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“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like her.” Shamir shrugged as if sending one of the maids away was not a big deal.
He was right to think so, but it was supposed to be natural only for Elisha. How shocked she was to hear from Marie that Janice was nowhere in Barossa and the 2nd Consort’s Palace!
Shamir played with Elisha’s bloodthirst until a stream of water gushed from her palm and pointed at his neck like a sharp spear, and only then did he open his mouth, “I didn’t think much of it at first, but the girl kept hanging around the 3rd Prince.”
Shamir remembered Elisha’s orders. Even while hanging out, he remembered to watch over the 3rd Prince and be wary of the surroundings.
Elisha was proud of him, but if she stopped him from talking now, he would be lazy and play pranks again, so she moved on for now. Instead, she asked the usual question, “That’s it?”
“That’s enough. I was merely alert while you were away. I could’ve stopped it by changing the person in charge by talking to the head maid or paying more attention at the 2nd Consort’s Palace.”
“But?”
“While I pondered about how good the means of a mere maid, she started playing with the 3rd Prince. The 3rd Prince liked the maid quite a bit, so the time they spent together gradually increased.”
Leon seemed to have liked that child this time again. Elisha sighed. “I see. Leon must’ve been distraught because of the separation.”
Elisha didn’t notice this had happened because he didn’t say much or show any sign. Elisha was trying to blame herself, but she heard a very neat answer.
“I don’t think so?”
“You don’t think so?”
“Yes. I asked the 3rd Prince how he first met the maid. He said that the handmaid dropped the marble she was holding, so he picked it up, and she thanked him and said she would teach him to play with it next time. And the next day, they ran into each other and played for a while. It was a test to see how many marbles collected in one place could be moved using a single marble. He said it was entertaining. Even after that, she often taught him new games like that, so they got along well.”
“That was clever.”
“Yes. But she wasn’t clever to the end. How can a girl from a family so needy that she has to come in as a maidservant know so many games that boys around the 3rd Prince’s age will like? When I ran into her at some point, she said that she had been busy working since she was young, and that she had no brothers to play with her.” Shamir looked at Elisha’s wide, sky-blue eyes with amusement, then added, “You’ve never played anything like that, haven’t you, Your Ladyship?”
Not only had he heard a lot about her rough childhood from people, but he also thought that otherwise, the intelligent woman couldn’t have caught the strangeness of the maid’s behavior immediately.
“I tried to play with Leon for a while but stopped because I felt like the child was trying to cheer up because of me.” The child himself didn’t seem to like it very much.
“I guess it was a type of strategy competition by moving pieces on the table?”
“Well, yes. There were some outside ones, but that will be overwhelming because Leon’s still young.”
As expected, what Janice showed were games the children of moderately wealthy families would play among commoners, but it was a different story in Barossa. What bold person would’ve tried to teach the consort and the prince those games while getting their hands dirty on the dirt floor?
Shamir didn’t have a normal childhood on top of growing up in the desert, but he noticed it because he had a lot of experience watching and hanging out with commoner children in the Santiano Empire, where he stayed for a while.
“At that time, I clicked my tongue at the women of the Santiano Empire because of their age, but then while looking all innocent and cute, they said when the children’s game is over, we should go to their house and play adult games-” Shamir, who was explaining the process, leaped to the side as Elisha created another spear and aimed it at him. Shamir got back to the point.
“Well, that is what it was. It was very strange, so I told the 3rd Prince, said the prince didn’t like her, and kicked her out of Barossa.”
“You told Leon?”
“You have to say it so that he doesn’t misunderstand. If the maid he used to play with suddenly disappears, wouldn’t the intelligent 3rd Prince think it was weird? He will definitely look for her, but if you talk in a roundabout way with him, it’ll only be an excuse and a misunderstanding.”
“So, did Leon say he understood?”
“Yes. Although it was hard to appease him because he was so angry.”
Elisha flinched.
“He was?”
“Yes. He jumped up and down because he almost made Your Ladyship sad. I thought he was going to shoot a fire with his mouth. Should I say he was like a frantic young dragon, or hatchling? In any case, my master made a fuss with that black fluffy thing, standing up and running all over the place, and only calmed down after the crown prince arrived.”
“I see.”
It seemed that he decided to put it off first because he didn’t want his mother, who had just arrived from afar, to listen to bad things.
“It’s not something you would want others to know about, so only the crown prince, the 3rd Prince, and Sir Dell and I who guard the 2nd Consort’s Palace know about it.”
To Marie, that series of processes was rather strange. Shamir, who didn’t even glance as if he wasn’t interested, drove out a young maid child, and the friendly 3rd Prince didn’t look for her even though they used to play well together.
Marie usually managed the maids and reported when there was a problem, but there were times and places for that. She probably mentioned Janice in that situation, feeling she had to inform the master because she was still a bit reluctant.
“Everyone has been working hard.”
“Are you praising me?”
“Yes, your contribution was great this time. Everyone did a great job,” Elisha congratulated him without hesitation. Seeing everyone moving for the best they thought for themselves in place was phenomenal, and the result was brilliant.
“I should reward you.”
Shamir’s golden eyes widened, probably not expecting Elisha would say this first. Elisha asked straight away, as befitted a woman who cherished words like gold, “Is there anything you want?”
“Mm.”
Shamir crossed his arms, pressing them against his chest. Anyone who saw would question how he could be so disrespectful before his master.
“Why? You don’t have any?”
“That’s not it, but why is it that the look in your eyes seems to say that you must give a bone to the dog that protects the house well?”
It wasn’t exactly wrong, so Elisha didn’t deny it. “So you’re not going to eat it?”
“Of course I’ll eat it. My favorite bone in the world after my master. By the way, can I choose the type and size later? Now, I feel like my stomach is going to explode just by the grace of my master.”
“Don’t let it linger for too long and rot. Tell me right away if you think of anything. I don’t really like to make promises in the future.”
“Yes, Your Ladyship.”
“Then, now that we have finished talking, I should get going. It’s time to meet the mages.”
As Elisha moved, Shamir saw her off. Dell followed, and the other knights followed Elisha.
“Please take us with you wherever you go next, 2nd Consort.”
“We should spare enough people to protect the 2nd Consort’s Palace so the remaining people can follow you.”
Tito and Lety nodded as they spoke.
Ah, it’s like a pack of dogs wagging their tails at their owner. Elisha stopped walking and looked behind. She said to those who cringed as they wondered if they’d talked to much, “You were called the 2nd Imperial Order of Knights, but I know you suffered a lot because your position was ambiguous. It’s better to completely end your relationship with the crown prince now. I will tell His Majesty that your new home will be formally established.”
“What does that mean?” Dell’s eyes shone.
“The time has come for the 3rd Prince to have an official Order of Knights. I hope you like the name.”
The 4th Imperial Order of Knights!
The members of the Capital Guard, who became the crown prince’s knights but were degraded by the aristocrats of his faction, finally found their place.
Regardless of what they believed, everyone couldn’t hide their excitement when the promise they made when they first met at the Capital Guard building was actually kept.
Elisha also considered herself fortunate that she was able to provide them with the right things, albeit belatedly. And she would do more in the future. Now she was strong enough to do that.
***
“I see the 2nd Consort,” Georg greeted Elisha, who had been waiting for them in the drawing room. Jillian was already standing in front of Elisha, who was sitting on a couch.
Elisha asked Georg how he was, then raised her hand to clean up Jillian’s pale blonde hair. There was a part where the tip was blackened because something might have exploded from the wrong reagent mixture in the laboratory. Sadly, Elisha couldn’t shape it beautifully.
Jillian’s hair was quite long, and after trimming here and there, a handful of the side hair was shortened to a couple of fingers. It wasn’t that strange, but she couldn’t let a girl go around like this.
“All right, ask Marie to trim it to the right length later.”
“I like this too because you did it for me,” Jillian said, looking down with gray eyes at a handful of her hair, which had changed in length with the energy of water. Elisha patted Jillian on the shoulder because she looked pleased, not just saying it.
“That’s fine. But if you need it later, be sure to ask Marie. There’s nothing Marie can’t do.”
It was cute how Jillian nodded her little head up and down. Jillian quickly clung to Elisha and talked about this and that. She was timid, but since she adored Leon and followed Elisha, she was not shy with people she was friendly with.
Janice’s name came up in the middle of the chatter, making Elisha laugh. Jillian had been mad and wanted to warn the maid because she kept holding Leon and making him late for class, and when the girl suddenly disappeared, she felt relieved.
Jillian’s eyes widened as Elisha, who rarely smiled, laughed with her voice and enjoyed herself. Soon after, she also revealed her white teeth.