Jenkins was roused by Chocolate on Thursday morning. As he calculated the lunar phases for the spirit potion he planned to concoct next week, he fretted over what he was supposed to do at Dolores’s salon later that day.
A knock soon sounded at his bedroom door. A servant's voice from the hallway inford him that Miss Miller and the princess wished to see him about an important matter.
After quickly freshening up, he made his way to the large drawing room on the second floor. The ladies were already seated on the sofa, and several sheets of pale yellow paper were laid out on the coffee table.
“What’s going on? Why are you all up so early?”
“This ssage ca in late last night. Dolores only told about it this morning.”
Alexia motioned for Jenkins to take the papers. Frowning, he picked them up, sat down beside the petite woman, and quickly scanned the contents.
“They’ve found that strange tobacco in Ruen, too?”
“The samples you provided, Mr. Williams, were sent for analysis by Her Highness. The old physician assigned to the task said he’d seen sothing similar a few months ago. That’s how we learned this tobacco has been secretly circulating in Ruen for so ti. We have every reason to believe Ruen is not the only city in the kingdom where this tobacco has appeared...”
Julia said, standing to one side.
“Can the source be traced?”
“It's difficult, but we're working on it.”
Jenkins nodded at the response and looked over the docunt again.
“This stuff has appeared in both Ruen and Nolan, and they’re thousands of miles apart. That ans this tobacco has likely been spreading to every corner of the continent for so ti. I sent a letter to a friend in Turin a few days ago asking him to investigate; I’m guessing he’ll find sothing similar there as well. Has it really gotten this serious?”
The motive for peddling this mildly addictive tobacco was still unclear, but it was certainly nothing benevolent. It was hard to say what role the Perfu Appreciation Committee, which specialized in high-end cigarettes and spices, was playing in this affair. But one thing was certain: this was far beyond what Jenkins could handle alone.
After a mont of deliberation, he decided to report the matter to the church in Ruen under his own na. Both Dolores and Alexia supported his decision, though Alexia remained worried. She believed that even with a full-scale investigation by the church, the affair would ultimately lead back to Jenkins.
The salon was scheduled for that afternoon, so Jenkins headed into the city right after breakfast. He made a beeline for the church, explained the situation, and submitted his report on the tobacco.
The source of the information was, of course, Dolores. Her Highness had gradually transitioned from rely "co-managing" the treasury's reforms to taking on its actual administration. With her nurous sources, it was hardly surprising that she could catch wind of happenings among the common folk.
The Ruen diocese took Jenkins's report very seriously. After going over the details and collecting so of the tobacco samples, they imdiately began contacting the Holy See in Bel Diran.
Coincidentally, around the sa ti, the five major churches in Nolan also received similar reports through black market information brokers. Though the intelligence had been resold multiple tis through a staggering number of channels, the consistency of the content made its credibility extrely high.
The major churches had long ago reached a consensus that no incident in Nolan City could be considered minor. The reports from Nolan reached the Holy See at almost the exact sa ti as the one from Ruen.
anwhile, Miss Stevel, on an undercover mission in Turin, had just returned from Nolan and t with Mr. Black Cat again. She also submitted a report based on the intelligence she had purchased from him.
These three reports, all arriving within a two-hour window and all deeply connected to Jenkins, imdiately caused an uproar. The situation was clear: similar, highly suspicious tobacco was appearing in major cities across the three great kingdoms. The issue had already escalated into a potential worldwide crisis.
That gloomy Thursday afternoon, Jenkins awkwardly navigated a social gathering where he was the only male guest, an event that also marked his first public appearance in Ruen. All the while, intelligence reports from the Twelve Orthodox Churches were being cross-referenced, the information on the tobacco passed up the chain and repeatedly confird. The swirling political undercurrents were every bit as complex as the petty rivalries flaring between the young ladies at the salon.
Results from the analysis and human testing of the tobacco samples would not be ready for so ti, but one thing was already certain: the tobacco was dangerous.
So, as Jenkins left the salon, he remained oblivious to the chain reaction he had set in motion with the information he’d provided through various channels. For now, at least, the peace held. Before the situation inevitably exploded, he still had plenty of ti to enjoy his "vacation."
(Chocolate scurries by...)
“I loved that story you told yesterday. The one about the princess who escapes from politics and diplomacy to embrace freedom for the first ti, only to fall in love with a reporter who initially had ulterior motives but then had a change of heart. And in the end, they were tragically forced to part ways. Jenkins, that short story felt far more sincere than the one you wrote about the sisters and their ‘family bond.’”
Early on Friday morning, a groggy Jenkins was sprawled on the sofa clutching his cat, while Alexia read the newspaper and critiqued his performance at the previous day's salon.
He had expected a stuffy social function, one Dolores had invited him to for the sake of politics. He hadn't been prepared for a tea party full of young aristocratic ladies.
He’d been forced to tell one story after another to satisfy the young ladies’ enthusiastic demands; otherwise, he would have been completely at a loss.
Alexia had been there as well. Although she was older than the rest of the attendees, her petite fra and pretty face led everyone to assu she was just another young lady they hadn't t before.
“I didn’t write that story. I copied it.”
Jenkins mumbled, utterly exhausted. The salon had run late into the night, almost turning into a slumber party.
“I'm still not used to that kind of event, though Chocolate seed to have a good ti... Aside from the food, I think it might be allergic to perfu. It was glaring at all night.”
“Perhaps your cat knows you better than you know yourself.”
Alexia hid her face behind the newspaper, so Jenkins couldn't see the expression she wore as she spoke.
An important event was scheduled for the coming weekend. Dolores had invited Jenkins to give a public speech, and it had drawn far more interest than they anticipated. On the spur of the mont, they decided to hold the event at the parliant building, which was still undergoing repairs. The venue served a dual purpose: it would encourage the people to recover from the recent disaster while also expanding Dolores’s sphere of influence. The newspapers were already building montum, reporting that Jenkins Williams had traveled all the way from Nolan at the personal invitation of Princess Dolores Stuart.
The very newspaper Alexia was reading covered the story. The front-page headlines were still dominated by post-disaster reconstruction and relief efforts in the north, but the second page featured a posed photo of Jenkins and Dolores. It was accompanied by a full-page profile on the man himself, with a final quarter of the article clearly announcing his upcoming speech in Ruen.
Of course, it wasn't a truly public speech. The invited guests were all influential figures from across the kingdom. And while Jenkins saw it as just a way to pass the ti, everyone else involved was taking it very seriously.
He spent the entire day in the city, eting with Dolores’s supporters instead of returning to Nolan. It was their first formal eting, and the atmosphere was friendly and harmonious. When Jenkins hinted at his background with the church—ntioning that he held a degree of jurisdiction from the Sage’s Church during his stay in Ruen—the rapport between them grew even warr.
Dolores’s supporters were not just the young n and won who admired her beauty; the majority were mature, level-headed nobles, rchants, and civil officials. Her pretty face was an asset, but her true strengths—her capability and her charisma—were what truly mattered.
After the eting, Jenkins was officially considered one of their own. Dolores’s perfectly tid displays of intimacy made it clear that his relationship with Her Highness was far from ordinary. And so, Jenkins Williams formally entered the struggle for the throne of the Hamparvo Kingdom. It was one of the few tis, he reflected, that he had actively chosen to change the course of this world.
“Do you think the history books will rember this mont?”
As they boarded the carriage to head for the church, a pensive Jenkins posed the question to the ladies. They all nodded, their faces alight with confidence.
Only Jenkins gazed out the window at the frozen city with a sense of apprehension. He, a variable thrown into the equation, had no idea how his presence would ultimately shape the fate of this world.
After dinner, Jenkins joined Dolores in the study for a eting with several council mbers to discuss banking reforms. Dolores presented her views with an air of authority, ultimately agreeing to sign one of the two docunts presented.
Her younger sister had also found a role for herself at the estate. She was now responsible for recording the contents of Dolores’s etings from a hidden chamber adjoining the study. The task required absolute trust but had no bearing on the decision-making process, making the young princess a perfect fit.
All of Dolores's siblings were making their moves. Yet amid the swirling undercurrents, no one dared to make the first strike, for none of them could fathom their father's true intentions.
This "peace" would hold for a while longer—at least until the first fool decided to make their move.
Around seven o'clock, Jenkins finally found a mont to himself. Rembering the reading assignnts Audrey had given him, he bid farewell to the ladies at the estate and decided to head ho to retrieve his books.
His house on St. George Avenue was cold and still. All the lights were out and the curtains drawn so tightly that not even a sliver of moonlight could penetrate the gloom.
There seed to be the sound of rain outside, though it was faint. Jenkins paid it no mind as he made his way from his bedroom on the second floor down to the first-floor study to look for the books Audrey had assigned him.
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