Volume 01; Act 02 – Part 01
Act 02: One Woman Show

Nothing happened for about three days. I received a letter and told father and brother about my plans for the day over breakfast.

“――― From Prince Theodore?” I nodded at my brother’s voice.

“I borrowed a dictionary from the palace archive, so I’m going to go return it.”

Unable to finish reading my book at home, I went to the palace archive to borrow a dictionary four days ago.

I returned the book, but I accidentally took the dictionary home with me. I looked through my memories to see if I had borrowed any other books.

I also had a private room that I had borrowed ever since I became Prince Christopher’s fiancée. It will be hard, but I need to clear the room ahead of time.

Brother looked as if he was thinking about something, and father spoke to me, “Oh… Elli. I have something I would like to discuss with you.”

“Yes?”

Father is always relaxed and easy-going. It is rare for him to discuss something with me.

Father is in his mid-forties, and his light brown hair is mixed with some grey hair.

Father used to work (it was close to him doing nothing) as an official in the royal archives under Prince Theodore, but after I was chosen as Prince Christopher’s fiancée, that position wasn’t suitable for him, and he was selected for a ministerial post in the finance office for political reasons.

Incidentally, my older brother is the same and seems busy every day acting as the prime minister’s assistant.

Once again, I am sorry I had even sprung these duties onto my family.

“I received a letter from your grandfather a little while ago. We haven’t seen him for a while now. What do you think? Both Fred and I will take days off, so how about we all go there together?”

“… Father,” my older brother, Alfred, replied. He looked sternly at father as if to rebuke him.

I tilted my head while examining father’s proposal, and thought that it didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Grandfather, who gave his title to father, lives a secluded life at the fief. I certainly received a letter from grandfather around the time I became an adult at 18. He had suggested that I return home.

It was just a matter of time before my engagement with His Highness is annulled, and the capital will probably become a place that would make me feel uncomfortable for a while. More importantly, it would be painful for me to see His Highness’s new fiancée around.

――― Even if I was told to run away, I was looking for a place to go with these bottled up feelings.

“But father and brother, will you be able to take some days off?” I interrupted the two who were arguing for some reason.

I have never been able to go home with father or brother ever since I became Prince Christopher’s fiancée. Before, when I had peeked into their work stations, a mountain of documents had already been placed artistically onto the desk and they looked as if they could slide down at any moment.

It is easy to imagine that the work they had to do when they worked at the palace archive was nothing compared to the work they did now.

I really take my hat off to them for not complaining or grumbling even though they were working outside of their fields.

Father answered nonchalantly, “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve already applied for it. It’s important to take holidays. A person’s time (time to read books) is limited.”

… I wonder why. I feel like there’s another reason behind this.

I can clearly see inside my smiling father’s head; he is having a pleasant time being surrounded by his favourite books.

Brother Alfred sighed as if he wasn’t going to take action.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

I went to the royal palace with father and brother and was flustered outside the government building, which I have never entered before.

I usually go to the palace from the passage which only the royal family use with the permission of His Highness, and the people who I meet on that path are limited as well. Therefore, only a few people probably knew what I look like.

As soon as father and brother got off the carriage, they were dragged off to the oval office by people who were waiting for them and yelling, “Over there!”

The government building seems to be a hectic place. Will their holiday really be approved while the situation is like this?

“Prince Christopher did?” My heart jumped because I wasn’t prepared to hear the name suddenly spoken.

From the open door, I heard the sounds of people moving around busily, the sound of documents and the conversations people were having as they moved around.

“That’s impossible.”

“But, you know. I heard that His Highness sent a messenger to the Parcas House. Miss Irene is a member of the Parcas House.”

“Seriously? So, will His Highness really annul his engagement with Bernstein’s Fairy Princess and get engaged to Miss Irene?”

“Huh? Senior, isn’t that a lie? I heard that the Parcas House is just profusely making it known to others.”

“But I actually saw it. His Highness and Miss Irene had a secret date.”

“Ah. The maids are talking about that as well. This just means that His Highness is also a man.”

“Also, there have been weird rumours going around amongst the maids. I heard that the Fairy Princess is jealous of Miss Irene and harasses her a lot.”

“No way. That’s just a rumour.”

“Right~.” The conversation continued, and I quietly walked away.

They had mentioned some unclear things, but everyone in the royal palace is showing great interest in the relationship between His Highness and Miss Irene… and also me.

These rumours about Miss Irene have also reached the disinterested me despite there being only a limited number of people in the royal palace, so those in the know might already have known about His Highness’s relationship for a long time now.

It might have just been me who didn’t know about it since I only read books without care.

I pondered depressingly.

I was only thinking about running away from this situation, but at this rate, even Prince Christopher’s reputation which he went to great lengths to build up, will be dragged through the mud. This will be an unfavourable situation for the future of Southlynd.

To overcome this situation, I would have to publicly announce my engagement annulment with His Highness as soon as possible, but a Marquis House cannot be the one to break off the engagement, unless in extreme circumstances.

I pondered and concluded that I should consult someone about this, then the door in front of me opened in a hurry.

“――― did you find the evidence?”

“The warehouse was already surrounded by the third patrol force. But we received a report stating that several boats headed towards Ulthar before dawn.”

The young man’s cunning eyes which looked strict, but still courteous, became frosty.

“Is the capital’s patrol force full of stupid people? You’ve been watching over the warehouse at Neville River, but you didn’t keep an eye out for boats?”

“N-no! We have gone ahead to the estuary and have already deployed soldiers there. Commander Glenn said that we will round them up!”

“It seems that your witless brains will start gaining some intelligence after going without sleep for three days.”

The Ice Lord smiled like a servant of the devil. His glance stopped on the sacrifice (sheep) who had failed to escape.

“Oh, Miss Elianna. You look like you’re free. Thanks to you, every place in the royal palace has been occupied. Could you bring these with you since you’re going to the palace archives? On your way, please tell the royal household department to look over this personnel record for the last five years and also tell them to reorganise it by this afternoon. Tell them, ‘such a foolish plan won’t add anything to the fuel’.”

Lord Alexei looked ghastlier than usual. On a closer look, his ice-blue eyes are slightly bloodshot, and his white skin also looked pale from tiredness.

Is it a serious case?

Lord Alexei ordered me to do odd jobs for him as his eyes sparkled. His subordinates looked as if they felt sorry for me, but none of them were willing to sacrifice themselves in my place.

I only came here to return a dictionary and clean up the private room. What an odd development…

… No, is this normal?

I was finally climbing up the familiar grand staircase in the centre of the royal palace with a great deal of effort.

It was then.

“Kyyyaaaaaaaa…!” A loud scream came from behind me, and I heard something rolling down.

I looked back in surprise and saw a woman tumbling down the stairs. Her soft, chestnut hair was spread out as if it was covering her body, and her arms and feet had been thrown into the air. The figure of her falling looked painful, and I worried about her safety.

Before I rushed down the stairs, “Irene…!” another roaring scream could be heard, and a man approached her.

“Irene! Irene, get a hold of yourself…!” Shouting in a heart-breaking voice was a slender young man with honey-brown hair and a sweet face. He could even be mistaken for a boy.

“Irene! How did this happen…?!”

Well, you should call a doctor before you grieve.

I looked around for someone to call, but people had already started to gather around because of his alarmingly loud voice. People rushed over to check how she was, and I heard people telling others to call for a doctor.

Meanwhile, Miss Irene slowly regained consciousness. The honey-coloured hair man helped her up, and she clung to his arm while shaking.

“Miss Elianna… Miss Elianna did… this to me!”

… Excuse me?

Everyone’s gazes from downstairs except for Miss Irene’s looked at me with criticism.

I was standing with my eyes wide open.