Chapter 188

Jingle, jingle.

I tried shaking the doorbell, but there was no response.

At the very least, one of the servants should have come out to see who was visiting… Had they all gone out together somewhere?

That didn’t seem likely.

Even if Isola Palace stood somewhat apart from the attention of those in the royal capital, the entire city was now steeped in mourning.

Wasn’t this precisely the time when one ought to be especially careful even with the smallest behavior?

Then there was only one possibility.

That something had happened.

Spreading out my mana field to examine the inside of the residence, I decided to open the door and enter at once.

Because I sensed only a single living presence within Isola Palace.

Bang.

Since no one was there, there was no issue with letting myself in.

I strode down the corridor and headed straight for the southern room on the second floor.

The only place where I sensed a living presence….it was Princess Estelle’s bedroom.

Knock, knock.

“Your Highness, are you inside?”

I heard a rustling sound from within.

And faint sobbing as well.

“It’s Winter Winslet.”

“Baron?”

A reply came.

A hoarse voice, yet unmistakably Princess Estelle’s.

That voice said,

“Please save me.”

“How may I assist you?”

“I can’t get out of this room. No matter how much I try to open the door, it won’t budge.”

I took a step back and examined the bedroom door.

Invisible mana was coiling between the door and its frame like a serpent.

It was a locking spell used to seal doors or the lids of chests.

It was a low-level spell, but to those who could not use magic, it was nothing short of an unbreakable cheat.

I wrapped mana around my index and middle fingers, placed them against the crack of the door, and drew them downward in a straight vertical line.

Ssszzz!

With the sound of something burning away, the door flew open.

“Ah!”

Perhaps she had been leaning against it, Princess Estelle tumbled forward along with the door.

I barely managed to catch her as she was about to fall.

“Are you all right?”

“It really opened. That easily… No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t budge.”

Her hands were covered in wounds.

They were traces of her struggle against the unyielding door.

“Were you locked in?”

“Since this morning.”

I wanted to ask what on earth had happened, but Estelle did not look well.

Tear tracks had dried around her eyes, and her lips were pale. She seemed dehydrated.

“For now, it would be best for you to calm down and rest. Please sit here for a moment. I’ll go to the kitchen and find you something to drink.”

“No. Let’s go outside. I don’t want to sit in this room for even a moment longer. Not just this room; this residence… no, I don’t want to stay anywhere in the royal palace.”

The princess began to walk unsteadily.

It fell to me to support her, lest she collapse.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for showing you such a disgraceful sight.”

“Could you tell me what happened?”

“After my morning walk, I suddenly felt drowsy and took a nap. When I woke up, there was no one around me. No one came even when I called for them. Sensing that something was wrong, I tried to go outside… and that’s when I realized it. That I had been locked inside the room.”

Since she said it had been since morning, that meant the princess had been trapped here alone for nearly half a day.

“The thing that was preventing the bedroom door from opening….it was magic.”

“I thought as much. No matter how hard I slammed into it, it wouldn’t budge, which I found strange. I even tried to break the window and escape, but it was as if an invisible wall was blocking it….it just bounced me back. All I managed to do was break one of my favorite chairs.”

It was hard to imagine the always-composed princess lifting a chair upside down and smashing it against a window.

She must have been truly desperate.

“By the way, where is Josephine?”

Whoever had cast magic on the princess’s bedroom, they would not have dared such a trick if Josephine had been standing guard.

And it had been Josephine’s signal that summoned me here in the first place, so it was strange that she was nowhere to be seen.

Estelle answered,

“She was called to the Royal Guard headquarters. That was before I fell asleep.”

“You mean they pulled a knight away from her escort duty?”

“Well… because of the bombing incident, they said they were reinforcing security at the palace. During that process, personnel were reassigned.”

Even so, leaving the palace where a princess resided unguarded made no sense.

Wasn’t the very reason for strengthening security to protect the royal family from any further possible attacks?

“There are too many suspicious points.”

“Josephine must have thought so too. She said she would meet the captain of the Royal Guard and demand an explanation. But she never returned.”

“Still, Josephine fulfilled her duty to Your Highness.”

“…Huh?”

“Look at this.”

I pointed to the miniature palace displayed in the corridor outside the princess’s bedroom.

It was the gift I had brought her last time.

“There is a small device hidden within this model palace. If you open the window of the southern room here, it sends a signal to me.”

And that window was open now.

Josephine must have opened it before being summoned to the Royal Guard headquarters.

“Because of this, I was able to come here and rescue Your Highness.”

“Josephine saved me. And you as well, Baron. Thank you….truly.”

“I merely did what had to be done. More importantly, what happened today at Isola Palace is far too suspicious to simply overlook.”

On the very day the escort knight was absent, someone disappeared from the palace where the princess was staying.

And someone had cast magic on the princess’s bedroom.

From all of this, I could sense someone’s influence behind the scenes.

“As for who did this… I don’t think I need to think too deeply about it.”

“Queen Bridget?”

“Without a doubt. She has always enjoyed frightening me like this. But this time, the joke has gone too far.”

Well.

If I hadn’t come, I couldn’t help but wonder whether today’s incident would really have ended as mere “intimidation”.

With the king and the prince in critical condition, if they were to pass away, Estelle would rise to first in the line of succession.

Locking the princess in her room seemed like preparation for something even worse.

“In any case, this place does not seem safe. It would be best for you to stay somewhere else for the time being. At the very least, somewhere outside the royal palace.”

“You’re right, Baron. But… where would be safe?”

Estelle looked up at me with a subtly hopeful gaze.

For a princess who had spent her entire life practically confined within the palace, it was only natural that she had no acquaintances who could offer her a place to hide.

At first, I considered suggesting that she stay at a hotel in the city, but then it occurred to me that it would be far too conspicuous.

Queen Bridget’s eyes would surely be watching all across the capital; walking straight into the tiger’s jaws would not be wise.

Then what about the outskirts?

It would certainly attract less attention there, but the problem was securing a trustworthy safe house.

Rose Blye’s apartment immediately came to mind, but if I used that place, I had no confidence in how I would later explain it to Josephine when she came looking.

In that case, it couldn’t be helped.

It seemed the answer had been decided from the start.

“How about coming to my house?”

“To the Baron’s house?”

Estelle’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The official residence at the Academy. It’s rather modest, so you may find it unsuitable……”

“Okay.”

The answer came as if she had been waiting for it.

“Please, hear me out. There are still some concerns I haven’t explained yet—”

“No, I think it will be fine there. I’ll be in your care.”

The princess quickly accepted, as though afraid I might change my mind.

A moment later, Estelle added,

“By the way, I’m worried about Josephine. I wonder what situation she’s in right now… If she comes back and I’m not here, she’ll be concerned. What should we do?”

“I will try to get in contact with her later.”

“You would do that for me?”

“On my way here, I saw that the entire Royal Guard was participating in security at the royal castle. Josephine is probably carrying out guard duty somewhere in the castle by now.”

“I hope nothing has happened to her.”

***

When the sun had set and the sky had grown completely dark, Josephine opened her eyes in a cold prison cell.

The place where she was confined was a jail beneath the Royal Guard headquarters, built to discipline those who violated military law.

Josephine’s charge was insubordination.

She had confronted Donau, the captain of the Royal Guard, over the dismissal of Princess Estelle’s escort duty, and had been imprisoned as a result.

– Please reconsider. Princess Estelle is still suffering from the fear of assassination. What do you think will happen if you withdraw her escort?

– Do you know how much time has passed since you were assigned as Princess Estelle’s escort? It has already been two months. That is far too long. It goes against protocol. The Royal Guard is a shield that protects the royal family, not a private army for any one individual.

– Then will you assign someone to take over Princess Estelle’s protection after me? Who will that be?

– That is… Listen, Josephine.

– Please speak.

– Do not question decisions made by those above. That is not your place. You have always done well until now, haven’t you?

A soldier obeys orders.

That was true.

And Josephine herself agreed with that principle.

As the captain of the Candela Knights, she had always carried out missions assigned by the royal family without hesitation.

But this time, she did not want to.

She had a premonition that she must not.

– No.

As the price for that answer, Josephine was imprisoned and cut off from the outside world.

– Is Her Highness safe? I left the window of the model palace open just in case…

Her fiancé Winter had promised that if she opened the window of the model palace, he would come to her. If that promise was real, then at least she had put a minimal safeguard in place.

Still, she would not be at ease until she confirmed the princess’s safety with her own eyes.

Josephine rose to her feet.

Then she broke free from the handcuffs and chains fastened around her wrists and cast them aside.

Clatter!

Josephine had allowed herself to be imprisoned so readily because she was confident she could escape.

This Royal Guard-only prison that was used almost exclusively for disciplining subordinates had lax facilities and not even a guard stationed there.

Captain Donau himself kept the key, and when he had locked Josephine up, he had clearly looked annoyed at the trouble of coming and going. It was fair to say there was virtually no security at all.

Sir Donau said he would release me tomorrow, but I should go out and confirm things now.

She only needed to slip out unnoticed, make sure nothing had happened to the princess, and then return.

It probably isn’t the case, but if by any chance something has happened…

Josephine’s movements quickened.

Click.

Using a lockpick she kept hidden in her shoe, she opened the prison door.

It was one of the tools she carried for the activities of the Candela Knights.

The moment she stepped out of the cell, Josephine concealed herself in the darkness and ran, soon arriving at Isola Palace.

What awaited her there was a darkened Isola Palace, the princess’s bedroom door wide open—

—and faint traces of blood staining the area around the doorway.