Chapter 37: Confusion — Part 3

“Perhaps men are the more fragile ones.
When the king recovered his memories, I hear he became terribly distraught.
The Queen Dowager has no affection for the former king, but she is still angry.
So she says she will not be satisfied unless she makes you unhappy.”

As I thought, it was nothing but a grudge and misplaced resentment.

I felt irritation rising and let out a sharp breath through my nose.

The woman watched me with amusement.

“Even if you try to stall, no help will come.
My companions have also set fire to the stables and the servants’ quarters on the opposite side of the explosion.
The knights must be busy putting those out.
How unfortunate.”

The words I was about to say caught in my throat.

But if I stayed silent, I would be killed.

“Anyway, I will give you the stone.
But if it is not the one you are looking for and I die, no one will ever know where the real one is.
Are you fine with that?”

“That is true.”

The woman paused to think, and her attention drifted away from me.

At that moment, something moved at the edge of my vision.
It was from the balcony.

Glancing sideways, I saw Doug, one of the guards, hiding behind the door and curtain.

When our eyes met, he pointed downward with his finger.
At the same time, his lips formed the word “head.”

I immediately crouched down and covered my head.

The woman noticed my movement at the same moment Doug kicked the glass door open and leapt into the room.

With a loud bang, the entrance door burst open.

My brother and the others rushed in from there.

The heavy footsteps of many people filled the room.

Because the female spy had been facing the balcony, her reaction was delayed.

As she turned to face the men charging in from the entrance, a throwing knife struck her arm.

She pulled the knife out and threw it back, then darted toward the balcony with swift movements.

At that moment, her eyes fell upon the cat’s-eye stone lying on the table.

She grabbed it, threw it out over the balcony, and collapsed on the spot.

There was a rustling sound as tree branches shook.

We were on the third floor.

Following my brother, I stepped out onto the balcony and saw a man running through the garden.

He must have climbed down the trees from that height.
He had caught the stone and was escaping.

“Maria!
Are you safe?
Did he do anything to you?

“We let our guard down.
We never expected such a large, organized group.
That was our mistake.”

My brother shouted as he grabbed my shoulders and shook me roughly.

I knew he was worried about me, but his handling was still rough.

“I am fine.
Ah, but the stone was taken.”

“I see.”

Brian-sama pulled me away from my brother’s grip.

His expression was twisted with frustration.

Then he pulled me tightly into his arms.

“I was careless…”

He murmured softly, his body trembling slightly.

I slowly stroked his back.

Little by little, the trembling subsided.

Once he calmed down, he pulled back slightly and looked at my face.

Then he hugged me so tightly that I could hardly move.

At last, the strength left my body.

I felt relieved.
If the two of them were here, everything would be all right.

I let out a long breath and leaned against him.

“Ahem.
That is enough, perhaps?
We are in public.”

After a while, my brother said this.

I looked around blankly.

The knights had all turned their heads in different directions, pretending not to see anything.

That was when I realized I was surrounded by the household knights.

Startled, I jumped away from Brian-sama and hid behind my brother.

The woman, like the man before her, had taken her own life.

There were too many bodies.
What kind of country was Belsia?

When the knights withdrew, Bell and Lloyd entered the room in their place.

“My lady!
How dreadful.
Are you injured?”

“No.
It is thanks to everyone.
I managed to hold on.”

Although Bell did not understand what I meant, she replied,

“That is wonderful to hear,”

while pale-facedly checking me over from head to toe.

Bell had come to check on me and overheard the unfamiliar woman’s voice and our conversation.
She immediately ran to Lloyd.

After hearing this, Lloyd sent the servants inside the mansion to fetch my brother and the knights who had been scattered in the garden, and they switched places to continue the firefighting.

Thanks to that, half of the knights were able to come rescue me.

“Fortunately, no one was injured.
Because of tonight’s feast and drinking, very few people had returned to the barracks or gone to sleep.”

Lloyd explained this calmly while already beginning to inspect the room as if nothing had happened.

“So the stone has returned to its rightful owner, the Crown Prince.
Does that mean this entire incident is now resolved?”

My brother said, though his voice carried a hint of doubt.

“If that truly ends it, that would be best.
But I wonder.”

Brian-sama also sounded skeptical.

“You said the information about the stone was completely lost after the former king’s accident, and no one knows the details.
They still do not know that I received its protection.
So if the stone transfers its protection to the Crown Prince, perhaps that will end it.

“After that, it only depends on whether the Queen Dowager of Belsia can calm down…
She will calm down, right?”

Even I could not say with certainty that it was over.
From what the two of them had told me, the Queen Dowager’s obsession did not seem likely to disappear so easily.

Suddenly, Brian-sama declared firmly.

“Today’s incident was the work of a band of thieves targeting a jewel that is a family heirloom of Maria-jou.
One of the jewels was stolen and the thieves escaped.”

My brother reacted instantly and continued the story.

“A thief who had infiltrated later killed the captured accomplices and escaped.
This may have been a large, organized band of thieves.”

Brian-sama and my brother had suddenly become Royal Guards again.

If that was the case, what would happen to the matter of Merry and Jason?

Reading my doubt, Brian-sama continued.

“The man and Merry were members of the thieves’ group and deceived Jason.
They quarreled among themselves, Merry was killed, and Jason was drugged and slain.
The man was a drifter with an unknown background.

“I will report his confession to my superiors.
Eric, let us coordinate our statements.”

“Understood.”

While I stood there stunned, the two of them quickly settled everything between them.

“We will dispatch knights to the Krus family estate for a while.
Maria-jou will remain in the royal palace until her safety is confirmed.

“She will serve as a maid to the Second Prince.
Most likely she will live there as Chuck’s caretaker.”

Lloyd and Bell immediately began preparing.

Bell started packing my belongings into a trunk.

It had only been about ten days since she packed them for my wedding, so her movements were confident and swift.

My brush and comb.
My nightcap and ribbons.
And that fan.

Everything looked just as it had before the wedding.

But the destination, the circumstances, and my feelings were completely different.

The only thing that had not changed was that danger might still lie ahead.

I watched absentmindedly as Bell inserted the empty silver bud back into the pivot of the fan and fastened it skillfully.

Once again, the question returned to me—

What had Grandmother felt as she held this fan?

Lloyd had been discussing matters with my brother and Brian-sama, but then he said,

“I will report to the count,”

and left the room.

Brian-sama, his eyes once again the cold blue of a knight, spoke to me.

“Maria-jou, you will depart for the royal palace immediately.
We cannot protect you here.

“Bell, inform me when the preparations are finished.”

After giving his orders, Brian-sama let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.

His black, silk-like hair slid through his fingers.

In the next instant, he pulled me close by the waist and gazed deeply into my eyes.

Then he said, his voice strong yet tinged with sweetness,

“I will protect you.
No matter what.”