It wasn't that easy.
For those entire three days, Cider ostentatiously woke up early in the morning. He shared all three als with Esperanza and didn't even take separate ti to smoke Paoran. He even demonstrated the ticulousness of watching Esperanza enter her bedroom before going to sleep. Esperanza almost got fed up first and suggested they go together.
However, the fruit of patience ripened on Esperanza's tree first.
Cider Claiborne must have montarily forgotten that sothing called 'social life' existed for him. While he was talking with an aide who couldn't stand it anymore and ca directly to the mansion, Esperanza safely escaped the mansion and headed to the Duchess of Sherbury's mansion.
The duchess wasn't surprised to see Esperanza bursting in through the window. Not because she was brave, but because this wasn't the first ti.
When Esperanza first knocked on the duchess's bedroom window, the duchess almost fainted.
'You want
to let you into Augustum? Are you crazy?'
You could see her head spinning furiously. She was probably thinking about how she could avoid helping and pretend not to know. Royals, indeed. Esperanza lightly tapped on the terrace door.
'If Your Grace doesn't open the door, do you think I can't get in here?'
It was a direct threat without even the courtesy of speaking indirectly. If she was soone who could force her way through the terrace door, she could do worse things. The duchess quickly changed her tune.
'W-who said I wouldn't let you in? I said you were crazy!'
The door burst open as if venting anger. When Esperanza entered, the duchess gestured toward the sofa with a prim expression. The duchess, who had tightly wrapped her gown, pressed a switch under the teapot to serve tea to her uninvited guest. Esperanza, who had sat down and was looking around the bedroom, suddenly asked.
'Do you know when the guests Her Majesty has been eting lately usually co?'
She almost dropped the teapot. The duchess glared and retorted.
'You startled ! You an those black-dressed people? I don't know. Do you think I would know that?'
Esperanza fell into thought for a mont. The duchess was ignored by the queen and used by the duke. Considering all her actions so far, what was the conclusion?
'I think you roughly know.'
Whether ignored or used, staying next to powerful people to get scraps wasn't sothing just anyone could do. Wasn't she quite sharp and quick-witted? The duchess pouted.
'Well, as you say, I roughly know. But it's literally rough.'
'I'm going to enter Augustum Palace on the day those people co. Secretly, of course.'
'What if you fail?'
'Don't worry. I won't say I got in thanks to the duchess.'
There was no way she would fail. But discussing success probability with the duchess was a waste of ti.
'In that case...'
The duchess, with an anxious face, nodded. Esperanza handed the duchess one of the scrap tal pieces from her inventory.
'What's this? Oh my, it's a magical tool!'
'It's paired with mine. When you hear news that those people are visiting, press it. I'll co here.'
'Avondale makes such cute things too. I always just heard him talk about battleships and such.'
Actually, this was just one of the many miscellaneous items Esperanza had. If Cider had made it, it would have been cleaner than this. He probably wouldn't have made it to transmit just light signals either. Anyway, this junk was helpful now.
Thus, as soon as Cider's surveillance inadvertently beca loose, Esperanza quickly entered the Duchess of Sherbury's mansion.
"You're not going to follow
in that getup, are you?"
"I'll take off the hood before going."
"I suppose..."
Still not reassured, the duchess extracted promises from Esperanza throughout the carriage ride.
"Even if you get caught, it's all your fault. I didn't help you at all, got it? If it becos obvious that I helped, say I threatened you! I'll say I was threatened too!"
"Yes, yes."
She heard it in one ear and let it out the other. Even if she got caught, what could they do? She thought this way with hunter-like arrogance in her heart.
The urgent one wasn't Esperanza but the queen. To the extent that she had to bring in a person of uncertain status and hold their hands while pleading. There was no way they would disadvantage her over re trespassing. They might say they'd cover it up if she accepted the proposal.
If only they hadn't asked her to kill, she would have agreed to the request around that ti.
"Haven't you heard anything from Duke Galliston? About those people."
"From Edmund? Would that kid tell
such things?"
The duchess wrinkled her nose bridge and fell into thought. But the conclusion was the sa.
"He does act nastily as if filled with indignation after eting them. But that kid was always an to
anyway..."
The duchess mumbled it off like that. Fortunately, the carriage stopped at just the right ti.
"We've arrived!"
After the steam cleared, the coachman opened the door. Esperanza got off the carriage first like an accompanying lady-in-waiting. When the servants noticed that Mrs. Burbridge, whom the duchess always brought along, was nowhere to be seen, they were puzzled, but they didn't ask who Esperanza was. The duchess wouldn't have answered anyway.
"I'm going straight to the library. No need to follow."
The duchess went to the library with only one lady-in-waiting. No one was suspicious.
"We part ways here."
The duchess who went to the library would pretend to be absorbed in reading books, oblivious to the lady-in-waiting's disappearance, while Esperanza would take off her hat in a deserted place, put on a riding hood, and head to the queen's reception room.
??????°??☆????°??????
The corridor was quiet, peaceful except for the occasional passing staff mbers. About a hundred staff mbers resided permanently in this huge palace, and only four royal family mbers were direct descendants of the queen.
Originally, Augustum Palace was a more bustling place, but now it was empty, perhaps because of the current situation. The palace without visitors during a ti when court culture had declined was even sowhat desolate.
Esperanza headed from the library through the empty corridors to the queen's reception room.
The reception room she soon reached. The situation was difficult. There were more people guarding outside the reception room than expected. She had thought about two people would be guarding it, like when Esperanza t the queen. If it were that many, she had planned to cause a small disturbance to make them move away from the door, but four people?
First, she put down the wiretap in her hand. The wiretap that passed under the maids' feet stuck right under the door fra.
"Your Majesty. What's happening with the city property we requested last ti?"
A domineering voice pierced her ears like a nail. Esperanza, who almost made a sound instinctively, caught her breath.
It was difficult to identify who it was from just the voice. She wanted to see their face. Wasn't there a way to see inside without going through the door? She fell into thought while turning the corner, avoiding the maids' eyes.
The terrace? If the curtains were drawn, it would be worth trying. The chimney? Since they wouldn't have lit the fireplace in sumr, it would be worth infiltrating, but there was no way back up. If the queen left the reception room quickly, she would exit through the terrace, but she couldn't avoid leaving traces.
"What should I do..."
That's when it happened. When sound ca from the wall. It was the sound of light, quick footsteps.
'A secret passage?'
She had heard such stories. That so hunter had discovered a secret passage in Augustum Palace. Could that have been true? If it really was a secret passage, it wasn't difficult to guess who might be inside. Since Esperanza knew those footsteps.
Esperanza, who had removed her hood and put it in her inventory, quietly followed the sound. And the mont she reached the end of so corridor.
'As expected.'
A small golden head suddenly poked out from around the corner.
"Huh? Huh huh huh? You're the person who was with that witch, no, the duchess back then!"
When Esperanza imdiately put her index finger to her lips, Prince Louis put his hands on his hips but also lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Did you co with the witch again today? Why are you walking around alone? Don't you know you'll get in trouble for that?"
...Prince Louis in his twenties was kind and well-mannered, truly like the incarnation of a prince on a white horse.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I ca with Her Grace the Duchess, but I got lost while looking around for a mont."
"Really?"
"Yes. Then I'll be going now."
"Wait!"
She knew he would stop her. Smiling triumphantly inside, Esperanza slowly turned around.
"That thing you did last ti, how did you do that? You flew all the way up to the tree."
"That's a secret."
At the firm refusal, Prince Louis imdiately raised his voice.
"How can that be? When a prince tells you to, you have to say it."
"Her Majesty said it was okay to keep it secret."
"Ugh, tell . You're not telling because you're on the witch's side, right?"
"Your Highness. Secrets are called secrets because they can't be told carelessly. Unless you pay a price, that is."
The thod she used when first eting Cordelia shone again this ti. A mysteriously eerie wind. And following the wind, the lights going out with thumps. Only one light remained in the corridor now.
The little boy's lips, filled half with fear and half with excitent, mumbled.
"A price?"
"Yes. A price."
She had delayed too much ti. Esperanza straightforwardly pointed to the door behind where Prince Louis had co from.
"My secret passage? I discovered this..."
"It connects to Her Majesty's reception room, doesn't it?"
"How did you know?"
Because that's what the rumors said. There was a bookshelf on one side of the queen's reception room, and there was supposed to be a passage behind that bookshelf. It was a strangely detailed rumor, so she had wondered, but there were also stories that the passage disappeared after that rumor spread. So brave user must have gone in directly to see.
"If you show
the passage, I'll teach you how to fly too."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie? I don't have much reason to co here anyway."
Fortunately, Prince Louis was still immature. Prince Louis, who had been torn between his duty as a prince to protect royal secrets and his curiosity about secret techniques, soon chose curiosity.
"It has to be a secret."
Of course, Esperanza would tell Cider everything. Though it didn't seem like young Prince Louis could keep quiet about Esperanza's visit for long, it didn't matter as long as no evidence remained.
"Hmph, then co this way. Close the door properly."
Does this kid seem more like the duchess's son than the queen's? Since his snorting was exactly the sa, Esperanza laughed a little inside.
Prince Louis moved his small hands to operate a secret device. The suspiciously protruding bricks moved aside with heavy sounds, creating an arched passage.
Not a single point of light entered the passage. Prince Louis proudly pulled out a small light-emitting magical tool from his shorts pocket. After walking along the winding, dusty path, they stopped at one place.
"Here. Look."
A long rectangular groove was carved horizontally in the wall. When he pushed the wall sideways along that groove, the paper surfaces of books packed full beca visible. Probably only the spines of books filling the bookshelf would be visible from the other side.
Esperanza carefully pushed the books aside so the people inside wouldn't notice. Peering inside through the small gap, she focused again on the voice from the wiretap she had been half-listening to.
"I cannot give you the city property. If it had been my possession, I would have arranged it sohow, but that property belongs to the state."
"I understand, but let's pretend I didn't hear you say no. If it can't be done, you'll have to find a way."
A low, arrogant voice. At a seat where not even a teacup was placed on the table, the queen was clenching both hands tightly. Her trembling hands were visible even from this distance.
"What can't be done can't be done!"
"Since our positions are clearly different, it can't be helped. Your Majesty, I hope you'll give us a better answer next ti. I hear Your Majesty's noble cousin has recently beco absorbed in a new hobby. Who knows what might happen from that?"
The shorter one stood up. From Esperanza's viewpoint, she could only glimpse their shoulder. And the taller one was...
She must have seen wrong.
She tried to deny it, but even after blinking twice, rubbing her eyes five tis, and looking again, it was the sa. Though he looked younger than when she last saw him, she couldn't have mistaken that face.
Ranked 2nd in 'Golden Claw'. Esperanza's advisor and one of her few colleagues.
Cyrus.
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