329 - Hearing on the Divine King-sama's Abduction Incident
Alf's mother's name was, if I recall correctly, Clarice. I remember she brought a report summarizing the queen's symptoms. For being Alf's mother, she had rather ordinary features, but the way she exuded a naturally calming atmosphere was fitting of Alf's mother, I suppose. Or perhaps it was because she had worked as a wet nurse. For someone like me who had a nurse maid assigned to me, the presence of a woman who worked in the similar profession of wet nurse was reassuring.
"In any case, I must report Christina-sama's safety to Christoph-sama... ah, but before that, I must also confirm the Seat of Spirits..."
After confirming my face by lantern light, Clarice's flustered state was almost pitiful to behold. She turned to go deliver the news first, then realized she had forgotten me and came back, took my hand, then noticed the Seat of Spirits behind me. Clarice, who had apparently originally come to the Seat of Spirits on business, remembered her errand and started to enter the Seat of Spirits to take care of it first, then reconsidered that reporting my safety ought to come first, and fell into a spiral.
"Clarice-san, please calm down."
"It is Clarice. Christina young lady."
I added '-san' as I normally would and got scolded. Between a lady's maid and a guest of the royal castle, the guest, that is I, was of higher status. As the mistress of the detached palace, I should probably have called her 'Clarice.'
...Well, never mind. It seemed Clarice-san had calmed down too.
By focusing her attention on me, she seemed to have regained her composure. The flustered atmosphere had vanished.
"Clarice, what business did you have at the Seat of Spirits?"
Let us start by solving the problem, I prompted her to continue. If Clarice was confused on her own, we could think about it together.
"I came to clean up the items that were brought to the Seat of Spirits..."
She lowered her voice and recalled the liquor and such. I had heard from Christoph last year at the Recollection Festival too. The snacks and liquor stored in the hidden door behind the pedestal were cleaned up afterward. Clarice had probably come to secretly clean those up. I imagine she had been acting alone for that purpose.
"Cleaning up is important."
"Yes, but... I should first report that Christina-sama has been secured."
As Clarice straightened her spine and said, "Let us go," I stopped her. I thought it would be best to promptly report the safety of someone who was missing, but considering what came after, there was something that might be better to take care of first.
"Um, I was locked in the Seat of Spirits for a while... and I got hungry, so I ate the snacks from inside the hidden door."
"Those were prepared for Christina-sama, so there is no issue with you eating them, young lady."
"No, I was eating near the door."
Since I had stationed myself near the door hoping someone would open it if they approached, snack boxes and juice jars had been left there. If I left them like that, starting next year it would be harder for Christoph to bring snacks and liquor for the rites. If I, having been missing, was found in the Seat of Spirits, knights might enter to conduct some investigation and discover the abandoned snack boxes and such. When I conveyed that, Clarice chose to clean up the Seat of Spirits for now. Just like last year, she put the small bags of baked sweets into my clothes and hid the juice jars in the hidden door behind the pedestal. She did a quick check to see if there was anything else left out, and tidied up to a level she deemed acceptable. She would need to come collect it all again later, but that could not be helped this time.
"Then Christina-sama, would you please come with me?"
"Yes."
Clarice held out her hand, so I placed my own on top of it. Perhaps because I had been locked in a dark room for so many hours, the childish act of walking hand in hand was oddly calming.
A White Knight we encountered while walking through the corridor was entrusted with a message that I had been found, and the knight headed for the detached palace, which had become the search headquarters. That should have taken care of the minimum response. I had a feeling a large-scale search might be underway by now, but that should settle down too.
"Huh?"
I spotted two round white dots in the darkness ahead of the corridor and stopped in my tracks. As I stared at the white dots, Kokumaro and Giselle emerged from the darkness.
"Maroo~"
I lowered my hips and spread my arms, calling to him. Kokumaro rushed toward me with tremendous speed, and Giselle at the end of the leash was being dragged along.
"Christina... young lady, found... you... ah..."
In a state far from the elegance befitting a noble young lady, Giselle caught her breath through her shoulders. Her hair had twigs and leaves stuck here and there, so Kokumaro had probably chosen a terrible path to come this way.
"How did you find me here, Giselle?"
"I recalled that Ms. Hermine once said that when Christina young lady was taken by spirits before, Kokumaro was the first to station himself in front of the hearth."
Even when she tried to have Kokumaro search for me, he had not moved at all until evening, but apparently he suddenly started listening at night. Considering the timing, Kokumaro probably decided to move around the time I was thrown into the Seat of Spirits. Incidentally, Hermine was reportedly in front of the hearth, thinking I might come back through it again. Not only Hermine, but the lady's maids and maids excluding Solana were also keeping watch at the hearths in each room. Solana was apparently being sent to various places as Alfred's hands and feet. She was probably the one moving the most, in terms of physical exertion.
"Just to check, did Henrieta say anything?"
"Felicia-sama? If you mean Felicia-sama, she is with Alfred-sama..."
"No, I mean Felicia-sama's pet horned owl. I thought the horned owl Henrieta was supposed to pass along a message that there was nothing to worry about..."
The Divine King had said he would ask the horned owl to deliver a message, but perhaps no one had heard anything. When I asked Giselle about it in puzzlement, I was interrupted not by Giselle but by Clarice.
"Christina young lady, how would a horned owl convey words to us humans?"
"...That is true."
...I had thought about that a little, but since the Divine King-sama said it, I thought maybe there was some way, you know?
This would make me seem like a fairy-tale thinking child who believes animals can talk to humans. That was a little embarrassing, but I already talk to Kokumaro and Black Dog Oscar all the time anyway, so it might be too late for that now. I am the type of person who talks to animals quite a bit.
...Divine King-sama, I guess animals really cannot deliver messages after all.
It seemed that my safety had been conveyed to Black Dog and Kokumaro, but it had not gotten through to humans at all. The guard dogs seemed to have been relaxing, thinking there was no need to worry about me, but we humans, who cannot understand spirit speech or animal speech, had indeed been making a huge fuss over my sudden disappearance.
"Will I get scolded when I go back to the detached palace? Huh? But this time it was not my fault, you know?"
"As for whose fault it was, please explain that in detail before Christoph-sama."
...Ah, it felt like I had let something slip.
Clarice smiled brightly and grabbed both my shoulders. Feeling a determination that said she would not let me escape anywhere, I got the sense that I was being escorted, or rather, taken into custody, back to my guardians.
...Leo, come home soon.
If Leonardo were by my side, I could pretend to cling to him and hide behind his back while pretending to have lost to drowsiness and falling asleep, and I think Leonardo would handle the aftermath. Unfortunately, Leonardo was far away at the Lugmilama Fortress. He could not be my shield. Though it was unavoidable, I had to handle the hearing on the commotion I had caused myself.
First, I had to show them I was unharmed, so I was led to the reception room of the castle and seated in a chair. Feeling the atmosphere of being thoroughly scolded, I wanted to look for a place to hide in the room, but I sat up straight as a lady. If I hid any more today, I would really get scolded, no doubt.
Since this was the king's castle, the first person to appear was Christoph. With a calm voice, he said only one thing. "I was worried." That single word struck home in a way. Feeling sorry, I felt ashamed of myself for wanting to hide behind Leonardo's back. Since I had caused worry, I should be the one to deal with the people I had troubled.
"According to Clarice's report, it seems someone abducted you..."
"Rather than abducted, it seems the spirits and the Divine King-sama hid me away."
I explained to Christoph that when I was bewildered by the quarrel between Alfred and the man from Menhishumi Church, the spirits hid me away intending to help me. The result was that I caused trouble for the people here, but the spirits meant no harm.
"It seems the spirits and the Divine King-sama do not think it good for the Spirit's Favored Child to be used as convenient for the people of this world."
"I am aware of that. That is precisely why we only request the Spirit's Favored Child's participation in the rites, and never force it. As for this incident as well, Alfred, who understands that Christina is timid by nature, had refused in advance, saying she would dislike participating in the rites with unfamiliar people from the capital's Menhishumi Church."
"Alfred-sama's judgment gets a perfect score from me. I have no complaints whatsoever."
It was a little frightening how well he understood me as a person, but Alfred's judgment was correct. I would find it much easier to watch Christoph perform the rites, where there were fewer people and I was already acquainted with them, than to participate in the inner city rites surrounded by strangers.
"And yet, Christina met the Divine King again. I did receive a report two years ago that you encountered him..."
"It seems he remembered me from when we met before."
I made sure to cover for the Divine King, saying that since he judged me to be an acquaintance, he hid me this time intending to help. That he did not just abduct anyone, and he certainly did not take me to cause a commotion. As far as the Divine King was concerned, it was something he did out of kindness.
"Speaking of which, we talked quite a bit this time..."
Compared to when we had met before, the Divine King seemed to have gotten a little more loose-lipped. Whether you would call it less guarded, or regaining his humanity, he told me quite a lot of things.
"Apparently, the Divine King's generational succession will revive someday, even though humans have forgotten about it."
He was calm, and did not seem angry. If that was his state, then as long as the person he was searching for was found, he would live out his natural lifespan and forgive the humans of this world, just as he himself had said.
As I was talking about the Divine King's state, I mentioned that aside from snacks I had not eaten anything since morning, and Clarice brought me a late-night snack. I was wondering if it was really alright to nibble on a late-night snack in front of Christoph when the reception room door opened. Standing on the other side of the door was Dietfried, the cat-headed boy whose real face I was starting to forget from seeing it too often.
"Dietfried-sama? What is wrong? Is it not time for children to be in bed?"
Knowing that there was a prince inside, I responded as a lady, at least. Treating him casually like I did in the city of Lagarette was something I refrained from doing in front of the king.
"Why are you here... That hurts."
Dietfried strode straight across the reception room to where I was, and hugged me so tightly it was more than a little painful. On top of that, his cat headpiece kept bumping against my cheek, which was persistently painful too.
"What is it? What is wrong?"
I tried calling out to him, but there was no answer. He just clung to me with a force that seemed like he was swinging me around. If Kalisa were here, she would pull him off.
...This happened before too, did it not.
When I was kidnapped in the city of Lagarette and returned to the hotel, he did the same thing. Back then too, Dietfried said nothing and just clung to me.
...So Dietfried had been worried about me too.
He said nothing, but I lightly patted the back of the boy clinging to me, trying to soothe him. I am fine, I am safe, nothing dangerous happened at all, as I comforted him for a while, I heard a sniffle from inside the cat headpiece. It seemed that inside that headpiece, Dietfried was making a face unbefitting of a prince.
Around the time Dietfried's grip loosened, Alfred came into the reception room. Seeing Solana waiting behind him, he had probably heard the report from the White Knight and come straight here.
Alfred sighed in relief at the sight of my face, but as for me, a question mark bloomed in my head. Alfred would certainly worry about me, but it was a little surprising that he would show it so clearly on his face.
...Huh? Now that I think about it, is there not something off...?
I felt a slight sense of dissonance toward Alfred and stared at him, but I was too slow to escape. At the third prince's entrance, Dietfried finally released my body. As for me, now freed, my cheeks were pulled by Alfred.
"Do not disappear in front of my eyes, you fool."
"No considedation deshu! I am not bad, I am not!"
It hurts, I protested, but I accepted the scolding. I had indeed made him worry, so I intended to listen to all the lecturing, but I wondered if I might not get to sleep tonight. When I returned to the detached palace, Hermine's scolding was no doubt waiting for me.
...It is not my fault! This time, the spirits and the Divine King-sama were just trying to be considerate!
My cheeks were finally freed from Alfred, and I hid them with both hands. I was born cute in this life, after all. If my face stretched sideways from having my cheeks pulled too much, the parents who gave birth to me so cutely would weep from beyond the grave.
"Waph!"
Next after Alfred was Solana. Without a word, she put something on my head, and by the time I realized it was a hood with cat ears, my mind had gone blank.
"Costumes are supposed to be only until the Spring Blossom Festival!"
"For Christina young lady, there is no spring or summer. Since she gets abducted by spirits even in summer, animal costume all year round should be just right."
"You mean cat ear life all year round?!"
I protested that I did not want that, but the cat ear hood was adjusted on my head in the meantime. The wrinkles were smoothed, the ribbon was tied, as the cat ear hood was perfectly arranged, I made a last-ditch resistance by pushing the hood part back, but Solana fixed it with a smile.
...Yeah, I can see why Alfred-sama has such expectations of her. Once she has made up her mind, she does not give in.
It seemed I was seriously going to be forced into animal costume while I was in the capital. Sadly, I was sure there were no allies for me at the detached palace.
"So, what happened that made you suddenly disappear before our eyes?"
"It would be painful to tell the same story again, so please ask Christoph-sama."
I am a child, so my drowsiness is just about at its limit, I pleaded. The late-night snack they had kindly prepared for me had ended up uneaten thanks to Dietfried's appearance anyway. I wanted to take it back and eat it in the carriage on the way to the detached palace to satisfy my hunger.
When I pleaded that I was at my limit for sleepiness, I was released surprisingly easily. Christoph had already been told the circumstances, and having been in the cold Seat of Spirits for a long time, my stamina was also subtly at its limit.
In the carriage to the detached palace, I ate the late-night snack they had wrapped up for me. As my hunger was satisfied, my mind had room to think, and I remembered something I had forgotten to mention earlier. It might be something I should tell Christoph.
"...The Divine King-sama said something."
"Mm?"
Whether Rannvald's sought-after item would be found or not remained a mystery, but apparently it had already been delivered to the place it was supposed to be sent to, according to the Divine King's assessment. I did not understand what it meant, but if I conveyed it to Rannvald himself or Christoph, at least Rannvald himself would understand. I would leave the handling of the information to Alfred, but since I had forgotten to mention it, I asked him to pass it along to Christoph when he heard about today's events if possible. As I finished my explanation, a sneeze escaped me.
I thought a scolding session would begin when I returned to the detached palace, but Kalisa took one look at my complexion and understood everything. She quickly changed me into my nightclothes and promptly tossed me into bed. A cat-shaped hot water bottle I had used in winter was also introduced as reinforcement, but the next day I had come down with a splendid cold. It seemed to be from having my body chilled in the Seat of Spirits for so long.
...Divine King-sama! Your rescue method was half-baked!
I resolved to complain to him next time I saw him, and obediently became a resident of my bed. If only, I wished, Hermine and the others would forget the content of their scolding while I was lying sick in bed.
[Author's Note]
I feel like I can see the tail end of Chapter 8. It is surely just my imagination.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.