14. RUN!

14. RUN!

Though it was all well and good that I’d managed to run away from Aurantia’s crown prince when he was about to capture me, I’d actually ended up running the exact opposite direction from where the royal guard was standing. But I’ll run into another knight soon enough. We’re in the palace, after all!

The clacking of my heels against the marble flooring echoed through the halls.

“Why are you running?”

Because you’re gross... Ahem, I mean, scary! I shot back internally.

I could tell he was right behind me, so I just ran like hell. Tonight’s shoes had a thick heel, so they were quite stable and easy to run in. The stiletto heels I practiced in didn’t have good balance, so I had to be careful as I ran.

But with these I might make my best time yet!

...Not now, Viola! Anyway, the heels on these shoes were half the height and double the thickness of my usual ones, and they had great grip! I could do corners perfectly in these.

Lifting the hem of my light, loose-fitting dress so it wouldn’t get in the way, I sprinted through the halls. As I did, I should’ve run into at least one knight guarding the palace, but instead...nothing. Really? I’ve gotta keep running until I get somewhere the knights will definitely be.

As I thought that, though... I realized I actually had no idea where I was running! I hadn’t spent much time in the palace up until then, so I had no idea what the inside was like! Well, actually...it would probably be a big security risk if any detailed maps of the palace’s interior were easy to obtain.

Anyway, I could count the number of times I’d been here on one hand, and the farthest inside I’d ever been was the reception hall—which also happened to be right near the entrance. So basically, I’d barely been inside. The garden where I’d had tea with the princesses and the sanctuary where Mr. Fisalis and I had been married were outside of the building, after all.

I decided to aim for the gardens. If I managed to get out there, I’d be able to follow the walls and find my way back to the hall! Mr. Fisalis told me to stay there, so I should go back to my starting point and calmly consider what to do.

Unfortunately, all of this thinking seemed to be slowing me down.

“You needn’t run... Ha ha ha!”

He nearly caught up to me. That was close. And laughing while you chase me makes you sound even creepier! Ah, I said he was creepy☆ I ran through the long, straight halls as fast as I could, but suddenly hit a dead end. Turns are fine, but why would they have sudden dead ends?! Ah...

“I think I remember a book mentioning that the palace hallways were complicated in case anything happened...” Wow... Bit late to remember that, isn’t it?

As I wondered what to do about the sudden dead end, I heard the crown prince’s footsteps behind me.

“You’re...pretty fast...Duchess Fisalis...” He was closing in on me, despite the fact that I’d almost lost him back there.

But don’t underestimate my special duchess training! No, that’s not the whole story. Between housework, martial arts, and dance lessons, I’m quite confident in my stamina!

No, Viola, now’s not the time! Don’t stop now! We need to keep struggling, even if we don’t know where we are!

Turning on a dime, I dashed around the prince, rushing down a turn a ways back. Since he was so big, he couldn’t make sudden stops while running so fast.

“Ughhh!” he cried, falling.

Okay! I’ll use this chance to make more distance between us! Since the hallways are all well lit, they must go somewhere, even though there are no windows. This isn’t a dead end! Full speed ahead!

Unfortunately, I came to another dead end shortly after, and had to turn back yet again. Ah, jeez, is this a maze or something?!

After repeating this pattern a few more times, I didn’t make it to the gardens, but actually ended up going up a staircase! What the heck are you doing going upstairs when you want to get outside, Viola?!

But what was done was done. I sped upstairs and started tearing through the halls at top speed again. I needed to find another staircase down ASAP!

My legs were starting to tire from all of those dash-stop-dash intervals. I might’ve been confident in my stamina, but even I had limits.

Plus, despite running through the palace so much, I hadn’t seen even one single knight. Isn’t security a little thin, here?! Did they post too many knights near the hall? No—there was only one there, and I wouldn’t be in this situation if there were more! This is just way too weird. I’m gonna complain to Mr. Fisalis about this!

But from the fact that I hadn’t seen any knights (or even servants) after all this sprinting, the chance of finding one while running aimlessly through the halls was slim. If I wasn’t gonna run into any, then I decided I should start conserving my energy.

Okay, let’s just hide away in a random room instead! That knight earlier said that the rest areas were farther in, after all. Deciding I’d just wait somewhere for him to pass me by before going back to the hall, I grabbed the handle of a nearby door.

Kerchack! I tried pushing, pulling, and sliding, but the door wouldn’t open.

“Locked, huh...”

Every door I tried was locked. The knight had said that the rest area doors were open, but where the heck were they? Near the hall? Took me way too long to realize that! Anyway, not a single door around me was unlocked.

Jeez. If all the doors are locked, that means I have to keep running! And after rattling all of the door handles as I ran, I’d ended up at yet another dead end.

“I’ve...finally...caught up to you...Viola...”

Is this the end?!

A chill ran down my spine as I felt him approach. Ahh, his gaze is boring into me again. I don’t even have to turn around to know.

Despite running my highest speed yet (estimated), he’d caught up. I was just a bit shocked. This was all happening because I didn’t know my way around the palace and had tried to get into every room I passed to hide. Wahhh! I regret all that time I wasted! When I get home, I’m gonna ask Rohtas to get me a blueprint of the palace! He’d definitely be able to get one.

But anyway, this prince is pretty keen and nimble... I mean, given his huge size and all.

“A-Aha! I felt like getting a bit of exercise, but now I’ve got no idea where I am. Huuuuuh? Where’s the garden?” I forced my words out as I turned, only to see the prince standing a bit behind me and blocking my path. His face was smiling, but his shoulders were heaving.

“I thought...I could show you...to the garden...but you ran...and I’ve just finally caught up... Oh...you’re quite the fast one, Viola...” He sounded really out of breath. Although I was one to talk, with my shoulders heaving, too.

As he steadied his breathing, the prince slowly inched closer to me. Yep, this is definitely not a calmly-lead-me-to-the-garden kind of attitude! Why are you getting closer?!

In the dim lighting, his eyes were less piercing and more...locked on. This was bad. His hands were fidgeting and he was still getting closer... Any way you slice it, getting caught by this guy was going to be bad.

The distance between us shrunk as we glared at each other. My back was to a wall, and I was facing an enemy (the prince). So...do I punch, or throw? My only option here is violence. Ahh, I really didn’t want to have to actually use my skills! But this is an emergency. Since I was alone with an enemy, I was the only one who could protect me! This wasn’t the time for me to worry about appearances!

I quickly thought about how I could possibly make it through this situation, casting about for something that could be used as a weapon...but we were in an empty hallway. My only weapon was the ring shining on my left hand. The prince looked pretty solid, so no matter how hard my ring was, I didn’t think my punches would do any damage. My attack would probably be on the same level as a swat from a kitten.

What about throwing him? He was definitely in the heavyweight class, even heavier than Bellis... Could I do it? I wasn’t very confident, but I had to try.

I steeled myself. I’m gonna throw him!

The twitching smile I’d had plastered on faltered, and I glared straight into the crown prince’s eyes. My change in demeanor made him pause for a second in confusion.

Now’s my chance! I’ve got an opening!

“Graaaaah!! You’re heavy, fatty~!!!”

Taking advantage of his pause, I jumped towards him, quickly grabbed him by the collar, and twisted my body. In the same moment, I swept his feet out from under him, lifting him up before flinging him to the ground.

Damn, he’s heavy! He’s way heavier than Bellis! Please forgive me for getting so mean!

“Wahhh!”

“Huh?!” Just as he screamed, a loud thud rang out. Did the building shake? No, that was just me.

I might’ve gotten a bit (a lot?) unladylike with my screaming, but I managed to throw the heavyweight prince down on the ground. Might is right (wrong).

“Whew...” My shoulders heaved with every breath. Brushing off my hands, I looked down to my feet.

There was a crown prince passed out in the middle of the cold stone hallway.

Okay. I made it through that crisis! It was well worth enduring all of that grueling training. Rohtas, Bellis, everyone, thank you! Viola managed to protect herself! I’ll send some knights to collect the passed out prince later.

Come to think of it, it was one thing for me to run off, but...why did this guy follow me? From what I heard of his conversation with his sister, their target was Mr. Fisalis.

...Mr. Fisalis! I still need to tell the knights he’s in trouble! I completely forgot my original mission! Since there weren’t any knights outside of the reception hall, I decided it would probably be best to go back there.

Or so I thought, but I froze as soon as I turned around. I’d run around pretty randomly, so I had no idea where I was. Where am I? Who am I? Where’s the reception hall?

And there are no windows in this hallway, so I can’t even gauge where I am by finding the gardens! Wahhh, am I lost in the palace?! Is backtracking my only choice? I don’t remember where I came from, but I’ll look for a staircase first.

“Gwaah!”

I had no time to waste. I’d decided, so I needed to act immediately! Stepping over the crown prince—quite literally—I started to retrace my steps, but something stopped me.

“Oh my. How pathetic, brother.”

I heard a woman’s voice from the direction we’d just come from, and she’d said “brother.” It was his sister!

Wearing her horrifically out-of-fashion dress and clicking her heels on the floor, Princess Orangé approached, fanning herself with her gorgeous feathered fan.

What are you doing here? She’s not out of breath—was she expecting to see me here and could take her time tracking me down? I don’t understand!

While I silently stared, she gestured to the unconscious prince and asked, “You threw that?”

Yes, she called her brother “that.”

“U-Um... I think he just suddenly fell ill, maybe?”

“...It certainly doesn’t look like he suddenly fell ill. Well, whatever. It’s a good thing I’ve prepared for unexpected accidents,” the princess said, smiling. Oh no, her smile is so creepy. I had nothing but bad feelings about her preparing for “unexpected accidents”. She slowly walked towards me. I tried to keep my distance, but my heels quickly reached the unconscious prince, and behind him was a wall. I had nowhere to go!

Do I take the princess out too? Hmm, but I don’t really want to hurt a fellow girl. I’d prefer to get through this peacefully, if possible...

While I stood still, racking my brain for some way out of this situation, Princess Orangé put a hand to the sparkling necklace resting on her chest and plucked the teardrop-shaped emerald out of it. Oh, that came off easy! She held it out towards me as I watched in shock and flicked the top with her thumb. With a nice little pop, a hidden stopper came right off. Huh...what a clever device!

“All right, you need to take a little nap now,” she said, waving her fan over the stone as I stood frozen in surprise. Suddenly, I realized—it must have been a vial of some drug disguised as a gemstone!

With every swipe of her fan, a sickeningly sweet smell spread around me. What is this? Before I realized it, I’d already gotten a good lungful of it. It was so sweet, I could barely think straight.

...So sweet... I’m gonna puke...

As my consciousness faded, I saw Princess Orangé put the stopper back on the fale stone while she held a handkerchief to her mouth and nose. Saving yourself? Hey, not fair!