Rescuing Nonna on my first day of freedom.
Then I thought of all those who had accepted me: Lady Yolana, Mr. Bernard, Lord Edward, and Jeffrey.
“Mike, may I meet with this woman and speak to her? I’ll decide whether or not to accept after that.”
“Yes, you can meet her,” he said.
Jeffrey looked slightly afraid. I’d never seen that expression on his face before.
“Anna, do you really want be a body double for the princess?”
“You and Nonna are the most important people in the world to me, Jeff. Nothing will ever change that. But I want to talk to the operative. It’s not that I want to help Ashbury’s intelligence organization—I just want to help her. And if I refuse this request and something happens to Princess Delphine… If that happens, the operative who was too wounded to be her body double will carry immense guilt for the rest of her life. She’ll blame herself for it forever; I’m sure of it. But I think I can stop that from happening.”
“Anna…”
“I can’t overlook this when I know someone will suffer while I’m safe and happy. I want to meet this woman first, and then I’ll decide if I take on this task, even if it causes you and Nonna to worry.”
“I see. I understand,” said Jeffrey. Mike’s face lit up with expectation, but my husband glared at him and continued, “If you’re going to meet her, now’s the time. It would be pointless if she knew of your resolve beforehand, so you should go while she doesn’t have any of this information.”
“You’re right. I agree.”
“Very well, then. Let’s see her now,” Mike said.
And so, the three of us headed to the palace.
The woman was staying in a room in the north wing. Her face was wrapped tightly in bandages, and one of her arms was secured in a sling.
She looked surprised to see the three of us, as she hadn’t been notified we were coming. However, I couldn’t make out her exact expression through the heavy bandages on her face.
“I’m sorry for the sudden visit, Mia. But I’ve brought someone who wants to hear your story,” Mike said.
“I see. I apologize for all the trouble my mistake has caused you.”
Mia sat up in bed and politely bowed to Mike, who gestured for us to sit down while he remained standing.
The four of us faced each other, and the conversation began, although it was mostly Mia and me speaking.
“It’s nice to meet you. I asked Mike to bring me here because I wanted to hear what led to you being attacked before I decide whether or not to accept his request.”
“You want to hear why I was beaten?” she asked.
“Yes. You’re a professional. So I was wondering how you ended up getting hurt so badly.”
“It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to explain.”
Mia had briefly glanced at both Jeffrey and me when we first entered the room, but now she was avoiding making eye contact entirely. She kept her gaze fixed on our chests, which I figured was her way of saying, “I’ll pretend I didn’t see you here.”
She began speaking in a calm voice. “I was assigned to investigate the activities of a certain individual. One day, my childhood friend from my hometown began working at the estate where I was stationed. The moment she saw me, my friend called me by my real name and innocently said she’d heard I got married, so she was surprised to see me there.”
According to Mia, her employer began surveilling her from that day on. She’d been undercover for three years and was on the verge of discovering an important secret of her employer’s. But then he told her he had important business to attend to in the capital and ordered her to come along. For some reason, however, he made Mia’s childhood friend go on the trip, too, even though she was a brand-new employee. That was highly abnormal.
Immediately, this led Mia to think her employer was intending to take her childhood friend hostage to use against her.
This happened at the same time the Third Order asked Mia to be the crown princess’s double. Since her employer had grown suspicious of her, she tried to abandon her assignment. But just as she attempted to flee, her employer’s men revealed they had taken her childhood friend captive. They beat Mia in front of her friend in an attempt to get her to reveal her true mission and her true employer’s identity.
“Why did you let them beat you for so long? Were you trying to find something out?” I asked.
“I wanted to confirm whether my childhood friend had really shown up by chance or if she’d been assigned to investigate my true identity. If it turned out to be the former, I knew I couldn’t leave her behind and escape alone.”
“Makes sense.”
“But I could tell from how she looked while they beat me that her taking this job had been a complete coincidence. Once I was sure of that, I fought back and defeated the men, and we escaped together.”
“That was an incredibly dangerous thing to do as an operative,” I said.
“I know. I won’t make any excuses for my actions, especially now that I can no longer serve as the crown princess’s body double.”
What would I have done in her place?
I didn’t have any childhood friends whom I would risk my life to protect. But I might have done the same if a younger member of my old organization had been the one in danger.
The three of them looked at me, waiting for a response. I met Jeffrey’s gaze.
“Jeff, I want to take Mia’s place as the body double. I won’t mince words: I just want to do it.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry, Jeffrey,” Mike apologized.
“Mike, I want to add a condition,” Jeff said.
“A condition? What do you mean?”
“I want to be her guard.”
“Jeff, you can’t. You’re no longer a member of the knights. If you come on as a guard, everyone will wonder why, and that will make it easier for my cover to be blown. Plus, you’re so well-known that it will be impossible to disguise yourself,” I said.
“But—!”
“I promise I’ll return once the job is done. Please, Jeff. Trust me. And please look after Nonna.”
Mike’s expression was impassive, but he clearly seemed to be relieved. On the other hand, I could feel a strong sense of unease and anguish coming from Jeffrey.
Mike quickly spoke up, perhaps wanting to move things along before I changed my mind.
“I’ll arrange a meeting with Princess Delphine right away,” he said.
He urged us to leave the room, but Mia called out to stop me.
“Madam, I apologize for getting you involved due to my poor judgment,” she said.
“Please don’t worry about that. I’m taking this job for my own reasons. If I refused and something happened to Princess Delphine, I would never get a good night’s sleep again,” I answered with a smile.
Mia gave me a deep bow.
We used the back staircase reserved for castle servants and followed a winding path to a luxurious room.
The place was spacious and lavishly furnished. It appeared to be part of the royal family’s private apartments. Mike stepped out of the room for a moment, and he returned with Princess Delphine and a maid.
The crown princess had gleaming golden hair and striking blue eyes. Her build was almost the same as mine, but as I curtsied, I wondered what I would do about the difference in eye color.
Her attendant quickly excused herself, leaving just me, Jeffrey, Mike, and the princess.
“Are you the woman who will be serving as my body double?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Please, have a seat. Your eyes are brown, though. What will you do about that?” she asked.
“I apologize, Your Highness, but I think it would be best for you to start wearing a hat with netting for the time being. If people around you get used to seeing you in it, they won’t find it suspicious when I wear one at the festival,” I said.
“Hmm, I see. Yes, I suppose there’s no other choice,” she agreed.
I glanced over at Mike. “Could you please send everyone else away? There’s someone peeking out from behind that partition, isn’t there?”
He gave me an apologetic look before turning to Princess Delphine. “Princess, I’ve already asked for everyone to be removed from the room.”
“You may leave.” Princess Delphine spoke toward the partition, and I no longer felt the gaze on me. “I would’ve doubted your ability to serve as my decoy had you not noticed my attendant there. But now I’m relieved. Starting today, please stay close to me and observe my manner of speaking and walking. A decoy must be able to deceive even the residents of the palace, including the crown prince and the king themselves.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I’m sorry, Jeffrey. I know you just returned from Shen…,” Princess Delphine began apologetically.
“This was my wife’s decision,” he said.
“I see. I had no idea Lady Asher was so capable.”
A look of desperation came to Jeffrey’s face. “Princess Delphine, please…”
“I know, Lord Asher. I won’t say anything unnecessary, so please don’t worry. The only thing I’ll tell His Majesty and the prince is that we’ll be using a decoy, nothing more.”
Princess Delphine seemed to be a woman of great courage. She assured me she would keep my true identity a secret even from her own husband and her father-in-law. How far that secret would hold was dependent on me.
She addressed me with her flawless smile. “Starting today, Lady Asher will serve as my personal maid. You may use the spare room in my quarters,” she said.
“Very well,” I said.
“Now, please leave us, Mike and Lord Asher.”
The men bowed and exited the room. Jeffrey didn’t look at me, and I didn’t try to meet his gaze, either, though I did watch him depart from the corner of my eye. I was now a maid to the crown princess and her body double. I had to stifle my personal feelings.
Ding!
Princess Delphine rang a glass bell, and a maid entered the room. “Prepare a maid’s uniform for her,” she said.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The maid glanced at me briefly before excusing herself. She returned almost immediately with a maid’s uniform and shoes. She must have sized me up in an instant, because they fit like a glove.
The maid left, and now it was just me and the princess again.
“Poison has been slipped into my food twice now. Do you have experience with it?”
“I’ve undergone the necessary training, yes.”
“How about martial arts?”
“I specialize in hand-to-hand combat and daggers.”
“How about languages?”
“I can speak Haglian, Randallish, Eagalian, and Ashburian at a native proficiency. I can manage everyday conversation in Subartuan.”
“You even speak Eagalian, my native language?” the princess asked.