Chapter 70
The guards who had received the Emperor’s order were combing through the village of Ferment. The captain of the guard asked the soldiers who had just returned from patrol,
“Which place is next?”
“ABC Village.”
“Then Team A, head to the outskirts. Team B, go toward the market.”
“Yes, sir.”
At the command, the guards moved in perfect unison. They hurried toward ABC Village.
Meanwhile, Aileen and Raymond stepped into the busiest intersection of the market.
“Oh, what’s that?”
As Aileen approached a drink container spinning round and round, the guards were also drawing closer in this direction. At the guards’ pace, after just another hundred steps, the intersection would open up and they would reach the very spot where the two of them were standing.
Forty steps, thirty steps, twenty steps…
The distance steadily closed, and they were on the brink of running into each other—
Flap-flap-flap.
All at once, the birds that had been perched in a nearby tree took flight, pouring through the market in a massive swarm.
“Yikes. What is this?”
“Why are there so many birds here? We might crash into them.”
The mass migration of birds threw the entire market into chaos. Afraid of colliding with them, people ducked, dodged, and fled.
The guards reacted no differently. Eager to escape the pandemonium, they altered their route and continued straight ahead. Soon, they hurried through the intersection and completely exited the market street.
After both the guards and the birds had moved on, Aileen beamed brightly, holding the colorful drink Raymond had just bought and handed to her.
“This is really delicious and refreshing! You should try it too.”
“Where?”
As Raymond put the straw to his lips, the drink flowed into his mouth. Once her hunger was eased and her parched throat quenched, Aileen finally felt like she could breathe again. It had been a very satisfying date.
“Shall we head home now?”
“Yes.”
Aileen looked up at Raymond and nodded sweetly. Instead of holding hands, the two walked side by side with their arms and shoulders touching. But from afar, there was a presence watching them from a tree.
A high, clear cry broke off in staccato notes. From within the tree, obscured by dense leaves, two round eyes glinted eerily.
That night, after enjoying a rare daytime date.
After receiving a message from Raymond, I headed to the hideout, where I was met with bad news.
“It seems that the Emperor deployed guards into the streets today to search for the young lady.”
“What? Is that really true?”
I was startled by Melas’s report. Raymond, having heard it beforehand, wore a grim expression. I hoped it was exaggerated or false, but unfortunately, only evidence confirming the truth came back in response.
“Yes. From eavesdropping on their conversation, it seems there was an emergency order from the Emperor. They didn’t say the detailed reason, but their primary mission appeared to be finding her.”
“Why would the Emperor suddenly order them to search for Aileen?”
At Raymond’s question, we all fell into deep thought.
First of all, given that they seemed to know my schedule, it was clear they had assigned someone to tail me in advance. But why place surveillance in the first place? Ever since Raymond left Hills Village, we had mostly been meeting at night, so there shouldn’t have been any particular reason to get caught on their radar…
As I searched my memory, something suddenly struck me, and I snapped my head up.
“Ah! Could it have been that day?”
“Do you have something in mind?”
As I brought my clenched fists together, Raymond asked.
“We met during the day two weeks ago, didn’t we? I went to a shop to pick up the essence I’d wrapped as a gift for the Night Watch. Could it be that they saw us then?”
“I see. So that’s when we were spotted.”
“If that’s true, it’s a serious problem. It would mean they’ve begun to suspect the relationship between His Grace the Grand Duke and the young lady.”
Melas was right. Although the guards were ordered to search for me, the hidden mission may have been to catch the Grand Duke and me together.
Had we been careless all this time? It seemed mere disguises had not been enough.
There was one more puzzling point.
“Then why didn’t they find us? Even if they didn’t search thoroughly, they should have spotted us easily.”
“Hm. That is indeed strange.”
“Right?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, Raymond stroked his chin in agreement.
We had been walking around quite openly and at ease—under circumstances where the guards could have found us at any time. Yet they had failed to notice each other’s presence at all. It was uncanny.
“Indeed. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but in any case, it’s fortunate we weren’t discovered. From now on, you must be even more careful.”
“Of course.”
“Understood.”
At Melas’s admonition, we nodded firmly in agreement.
As time passed, Helena hosted a tea party. Along with the Grand Duke, she also invited me, whom she introduced as her close friend, as a stepping stone to win him over.
There was one rule at parties held by the House of Count Kitten: invited young ladies were not allowed to wear pink dresses. The reason was simple—because the hostess had to wear it.
Helena always wore pink. She was clearly deeply attached to that color. So today, I chose a green dress.
When I opened the invitation, there was a request asking me to arrive about ten minutes early. Following her request, I arrived at the House of Count Kitten a little ahead of time, and when Helena spotted me, she hurried over.
“Lady Cowett. Come over here!”
She then pulled me into a corner and whispered in a low voice, as if plotting so others wouldn’t hear.
“His Grace the Grand Duke replied that he will be attending the tea party today.”
“Yes.”
“So, please help set the mood beside us. You know, so His Grace and I can form a good atmosphere.”
“Ah…”
“You haven’t forgotten that you said you’d help me, right? You really need to do your best.”
Helena even clenched her fist and made a little fighting gesture.
Excuse me—when did I ever say I’d help you?
Without sparing a thought for anyone else’s intentions, she poured out what she wanted to say and disappeared.
Soon, the invited ladies began to arrive one by one, and the garden quickly filled up. Just as the once-chilly atmosphere was starting to warm, faint cheers began to rise near the entrance. When I glanced over, I saw something shining like a star stepping down from a carriage.
“He’s here!”
Helena, who had been alert like a meerkat with her ears pricked, scurried toward the entrance. One of her arms was tightly holding onto mine.
“Your Grace the Grand Duke. Welcome. Thank you for accepting the invitation.”
Reaching the carriage, she greeted him with a pretty smile. It seemed she had truly prepared herself today, and her carefully styled appearance suited her well enough.
But still—my ultimate favorite. No matter from the front or the back, this man was dazzlingly handsome with nothing more than a neatly pressed uniform. In the face of Raymond’s splendor, all the ladies wilted like limp lettuce.
I stared at him blankly, forgetting even to greet him. I doubt anyone else was much different.
Raymond glanced over Helena, then looked down at me. Perhaps my half-open mouth and flushed cheeks amused him. He covered his upturned lips with his fist and cleared his throat. His face looked slightly flushed as well.
“Ahem. Will Lady Cowett not greet me?”
“Ah! I’m sorry. Greetings, Your Grace the Grand Duke.”
I snapped out of it and hurriedly offered my greeting.
“Yes. It’s good to see you as well.”
Whom was he addressing? After saying that to us, Raymond walked inside.
Helena guided him toward our table. She sat across from him so her appearance would be clearly visible, and I took the seat beside her.
Once everyone was seated, the maids approached, tilted their teapots to fill the cups, and then withdrew. After Raymond took a sip of tea and set the cup down, Helena quickly struck up a conversation.
“How is the aroma of the tea? Does it suit your taste?”
“Hm. It’s decent.”
“Oh my, that’s a relief. It was specially procured from the distant Grand Kingdom. Precious things suit precious people, you know. Hoho.”
She tried every way she could to win his favor. But when she didn’t get much of a response, she seemed to grow anxious and shot me a meaningful look.
Huh? What am I supposed to do?
Her demand to “set the mood” had been completely one-sided, and on top of that, I didn’t even know how to do such a thing, which made it all the more awkward. After thinking briefly, I gave up and blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Your Grace.”
When I called out, the attention of Raymond and everyone around turned to me.
“You’re wearing a deep green uniform today. You look wonderful. You must have put some thought into it since you’re attending this tea party.”
I decided to compliment Raymond’s appearance, which looked especially striking today.
The key point for setting the mood was the part about having put thought into it! Helena, liking my remark, looked at the Grand Duke with hopeful eyes.
“Yes. You’re wearing green as well, Lady. What a coincidence.”
“Oh, you’re right. Haha.”
However, Raymond interpreted it in a completely unexpected way.
That wasn’t what I was trying to point out. Still, finding a commonality made me happy, yet awkward because I had failed to set the mood. I continued, trying to change the subject.
“You must like green.”
“Not particularly. I just wore what was given to me.”
“Then what color do you prefer, Your Grace?”
“I like pink.”
Raymond said this while looking straight at me. His eyes, as he gazed at me, were tinged with pink. It was hard to look away from that pure, beautiful hue within them, like cherry blossom petals falling onto the sea. It felt as though I might be helplessly drawn into the waves, enchanted like someone lured by a sea witch.
“And you, Lady?”
“I…”
Just as I parted my lips to answer, a loud crash—like a plate shattering—suddenly rang out from beside us.
