Side Story: Let’s Explain What’s Going On Behind The Scenes
Side Story: Let’s Explain What’s Going On Behind The Scenes
1. The Reason For The Rush
Once it was decided that the Crown Prince of Aurantia and his company would be visiting Flür, the Chivalric Order of Flür suddenly became quite busy. The front line knights were guarding both outside of the palace and the city of Rozhe, while the Royal Guard would be in charge of the security inside the palace and defending important individuals.
Duke Cercis Fisalis and his men were all part of that, but his unit didn’t have the regular responsibilities of the Royal Guard. Instead, they shouldered the responsibility of public security. As a result, they ended up mainly watching the Aurantian’s movements.
Within the knight’s quarters, Cercis was in his office. He was sitting at the ready at his desk, long legs crossed, as he glared at the documents on his desk and tapped his finger angrily against it.
“You’re sure pissy. Is it because you’ve been getting home so late you keep missing Madam?” teased Corydalis as he brought a new stack of documents.
His superior usually did all the paperwork in silence, but today he wasn’t getting much done at all. Instead, he was deep in thought with his brow furrowed.
“Every single person is asking me the same thing...”
“Wait, that was the first time I’ve asked, wasn’t it?”
“...I’ve told Viola that I’ll be busy, so we are not missing each other! I just haven’t seen her awake, is all... Wait, I guess that’s not actually the issue here.”
“Hm? Then what is it?”
“It’s all fine and dandy that Aurantia is coming here, but... They won’t stick to a number of knights and servants coming with them...” Cercis told him, still glaring at his paperwork.
“Huh? Didn’t they say fifty yesterday? That’s the number we used to determine our postings at yesterday’s meeting, wasn’t it?”
“Yes—that was yesterday. But we just got word of a correction putting them at forty.”
“Huh? I mean, fewer people means less work for us, but...”
“The thing is, this isn’t their first correction. They’ve sent us a few already.”
“Ah, yeah, I remember it was twenty at the beginning, then up to seventy...” Corydalis hummed, touching his chin with a hand as he thought back to their negotiations.
“It’s hard to call going from twenty to seventy just a mistake... Well, whatever. Why are they flopping their numbers all over the place?” Cercis said, furrowed brow deepening.
Corydalis picked up the document Cercis had just been looking at, quickly reading it over. “...Wonder which number is the real one.”
“I don’t know... But it’s fishy.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Go report to Royal Guard Commander Permam that our security plans need to be looked over again. They’re planning something.”
“Understood.”
“Remember it’s urgent. After that, get our spies to give us as accurate a count as they can.”
“Great idea,” Corydalis nodded, immediately turning around. Then, he left the office on his way to quickly put his orders into action.
“Dammit, I’m gonna be late getting home again...!” Cercis grumbled in frustration, looking at the door shutting quietly behind his subordinate.
2. It’s Fine That They Came, But...
Just around the time Viola was being readied...or rather, getting ready at the ducal manor for the welcome party,
Aurantia’s crown prince and his entourage reached Flür’s palace after noon.
“You’ve done well to come all this way on your trip.”
“It was quite fun—this is my first time traveling here. Unlike our country, Flür is quite verdant.”
Having come to the palace entrance to greet them, Flür’s king shook hands with Aurantia’s crown prince, smiling.
Both the crown prince and his sister Orangé had come in a heavily decorated carriage, which was extravagant but not very classy. After them came more carriages, with their attendants arriving separately. Then came the guards on horseback who had been protecting the group of carriages, and then after them the soldiers on foot.
“...Their numbers were definitely off,” whispered Corydalis into Cercis’s ear, having snuck up behind him and Commander Permam. They were all already lined up behind Flür’s royal family.
“What do you mean?” Cercis whispered back, still facing forward with an expression that betrayed nothing.
“We did a rough count when their group went through the gates, but there are even more than they confirmed.”
“Dammit!”
“There’s also the chance that they have even more agents hiding in the carriages.”
“...Once their attendants get out, inspect the insides immediately. We need to get an exact number ASAP.”
“Right.”
After their quiet conversation, Corydalis stealthily headed back to his post.
This dumbass just had to go and give me more work! Cercis swore internally. The attendants... Well, they don’t really matter, since they can just be shoved into rooms at random, but what’s the deal with all these additions to the entourage? We’ll have to strengthen our surveillance. We’ll need to assign more men to monitor them. I suppose I can switch that one group from guard duty to surveillance... I guess we’ll have to fill in the gaps by borrowing from other units...
His brain was in overdrive, thinking of what would be next. We’ll need to check their numbers, increase surveillance, search for their weak points... Dammit! Will I even be able to see Viola at tonight’s party? Even if she’s with my parents, I don’t want her to spend the whole night alone when she’s gotten all dressed up! My Viola will probably be exceptionally beautiful tonight. All kinds of people are gonna be approaching her, just like they always do... Damn, just thinking of it is pissing me off!
I need to stop whining and get my work done so I can see Viola! Cercis swore to himself.
3. Emergency Fisalis Family Meeting ~Just After the Welcome Party~
The welcome party for Aurantia’s crown prince and his entourage had just begun. There, the main guest, the crown prince himself, had done something as ridiculous as propose to Viola.
Though everything had settled down thanks to Cercis popping into the party after finishing his work, Cercis, Viola, and the former Duke and Duchess Fisalis all returned home quite upset.
Once they reached their manor, Viola collapsed in the entranceway, all of the tension in her body finally being released.
It must have been a lot for her, if the usually energetic Viola was that exhausted. I’m getting really angry again! What should I do with that dumbass crown prince?!
After carrying Viola to her bedroom to rest, he returned to his own room and changed into a more casual outfit. In this room, Cercis was ready to discuss the events of the night, as well as what would happen next, with his father, Rohtas, and Dahlia. Just after he finished changing, they all arrived
“It seems that tonight’s welcoming party was quite stormy,” Rohtas said, probably having heard what had happened from the former duke on their way there.
“Yeah. Did Father tell you?”
“A cursory explanation of it. But the more I hear, the less I understand what went on inside His Royal Highness’s head.”
“Don’t say it so bluntly. He might be an idiot, but we don’t know what he may do. My men are sticking close to them.”
They had discreetly separated the maids and attendants that the crown prince’s entourage brought and replaced them with other caretakers for their stay in Flür—knights stationed in place of maids and attendants. They were, of course, dressed as palace ladies-in-waiting or chamberlains.
“You’ll be hearing reports of those on surveillance tomorrow morning, right?”
“Yes,” Cercis nodded at his father’s question. “Though my men have been assigned to them, that dumbass prince keeps exceeding our expectations. Rohtas, raise the security level of the manor.”
“As you wish.”
“Don’t let in any suspicious people like that crown prince.”
“Of course.”
The ducal manor’s security was always perfect, but Cercis made sure to confirm things with Rohtas. After being sure Rohtas understood, he looked to Dahlia next.
“Dahlia, how is Viola?”
“She’s quite tired, but she should be all right with Stellaria at her side.”
“I see. I’ll leave everything pertaining to Viola’s affairs to Stellaria.”
“Understood.”
He directed Dahlia to take care of Viola, but didn’t stop shoring up their defenses all around.
“Father, Mother, can I ask you to come to the main building from the cottage and stay with Viola?” Cercis asked his parents.”
“Yep! If anyone shows up, I’ll drive ’em off!” the former duke announced, thumping his chest.
Their defenses were fortified, and so were Viola’s surroundings. But this wasn’t enough to prepare for all the what-ifs running through his head.
“Drill more self-defensive techniques into Viola, just in case,” Cercis ordered Rohtas, who raised his eyebrows.
“With all due respect, Madam already has quite the mastery of martial arts and swordplay, and other skills as well...” the butler said, a look of “you want me to do more?” in his eyes.
“I know, but she needs more. Even more than that.”
“...Understood.”
“This is all for her sake, so be even more thorough than you have been.”
“That’s true,” nodded Rohtas obediently, deciding that if it was for Madam’s sake, he would do his best.
4. The Bombshell Trio’s Job ~The Aurantian Siblings’ Secret Meeting~
After all the trouble at the welcoming party, at about the same time as the Fisalis family meeting, the rest of the knights were hard at work.
After the Aurantian royal siblings had cleared the room so they could speak with each other, the Bombshell Trio were busy watching them through a one-way mirror from the servants’ waiting room next door.
By order of Captain Permam and Vice Captain Fisalis, every servant assigned to the siblings was a knight in disguise. Angelica, Alkanna, and Chamomile were all dressed as palace ladies-in-waiting, and they would be taking care of the Aurantians’ personal needs (AKA, monitoring them).
Additionally, all of the servants that the siblings had brought with them had been told the following: “You must be exhausted after your long journey. We’re celebrating your visit as well, so please relax during your stay. We’ll take care of your masters, don’t worry.” They were also all invited to a servants’ welcoming party and separated from the siblings and the foreign minister they’d arrived with.
“This was truly fate. Viola is such a wonderful woman! I need to make her mine.”
“Who cares about Viola? Although I guess that if she does become yours, I’ll get the duke.”
The crown prince paced around the room, gesturing in excitement while his sister lounged on the sofa and watched.
“...They’re really idiots. Whoops, said that out loud☆”
“Jeez, Chamomile! I was thinking the exact same thing.”
“Yep.”
The special guest rooms that the siblings were staying in had been equipped with one-way mirrors and particularly thin walls, so that they could be monitored from the servants’ waiting room next door. The Bombshell Trio were there, and naturally they were quickly getting annoyed at their surveillance targets’ chatter that was just laden with misunderstandings. Despite the fact that they were supposed to be spying on them, they just couldn’t help but take a few honest digs at everything the pair was saying (in a whisper the siblings couldn’t hear, of course).
“It doesn’t look like the duke wants to divorce Viola right now. How are we going to split them up?”
“I have no idea what he sees in her. I’m much more attractive~ And that girl is an idiot with no taste if she doesn’t understand how desirable you are. But if you’re that interested in her, I guess I have no choice but to come up with a battle plan.”
“Nononononono,” the three knights all quipped again, shaking their heads. They all wanted to know which parts of the prince, exactly, were supposed to be so attractive.
“We’ll cause a disturbance at the party in three days’ time in order to lure the duke away, and then kidnap Viola while he’s distracted.”
“But isn’t there a chance that he won’t bring her to the party after what happened tonight?”
“Hmm, you’re right, Orangé.”
Though the crown prince came up with a plan off the cuff and explained it to his sister, Princess Orangé immediately pointed out the problems.
Seeing that, the knights continued their running commentary.
“The sister seems to be the smart one.”
“She’s the one we should be worrying about.”
“Her brother is just too much of a dumbass.”
All three members of the Bombshell Trio made a mental note to keep careful watch on the sister.
“We won’t be able to do a thing if Viola doesn’t come back to the palace. That’s why you need to feign an apology to the duke tomorrow and make him drop his guard.”
“I see.”
“Hmm... Maybe tell him that you’ve given up on her.”
“Yes, yes.”
“That way, they definitely won’t have any excuse for her not to attend a palace-sponsored party for state guests.”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“Put on your best fake sincerity, all right?”
“Of course!”
While the princess hashed out their plan bit by bit, the crown prince just nodded along and agreed with everything.
“...The sister seems like she’d make a way better heir to the throne...”
“You’re right... But she’s a woman! She’d definitely be way harder to deal with as a ruler than that dumbass prince, though.”
“The brother hasn’t got any pride, or a spine.”
The trio’s sass ran wild. They actually started feeling a bit sorry for the crown prince, since all he was doing was agreeing to and following his sister’s plan.
The siblings didn’t seem to be finished talking, so the trio quieted down and listened closely, but...
“I’ll apologize to the Duke as soon as I see him tomorrow. And for the disturbance we’ll cause at the party—”
The conversation suddenly stopped. Looking through the mirror, they saw that the Aurantian siblings had their backs turned to them and were writing something down on a piece of paper.
Wait, don’t write it down. Say it out loud! Signaling to each other with their eyes that they’d have to get that paper sometime later, the Bombshell Trio went back to their surveillance.
“I never expected the soldiers we brought to catch Flür off guard would come in handy like this!” they heard the crown prince say.
“So that’s why they wouldn’t settle on a number for their attendants!”
“We need to crush them!”
“So that was their plan. I thought something was up...”
Snapsnapsnap... All three of the ladies audibly ran out of patience.
“Shhh. They’re talking again.”
“Let’s listen in.”
“Sanctions can come later.”
They all had to calm themselves down. Taking deep breaths, the lady knights focused on their duties.
“In the palace, here, there, and—”
“We’ll find a suitable place outside, without many people—”
“I wish we had a floor plan—”
“For the trap, we’ll—”
The royal siblings were pointing out places on their map of the palace and discussing details, but the trio could only catch bits and pieces.
After a while, the siblings finished their discussion and looked around.
“Is anyone there?” The crown prince called for some servants. And, of course, the “servants” who were within earshot were none other than the Bombshell Trio themselves, dressed as ladies-in-waiting.
“Oh, hey. That’s us!” The ladies looked at each other and nodded, then walked out of the secret door that connected their hidden room to the one on the opposite side. From there, they went out into the hall.
“Did you call for us?” they asked, looking totally innocent as they opened the door to the special guest rooms.
Incidentally, all of the actual Aurantian servants were in the middle of their own welcoming party thanks to the efforts of the knights, so there was no chance of anyone else answering the siblings’ call by mistake.
“What is it that you need?”
“Prepare the baths and our beds.”
“Understood.”
Chamomile headed for the bathroom, while Alkanna moved to the bedroom. While they were gone, Angelica feigned tidying up as she went to go collect the paper the siblings had been writing on.
There was a pen and a notepad on the desk, but the page itself was missing. One of the siblings must have taken it with them to hide the evidence. How annoying that for once the pair hadn’t slipped up, thought Angelica as she grit her teeth.
Looking carefully for anything else that might be useful, she realized that the top sheet of the notepad had spots where the ink had soaked through. She wasn’t sure if it would be useful, but she nonchalantly ripped it off and took it just in case.
5. The Royal Guard’s Morning Meeting
Just about the same time that Viola had been overpowered by the intensity of Rohtas’s smile and was starting her martial arts training at the ducal manor,
Cercis’s squad was having a meeting in the knights’ quarters quarters about the Aurantian sibling’s scheme.
“Last night, the two of them had a private talk after they returned to their rooms. They planned on making the vice captain lower his guard by falsely apologizing for what happened last night, and are planning to do something at the party the day after tomorrow.” Alkanna gave a concise report of what they’d overheard.
“Fake an apology...! They really are trash,” Cercis scowled, after he’d heard what the knights had discovered.
“Hm... Anything else?” Royal Guard Captain Permam asked, pressing Alkanna for more information.
“Yes. They began discussing some kind of drawing very quietly about halfway through their conversation, so we were unable to hear everything they said. One of them also took the drawing, or whatever it was, with them, so we were unable to retrieve it. I did manage to get this, though—it’s the piece of paper that was under whatever they were writing. I’m unsure if it will be of any help, though,” she replied, submitting the paper she’d taken from the special guest room the night before.
The captain took it, and both he and Cercis looked it over.
“Is this... A map or something?”
“It doesn’t look like writing.”
They could faintly see a series of squares touching each other with certain parts circled; where the lines overlapped, the ink had bled through onto the paper below.
“It doesn’t look much like our castle...”
“It resembles the layout a bit if you squint... It’s too badly drawn to tell for sure, though.” Though the captain thought it may have been a map of Flür’s palace, it was just too vague to be certain.
“Whatever the case, we’ll get it analyzed by our document specialists. Lantana, bring it to them. Meanwhile we’ll try to predict the Aurantians’ movements.”
Despite the fact that Captain Permam had ordered one of the squad members to take it, Cercis stood up and held out his hand.
“I’m going to go see His Majesty to lodge my complaint. I’ll drop it off on my way.”
“Thank you,” Permam said, handing the paper over.
And so, Cercis excused himself from the meeting and headed to the king’s office to complain about what happened the night before.
* * *
A while later, Cercis returned, silent.
“Welcome back. How did it go?” Corydalis asked with a wry smile, seeing the grim look on the vice captain’s face.
“The crown prince was there when I went to lodge a complaint with His Majesty. He gave me a quick apology for last night. He said he was super remorseful so please forgive him, he’ll give up on Viola, etcetera etcetera.”
“So he said exactly what his sister told him to say last night!” Angelica piped in.
“At least change it up a bit!” Chamomile quipped.
“I guess he did look repentant on the surface, then?”
“Yep.”
Both Cercis and Corydalis shook their heads.
“Now that he’s apologized in front of His Majesty, you can’t be stubborn and say you won’t let Madam go to the next party... Just like they planned.”
“Right,” Cercis replied, a sour look on his face.
“So what are you gonna do? Bring Madam anyway?”
“I’ve got no choice. But that will make them think we’re not expecting anything, right?”
Corydalis didn’t miss the fact that his superior’s face had morphed into work mode. “I see. Which in turn will make them let their guard down.”
“Right. We’ll catch them when they inevitably slip up.”
“Then we’ll have to up security to keep Madam safe. Why don’t we have our knights dress up like hall waitstaff?” Corydalis suggested, realizing how torn Cercis must have felt having to use his beloved wife as bait.
“Our squad probably won’t be enough, so let’s get some people from other units too,” replied Cercis, asking for more men.
With that, their defense plan for the party was in place.
6. Emergency Fisalis Family Meeting ~Before Dinner~
At the moment, Viola was enjoying her pre-meal tea while waiting for Cercis and her in-laws, exhausted from Rohtas’s hellish training
Cercis, meanwhile, had called his parents and Rohtas into his study.
“I’ll give you all a short explanation of what happened today—” he announced, summarizing everything—the Aurantian sibling’s secret chat the night before and the crown prince’s apology in front of the king.
“...So he has no remorse whatsoever. I suppose if he had enough brains to regret what he did, he wouldn’t be dragging his country into a useless conflict and financially ruining it in the first place.”
“Right?” Cercis nodded at the former duke’s jab.
“And since he gave his touching little apology in front of His Majesty, you can’t just bluntly reject it.”
“No.”
“And because you’ve ‘accepted’ his apology, you’ve got no choice but to bring Viola to the party like you originally planned.”
“That’s right. I hate that I have to bring Viola along as if I don’t already know they’re planning on doing something bad to her,” grumbled Cercis with a frown.
“Oh my, but you have a plan, right?” his mother cut in.
“Of course I do. We’ll have my knights disguised as palace servants guarding the party venue.”
“I see. You’d better keep Vi perfectly safe. If you don’t, I’ll have you sent to live in Le Pied while we move back in here. And of course, Vi will be staying with us,” the former duchess threatened her son with a smile as she cracked her knuckles.
“Come on... Don’t make our relationship long-distance!”
“Then show me that you’ll protect her no matter what!”
“I will,” Cercis replied tensely. “I’m planning on keeping venue security tight, but it’ll be an issue in the unlikely event that something disrupts that. It’ll be fine if I’m with her the whole time, but we need to plan for the unexpected. That’s where you come in, Rohtas.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Turn up the intensity of Viola’s self-defense training. Teach her close combat.”
“In case they attempt to kidnap her inside the palace itself, I gather.”
“Right.”
“Please excuse my saying so, but Madam is already quite proficient with swordsmanship and martial arts.”
“‘Quite proficient’ isn’t enough. Assume that emergencies other than hand-to-hand combat may occur.”
“Understood,” Rohtas said, nodding at Cercis’s orders.
“...You always go easy on her, after all,” muttered Cercis.
“Really?”
“Yep. Really easy on her. You treat her way differently than me!”
Rohtas tilted his head exaggeratedly. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely! Ahem. Whatever. Listen, Rohtas. Even if Viola whines about being tired or says she can’t do it, don’t let her off easy.”
“Understood...”
“You’re being hard on her for her own sake.”
“...Of course, sir,” Rohtas agreed after a pause, seemingly getting the point.
7. Rohtas’s Melancholy
At the meeting the night before, Rohtas had been ordered to help Viola grow stronger—after all, she’d be going to the upcoming party.
Since she was forced to attend even though they were well aware that the Aurantian royal siblings were targeting her, it almost seemed like Viola was bait. Cercis said that he’d be shoring up the security, but he ordered Rohtas to make sure that Viola could protect herself too, just in case.
What do you expect me to do in a single day?! Rohtas was at a loss, but he pulled himself together. Madam has already become quite skilled thanks to all her earlier training, so let’s just have her brush up on everything she’s learned. Bringing her somewhere that we know she’ll be in danger just doesn’t seem right to me, though. I’ll need to harden my heart and beat the skills into her, if necessary!
This is all for Madam’s sake, he swore to himself.
In particular, he taught her to use anything she could as a weapon.
“What?! My ring?!” Viola went silent as she looked at the ring on her finger that perfectly matched her husband’s.
Knowing Madam, she’s probably afraid that the ring will break if she uses it to attack, and that it would be a waste. Rohtas found it charming how he could tell exactly what she was thinking from her expressions and movements.
The jeweler had made the ring with all the skill he could muster. It was beautiful, of course, but it could also take a few hits in the unlikely event that she had to punch someone while wearing it.
“It won’t be damaged easily. It was designed with this use in mind.”
“O-Okay!”
Rohtas had to resist the urge to laugh when Viola’s face screamed, “How did you know?!” after he’d basically read her mind.
So I was right. Oh, Madam!
...No, I mustn’t be distracted.
His heart was almost warmed, but Rohtas had to hold himself back. After telling Viola in detail about all the weak spots on the human body, he requested that she practice what she had been taught on Bellis, who had been called to be her partner.
“No, but... I can’t punch him!” Viola faltered after being told to hit Bellis, whom she had become very attached to.
There isn’t time for you to say that! This is for your own sake, Madam. You must master these skills!
Rohtas steeled his resolve. Normally, he’d just let her off easy, but he couldn’t afford to baby her today.
“Do your best!” he said—strongly, clearly, in a very easy-to-understand manner and with a lower tone of voice than usual.
Even Viola could get the hint. “Wahhh! I’m sorry, Bellis!” she screeched, aiming a swing at Bellis’s temple.
8. The Rat’s Trap
Finally, the night of the party arrived. In the royal palace’s reception hall, the matchmaking party...or rather, the partner-search event for the crown prince of Aurantia and his sister, the princess, had just begun.
Inside the palace room they were using as an interim office to head off any problems, Corydalis was glaring at both a report and a single piece of paper.
The analysis of the paper collected from the royal sibling’s room had finally been finished. The results showed that it was indeed a rough floor plan of the palace.
“So it was a map of the palace after all. They’ve probably got something in place at all the locations they marked.”
“Probably.”
Since the analysis had taken so long, the knights had only received the results after the party had already begun. Knights were posted all over in accordance with their security plans, but since they had predicted danger at these spots, they couldn’t just leave them. Corydalis redeployed knights to the circled locations ASAP.
Just as he’d reached a resting point after ordering the deployment changes, he heard a voice.
“Excuse me! Platoon Captain Pulcherrima!” One of his subordinates that had been on security dashed into the room.
“What’s up? Has something happened?”
“Yes. According to reports from the scene, they smelled smoke after hearing some kind of loud popping sound. When they went to check what was happening, there was something like a bomb left there, smoldering.”
“Got it. I’ll go take a look for now.” After the knight gave him a rough rundown of the situation, Corydalis left the room to check the actual scene.
Bombs? Could the Aurantians even do that? he thought as he listened to the explanation.
Flür had the technology to create and use bombs, but Aurantia shouldn’t. They hadn’t used any in the previous war, so why would they be using them now?
Though he was suspicious, once they arrived and had a look, it all became clear.
“...This couldn’t even be called an unexploded bomb.”
“...Yeah.”
There was a black ball sputtering smoke on the floor, with something that looked like a fuse sticking out the top. Though they could tell from the smell that there was gunpowder in it, it was so crudely made that it hadn’t ignited at all, much less exploded.
This isn’t even worth bothering with! It’s like a kid’s prank or something! Corydalis thought. And while he stood there, steadily getting angrier, he heard a voice.
“I’ve just received word that there are more of these in other locations, and that some of them have ignited successfully!” reported another of his subordinates who had been busy guarding a different spot.
“Then hurry and extinguish the ones that did! Take anyone around who looks suspicious into custody. Have all our men dispatched to search for other ones! They should be—” Corydalis briskly barked out orders based on what he’d seen on the paper taken from the siblings’ room. No way I’m letting the palace burn down because of some worthless little fires!
As he did so, information kept pouring in.
“We’ve found another fire!”
“There was a bomb found near the edge of the garden!”
More and more knights kept coming with reports.
How many of their crappy soldiers did they bring?! Corydalis figured that they must have secretly brought even more than they’d reported. Was that why they kept raising and lowering the number of people they expected to come with them? Had they been planning something like this from the beginning?
It was too late to regret their lack of research, though. The knights’ first priority was catching the rats to prevent any further damage. But with the damage reports piling up one after the other...
“If they’ve done this much... I’m gonna have to report this to the higher-ups. The Royal Guard Captain is with His Majesty, so we can’t pull him away... We’ll have to get the vice captain instead. He’s off today, but this is an emergency,” Corydalis decided.
9. Catching the Rats
While Corydalis and the knights were busy dealing with the rats’ traps, the party was in full swing, and the Aurantian royal siblings were dancing with their marriage candidates in the reception hall.
Normally, evening parties would be gorgeous and dazzling, but all of the attendees were wearing plain clothing in the hopes that the siblings wouldn’t notice or (even worse) fall for them. The light music and elegant exchanges were all just as normal, but the mood was less than upbeat.
Viola and Cercis were both watching the other attendees.
As they did, a knight called Lantana approached Cercis, dressed in a palace servant’s uniform under orders to report the situation to the vice captain, and whispered in his ear.
“The rats have set up more traps than we expected, and they’re trouble.”
Corydalis should have been able to handle the job easily, but if he’d been forced to report directly to Cercis, Lantana must be telling the truth—they really were in trouble. Cercis decided he’d have to go see for himself.
“Vi. Something urgent has come up, so I’ll have to leave for a bit.”
“All right.”
“Listen carefully. Stay here until I come back.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah.”
After giving Viola some strong instructions, he left the reception hall.
Objects too crude to be called bombs were exploding(?) and putting out smoke around the palace, mostly in isolated places and in the corners of huge gardens. Some of them had actually managed to ignite, surprisingly enough, causing small fires.
“It’s good that there aren’t any large-scale explosions, but this is still pretty irritating .”
“Seriously. How stupid can they be? Trying to use gunpowder when they can’t even get it to work right?”
Cercis and Corydalis both heaved disgusted sighs as they stared at one of the bombs.
“So did you catch the rats?”
“Since there are more than we expected, it’s taking a little while. I apologize.”
“It’s only a matter of time, but get them collected as soon as possible.”
“Understood.”
Even if I cut things short here and go back to the party, all of this would still be bothering me. Viola should be good back in the hall, since it’s being guarded by knights dressed as palace servants.
Thinking that, Cercis decided to prioritize giving orders on the scene, but he’d soon regret his choice.
10. Find Viola!
Around the time where they’d put out all the fires, found all the traps, and caught most of the rats.
Cercis was ready to go back to the party hall since things were slowing down, but then he received a very concerning report: “Duchess Fisalis has disappeared somewhere—chased by Aurantia’s crown prince.”
“I told her so many times to stay in the hall!”
“Ah... Madam is quite lively, after all.”
Corydalis smiled awkwardly as he watched Cercis get angry.
“You said she’d disappeared after being chased. Why weren’t they followed?” Cercis hounded the knight for an answer.
“I apologize. His Royal Highness hid Madam’s face so they didn’t realize it was her. They only realized after a disguised knight came to check on her,” the knight apologized.
“...So? Where is Viola now?” asked Cercis, having given up on blaming the knight for things that had already happened.
“They ran farther inside the palace, away from the entrance. They haven’t been seen since.”
“And when was this?”
“Just in the middle of our rat catching.”
So right when security was at its thinnest! All castles have knights guarding them—they obviously had to have been planning to mess with security from the very beginning.
They’d been able to deal with the bombs quickly since they were aware of the Aurantians’ plans beforehand, but they hadn’t accounted for Viola.
To think that she’d leave the hall! Why did she do that? Everything would have been fine if Viola had just stayed put. Cercis regretted not heading back sooner.
But there was no time to mope.
“We need to search for her.”
“Right.” Corydalis and the other knights there all nodded at their tense vice captain.
“There don’t seem to be any witnesses...so we’ll have to be thorough. We’ll split into two groups. One will check the royal’s rooms, and the other will search the palace.”
“Got it!” All the knights moved on his orders.
Cercis, the Bombshell Trio, and a few others headed towards the Aurantian siblings’ quarters, only to find Princess Orangé unconscious in front of the door. The knights had no way of knowing that Viola had swept the princess’s legs out from under her and she’d hit her head.
Angelica squatted down and poked Orangé, but there was no response.
“...She’s out cold.”
“And she’s sprawled all over the place. She’s breathing, so she’s still alive.”
“Who did this, anyway?”
“It couldn’t have been Madam, could it...?”
“Hmm...?”
The knights all pondered who had knocked out the princess. After a brief pause, Cercis cleared his throat.
“Ladies, secure these dangerous items. While you do, the rest of us will search inside,” Cercis told the trio before walking into the room and leaving them outside.
“Got it! Wait, dangerous items?!”
Despite getting a giggle out of it, the Bombshell Trio followed their orders.
“Damn, this princess takes a lot of rope to tie up thanks to her size.”
“You can’t just say that!”
“Let’s get her tied up already. Chamomile, help me lift her up on the count of three. I can’t do it on my own! Alkanna, you’re in charge of tying her up.”
“Okay!”
Angelica and Chamomile moved to the princess’s sides to lift her while Alkanna readied the rope they’d brought along for the arrest. “One, two!”
“She’s soooo heavy!”
“I’m gonna throw out my back!!”
While the other two women worked together to lift the princess, Alkanna tied her upper arms tightly.
While this was all happening, Cercis and the other knights were searching the room. When he looked in the bedroom, he saw evidence that the bed had been recently occupied, but no sign of Viola.
“So she’s not here...”
Then where is she? She hasn’t been taken somewhere else yet, has she...? He thought.
Getting a bad feeling about the situation, Cercis opened the curtains and looked around the gardens, dimly lit by evenly spaced braziers. And then...
“Viola!”
He spotted Viola running through the gardens, with the crown prince not far behind.
“I found Viola! She’s in the gardens! Ladies, take the princess to the hall. Everyone else, go alert Corydalis! I’ll start the chase. Meet me in the gardens!
“Understood!”
All of his subordinates were used to emergencies, so they split up to follow his orders.
The way Viola was running was towards the hall. Please, hold out until I get there! Cercis prayed, hurrying to the gardens.