all of them, but I was informed that several bodies washed up onshore. It’s customary on the island to wait until after the festival to hold funerals, so they’re at the morgue.” “Were autopsies performed?” “I don’t think so, since it was an accident…” “Then you should inspect them immediately. That is, if their lungs haven’t been eaten by fish.” “Their lungs?” Basilio asked. Then, seeming to catch Randolph’s meaning, he announced he was heading to the morgue and rushed out of the room. “My oh my, this is turning into a fuss,” said Scarlett, who had been listening from midair with her chin resting in her palm. She grinned. “What do you mean?” Connie asked. “Why, only that he’s gone to see if there’s water in their lungs.” She twirled around happily in midair like she was dancing. Her crimson dress swirled around her. “In other words, did they die because their ship sank…” Her amethyst eyes fixed on Connie, then slowly narrowed. “…or were they thrown into the water after they were already dead?”
Chapter 68
19 min read