ALL NOVEL Chapter 66
* * *
“It’s been a while, Duchess.”
“It has indeed, Madam Epensha. And Madam Grandi, I saw you at the bazaar not too long ago.”
“It seems Milady has become even more beautiful.”
“Such obvious compliments you have. Madam Bein, Lady Bein, you must be tired from the journey.”
“We’ve been excited about having tea time with the ladies of Elard since the carriage ride.”
A tea table was set up on a lawn a short distance from the Elard tent. Laughter and joy filled the air as the ladies of the Elard vassal families gathered, basking in the warm sunlight, the subtle fragrance of autumn leaves, the perfect breeze, and the exquisite tea food supplied by Elard’s kitchen.
After a harmonious time of sharing and catching up without any need for competition, someone addressed the Selleana.
“Milady, it’s been a while.”
A middle-aged woman with honey-gold hair spoke to Selleana. It was Michi’s foster mother, Baroness Branto.
“Is my daughter attending somewhere else?”
“Michi is at the Glen tent. She said it would be lonely for Lady Rosalli to be there alone.”
“
Oh
, is that so?” Baroness Branto responded with a warm smile, glancing beyond the bushes.
“Why, is there something you need?”
“It’s just that…” The baroness lowered her voice. “Aide from Prince Laten asked if there was any way to meet my daughter secretly without Milady knowing…”
“Excuse me?” Selleana’s eyes widened at the unexpected mention. “Hadn’t everyone from Laten gone on the hunt?”
In Nepelsian society, where gender roles were distinct, it was expected that all men would participate in the hunting competition. This meant Prince Erenst and his entourage should have been out on the hunt.
“That aide… was a woman.”
…So much for preparation. Selleana clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“What’s going on?”
“Well… I don’t know what Madam might think, but…” Selleana whispered the situation briefly into the baroness’s ear.
“Oh my, my daughter…”
“But since it’s Michi’s wish, please take care of her. Okay?”
“What choice do I have? Who else would think of my daughter more than Milady herself?” The baroness smiled trustingly.
It seems like Prince Erenst is trying to approach through her parents now that I’ve put up a strong front…
Though Prince Erenst managed to track down Michi’s parents, he was unaware of a more crucial fact: Michi had been adopted into the Branto family at Selleana’s behest.
To the baron and baroness, Michi was their daughter but had been Selleana Elard’s maid long before that. Despite a somewhat affectionate relationship, they didn’t see each other often enough to use the term ‘daughter’ so casually.
“Madam, so…”
“Yes. I’ll stay with the ladies here to make sure there’s no chance of meeting her.”
“You’re truly the best mother, Madam.”
Pleased by the praise from the cherished daughter of a family they had served for generations, the baroness smiled proudly.
* * *
“
Ugh
, I want to shoot them all.”
After Elard’s tea party, the friends gathered in the Glen tent, shaking with anger over the recent events, except for Doloret, who was busy meeting with her business partners’ wives. With all the servants sent out, their speech became increasingly uninhibited.
“It wouldn’t be hard to shoot once for our Michi… But if I’m wanted in Laten, all my plans would turn to dust.” Rosalli sniffled, holding a lavishly decorated pistol. It was the gun Selleana had ordered from the magic tower through Doloret when discussing a possible guillotine ending.
Though the world had yet to develop even muskets, a convincing pistol had been made, and Rosalli decorated it with jewels, mother-of-pearl, and gold as if it were a toy. Since the magic tower’s rules prohibited making actual weapons, it was essentially a toy.
“Don’t worry. Baroness Branto has agreed to keep pretending not to know, and if we just get through this, Prince Erenst won’t be able to return.”
“I picked a good mother, didn’t I?”
“Did you pick your mother? You chose it because of their family business.” Rosalli’s sarcasm elicited laughter from Michi.
“Still, with Prince Erenst’s aide remaining in the camp, we should be cautious. Better not venture out of the tent rashly.”
“Wouldn’t it be okay if I wear my disguise glasses? The aide hasn’t seen me…”
With only friends in the tent, Michi wasn’t wearing her glasses, revealing her natural honey-blond hair, rosy eyes, and doll-like cute and pretty bare face.
“If there’s another woman wearing glasses instead of Michi, that would be suspicious.”
“I want to see the treasure hunt too…”
“There’s next year. You should stay in the temple side tent this year. It’s okay, right, Nesia?”
“…”
“Nesia?”
“
Uh
, yeah?” Distracted, Agnesia responded late to her friends’ calls.
“What were you thinking about that you couldn’t hear us calling?”
“Well, it’s just…”
“Still bothered that Margrave Gotenfrid is still acting up?”
“
Oh
, well, yeah… crazy man, give me the creeps,
ew
.” Agnesia exaggeratedly shivered.
Since there had been talk of margrave seeking Agnesia before the hunt, her friends didn’t find it particularly strange. However, Agnesia’s preoccupation was entirely different.
Was what the saintess said… really about marrying that stalker b*stard as part of following Orot’s equilibrium?
Agnesia couldn’t shake off the strange words of Empress Arshilla throughout the preparation for the hunting competition.
“It’s not for Orot’s followers to deny their destined place. Leakage is out of the question.”
It almost sounded as if Margrave Gotenfrid’s obsession with her was fated, and her rejection of him was akin to defying the gods. Of course, the saintess’s words were always open to interpretation, but…
Is she asking me, a priestess, to get married? And in front of the high priest and priestess, no less?
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Yet, Agnesia couldn’t pinpoint the exact nature of her unease, and she hadn’t shared this with her friends.
After 12 years of living according to Orot’s laws, even as a rebellious priestess, she couldn’t casually discuss the equilibrium. Especially when it was a topic that would undoubtedly burden her friends.
Agnesia slumped her posture and frowned deeply. “
Ah
, because of those selfish b*stards, I can’t even enjoy a walk in the Bellanyu Forest. It’s the end times, truly.”
“Hey, let’s just go head-on,” Rosalli suggested with fire in her teal eyes, a sharp contrast to her usual socialite grace that would have surprised the gentlemen who admired her.
“We have two ladies of ducal here; can’t we handle one aide from Laten? Lea, how many guards do you have?”
“Sir Deren went to the hunting competition, so I have two left.”
“I have two as well. Plus, I have this,” Rosalli brandished her ornately decorated gun, ready to defend their peace. “Let’s go! If anything, I’ll shoot them all!”
The area beyond the Platanus trees near the campsite opened up to a beautiful lake. With the men away on the hunt, women looking to enjoy the water, young couples on sweet dates, and those wanting to appreciate the lake’s scenery headed there.
The destination for the friends was a secluded spot on a hillside a bit away from the lake, perfectly chosen for its privacy. The view of the lake was clear, yet the colorful foliage of the deciduous trees offered enough cover to hide them from unwanted eyes. With the guards from Elard and Glen preventing any intrusions below, it was a peaceful spot.
“You see Eunice Jenon in a new light?”
“Right? Turns out she’s surprisingly loyal. It’s kind of cute how she’s not very straightforward.”
“Yesterday was really satisfying. Those empress’s faction ladies, they can’t even open their eyes properly one-on-one, but they stand together like penguins and chirping…”
“Hey, apologize to the penguins.”
“If it were me, I’d have just cursed them out and ended it.”
Maybe because they felt secure in a deserted place, their conversation became more and more uninhibited.
“They won’t come to the treasure hunt, right?”
“Who knows? Since the fourth prince is participating, they might show up to get in the empress’s good graces.”
“Just let them show up. I’ll pretend to shoot a rabbit and go bang!” Rosalli stretched out her hand with the pistol.
Bang!
The small sound of the lever snapping was followed by the rubber bullet hitting the tree and bouncing off. She had loaded rubber bullets to avoid accidentally hurting anyone.
“
Oh
, amazing.”
Rosalli’s eyes widened in surprise at her own shot. “Maybe I have talent. It’s actually my first time shooting here.”
“Rosi might become the champion?
Ah
, I want to go watch too.”
“
Ah
, I can’t. I have to come in first place to humiliate Pavellian.”
While the friends were all commenting on Rosalli’s shooting skills,
“What the heck is that?!” Agnesia let out an unidentifiable scream. “There, there, there’s a person…!”
A person? There was definitely no one there before. Shocked, the friends looked where Agnesia was pointing, their eyes widening in surprise.
“Oh my, gosh, oh my.”
“Did they come looking for you?”
“Isn’t he… just as bad… as the b*stard in our original work?”
Then came the hushed whispers among the friends. Their astonishment was directed at Selleana.
“But, why is that magic tool… with Lady Glen?”
“Master of Tower…?”