The golden spinning wheel and scythe. It was the coat of arms of the Saturn Royal Family. In Nine Holder, where the postal system was well-established, the archaic system of sending a servant by carriage. Guardian of tradition, the monarch who does not rule, Harriet II. She was now only thirty-seven years old, still young.
"So they're trying to summon you to the royal palace. Unlike eting the duke privately, entering and leaving the royal palace would require a solid reason..."
"With this approach, even if the enemies suspect sothing, there's justification."
"Since you'll be noticed anyway, they're inflating it completely."
It was a dangerous thod, but since all that danger would be shouldered by Esperanza anyway, it probably didn't matter to Edmund.
After proposing cooperation, no less. How despicable.
"They won't trust it completely either, but you appear to be just a lady on the surface. As expected, they'll probably move to keep
in check."
"Ah, they'll throw you as bait?"
How rude.
"I'm not quite easy enough to serve as bait."
Cider answered with a short laugh instead of words, picking up the invitation and opening it as he spoke.
"I don't know whether this is part of the process of persuading you, or if they're trying to force you to take sides by making you confront the enemies."
Do they really need to be so calculating? The duke seems to have a talent for taking the difficult path when there's an easy one available.
"Maybe if he had just bowed his head and asked, I might have agreed..."
It was true. The duke wasn't pitiable at all, but she had long-standing goodwill toward the queen and royal family that carried over from the world thirteen years in the future. It was rather pitiful that they were being threatened.
"Well, I'm inclined not to agree no matter how they approach it."
"Why?"
"Can you kill those 'enemies'?"
Esperanza's eyes widened. Kill them?
"There's no need to necessarily kill them."
She was confident she could defeat any opponent. She was confident she could subdue them too. But Cider shook his head and said firmly.
"You'll have to kill them."
"No, why are you leaving sothing like that to ? If you want to kill them, do it yourself. I think I could manage to capture them so they're easy to kill..."
But if she went that far, it wouldn't be any different from killing them directly. Esperanza rested her chin on her knees and let out a deep sigh.
"I'd prefer not to kill if possible. If it's absolutely necessary, then I suppose there's no choice."
Murder in the real world was different from murder in a ga. 'Golden Claw' was too realistic to be called a ga, so even knowing it was a ga, she didn't kill people unless absolutely necessary. How much more so for murder in the real world.
But she also thought there would be no choice if it beca necessary. She would have to prepare herself. Just as she was about to say that, Cider put down the invitation and said.
"Let's think about refusing as much as possible, but still obtaining the information we want."
If only that were possible, nothing could be better.
"The information we want. First, we need to confirm what chanism causes dungeons to appear."
"Most importantly, we need to confirm whether creating dungeons and eliminating them follow the sa chanism. That is, whether the information the duke knows is about 'Golden Claw,' or whether we've been barking up the wrong tree all this ti."
That was right. We mustn't forget our direction while only thinking about running.
"But you don't really think we've been barking up the wrong tree, do you?"
"We're just confirming."
Sure enough, the expected answer ca back. The mood that had been stiff since hearing the word murder lightened a bit.
"For now, let's arrange to et Her Majesty, and it won't be too late to think about it based on how things develop."
"...That thing you ntioned earlier. If it's really necessary, I think I could do it once."
Esperanza spoke in a crawling voice. Instead of asking what she could do, Cider laughed quietly.
"If you need to make a resolution, then it's not sothing you can really do."
The aning ca rushing in like a delayed wave. Esperanza looked down at her empty hands. She was used to getting blood on those hands. But she had never actually killed a person. Real murder was... still sothing she 'couldn't do.'
"You don't need to worry too much. But just in case, give
all your weapons today. I need to maintain them."
She really didn't need to worry, right? Esperanza thought this even as she absent-mindedly had her weapons taken away. Was it really okay to trust him?
"Esperanza. Right now, do you have any choice other than trusting ?"
"Ah, no..."
"Go out now. Go and tell Mrs. Lux that you'll be having an audience with Her Majesty. She'll take care of everything."
As soon as she heard those words, she realized. It was the familiar type of mischief.
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Sure enough, Mrs. Lux scread as soon as she heard those words. Then she dragged Esperanza away and dressed her in what looked like the most precious of the forr countess's dresses.
eting the monarch required such courtesy. In other words, this dress was formal wear. The highest grade formal wear at that.
However, there was no way a dress worn by the forr countess, who was short and plump, would fit Esperanza's body. They struggled to alter it this way and that to make it look decent.
"It would be nice to have a new one tailored, but with such short notice...!"
"Who would have known the young lady would have business at the royal palace?"
In the midst of all the busyness, Millen cracked the door open and stuck only his hand through.
"The count said to bring this as well."
It was the jewelry box she had once refused. Mrs. Lux carefully selected the largest brooch from among them. Fortunately, a small hat and shoes in the sa color as the dress could be obtained quickly.
Esperanza hadn't known there were so many rules for a lady's attire. What fabric clothes should be made of for lunch, how far down the neckline should co, what shape they should be...
'What's more surprising is that I was following more than half of those rules.'
It just happened that way from wearing whatever was given to her.
While the date written on the invitation approached, Esperanza packed her inventory full of guns with one more zero added to their stats and various mysterious items that Cider sent her from ti to ti, and managed her weight to the extent that her clothes wouldn't burst. In other words, she did nothing.
The maids and Mrs. Lux were busy altering clothes and selecting accessories that were both suitable for the dress and formal, while Cider didn't co out of the laboratory.
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After such boring days passed, finally ca the day to head to the royal palace. Even Cider was dressed in his most military-like attire today.
Morning coat, vest, shirt and ascot tie. Black, shiny Oxford shoes and a silk hat, gray leather gloves, walking stick, pocket watch. He looked like a painted gentleman. Military dress without a single decoration or variation.
"I think this is the first ti since the day I received the dal."
"For
too... I did wear sothing like this during the dal ceremony."
Back then, she had only thought about buying clothes designated by the Hunter Association. Thinking of it as military dress made her body feel more constricted and uncomfortable. If she had to fight, would there be ti to change clothes in the middle?
"You can't wrinkle my sleeves today."
Co to think of it, there were quite a few shirts that Esperanza had wrinkled. She didn't know how such a habit had developed.
"Then how about this instead?"
Esperanza took Cider's hand and placed it on her palm, drawing a circle on the back of his hand with her fingertip, then drawing a long horizontal line.
"Yes, no."
A short laugh ca back instead of an answer. Cider, who had checked the recorder hanging on Esperanza's ear once more, opened the steam carriage door.
The steam carriage that had been traveling straight across the heart of Nine Holder entered the royal palace.
It was commonly called the 'royal palace,' but its official na was Augustum Palace. The queen usually spent about eight months of the year here. At this ti when sumr vacation was not far off, the queen's invitation to an unfamiliar lady was quite exceptional from the royal family's perspective.
However, the treatnt was thorough. Nothing lacking or excessive, just as they would treat any ordinary guest.
"Lord Avondale, Miss Hunter. Welco to Augustum Palace. Her Majesty is waiting."
Augustum Palace's reception room was no different from that of Pinent House. A spacious reception room on the second floor with a good view of the broad lake. The queen, who looked much younger than Esperanza rembered, greeted them.
However, as if youth and vitality had been exchanged, the queen's cheeks in her dark gown were pale without any color, and deep darkness was cast over her eyes.
Beside the queen sat the Duchess of Sherbury. Despite being a royal elder about five or six years older than the queen, she had a face that looked crushed and lancholy. The duchess, who seed quite intimidated, brightened her eyes montarily upon seeing Esperanza.
"Aunt, please leave us."
Unlike Galliston, who had at least let her sit down, the queen rcilessly issued an order for the duchess to leave. The duchess pressed her lips together but still curtsied to the queen and went outside.
The queen smiled with all her might. It was the smile Esperanza knew well, the one the queen thought most befitting of a monarch.
"Good to see you, Miss Hunter. It's been a while, Avondale. The first ti since the dal ceremony?"
"That's correct."
The queen guided them to their seats with a slightly more comfortable smile. Only three people sat in the spacious reception room without a single servant. The queen served tea personally. The reception room was as quiet as death. It was an uncomfortably stifling silence.
"I'm sorry to summon you in such a manner."
She hadn't expected to hear an apology from the start. Esperanza answered a beat late.
"It's fine. I understand."
"That the Queen of Osdern must go to such lengths to create rumors just to invite one guest, and can only invite in such a dishonorable manner, is truly shaful. But... there was no choice. Thank you for understanding."
The queen's voice was without tremor, as if she had deliberately contained all grief and helplessness. However, it could be clearly felt through the thin barrier.
"It would have been better if I had known in advance, but it couldn't be helped. I wasn't offended."
"Edmund didn't give you any hint about the rumors."
The queen, who had swallowed her saliva, sat down. Sighs kept bursting out. Then did the queen think they had known from the beginning? Even the true nature of those rumors? If that was the case, the queen was definitely misunderstanding her cousin greatly. Or Edmund Saturn was being particularly harsh in this matter.
"I understand that his thods wouldn't have pleased you. I hope you'll view them with generosity."
The queen was consistently respectful and surprisingly polite throughout. Considering the difference in their social positions, it was almost servile rather than polite. Duke Galliston had kept his head held high throughout, except for his final request.
"Edmund, that child doesn't understand the situation well. There was much I couldn't bring myself to tell even him. How ruthless the deeds of those who threaten my life are. Already half of my annual inco is being taken by them, yet I don't even know what they're doing with all that money."
What she couldn't tell even Duke Galliston, her limb and most trusted relative to the end, was out of sha. Succumbing to threats was already an unspeakable humiliation, but they had even mortgaged the inco from the Duchy of Castledine, which was given only to the monarch of Osdern. That contract was even docunted, and if they made it public, the royal family's honor would plumt to the ground.
"Recently, they even demanded that I hand over city-owned property. If they only coveted what was mine, I could give it, but I cannot comply with demands for state property, and even if I did, I would have to bear an enormous burden. Yet I have no choice but to do as they command. How could I tell such things to a cousin who trusts and follows
as monarch?"
It didn't stop at rely being threatened with death, being blackmailed. Life was just a pretext, and through it they were demanding wealth, and continuously at that.
Honestly speaking, those dangerous enemies that Edmund and the queen repeatedly ntioned were rather excessively materialistic.
"Your Majesty, excuse , but why has it co to this?"
That was the strangest part. The Queen of Osdern wasn't in a position to be blackmailed in the first place. Once might be possible, but being under continuous blackmail was strange. Just how strong were they?
"What those people hold hostage is this country's safety. If they set their minds to it, they could easily make this entire country... For now, I can only be grateful that they're only seeking wealth."
The queen took a deep breath. As if trying to suppress her surging emotions. Just as Esperanza was about to say sothing, Cider lightly tapped the back of her hand to stop her. It seed he wanted to hear more of what the queen had to say.
"My children are also under threat of death. They don't care about appearances. They can just kill them! And the world will never be able to find out who killed those children. Never. Only I will know. Know it, yet be unable to tell anyone."
The queen's skirt, as she crawled closer and grasped Esperanza's hand, was a ss from being clutched and torn. Though they, not being parents, couldn't even imagine the heart of a parent whose child was held hostage, they could understand that the deeper the love for the child, the more it would hold one's feet like a swamp.
Perhaps Esperanza was the queen's last chance. Or perhaps she intended to make Esperanza believe so.
She didn't believe everything.
"Edmund said that only you could compete with them on equal terms. Miss Hunter, as the monarch of a nation, as the mother of two children, I ask you."
With eyes red from burst blood vessels, the queen said.
"Please kill those two people. If you do just that, you will learn everything you were curious about. Not a single thing left out, without any embellishnt."
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