412 - Giselle's Perspective, The White Useless One 8
My feeling that the number of guards had decreased apparently was not just my imagination. Up until now, I had always had at least one guard stationed on me as well, but perhaps they thought I couldn't escape alone anyway, because the guard on me had vanished completely. That missing guard had simply been reassigned to watch Christina, but even so, their numbers were down to less than half. I wondered if they had judged from Christina's condition that there was no risk of her fleeing, but apparently that wasn't the case either.
"...Packing for Tina-sama?"
"That's right. Sistina-sama has calmed down considerably now. It should be fine to move her resting place soon."
At Edgar's instruction, the maids gathered for Christina lined up to listen to Jasper's words. Though he said it was on Edgar's orders, it was Jasper who had been monitoring Christina's condition. To be precise, it was Jasper's idea, with Edgar's permission. Jasper had judged it would be better to move Christina from Augusta Castle.
...That would be a problem!
It seemed Christina's rescue party had come nearby. It would be a problem if Christina's resting place was changed now. Jean-Chack hadn't shown himself since then, but surely someone must be near the castle. For Christina to be rescued, she couldn't be moved from Augusta Castle.
...That's what I think, but.
That's what I think, but there's nothing I can do alone. For some reason I've been conveniently used as a maid, but originally I'm also a hostage who was kidnapped. Even if I objected to how Christina was being treated, there was no way Jasper and the others would listen.
...In any case, I know that a rescue party has come nearby, so if I can just inform them that she's apparently being moved, there should be no problem.
I quietly confirmed with my fingertips the letter that had been sitting in my pocket for over a month without an opportunity to deliver it. In this letter, I had recorded Christina's current condition and the circumstances leading up to her settling here. I could add a postscript tonight saying, "It has been decided that her resting place will be moved."
...He hasn't shown himself at all since then.
Maybe I shouldn't have found him. I occasionally peek outside the window searching for any sign of Jean-Chack, but I haven't seen that red hair. I even increased Christina's sunlight-bathing time to see if he would try to contact her again, but the window was never tapped on secretly.
"Sistina-sama's sudden move seems to be related to the reduced number of guards after all."
"Oh, I heard that rumor in my town too!"
The maids had picked up the background of this move from outside the castle. Since I can't go outside the castle, I'm grateful to hear news from outside, even if it's just rumors. Nodding along as I listened to the gossip, I learned a few things.
...So that young gardener was killed after all.
The previous gardener had incurred Edgar's displeasure for taking Christina's hand and presenting her with flowers, and was disposed of. The young boy who came as the next gardener had caught Christina's interest, for whatever reason. Since I had learned that reporting this would cause Edgar's jealousy to turn toward the boy, I didn't report that Christina had taken an interest in him. Perhaps thanks to that, the boy had continued tending the back garden through the summer, but I hadn't seen him for a while now. I thought it might be because of the season, but it seemed the answer was what the young maid had brought back from outside the castle. It wasn't that he had no work in places visible from indoors during winter, nor that he was preparing the garden for spring somewhere out of sight. According to the rumor the maid had picked up, he seemed to have disappeared around the same time Jean-Chack was spotted.
"That kid said something he shouldn't have in town and incurred the castle lord's displeasure. Him and his sick mother both..."
Adding a rough chopping motion with her hand, the maids whispered among themselves in hushed voices. The story came together, the young gardener had incurred Edgar's displeasure and was disposed of, and several guards, frightened by the continued executions, tried to flee, and the guards who feared the repercussions killed their escaped comrades. The bodies of the guards who had vanished from the castle were apparently found in the gardener's town, but the numbers didn't match. Five guards had disappeared from the castle. Of those, only four bodies were discovered, and the last one apparently hadn't been found. It seemed the conclusion was that this one had killed his comrades and escaped, and soldiers had been dispatched under the castle lord's name to search for the one who fled.
...Which means, for a while now, it hasn't just been Christina-sama's guards that were fewer, but the castle's soldiers themselves were reduced...?
This seemed like the perfect opportunity for Jean-Chack to make contact with Christina. And yet, there was not a single trace of Jean-Chack to be seen.
...Could it be that he merely confirmed Christina-sama's location and returned to the country to report, for now?
If no rescue party for Christina was hiding nearby, then there was no opportunity to pass along the letter. What's more, I couldn't even convey the information that Christina was apparently being moved from Augusta Castle. If Jean-Chack had truly brought back news of Christina's discovery, then when the rescue party came, Christina wouldn't be at Augusta Castle at all.
...If only there were some place I could hide the letter where the castle people wouldn't find it, but Christina-sama's rescue party would easily discover it.
There's no way I could think of such a convenient place. And even if I did, I wouldn't have the opportunity to go there alone.
While I was wondering if there was any other good plan, the maids' gossip continued.
"I heard the pharmacist-sama talking with the castle lord, you know. The pharmacist-sama said we can't keep Sistina-sama in such a dangerous place, that we should move Sistina-sama to the Imperial capital for her safety."
"Huh? I thought they said Sistina-sama needed a quiet environment, so they brought her to Augusta Castle instead of to her parents' home? Well, I suppose we really can't keep the current Sistina-sama in a dangerous place where guards are killing each other..."
"Poor Sistina-sama. She was just getting used to life at Augusta Castle..."
...Wait, what?
The timing of the young gardener's disposal overlapped with the timing of when Jean-Chack was spotted. The reduction in the number of guards was also around the same time. If that's the case, then this move of Christina's probably wasn't because of deaths occurring in the town near Augusta Castle.
...Come to think of it, Jasper also can't leave the castle, so how does he know that the guards died outside the castle?
While eavesdropping on the maids' gossip, I packed the hat prepared for Christina into a box. Both the hat and the parasol were things Edgar had prepared for Christina, but she hardly ever used these gifts. She lived a life where she almost never went outside. There was no need to consider sun protection.
Several days passed while I agonized over what to do with the letter in my pocket. During that time, Christina's packing was nearly complete, and the day she would be taken from Augusta Castle drew near. The destination, if the rumors the maids had gathered were correct, was the Imperial capital Tralbach. I wasn't directly informed of the destination, but I had written it carefully in the letter as a postscript. If I could just get this letter to Christina's rescue party, it should serve as a clue to track Christina's whereabouts.
...The problem is that I can't think of a good way to deliver the letter.
Ordinarily, I could simply ask someone to deliver a letter. There would be no need to worry.
However, this letter was meant to convey Christina's whereabouts to whoever came to rescue her. If the letter were discovered by Jasper or Edgar, both the person entrusted with the letter and I, who wrote it, would surely be disposed of. My personal safety should normally be a secondary concern, but that wasn't the issue. The problem was that if Jasper and the others found the letter, it would be suppressed.
At last, the day came for Christina to be moved, and the maids hired for Christina were sent back to their respective homes. They were all delighted by the wages that were more generous than promised, and seemed to realize it included hush money. Their delight lasted only a moment before they tightened their expressions and tucked the bags of money into their bosoms.
I was the only maid being taken from the castle to the Imperial capital. This was perhaps natural since I was a hostage held against Christina, but apparently another reason was that my bearing differed from the other maids. It seemed servants with rustic, country-bred manners wouldn't do at the mansion in the Imperial capital Tralbach. I had never consciously thought about it, but apparently being raised as a noble's daughter, even if only nominally, had proven useful.
"Tina-sama, it's almost time."
Leaving the task of loading luggage onto the carriage to the other servants, I returned to Christina, who was stubbornly lingering by the window for her sunlight bath. Christina was dozing, her silver wig swaying as she drifted in and out of sleep, just as usual, when suddenly awareness flickered in her blue eyes. Her face remained as expressionless as ever, but she abruptly stood up from the lounge chair and approached the window set with iron bars. Unusually, she seemed to be moving with some intent, but her thoughts apparently didn't extend to the fact that the window was locked. As Christina began rattling the window, I grabbed her pushing hands, recognizing this as a change I didn't want Jasper to notice.
...Surely Jean-Chack hasn't come now, of all times...?
I looked beyond the window with a hint of expectation, but I couldn't see that red hair. Instead, something black flickered in and out of view at the lower edge of my vision.
...A dog?
Once before, I had answered the guards that I'd seen a dog when Jean-Chack came. But this time there really was a dog. And it was the same breed as the watchdogs kept at Augusta Castle, a dog with black fur.
"...Oscar?"
It was the same breed as Augusta Castle's watchdogs, but somehow I recognized its face. When I involuntarily called the name in a small voice, the black dog outside the window froze in place.
...So Christina-sama recognized Oscar.
With Christina staring intently at the black dog beyond the window, I looked around the room, pretending to act as naturally as possible. Today was the move to the Imperial capital, so Christina's room had had servants coming and going since morning, but it was probably about time for the luggage to finish being loaded onto the carriage. Fortunately, there were no other servants or guards inside the room.
...I can see a shoulder, so there's still a guard outside the door.
Which meant I couldn't speak too loudly.
"Tina-sama, please stand a little away from the window."
"?"
I adjusted Christina's standing position while unlocking the window. Christina would normally resist being instructed, but today she seemed to be in a good mood, or perhaps had something on her mind. Though she looked puzzled, she stood straight in the spot I indicated.
...It seems Edgar's tastes proved useful in an unexpected way.
Edgar seemed to think of Christina as some kind of doll, and liked to dress her up. Christina was made to wear dresses lavishly adorned with ribbons and frills to Edgar's liking, and thanks to the puffiness of these dresses, it seemed I could hide in the blind spot, at least one person's worth.
"Oscar, has someone come as a rescue party?"
I opened the window a crack and spoke to the black dog outside. It might seem like a meaningless act to talk to a dog, but the black dog was trained as a watchdog. It was smarter than an ordinary dog, and more useful than me.
The black dog, addressed, tried to come inside through the window, but I held it back. If it were just a matter of one watchdog entering, that could be explained away, but Jasper was also here. If Jasper recognized the black dog's face, I wanted to avoid him realizing that Christina's rescue party had come.
"Jean-Chack should be nearby, so please deliver this letter. Oscar and I alone cannot take Christina-sama away."
The black dog still tried to come inside, but after a while it seemed to change its mind. It sat down on the spot and thrust its neck toward me.
...Ah, I see. I can tie the letter to its collar.
I gently took the letter out of my pocket and tied it to the black dog's collar. Since I had been carrying it folded up small, it wasn't in an envelope, so tying it to a dog's collar was no trouble at all.
"There. I'm counting on you, Oscar."
Confirming that the letter was tied to the collar, I gave a quiet command. Back at the detached palace, this dog never listened to my commands, but it seemed to understand that Christina was in no state to give orders. It looked somewhat displeased, but after looking up at Christina once, it silently moved away from the window.
...If I entrusted it to Oscar, he'll surely deliver it, right?
At the very least, it should yield better results than me hiding the letter somewhere on a gamble. For now, I had entrusted the letter to the black dog, and could only quietly wait for the day Christina's rescue party would come.
This concludes Chapter 10 of the Tina Search arc. From the next chapter we enter Chapter 11 Tina Rescue.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.