Chapter 76 - Letter
"Lady Opal! What should we do!?"
"It’s all right, Nadia. I’ll write the letters just as they say."
"But…"
"Don’t worry. Nothing will change just because I plead with them in a letter. The Sosylle Kingdom won’t go out of its way for the Taisey Kingdom. That was true eight years ago, wasn’t it? Neither my father nor Duke McLeod will do anything for the Taisey Kingdom."
"That’s a complicated feeling. When your life is on the line…"
Opal answered the worried Nadia calmly. In response, Nadia puffed out her cheeks with dissatisfaction. The sight was so endearing that Opal let out a small laugh. Being with Nadia truly lifted her spirits. She was almost grateful to Julian for letting them share a room.
"This is no laughing matter. Your acting was so incredible, if I hadn’t known what really happened that night, I’m sure I would have burst into tears."
Nadia laughed as well, despite her complaints. They giggled together for a moment before Nadia’s expression suddenly clouded over.
"But will everything truly be all right? We know your husband is safe, but what about the Royal Capital… Is His Majesty the King safe?"
"You’re right. The worries are endless, but we have to believe everything will be fine. Besides, their information is already wrong, isn’t it? Claude was supposed to have been killed by bandits, yet here he is. Everyone is doing what they must, so I have to do my part as well."
After encouraging Nadia, Opal turned to the desk. Her father and Hubert certainly would not dream of interfering in another country’s internal affairs, even without a pleading letter from her. So she composed the letter just as Cole had wished. Nadia sat by the window and began mending one of Opal’s dresses.
After signing the letter to her father, Opal paused to think. If she were in Alessandro’s position, what would her next move be? He had almost certainly received intelligence about the coordinated uprising. In fact, it was impossible that a man as cunning as Alessandro would be unaware of something on this scale. It was stranger that the Anti-Royalist Faction hadn't realized this.
It seems victory goes not to the one with more funds or forces, but to the one who controls the information.
She remembered that Claude owned a newspaper company. Alessandro had probably secured control over other media outlets as well.
The public will likely side with His Majesty. The problem is some of the central nobility and the people of Boccelli Duchy.
Ostensibly, the nobles of the anti-Alessandro faction had been purged, but there was no telling how many were latent among the neutral parties. Above all, she didn't know how the people of the duchy, which had been a stronghold for the anti-Alessandro faction during the civil war eight years ago, would act. At that time, the Duke of Boccelli, as the head of the faction, had swept up the populace without question, though no actual battles were fought there. Now, however, the lord had changed. Would the others besides Connally, the servants who had been kind to her at the estate and the administrator Duncan, fight for the anti-Alessandro faction? Duncan didn't trust Opal, but there was no doubt he cared deeply for that land and its people.
And is Claude safe, I wonder…
Human Claude seemed to be fine for now, but she started to worry about Dog Claude. The servants were fond of him, but Connally detested him.
No, he’s surely fine. As long as he stays out of Connally’s sight, he shouldn’t be bothered.
The servants would surely hide him. Even Duncan had been fond of Dog Claude. Then again, Duncan probably had bigger things to worry about.
Duncan would never allow that land to become a battlefield. But he seemed to respect the previous duke, and he was obedient to Connally…
Duncan had a rugged and stern demeanor, but he was deeply trusted by the people of the fief. Even if Opal was the one who introduced the scythe, she could not lead the people while ignoring Duncan. As Opal was thinking this over with a hmmm, she heard the pat sound of a thread being cut.
"My lady, it’s finished!"
"Nadia?"
"Ta-da! Trousers, exclusively for my tomboy mistress!"
"…Excuse me?"
Opal couldn’t comprehend what Nadia, who had stood up and was happily displaying something that looked like trousers, meant. All this time since they’d been locked in the attic room, Opal had thought Nadia was mending her dresses when she wasn’t attending to her. Apparently, she was wrong. Thinking back, there was no way Opal’s dresses had enough damage to require so much time to mend.
"Um… tomboy mistress… no, what do you mean, trousers?"
"Ehehe. I heard from Marcia-san. She said when you were a child, you were always climbing trees and tearing your dresses."
"Ah, yes."
"She said that was a problem, but what was worse was you climbing trees or running and tumbling in a skirt. When she cautioned you about it, you started secretly wearing your brother’s trousers under your skirt. Then you said, ‘There shouldn’t be a problem now, right?’"
"…That did happen, didn’t it."
Opal averted her gaze from Nadia, who was enthusiastically recounting this piece of her embarrassing past. Unaware of Opal’s reaction, Nadia continued with confidence.
"So, when you and your husband make your lovers’ escape, you might be worried about your skirt, right? But if you wear these trousers underneath, you won’t have to worry even if it flips up."
"…Right."
In such a desperate situation, she wouldn't have time to worry about her skirt flipping up, but Nadia must have given it some thought in her own way. Still, it was a little strange to think that Nadia considered her a tomboy even at this age. Besides, it wasn't a lovers' escape. To put it plainly, it was a flight for their lives.
"…Well then, I’ll start wearing those trousers tomorrow."
"Yes!"
Opal had no objection to wearing trousers, so she decided to use them starting the next day. Nadia replied happily. Opal would probably be taken from here back to Pasma Port or the estate, and there would likely be a chance to escape. The trousers might prove useful then. However, she could not afford to make a mistake in judging whether to flee meekly or to comply.
If the Anti-Royalist Faction’s uprising happened in the Royal Capital, and it surely would, how would Alessandro react? The fact that Cole believed the story about Claude being killed by bandits meant such a plan had existed. What was the person capable of attacking Claude under the guise of bandits doing now? While pondering these various things, Opal sealed the letters to her father and Duke McLeod.