"I wonder where that woman might be"

Accompanying Father, I entered the Royal Palace for the first time in a while.
I was searching for a woman.

It"s been a few months since the engagement and marriage announcement of the Crown Prince of this country, Lord Friedrich.
His partner is a young lady of the preeminent Vivoir ducal house, Lady Lidiana. For a long time, her name had been on top of the list of his fiancée candidates.
Father was also convinced by the too natural outcome. If it had to be Vivoir ducal house anyway, I wish it had been announced sooner, he complained bitterly. There"s no way you could win against that house, he said.
But, I couldn"t agree to what I was told.
There are many young ladies longing for Crown Prince. If a young lady belongs to a house with a certain court rank, there"s a high chance she"s dreamed of perhaps being chosen as Princess Consort.
Of course, I"m one of them.
Born as the second daughter of a count, ever since I first saw him, I"ve harbored faint love for Crown Prince.
With blond hair and blue eyes, Crown Prince is beautiful. Young ladies who hope to be loved by him are endless. Hoping to be chosen before Crown Prince"s fiancée was decided, young ladies had postponed their engagements.
Despite this, ultimately without any surprises or unexpected twists, as if predetermined he easily decided on a young lady.
The engagement announcement was immediately followed by the engagement ceremony. Crown Prince dignifiedly declared he won"t take a concubine.
There should also be women who would accept being a concubine if it meant staying at that Crown Prince"s side, surely they must be disappointed by those words.
And speaking of Duke Vivoir"s daughter who monopolized Crown Prince, the rumors of her feebleness go around, she"s a woman who rarely goes out to socialize.
… Such a woman stole Crown Prince.
Undoubtedly, she forcibly concluded the engagement with the power of the Vivoir ducal house.
Poor Crown Prince. I found comfort in that thought.
And yet the rumors that started coming after a short while were unbelievable for us.

Crown Prince is infatuated with his fiancée――――.

Suddenly told that, I couldn"t believe it.
It was natural, since I thought it was a marriage of convenience.
But when in doubt I partic.i.p.ated in the victory celebration party, and afterwards saw them standing together during the evening party, I understood, even if I hated it.
Above all else, Crown Prince"s expression was different. As he directed sweet expression, that he had never showed to anyone until then, towards his fiancée, he looked in love.
And as if to prove this engagement won"t be overturned no matter what, the King"s Flower was in full bloom on her chest. I felt it was the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

Even though there"s still time until the marriage ceremony, she"s already been recognized as Crown Prince"s Princess Consort.
The number of young ladies that collapsed in shock at that sigh cannot be counted on one hand.
As for me, I thought I want to say few words to her no matter what.
It"s already been decided. That can"t be helped. Still, I won"t be able to settle down if I don"t say something to the duke"s daughter who stole hopes and dreams from all unmarried young ladies. So I thought.
That"s why, today I unreasonably asked Father to come with him to the castle…
That young lady seems to be staying in the Royal Palace since a week ago. In that case, hoping to meet her somewhere I loitered around, but it wasn"t going well.
Time only pa.s.sed wastefully, like this I was anxious I"d go home without doing anything.
Totally troubled, as a last resort I called out to a court lady walking nearby.
I thought it"d be hopeless if I don"t do something.

"You there"
"Yes"

Turning her head, the court lady noticed me, and taking a step back bowed. I stated only my business.

"Listen, have you by chance happened to see Lady Lidiana around here? She is in the Royal Palace, right? I would like to offer her few words of greeting"

The court lady"s eyebrows as I spoke to her twitched.

"Princess Consort… is it?"
"… Yeah"

Not wanting to use that t.i.tle, I called her by her name on purpose, and yet as if she understood that feeling, the court lady rephrased it as Princess Consort.
Still, when I somehow nodded, the court lady raised her face and clearly said.

"Princess Consort is staying in the royalty quarter, she hardly comes to the general area. Besides, right now she"s supposed to be with His Highness, it"s not recommended to bother them"
"I… I see"

Told so clearly I would incur His Highness"s displeasure, I become lost for words.
As I faltered, the court lady smiled a little and further informed me.

"His Highness already favors Princess Consort. Were they to be disturbed, I wonder what would happen. I recommend leaving for today"
"… You"re right"
"Well then. I have work, so with this I shall excuse myself"

I wonder if it"s my misunderstanding that the instant the court lady pa.s.sed by after saying that, I felt her smile scornfully. Someone like you shouldn"t approach those two, I felt her restrain me.

"She"s just a court lady, yet how impertinent she is… Ara?"

I got angry by the court lady"s att.i.tude, but I can"t do anything about it. It"s not like she"s done anything direct. As I was indignantly looking at her back, a man I"m acquainted with happened to pa.s.s by.

"Hey… Wait! Geese"
"Eh…. Ah, it"s Milady"

The man who turned his head towards my voice was a still young cook who had worked in my residence"s kitchen until last year. Because he was an excellent cook, he received an invitation from the castle and decided to transfer there.
Recalling he"d been under my care a lot until now, I"ve decided to use this man.

"Hey, I have a little request"
"Request, is it? Milady has one for me?"

Without concealing his annoyed att.i.tude, Geese came here, and prefacing with I"m busy, breathed a sigh in front of me.

"I have nothing but an unpleasant premonition. Until now, Milady has never requested anything decent of me, right?"
"I don"t mean to ask for something particularly important. It"s just that I want to have a cookie with medicine put in prepared"
"… Does Milady want me to become a criminal"

As Geese"s eyes glazed, fl.u.s.tered I explained it"s not such a severe thing.

"Don"t worry, it"s not something so extreme. It"s just a prank. I just thought of upsetting stomach a little"
"Haa… Again, huh. How many times must I say it for Milady to understand? There"s no way a cook would prepare that. Is Milady making fun of me"
"It"s not my intention"
"Who in the world do you intend to use it on this time? Isn"t it fine to challenge them fair and square without doing such things"

As Geese spoke in exasperation, Because…, so I mumbled.

"Even I do not think it will go so smoothly. But, the other party is Lady Lidiana. Normally I could never hand it to her. If it"s mixed with a gift, perhaps there"s a chance she"d eat it"
"… You intend to hand it to Mast… Princess Consort, is that right"

Although I was suspicious of Geese"s tone of voice suddenly changing, I nodded.

"Ye… yeah"
"So you intended to have me make something that she"d eat… moreover that something would contain medicine!! Unbelievable… Milady, because I"m indebted to you for everything until now, I"ll pretend I haven"t heard anything. However, there won"t be a second time. Next time, supposing you think of doing something to Mast… Princess Consort… please consider every cook in the kitchen your enemy"
"Eh… why"

While I was perplexed, not understanding why Geese suddenly snapped at me, he scowled at me. And, Do you understand? he emphasized in a scary voice.
Overwhelmed by his terribly frightening att.i.tude, I simply nodded.

"It"s fine if you understand. However, I meant what I said just now. Supposing you think of taking action, think about it carefully by yourself"

Please never talk to me again.
Saying so, Geese walked away without turning back. I have no idea why Geese got angry. But, at least I understood he won"t cooperate.

"What"s with that… Useless. Very well, jeez"

It was a mistake to attempt to rely on such a man. Thinking so, I thought of different measures, when several royal guards pa.s.sed by before me.

"Oi! Haven"t you seen Princess Consort?"
"Haven"t seen her here. Is it true she sneaked out of her room?"
"It is. His Highness is searching for her now.  We"ve been ordered to find her no matter what"
"She fled again, huh. I"ve said to not take your eyes off her and yet"
"Even if you say that, there was no sign of the door opening! Really, how does that lady slip out of the room every single time"
"No idea! Wasn"t she with His Highness"
"It seems she took the opportunity while His Highness went outside for an official business. She seems to be somewhere inside the castle, so search every nook and cranny!!"

… What a timely topic.
Apparently these soldiers are searching for her.
Hoping for some hint, I called out to one of them.

"Hey, are you perhaps looking for Lady Lidiana?"
"Do you know where she is!?"

As he drew close with incredible vigor, I reflexively took a step back.
Seeing my frightened behavior, the man who seems to be a royal guard nodded with Ah, and changed his att.i.tude a little.

"Young lady. Supposing you know Princess Consort"s whereabouts, I want you to tell us by all means"
"… It"s not like I particularly know. I just have business with her as well"

When I said that, the man looked at me with suspicion. I got irritated by his att.i.tude as he unashamedly said "You do?"

"What is it, is it perhaps strange I have business with Lady Lidiana"
"I haven"t said anything like that. But, young lady doesn"t appear to be a friend of hers. It"s unthinkable, but if you"re searching for Princess Consort to tell her something unnecessary, I implore you leave in haste. You will only incur His Highness"s displeasure in vain"
"His Highness"s…"
"Are you unaware His Highness exceedingly favors Princess Consort. If something happened to Princess Consort, we would suffer. Please don"t do anything uncalled for. Okay?"
"… I understand"

As he glared at me, I gave a small answer.
The knight looked at me suspiciously, even so as his fellow soldiers called out to him to not waste time, he rushed there.
Seeing him off, I breathed out.

"Everybody goes all Princess Consort Princess Consort… What"s with that woman!"

I got irritated. It"s as if everybody in the castle approves and welcomes her as the princess consort.
It"s unthinkable att.i.tude towards a woman who"s only a partner in a marriage of convenience.

"Aah, I"m angry"

My anger welled up. With this feeling I kept walking towards the inner part of the castle. I"m almost at the royalty quarter. I don"t expect to enter there, and I"m not thinking of that. I understand it"d be a crime, I only want to observe a little from distance.
Even if we don"t meet, as long as I spit abuse at that woman in my mind thinking she"s there, I"ll be able to give up.
I thought so, but when on the way to the royalty quarter I saw a woman coming this way, my feet stopped.
She"s a beautiful woman with unusual violet eyes and light brown long straight hair. Her limbs are remarkably thin… Above all, on her chest engraved is the blue rose of the King"s Flower.

"I found you, Lady Lidiana…"

Author"s note

Court ladies → "These two are lovey-dovey! We won"t let anybody disturb them"
Soldiers → "For His Highness"s sake (and for our own sake) we won"t let Princess Consort get away!"
Cooks → "The loss of Master is the loss of a treasure! We"ll absolutely see His Highness"s marriage through!"
Father → "A… Anyway, I want to finish the ceremony quickly… My stomach hurts…"

For the above-mentioned reasons, those who seem like they"d disturb Lidi and Freed can hardly ever approach. As soon as they"re discovered, they"re promptly eliminated forcibly (lol).