Grayson accepted the task and traveled to the kingdom of Randall. From there, he boarded a ship to a port in Ashbury and made his way to Lord Cedric’s domain, where he used the duke’s love of martial arts to gain his trust.
After accompanying the duke to the capital, “Gunther” soon became Lord Cedric’s close friend, gaining unrestricted access to the castle. Everything had gone better than he could’ve hoped so far.
“Now, what’s next? It would be far too risky to approach Princess Delphine directly. Perhaps I should start by getting in touch with her maids.”
But since he was a guest, he found it impossible to get close to Elly, Princess Delphine’s head lady-in-waiting. She was always occupied, either mingling with the other maids or staying by the princess’s side.
His other option was a recently hired maid. He’d painstakingly gathered information but still had yet to see her.
“What’s going on? This maid has to eat and sleep, doesn’t she? She can’t be working nonstop all the time.”
Since he was unable to access the royal family’s quarters, Gunther tried targeting the senior maids, but his attempts consistently fell short. He had no way of knowing the maid closest to Princess Delphine besides Elly was actually Victoria, so he spent his days waiting anxiously outside the royal quarters.
Although he tried to contact the mysterious maid, he had to spar with Lord Cedric to maintain his cover, leaving him quite busy.
Gunther was growing desperate. Poison had been detected in Princess Delphine’s meals twice now.
With the pressure getting to him, he took a risk and used bribery to obtain a servant’s uniform. Fortunately, the gold coins he offered for the outfit proved remarkably effective.
“I’m trying to get closer to a pretty maid,” was his excuse, and the servant just gave him a knowing smirk, not pressing any further.
Things are far too lenient here. I’m the duke’s friend, but they haven’t even verified my background.
Servants’ uniforms weren’t as strictly categorized as maid uniforms, which had different designs for each rank, so he used this to his advantage.
Gunther grabbed a hatbox and pretended to be delivering hats as he entered the royal quarters.
Almost immediately, he spotted a familiar woman up ahead. “Wait a minute, I’ve seen her before. Who is she…? Oh!”
Gunther never ignored his instincts, a lesson that had been drilled into him during his military days.
He began following the woman. She’s a baroness, isn’t she? Why would she be wearing a maid’s uniform and working in the palace? Even if a noblewoman had to work here for some reason, she’d dress in her own clothes.
The woman in the maid uniform walked briskly, descending the stairs and crossing the terrace, her movements growing increasingly suspicious.
Could she be the assassin? Gunther wondered as he slowly closed the distance between them.
He saw her enter an empty room. He decided to go after her and opened the door.
But the moment he stepped inside, he was knocked unconscious.
Once I left the junior maids’ quarters after checking the glass bottle, I realized I was being followed.
Though the carpet was muffling the sound of my pursuer’s footsteps, I could hear the steady rhythm of someone walking behind me. Judging by their long strides, it was most likely a man. What should I do?
For now, I decided to confirm his identity. I circled the royal quarters a few times to draw him out. Once I was positive I was being followed, I slipped into a small, empty room and waited.
The man entered the dark room, and I instantly attacked, delivering one blow to his stomach and another to the back of his head. When he didn’t lose consciousness right away, I wrapped my arm around his neck from behind and tightened my grip until he passed out. I opened the curtains to let in the moonlight and inspected his face.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Gunther Bahr. Wearing a servant’s uniform, no less. You would’ve had no excuse if you’d been caught, you know. How reckless,” I said to myself.
I needed to call Mike, who was waiting for me right about now anyway, but I couldn’t just leave Gunther out cold in the middle of the room.
I rolled the man onto his back and lay on my back across his stomach. Gripping his left leg below the knee, I then swung my body toward his right shoulder, rolling him over with a grunt.
“Oof!”
Even though he was significantly heavier than me, I managed to hoist Gunther up onto my back, wrapping him around my shoulders. I thought my knees or back might give out, but I was able to stand without issue. I carefully balanced his weight as I opened the door and carried him into a small storage room filled with party equipment—vases, chairs, and other rarely used items.
I dropped him onto the floor with a heavy thud, stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth to keep him quiet, and tied another one around his mouth. Then I bound his hands and feet tightly with thin ropes. Since starting to work at the castle, I had taken to carrying a dagger and some ropes on my person.
“Now I just need to let Elly know I’ll be late.”
I jogged over to the guards. “Please deliver a message to Elly for me. Tell her Kate is delayed because she needs to meet with Mike. It’s urgent.”
Then I ran again.
Hang in there, Gunther. I’ll bring someone who’s good at interrogation.
Mike was already waiting in our usual meeting room. He seemed to sense something was amiss the moment he saw me. “What is it?”
“I have Gunther Bahr tied up. I’ll let you handle it. Can you take him away?”
“Of course. Please lead me to him. Did Gunther do something?”
“Yes. He followed me and entered the chamber I was in. I knocked him unconscious and left him in a storage room.”
The two of us walked briskly down the hallway with calm expressions on our faces.
Once we entered the storage room, Mike glanced at Gunther in his restraints and muttered, “You carried him in here by yourself?” He wore a neutral expression as he examined Gunther’s face. “I know you’re awake, Gunther Bahr. Open your eyes.”
“Argh…”
“What were you doing, wandering around the royal quarters in a servant’s uniform?”
“Ugh…”