“Is Aoshi here by any chance?”
Rosie came to Melanie’s room.
“He’s not here? Why? Did he leave after telling me he’d come?”
Melanie, who was practicing her swordsmanship with a wooden sword, asked with a chuckle.
“Where did this little thing go? Even Sharon said she didn’t know...”
Rosie muttered, plopping down on her chair.
Since boarding the ship, Aoshi had been disappearing and reappearing several times a day.
But never had he been gone for hours like today.
He would usually go out again after a few dozen minutes, but at snack or meal times, he would sit obediently in front of his plate, scratching at the door. This was strange.
Today, even though it was past snack time, not to mention meal time, he hadn’t shown up.
“He’s probably playing with those troublemakers. Moiya and Moni, I mean.”
“No. They went to Death Valley before boarding the ship. They said they’d be back on the last day, so they’ll probably be back tomorrow. And when they got back, they’d probably go to Sharon first to get sausages.”
“Then he’d just be wandering around and playing by himself. And he’d be on this ship anyway, you know.”
“That’s true, but this is his first time.”
Rosie’s shoulders slumped.
Aoshi was smarter than most cats, but he was still a kitten, so she seemed worried.
Melanie put down her sword and grabbed Rosie’s arm.
“Let’s look for it together. We have time before dinner.”
“Really? Thank you, Your Highness Melanie!”
“You know there’s a party on board tonight, right? I need to change into a dress for the party, so I’ll help you find it before then. The servants will be back by then, right?”
“Yes. Misha said the kitchen servants will only be helping with the cooking and serving today. So they’ll all be here before then.”
Since boarding, the concubines' servants had been helping in the kitchen for a couple of hours at every meal.
They preferred to work together, enjoying delicious food and chatting secretly, rather than spending all day with their master.
Today, they had been called to the kitchen an hour earlier than lunchtime, as there was a dinner party aboard.
The two left their cabins and began searching the hallways together for Aoshi.
"We'll look separately, rather than together. I'll go down, and you, Ma'am, go up."
After 30 minutes without finding Aoshi, Melanie offered her opinion, and Rosie agreed.
"Yes, that would be better."
"If we can't find him before dinner, we'll eat on board first and then come back. I'm not very smart when I'm hungry."
"Yes. Then I'll go upstairs and look."
Rosie nodded and climbed the stairs.
She wanted to suggest that finding a cat wasn't a brain-scratching exercise, but thankful for Melanie's generosity, she didn't bring it up.
“See you later! Oh, but I have a feeling I’ll find Aoshi first. I have a terrible intuition.”
Melanie said confidently and hurried down the stairs.
“I thought you said there was a cargo hold and a pantry here...?”
Melanie went down to the lowest level of the ship.
Suddenly, she remembered what her servant, Hedon, had said.
“It’s a secret, Ma’am. I heard from the kitchen servants. There’s a pantry on the lowest level, where the servants secretly date and steal expensive wine.”
Roxana said to her as she sat down on her chair.
She was asking her to step aside.
“...Yes, then I’ll see you again later. Feel free to talk.”
Empress Elan bowed her head to Roxana and glanced at Emperor Adrian.
“Yes. Enjoy the party first.”
Emperor Adrian kissed the back of Empress Elan’s hand and gestured for her to leave.
After Empress Elan left, Roxana leaned forward and asked quietly,
“You don’t trust her, do you? It’s because you’re deliberately leaking false information.”
The plan was set to be put into action at the shipboard party shortly.
Less than an hour remained until Galaco was released.
However, Emperor Adrian deliberately leaked the previous plan to Empress Elan.
“It was just a bait.”
“Do you think Empress Elan is in league with Zelda?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon.”
“You tailed her?”
Emperor Adrian raised his lips, a hint of amusement in response to Roxana’s question.
“Hetor... was taken care of, huh?”
Her expression softened as she asked Emperor Adrian for confirmation.
“Yes. There won’t be any interference with our plans.”
Hetor was currently unconscious under anesthesia, so she wasn’t wrong.
However, Roxana, who had asked for Hetor’s death before the plan, naturally took that to mean he had killed him.
“Wasn’t it painful?”
Roxana’s voice trailed off.
Perhaps because he was the father of a child, hearing that Hetor had died was deeply disturbing.
“It wouldn’t have been painful for long,”
Emperor Adrian said with a shrug.
He was also right, since he had administered anesthesia immediately after striking him head with a club.
After the secret meeting, I returned to the stateroom with Linel and changed into my clothes for the shipboard party.
“Why don’t you think Hetor came to the meeting?”
“Right. I told him the exact time... but did something go wrong? He might not have come because of Roxana and Emperor Adrian’s surveillance.”
“That’s probably the case, right? I’ll have Melanie check in later at the party to find out what happened.”
Knock knock.
The moment I finished speaking, there was a timid knock.
The guest room door opened with a command to come in.
“Your Highness Zelda...”
“What’s wrong, Rosie?”
Rosie cautiously entered the room.
“I was wondering if you’d seen Her Highness Zelda Melanie in the past hour or so.”
“No. I didn’t see her today. Why?”
“Actually, Aoshi hasn’t been seen for a few hours, so I split up with Her Highness Melanie and decided to search for him, but an hour has passed and Her Highness Melanie hasn’t been seen either.”
Rosie came to Melanie’s room.
“He’s not here? Why? Did he leave after telling me he’d come?”
Melanie, who was practicing her swordsmanship with a wooden sword, asked with a chuckle.
“Where did this little thing go? Even Sharon said she didn’t know...”
Rosie muttered, plopping down on her chair.
Since boarding the ship, Aoshi had been disappearing and reappearing several times a day.
But never had he been gone for hours like today.
He would usually go out again after a few dozen minutes, but at snack or meal times, he would sit obediently in front of his plate, scratching at the door. This was strange.
Today, even though it was past snack time, not to mention meal time, he hadn’t shown up.
“He’s probably playing with those troublemakers. Moiya and Moni, I mean.”
“No. They went to Death Valley before boarding the ship. They said they’d be back on the last day, so they’ll probably be back tomorrow. And when they got back, they’d probably go to Sharon first to get sausages.”
“Then he’d just be wandering around and playing by himself. And he’d be on this ship anyway, you know.”
“That’s true, but this is his first time.”
Rosie’s shoulders slumped.
Aoshi was smarter than most cats, but he was still a kitten, so she seemed worried.
Melanie put down her sword and grabbed Rosie’s arm.
“Let’s look for it together. We have time before dinner.”
“Really? Thank you, Your Highness Melanie!”
“You know there’s a party on board tonight, right? I need to change into a dress for the party, so I’ll help you find it before then. The servants will be back by then, right?”
“Yes. Misha said the kitchen servants will only be helping with the cooking and serving today. So they’ll all be here before then.”
Since boarding, the concubines' servants had been helping in the kitchen for a couple of hours at every meal.
They preferred to work together, enjoying delicious food and chatting secretly, rather than spending all day with their master.
Today, they had been called to the kitchen an hour earlier than lunchtime, as there was a dinner party aboard.
The two left their cabins and began searching the hallways together for Aoshi.
"We'll look separately, rather than together. I'll go down, and you, Ma'am, go up."
After 30 minutes without finding Aoshi, Melanie offered her opinion, and Rosie agreed.
"Yes, that would be better."
"If we can't find him before dinner, we'll eat on board first and then come back. I'm not very smart when I'm hungry."
"Yes. Then I'll go upstairs and look."
Rosie nodded and climbed the stairs.
She wanted to suggest that finding a cat wasn't a brain-scratching exercise, but thankful for Melanie's generosity, she didn't bring it up.
“See you later! Oh, but I have a feeling I’ll find Aoshi first. I have a terrible intuition.”
Melanie said confidently and hurried down the stairs.
***
“I thought you said there was a cargo hold and a pantry here...?”
Melanie went down to the lowest level of the ship.
Suddenly, she remembered what her servant, Hedon, had said.
“It’s a secret, Ma’am. I heard from the kitchen servants. There’s a pantry on the lowest level, where the servants secretly date and steal expensive wine.”
Who knew such a nice place could exist?
“If I’d known sooner, I would’ve come with him,”
Melanie grumbled regretfully, thinking of Hetor.
As she opened the cabin doors one by one, she saw a knight in the distance, undoing the chains wrapped tightly in front of a large door.
Is that it?
“Hey! Is that the pantry?”
She shouted, raising a hand toward the knight.
“Oh, surprise!”
Two hours ago, a knight who was untying the chains bound around the doorknob here flinched at the sound of her clear voice and turned around.
What is it? Isn't that Emperor Linel's concubine?
The knight recognized Melanie and looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"What's so surprising? Judging by your attire, you're not a knight of the Lapion Empire, but a knight of the Tebello Empire?"
Melanie approached quickly and asked, examining the knight's attire.
"...Yes. Ma'am. What brings you to such a shabby place?"
"Isn't this where you store food and fruit?"
"That's right...?"
“You shouldn’t call a place like that shabby! It’s what goes into our mouths, isn’t it?”
The knight scratched his head at Melanie’s sudden outburst.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue, Ma’am.”
His eyes were unfocused, so she thought he was a bit harsh, but he’s surprisingly picky.
The knight reassessed Melanie.
“That’s enough. Have you ever seen a white cat this big?”
Melanie asked, roughly measuring Aoshi’s size with both hands.
“A cat? No. I haven’t.”
“Really?”
“What’s wrong, Ma’am?”
He thought she’d turn around after hearing the answer, but Melanie just stood there, staring blankly at the pantry door.
“Why are you standing there? Didn’t you come here for business?”
“...Yes? Oh. Yes, I was ordered to bring a bottle of wine that His Majesty Emperor Adrian usually enjoys, so I stopped by for a moment.”
The flustered knight racked his brain and came up with a suitable excuse.
In fact, the knight commanded by Emperor Adrian had come down to take out his unfinished anger on Hetor in the time remaining before the upcoming shipboard party.
He was going to die anyway, so he figured it wouldn't matter much if he struck him a few more times and broke a certain spot.
But who would have thought an unexpected intruder would appear?
"Open."
"Huh? Aren't you going?"
"I said I'm looking for the cat? I'm going to take a look around. So, quickly unlock it."
Melanie pointed to the lock the knight had left unlocked.
The knight hesitated.
Hetor was bound behind a high-rise building, so even if she looked around, she wouldn't find him.
But what if Hetor came out of the anesthesia in the meantime?
That would be quite problematic.
"Your Highness, please wait here."
The knight said, turning to her after undoing all the chains.
"Why?"
"Since this is the food storage room, rats are running around."
"What? There are rats?!"
Melanie frowned, and her teeth chattered.
“Yes, I have to get the wine out anyway, so I’ll check for the cat and then come out.”
The knight smiled kindly.
“Ugh, I really hate rats... Yes, then you’ll have to take the trouble. But please search thoroughly.”
Melanie took a step back behind the pantry door.
“If I’d known sooner, I would’ve come with him,”
Melanie grumbled regretfully, thinking of Hetor.
As she opened the cabin doors one by one, she saw a knight in the distance, undoing the chains wrapped tightly in front of a large door.
Is that it?
“Hey! Is that the pantry?”
She shouted, raising a hand toward the knight.
“Oh, surprise!”
Two hours ago, a knight who was untying the chains bound around the doorknob here flinched at the sound of her clear voice and turned around.
What is it? Isn't that Emperor Linel's concubine?
The knight recognized Melanie and looked at her with a bewildered expression.
"What's so surprising? Judging by your attire, you're not a knight of the Lapion Empire, but a knight of the Tebello Empire?"
Melanie approached quickly and asked, examining the knight's attire.
"...Yes. Ma'am. What brings you to such a shabby place?"
"Isn't this where you store food and fruit?"
"That's right...?"
“You shouldn’t call a place like that shabby! It’s what goes into our mouths, isn’t it?”
The knight scratched his head at Melanie’s sudden outburst.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue, Ma’am.”
His eyes were unfocused, so she thought he was a bit harsh, but he’s surprisingly picky.
The knight reassessed Melanie.
“That’s enough. Have you ever seen a white cat this big?”
Melanie asked, roughly measuring Aoshi’s size with both hands.
“A cat? No. I haven’t.”
“Really?”
“What’s wrong, Ma’am?”
He thought she’d turn around after hearing the answer, but Melanie just stood there, staring blankly at the pantry door.
“Why are you standing there? Didn’t you come here for business?”
“...Yes? Oh. Yes, I was ordered to bring a bottle of wine that His Majesty Emperor Adrian usually enjoys, so I stopped by for a moment.”
The flustered knight racked his brain and came up with a suitable excuse.
In fact, the knight commanded by Emperor Adrian had come down to take out his unfinished anger on Hetor in the time remaining before the upcoming shipboard party.
He was going to die anyway, so he figured it wouldn't matter much if he struck him a few more times and broke a certain spot.
But who would have thought an unexpected intruder would appear?
"Open."
"Huh? Aren't you going?"
"I said I'm looking for the cat? I'm going to take a look around. So, quickly unlock it."
Melanie pointed to the lock the knight had left unlocked.
The knight hesitated.
Hetor was bound behind a high-rise building, so even if she looked around, she wouldn't find him.
But what if Hetor came out of the anesthesia in the meantime?
That would be quite problematic.
"Your Highness, please wait here."
The knight said, turning to her after undoing all the chains.
"Why?"
"Since this is the food storage room, rats are running around."
"What? There are rats?!"
Melanie frowned, and her teeth chattered.
“Yes, I have to get the wine out anyway, so I’ll check for the cat and then come out.”
The knight smiled kindly.
“Ugh, I really hate rats... Yes, then you’ll have to take the trouble. But please search thoroughly.”
Melanie took a step back behind the pantry door.
“Of course, ma’am.”
The knight opened the lock and stepped inside when a cat meowed.
The knight opened the lock and stepped inside when a cat meowed.
“Huh? Aoshi, are you here? I heard there was a rat, so you must have been playing around here because of it?”
Melanie burst out laughing, her hunch being right.
“What are you waiting for? I told you to hurry up and open it?”
The knight rolled his eyes and frowned. If Emperor Adrian found out, he’d be beheaded in an instant. If he hadn’t come back here, Melanie would have just turned around when she saw the chained and padlocked door. The knight began to ponder, his expression perplexed.
“Ow, why are you blocking my path like this? Get out of my way.”
Meanwhile, Melanie pushed aside the knight blocking the pantry door and strode into the pantry.
***
“The plan will proceed without a hitch, right?”
Before attending the shipboard party, Roxana visited Emperor Adrian’s cabin. Emperor Adrian was momentarily flustered, then quickly spoke.
“Yes, the party on board in a little while will be the final dinner of the celebratory delegation. ‘Tomorrow evening’ will be the galaco’s feast.”
“What is that... ah?”
Only then did Roxana realize that Empress Elan was sitting in front of Emperor Adrian.
“I almost made a mistake.”
The high-backed chair obscured Empress Elan’s upper body. Emperor Adrian was playing cards with Empress Elan. Elan put her cards aside, stood up, and bowed to Roxana.
“Your Majesty, Empress.”
Roxana nodded to her and turned her gaze to Emperor Adrian. Emperor Adrian, his face regaining its composure, spoke.
"I already spoke to Hetor about tomorrow's plans two hours ago, so don't worry. You can enjoy yourself 'tonight' at your leisure."
Roxana almost suggested that this was the original plan, but Roxana, sensing Adrian's intention, she agreed.
“Yes, tonight will be the last party for the celebratory delegation, Your Majesty Elan... I’ll see you again at the shipboard party later,”
“Yes, tonight will be the last party for the celebratory delegation, Your Majesty Elan... I’ll see you again at the shipboard party later,”
Roxana said to her as she sat down on her chair.
She was asking her to step aside.
“...Yes, then I’ll see you again later. Feel free to talk.”
Empress Elan bowed her head to Roxana and glanced at Emperor Adrian.
“Yes. Enjoy the party first.”
Emperor Adrian kissed the back of Empress Elan’s hand and gestured for her to leave.
After Empress Elan left, Roxana leaned forward and asked quietly,
“You don’t trust her, do you? It’s because you’re deliberately leaking false information.”
The plan was set to be put into action at the shipboard party shortly.
Less than an hour remained until Galaco was released.
However, Emperor Adrian deliberately leaked the previous plan to Empress Elan.
“It was just a bait.”
“Do you think Empress Elan is in league with Zelda?”
“I don’t know yet. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon.”
“You tailed her?”
Emperor Adrian raised his lips, a hint of amusement in response to Roxana’s question.
“Hetor... was taken care of, huh?”
Her expression softened as she asked Emperor Adrian for confirmation.
“Yes. There won’t be any interference with our plans.”
Hetor was currently unconscious under anesthesia, so she wasn’t wrong.
However, Roxana, who had asked for Hetor’s death before the plan, naturally took that to mean he had killed him.
“Wasn’t it painful?”
Roxana’s voice trailed off.
Perhaps because he was the father of a child, hearing that Hetor had died was deeply disturbing.
“It wouldn’t have been painful for long,”
Emperor Adrian said with a shrug.
He was also right, since he had administered anesthesia immediately after striking him head with a club.
***
After the secret meeting, I returned to the stateroom with Linel and changed into my clothes for the shipboard party.
“Why don’t you think Hetor came to the meeting?”
“Right. I told him the exact time... but did something go wrong? He might not have come because of Roxana and Emperor Adrian’s surveillance.”
“That’s probably the case, right? I’ll have Melanie check in later at the party to find out what happened.”
Knock knock.
The moment I finished speaking, there was a timid knock.
The guest room door opened with a command to come in.
“Your Highness Zelda...”
“What’s wrong, Rosie?”
Rosie cautiously entered the room.
“I was wondering if you’d seen Her Highness Zelda Melanie in the past hour or so.”
“No. I didn’t see her today. Why?”
“Actually, Aoshi hasn’t been seen for a few hours, so I split up with Her Highness Melanie and decided to search for him, but an hour has passed and Her Highness Melanie hasn’t been seen either.”
Rosie’s face became more and more tearful as she spoke.
She also added that she was worried that something might have happened to Melanie, given the Pecilini incident yesterday.
At first, I listened without thinking much, but when Rosie mentioned the Pecilini incident, my heart grew heavy.
“I think she might be with Hetor,”
Linel muttered, rubbing his chin.
“Oh, that could be true,”
I replied with a chuckle, then explained what I meant for Rosie, who was still wondering.
“Hetor was supposed to come to the secret meeting today, but he didn’t show up.”
“Oh, really?”
Rosie’s eyes widened.
“I think there’s a good chance they’re together right now.”
He smiled confidently, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
As he said, Melanie could have met Hetor while looking for Aoshi, or after, and they were spending some cozy time together somewhere.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
She also added that she was worried that something might have happened to Melanie, given the Pecilini incident yesterday.
At first, I listened without thinking much, but when Rosie mentioned the Pecilini incident, my heart grew heavy.
“I think she might be with Hetor,”
Linel muttered, rubbing his chin.
“Oh, that could be true,”
I replied with a chuckle, then explained what I meant for Rosie, who was still wondering.
“Hetor was supposed to come to the secret meeting today, but he didn’t show up.”
“Oh, really?”
Rosie’s eyes widened.
“I think there’s a good chance they’re together right now.”
He smiled confidently, as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
As he said, Melanie could have met Hetor while looking for Aoshi, or after, and they were spending some cozy time together somewhere.
But what if that wasn’t the case?
Comments
Post a Comment