Chapter 64

“Are you getting off?”

“Yeah. I want to stretch out my body. You stay in the carriage.”

“Eh? I want to go to the gents, I’m getting off too.”

“Hmph, is that so?”

I got out of the carriage while having idle talk with the man in red. Along the road, there was a stretch of wide area where all the carriages were parked. I wondered how many carriages were there overall. Mother, what were you bringing so much of?

“Fania-chan.”

I turned my head to Mother’s voice. A little further away, Mother who had alighted from her carriage waved her hand at me. I scuttled to her. Next to Mother were Matilda and Abel. For some reason they both had handkerchiefs over their eyes. Were they crying? When I looked at Mother, I saw tears in her eyes too.

“Mother, what’s the matter?” I wondered what had happened to make that resolute Mother cry.

“Fania-chan, this is where we bid goodbye.”

”

”

“Huh?”

She put her hands on my shoulders and stared at me as if she wanted to remember my face.

“Wh-what do you mean by that?”

“Ufufufu, I want you to come and see me anytime, even if I say goodbye. I can never visit this country again, but Fania and Alfred can always come visit me. Don’t forget that.” A drop of tear trickled down from her eye.

“Eh? Ehh? What are you talking about? I’m going on a trip with you, Mother.”

“Yeah, yeah, how fun it would be if that’s the case. But if I bring Fania-chan just because it’s fun for me, someone would kill me.” Mother chuckled.

Another drop of tear spilled out.

“Take care of my son, Fania-chan. He might still be unreliable and would cause Fania to suffer, but please, never let his hands off.”

“What are you saying…. But, but Al already has…”

I didn’t understand what your mother was saying to me. Al was going to announce his marriage to the princess today. For Al and the princess, I was nothing but an obstacle.

“I know it’s not easy living in the palace, but you’ll be fine, Fania-chan. If you ever feel it’s unbearable, you can always hit Alfred. The two of you will work it out.” Mother hugs me tightly.

I couldn’t breathe in the embrace of Mother’s bountiful chest.

“Fania-sama!!” Matilda and Abel cried in unison.

When I managed to break away from Mother’s embrace, I was then hugged by both Matilda and Abel, who were crying so hard. They were both as well-endowed as Mother. I couldn’t breathe for real.

“Then, it’s time for me to take you.” The man in red, realising that my life was in danger, pulled me away from Matilda and Abel.

I could finally take a breath. I was carried up by the man in red.

“Now! Man in red, let me go”

“I didn’t know you called me the man in red. Now I understand why you wanted to force me to wear red. We’re running out of time, so we’d better hurry.”

My resistance was in vain and I was pushed back into the carriage.

“Fania-chan, do your best” “Fania-sama, take care!!” Matilda and Abel shouted.

The door of the carriage was closed with their voices on the back. And immediately the carriage departed.

“What the hell is this? I can’t board the ship unless I head there now!” I lashed out at the man in red who was on the carriage with me.

The carriage was on the move, so I remained sitting behavedly.

“Beats me, I’ve only been ordered to bring you.”

“By whom and to where?”

“That’s confidential.”

I was pissed off at the man in red who only goofily smiled.

“You’re His Majesty’s private soldier, aren’t you? Why does His Majesty want me to come to him?”

“I’m afraid I’m only receiving orders from somebody this time, and His Majesty is not involved. As for Fania’s luggage, Jane-sama has packed it up and sent it to the palace, so don’t worry about your underwear.”

“Huh?” My luggage is going to the palace?

I wasn’t allowed to take anything with me on this trip, whether it was clothing or small items. I was really supposed to travel only in my clothes. Mother even told Igni to dispose of all the things in the hideaway. There were many small items and clothes I got from Al, and I wanted to keep them at hand, but my Mother told me that I wouldn’t be allowed to take them with me on a trip, and I cried (really crying for a few days) when I gave them up.

All those going to the Royal Palace? Why the Royal Palace?

“I’m not going to the palace…”

“Why? Isn’t there your dear Prince Alfred?”

“In a few hours, Al will wave from the balcony with the princess. He’ll announce the date of his marriage to the beautiful princess. I don’t want to see that …” I was mortified, yet tears welled up in my eyes.

The man in red played me, took me to the palace, and I would be shown things I didn’t want to see. Why should they be so cruel to me? Was I not even allowed to go on the trip I decided to go after all that?

“Didn’t His Highness Alfred write anything in the letter?”

“He only wrote to just swap carriages with Jade today.”

“Well, there was also the second prince faction, and the Agrid country is also troublesome. The letter would remain as evidence, so I guess he could not write it.”

“What’s with the attitude that you’re the only one who knows everything? It’s annoying.”

The man in red burst into laughter at the sight of my puffy face.

“You can’t make such a lovely face like a squirrel. I have no right to say anything and I have the duty of confidentiality. Come on, I want to get you there as quickly as possible. Now, now, I think we’re here.” As the man in red said, the carriage stopped with a slight shake.

“We have only a few hours left now. Fania-sama is adorable, but we need you to look even more so.”

I had no clue what the man in red was saying, but I knew it could only be a bad thing for me because he was grinning.

“What are you talking about…”

“Well, just go with the flow and you’ll be fine.” Just like that, my hand was grabbed by the man in red.

“Release me.”

“It won’t hurt, and it might even feel pretty good.”

“Stop!” When I used my best effort to resist the man in red, it was like it had no effect on him; he simply hoisted me up and took me off the carriage.

The place where we got off the carriage was at the back of the Royal Palace. It was a back door for royalty to go out in stealth or when they don’t want to stand out. There were nearly ten maids waiting for me there. Everyone of them wore the same dress. My guess was that these people used to be Jane-sama’s handmaids when she was the princess consort.

Why are the maids from the Inner Palace here?

“We’ve been waiting for you. Come on, come on, there’s no time to waste. Please hurry up!”

I was freed from the man in red, but this time I was restrained by the maids.