Chapter 22
My heart began pounding like mad, and my breathing grew ragged.
I desperately tried to keep a calm expression, but the corners of my mouth were trembling faintly.
‘Calm down! Think of an excuse!’
If I failed to answer, Daniel’s suspicion might turn into certainty.
In the split second available to him, Alisteair ran countless simulations through his head before finally managing to speak.
“……Ah. So that happened? When I went, they were still selling it without any problem, so I didn’t even know such an incident had occurred.”
This was the answer Alisteair had arrived at after countless calculations.
Given that Daniel had started working at General Staff Headquarters immediately after graduating from the military academy, he concluded that Daniel probably had not gone to Jack’s Restaurant the previous year.
In other words, it was a deception technique that exploited a gap in information.
“Hmm. You didn’t even know such an incident had occurred…….”
Daniel leisurely tapped the banquet table twice.
Those small gestures and faint sounds planted unease in the already tense Alisteair.
Alisteair could feel it in his bones that Daniel suspected him.
Daniel, on the other hand, was not thinking anything in particular.
‘……Did they start selling it again last year?’
It had been a delicious dessert, so perhaps the owner had not given up on it.
Besides, it was not the restaurant’s fault that a customer with an allergy had accidentally ordered it.
Apparently satisfied with that explanation, Daniel nodded once and looked at Alisteair.
“It looks like they started selling apple strudel again. Of course, we’d have to ask Jack’s Restaurant to know for sure. Ah, and if I could ask one more thing…….”
Just as Daniel was about to ask his question, classical music played by the orchestra filled the banquet hall.
At the same time, the people in the banquet hall began applauding one after another, and the two men naturally turned their gazes in that direction.
From the third floor of the banquet hall, the imperial royals were slowly descending the stairs while holding the railing.
That meant the main event Philip had mentioned was about to begin.
Since Daniel was an Imperial officer and therefore had a duty to show respect to the royals, he could not continue their conversation any longer.
“Well. It’s gotten late. I’m afraid we’ll have to end our conversation here.”
Smiling, Daniel stood up and picked up the uniform cap he had placed on the table.
“I hope you have a pleasant evening.”
After nodding once, Daniel tucked his uniform cap under his arm and walked toward the crowd.
Thanks to that, Alisteair felt as though he could breathe again.
‘Thank goodness. If he had interrogated me a little longer, I might have been exposed…….’
Relieved by that fact, Alisteair turned to look at Daniel, then stopped short.
Daniel was talking to someone who appeared to be the Chief of the Operations Staff, but he occasionally glanced back at Alisteair.
‘Damn it……!’
As expected, Daniel still had not dropped his suspicions.
He was undoubtedly telling the Chief of the Operations Staff, ‘That man is suspicious.’
Groaning, Alisteair hurriedly stood up and headed for the restroom.
After entering the restroom and confirming that no one was nearby, Alisteair raised his wrist and pressed the transmission button on the miniature transceiver disguised as a watch.
“Speaker, respond! This is Photo Studio!”
After waiting briefly, a reply came through the transceiver.
─ What is it? Is it time to report the list?
Alisteair shook his head.
“No! I’m under suspicion! They’ve probably tightened security by now. Cancel the Mad Dog Operation immediately! Disperse the agents throughout the Old Town! We have to switch to Plan B!”
─ You’re under suspicion? The forged identity was perfect. Your disguise should be impossible for the Imperial Army to detect, too.
“The situation was bad. The one suspecting me right now is none other than Daniel Steiner.”
Daniel Steiner. The name carried considerable weight.
The reply came over the radio a moment later.
─ Understood. We’ll call off the original operation and switch to Plan B. I’ll transmit this to all the agents. Good luck.
The transmission abruptly cut off.
Alisteair stared down at his watch, then pressed a hand to his forehead.
‘Damn it. We have no choice but to go with Plan B…….’
Unlike the original operation, Plan B’s probability of failure would rise exponentially.
Even if the operation succeeded, the agents would be wiped out, and it would effectively hand the Empire the justification to launch a war of expansion.
But there was no other way.
As long as Daniel Steiner suspected him, the original plan would not work.
After wiping his face, Alisteair clasped his hands and murmured reverently.
“O God…….”
Please watch over us.
*
“He’s headed to the restroom. Your new friend, I mean.”
“Hmm. I suppose he had to go rather badly.”
I shrugged once as I watched Alisteair enter the restroom.
Seeing me, Ernst let out a hearty chuckle.
“Let’s put your hometown friend aside for now and focus on the ball.”
“……The ball?”
“Ah. Come to think of it, this is your first imperial banquet, isn’t it? Usually, once a banquet begins to liven up, the royals come out and enjoy a dance. It’s a way of preserving the legitimacy handed down from generations past.”
I wondered what dancing had to do with legitimacy, but I did not want to nitpick about imperial culture.
After giving an absent nod and turning my gaze toward the central hall where the royals were preparing to dance, the first thing I saw was Selvia wearing a deep-purple evening gown.
It was a dress with the back daringly exposed, but the blue-tinged necklace and earrings drew the eye away, giving her an elegant, old-fashioned air rather than a provocative one.
To be honest, the atmosphere around her was vastly different from the Selvia I had met in the north.
Perhaps it was because she was wearing light makeup. As I watched her closely, I quickly realized why her atmosphere was different from usual.
‘She doesn’t seem to like this.’
Selvia was not smiling.
The playful or triumphant smile she had shown in the north was gone.
Then again, putting myself in her shoes, I could understand.
If I had to be dressed up as a symbol of imperial tradition and dance while people I did not want watching stared at me, I would hate it too.
But regardless of Selvia’s feelings, the lights in the banquet hall dimmed further, and a song announcing the dance began to play.
As the music began, the royals each put on a smile and started dancing with partners of the opposite sex.
Selvia was no exception, but unlike the other royals, she remained expressionless throughout.
Of course, even that expressionless face was quite charming to me.
I tend to think of myself as a fairly rational person, but apparently my rationality was not strong enough to overcome my own lookism.
If anyone else had made such a sullen expression, I might have told them to lighten up, but with the beautiful Selvia doing it, even that looked like a painting.
This was exactly why lookism was so frightening. It was something I needed to guard against.
So while watching as impassively as possible with my arms crossed, I suddenly realized that the dance had ended and the lights had come back up.
Immediately afterward, everyone applauded the royals as if on cue.
As Selvia received the applause of the assembled onlookers, she shifted her gaze around as if annoyed, then her eyes met mine.
Selvia’s eyes widened slightly. It was just as I was about to applaud, realizing my mistake.
─ Don’t.
The shape of Selvia’s lips stopped me from applauding.
Thanks to that, I remained frozen in an awkward half-raised pose while the high-ranking guests approached the royals and began speaking to them.
Selvia was no exception.
I stared blankly at Selvia as she laughed and chatted with the high-ranking guests, then tilted my head.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Was applauding when our eyes met a breach of imperial etiquette, or something?
Amid overlapping curiosity and puzzlement, Selvia politely excused herself from the high-ranking guests and made her way through the crowd.
Since Selvia was coming toward me, I stepped aside to clear a path.
But Selvia continued walking toward me.
When she reached me, Selvia looked up and smiled faintly.
“It’s been a while, Daniel…… Should I call you Captain?”
So she had come to me after all. I stood there dazed for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. I’ve been promoted to captain.”
“I see. Well, I suppose it’s only natural, considering how many achievements you’ve accumulated. More importantly, you changed your hairstyle?”
“I did. I didn’t want to, but my superior was so insistent…….”
Selvia let out a faint chuckle.
“We should give that overzealous superior a reward. It suits you. It also makes you look more mature.”
“I’m already an adult…….”
“Growing older doesn’t make you an adult, you know? Especially when you look at those people.”
Selvia glanced back at the men who had approached her.
“They all think the Empire should wage a war of expansion. They haven’t even considered what repercussions that might have in the international community.”
Hmm. In fact, such thinking was normal in this era.
Wasn’t the modern era full of people who viewed colonizing civilizations less developed than their own country as a kind of business or salvation?
It meant that Selvia was relatively enlightened, not that those men were ignorant.
“It can’t be helped. Now that the Empire has gained the upper hand, advocating war is the natural course of events. Not everyone can be as wise as Your Highness…….”
I stopped speaking and closed my mouth.
Because the fellow countryman who had gone to the restroom was running toward us.
And he had an extremely grim expression on his face.
Just as I began to wonder what was happening, he slipped a hand inside his clothing.
Judging it dangerous in an instant, I opened my holster and drew my revolver.
The moment he began to throw something, I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet blew his head apart.
However, the unidentified object that had left the man’s hand was flying toward us.
“Your Highness!”
Sensing danger, I grabbed Selvia by the wrist and pulled her toward me.
After pulling Selvia into my arms, I instinctively turned my body and closed my eyes.
And then.
Flash─
A blinding light seized every corner around us.
*
……I steadied my breathing and slowly opened my eyes.
My surroundings were dark. In any case, this was not the banquet hall we had just been in.
With silence all around me, I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.
It would be troublesome if I moved rashly and made a sound.
“Daniel…….”
“Quiet.”
After silencing Selvia when she stirred, I waited for a moment and began to make out the interior of the place we were in.
‘A hotel?’
I was in a spacious living room decorated with luxurious furnishings.
Glancing behind me, I saw the city spread out below beyond a glass wall.
Only then did I identify the object the man had thrown.
‘An Ethelium translocation grenade.’
It was a disruption grenade that literally relocated anyone it struck.
It was expensive, and because one could not specify the exact location to which the target would be relocated, it was not in high demand.
I had heard that it was occasionally used for special operations, but I never imagined I would be hit by one.
“Um…….”
“I said be quiet.”
“That’s not it…….”
Twitch. Selvia’s hand moved as though trying to push me away.
Only then did I realize that I was still holding Selvia tightly in my arms without letting go.
I had been so tense that I only belatedly realized how rude my actions had been.
“Ah.”
When I loosened my arms, Selvia took one step back.
Selvia looked at me with displeasure, and for some reason, her ears were bright red.
Her breathing also seemed a little ragged.
“I’m sorry.”
After I apologized, Selvia brushed the lock of hair that had fallen forward behind her ear and spoke.
“I know you were trying to protect me. But be careful from now on. And…….”
Selvia’s eyes sharpened, and she hid behind the nearby sofa.
“They’re coming up. I can hear footsteps. Seven, no. Eight, perhaps.”
She could hear footsteps? I hid beside Selvia and listened, and sure enough, footsteps were coming from nearby.
They did not seem to know our exact location, but they appeared to be searching under the assumption that we were somewhere in the vicinity.
I sighed involuntarily.
“……Things have gotten considerably more difficult, but I’ll do my utmost to protect you for now.”
“There’s no need.”
Selvia lifted the hem of her evening dress.
A pistol strapped to her thigh came into view.
Seeing it, I let out a hollow sigh.
“Do you always carry a pistol like that?”
“You never know what might happen.”
“In that case, it seems Your Highness is the mature one, not me.”
Selvia drew the pistol from her thigh and smiled faintly.
“Let’s just say we both are.”
“Very well. Then…….”
The footsteps drew closer and closer.
I looked toward the door and spoke.
“Let’s be mature and each protect ourselves.”
Click─
Having loaded her pistol, Selvia answered proudly.
“Just what I was hoping for.”
So this is what it means to be the Iron-Blooded Princess.
To be honest, I couldn’t have felt more reassured.