Chapter 38 : The Deception is Right (2)

Ren, who had run over in a hurry upon hearing the commotion, could find the Elder standing in the middle of a swirling dust storm, his beard fluttering.

“Are you alright?”

“What is there to be not alright about?”

To Ren’s worried question, the Elder calmly replied, brushing the dust from his beard.

“That foreigner might truly be someone sent by the Imperial Family.”

Watching Ren, who couldn't hide his anxiousness, the old Elder smiled faintly without a word.

Thinking that such a thing would probably not happen.

At that nonchalant appearance, Ren let out a sigh.

“I have served you for many long years, but this time I cannot understand you at all, Elder.”

“You speak as if you usually understand me, at least a little?”

“It took time, but yes. But now……”

Pausing for a moment, he looked around the wrecked archive.

“Ratel is still a child with many shortcomings. Entrusting a child who needs to be polished for a long time to that person’s hands is……”

The Elder patted the shoulder of Ren, who couldn't continue, and opened his mouth.

“To forge a sword, one must go to the blacksmith. If we, who are not technicians, strike it, no matter how much, the sword will only become dull. If things go wrong, a great sword could become a spade for tilling fields.”

“Then do you think that old man is that incredible technician?”

The Elder once again showed a smile without answering.

The Elder swallowed his words, as it was obvious that saying 'he is the only technician left from our perspective' would only add to the worries of the already anxious Ren.

As well as the words that they didn't have much time left.

***

Anna moved her steps carefully, making sure the small cage didn't shake.

The child, visiting a place other than the 7th Prince's Palace for the first time, had to walk with strength, hoping her body, stiff from the formal, tense atmosphere, wouldn't drop the cage.

Anna glanced at the maid leading her.

Even though she was wearing the same maid's uniform, she was so different from her colleagues back at the 7th Prince's Palace.

She, who had received the order to just deliver something quietly to the 8th Prince's Palace, gripped the cage's handle tightly, hoping she wouldn't have to risk her life for this task.

***

Anna had been pushed into this when His Highness the Prince called for a tight-lipped employee.

Anna, the youngest among her colleagues, was often called for such tasks.

To tactfully get out of it, she needed to be a little more diligent than others, but this time there was no escape.

Anna, having fainted the day the 8th Prince visited, couldn't finish her assigned work, and someone else had to do more work than they were originally supposed to.

‘Anna has been free lately, so shouldn't she go?’

Anna couldn't say anything to her colleagues who pushed her forward at the 7th Prince's call.

Anna had no complaints about being called for this task, with her unavoidable negligence as the pretext.

The people she worked with weren't generous, but they weren't bad people either.

She had no complaints about being asked for the price of her labor.

There was only anxiety.

Anna, who entered the 7th Prince's office with her trembling hands clenched tight, didn't miss Ran Abalan's expression, which crumpled for a moment before returning.

To Anna, who stood with her head bowed low, intimidated by it, His Highness spoke bluntly.

-Stop by the office when the sun has completely set and the guards are changing shifts. There will be a cage on the desk. Take it and go out the back door. Someone will be waiting, so just follow them. After you've moved the item, don't say anything and just come back.

Anna trembled, feeling like she was getting entangled in something big, and couldn't even meet His Highness's eyes.

But Anna, faithful as an employee, barely managed to open her mouth.

-Th-th...... What should the others know me as doing?

At Anna's question, she felt His Highness quietly looking down at the crown of her head.

-Say you've been put in full charge of feeding the squirrel. It just so happens I was getting tired of feeding it every hour.

For someone saying that, you seem to carry a handful of acorns in your pocket every time.

Anna thought this, but she was a child who knew when to keep her mouth shut, so she just nodded silently.

It seemed like there might have been a bit of a laugh mixed in his answer to her question.

***

When she dutifully went to the office late at night, the cage on the desk was covered with a black cloth.

Anna was curious about what was inside, but she wasn't brave enough to lift the cloth, so she carefully lifted it and moved her steps.

The person waiting at the back door was a woman wearing the same maid's uniform as Anna.

Though she was much more mature, much more blunt, and much quieter.

She led the way without a word, and Anna followed, also without a word.

But when she started walking toward the 8th Prince's Palace, Anna couldn't stop her hands from trembling.

Anna felt like the sky was falling, wondering if she had been sent because she had incurred the 8th Prince's anger from the last incident, but she soon calmed herself, remembering that she was just one of the randomly chosen maids.

He said I just had to deliver this and leave.

If so, then that's what it is.

The maid leading the way didn't care what Anna was thinking, so she guided the child to the stairs leading to the 3rd floor without hesitation.

“I cannot follow you from here. Go up, don't touch anything, and knock 3 times on the third door from the stairs. When the 8th Prince comes out, hand this to him and come back down. It's different from where you work, so you must not touch anything.”

Anna was so nervous that she was startled by the obvious fact that the woman could speak, and instead of answering, she just nodded her head vigorously.

The woman stood at the foot of the stairs, bowed her head expressionlessly again without a word, and Anna moved her heavy feet.

The child, having reached the door, let out a small sigh, squeezed her eyes shut, and knocked on the door three times.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

I just have to deliver this quickly and go, His Highness the 8th Prince probably won't even remember my face!

If I hand it over with my head bowed low, he won't even know who I am.

The self-suggestion to calm herself didn't last long.

Kwang.

“Why are you so late!”

The door opened rather roughly, and the 8th Prince, his eyes bloodshot, burst out with a loud grumble (which felt like a shout to Anna).

He looked at the cage, then slowly raised his gaze to Anna, who was holding it.

“Eek, I was told to deliver this.”

Anna, stumbling over her words again, held out the cage.

The 8th Prince's eyebrows furrowed.

He tilted his head as if trying to remember something.

“You……”

Hiccup.

Self-suggestion was useless.

Seeing him again, the 8th Prince was still huge and still terrifying.

He even seemed to recognize her.

It would be a flogging at minimum, death at maximum.

It was the moment just before Anna's legs, which had started hiccuping from fear, gave out.

“Squeak!”

The black cloth covering the small metal cage was pushed aside, and a small brown furball shot out quickly.

It then hit the 8th Prince's shoulder and jumped into the room.

“Ah, you brat! Don't you stop there?!”

At that reckless movement, Cellos Abalan's gaze left Anna and turned toward the inside of the room.

“Damn it, you, get lost quickly.”

The 8th Prince muttered roughly at Anna and turned his back in annoyance.

“Ex-excuse me.”

Anna awkwardly pushed the cage inside the room and hurriedly closed the door.

Then, without looking back, she walked down the corridor.

The maid was still standing in the same spot.

As she returned to the 7th Prince's Palace under the maid's guidance, Anna calmed her pounding heart.

As her heart rate returned to normal, what the child had just seen with her own two eyes began to properly register in her head.

The thing that had shot into the 8th Prince's room.

That was definitely a squirrel, right?

Why is the 7th Prince's squirrel going into the 8th Prince's room?

Anna quickened her steps without finding an answer.

It was a night of only confusion for Anna.

***

I must have arrived by now.

Once Anna was sent out, peace came to Cellos's room.

Cellos Abalan, who had been running around trying to catch me, sat on the bed and glared at me once I settled down.

I stood by the window and surveyed the scenery outside.

My line of sight was much lower because I had turned into a squirrel, but it was sufficient to see the beautiful view, different from the 7th Prince's Palace.

Unlike the uneven and desolate 7th Prince's Palace, the three moons floating high above were faintly illuminating the landscape created by the arrangement of various trees and grasses, all faithfully calculated.

The beautiful Empress's Palace, visible in the distance, was also a part that clearly showed care had been put into the landscaping, unlike the 7th Prince's Palace.

From the perspective of one who came to ruin this peaceful space, it was truly a regrettable landscape.

The infiltration into the 8th Prince's Palace was all according to plan and went smoothly.

Anna's appearance was a bit unexpected, though.

She must have tried to suppress it, but the trembling vibration was transmitted through the cage, enough to make my squirrel-body shake.

I might need her to move me a few more times in the future.

This is troublesome.

“Damn it, this damn squirrel. It’s just like its owner, doesn't listen at all.”

What broke my idle thoughts was Cellos Abalan's muttering, seemingly worried I would run away again.

That's no way to talk to someone who came to help.

When I turned my gaze to the kid, he flinched, then furrowed his brow as if he couldn't understand why he had done that.

“That annoying 7th Prince-brat, this had better work. You, if there's really anything you can do, protect me with all your might, got it?”

Watching the 8th Prince pointing at me arrogantly, I felt even the desire to help him disappearing.

Although the goal of helping him wasn't even ten percent of this task's objective, it still felt bad.

Anyway, so this brat calls me '7th Prince-brat' when he's alone?

I vowed to make him repeat 'Older brother' 10 times when we next meet person-to-person.

Clank.

At that moment, the sound of the locked door's handle being grasped was heard.

The color drained from Cellos Abalan's face.

He clutched the meaningless sword tightly to his chest and pressed his back against the bed's headboard.

Clank.

Clank. Clank.

Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank.

The sound of the handle jiggling madly continued.

“Hey, hey! Hurry up and go block it. Hurry!”

Along with the 8th Prince's terrified, loud urging.

I quickly approached the door.

Outside, seen through the keyhole, he was there again today.

Igo Crisa, dressed in rags.

What a relief.

I was worried he wouldn't come again after our last encounter.

“Wh-wh-what? What are you doing now?! You said you'd block it from coming in!”

A flustered Cellos pressed me.

When did I say that?

I said it might chase away things that aren't alive.

Leaving the 8th Prince's horrified scream behind me, I kicked the lock on the doorknob open with my hind leg.

Isn't there a saying that to catch a tiger, you must enter the tiger's den?

Although in this case, I'd have no excuse if you said I invited the tiger into the house.

The door opened, and Igo Crisa slowly stepped into Cellos's room.

I thought I faintly heard the sound of Cellos Abalan fainting and gasping for breath.