Chapter 76

"Milady! What should we do!?"

"It's fine, Najya. I'll write the letter as they say."

"But..."

"Don't worry. Even if I beg in the letter, nothing will change. The Kingdom of Sosie won't move for the Kingdom of Taishi. That was the case eight years ago, wasn't it? My father and Duke MacLeod won't do anything for the Kingdom of Taishi either."

"That's complicated. Your life is at stake..."

Najya, who was worried, received a calm response from Opal. Then, Najya puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. Opal found her adorable and laughed softly. Being with Najya really lifted her spirits. She was grateful to Julian for letting them share a room.

"It's not something to laugh about. Your acting was so good that if I didn't know what happened that night, I would have cried for sure."

Najya also laughed, even as she complained. They giggled together for a while, but Najya's expression suddenly turned cloudy.

"But are you really okay? We know that Sir is safe, but what about the capital... Is His Majesty the King safe?"

"Yes. We can only believe that everything will be fine, even though there's no end to our worries. Besides, their information is already wrong. Claude, who was supposed to have been killed by bandits, is here. Everyone is doing what they should, so I must do my part too."

Encouraging Najya, Opal went to her desk. Even if she begged in a letter, her father and Hubert wouldn't interfere in another country's internal affairs. So, she wrote as Cole had requested. Najya sat by the window and started mending Opal's dress.

After signing the letter to her father, Opal paused to think. If she were in Alessandro's position, what would she do next?

She would certainly have information about the uprising. It would be impossible for someone as cunning as Alessandro to miss something on that scale. It was more surprising that the anti-royalist faction hadn't noticed.

(Information is more important than funds or troops...)

She remembered that Claude owned a newspaper. Alessandro probably controlled other media as well.

(The people will side with His Majesty. The problem is some of the central nobles and the people of the Botselli Duchy.)

The anti-Alessandro nobles were said to have been purged, but it was unclear how many were still hidden among the neutral faction. Most importantly, it was unknown how the people of the Botselli Duchy, which had been a stronghold of the anti-Alessandro faction during the civil war eight years ago, would act. At that time, Duke Botselli had involved the people of his duchy in the conflict without their consent, though no actual fighting had taken place. Now, the lord had changed. Would the servants and managers, like Duncan, who had been kind to her at the manor, fight against Alessandro? Duncan didn't trust Opal, but he clearly cared for the land and its people.

(And is Claude safe...?)

The human Claude seemed to be fine for now, but she was worried about the dog Claude. The servants had been lenient with Claude, but Conary had disliked him.

(No, he'll be fine. Conary won't care as long as Claude isn't in his sight.)

The servants would probably hide Claude. Even Duncan, who had been kind to Claude, would do so. Still, Duncan had more pressing matters to attend to.

(Duncan won't allow the land to become a battlefield. But he respected the previous duke and is loyal to Conary...)

Duncan had a stern and tough appearance, but he was well-respected by the people. Even if Opal had introduced the scythe, she couldn't lead the people without Duncan's support. As Opal pondered, she heard the sound of a thread breaking.

"Milady, I'm done!"

"Najya?"

"Ta-da! Special pants for the mischievous lady!"

"...What?"

Opal didn't understand what Najya meant as she excitedly showed her the pants. She had thought Najya was mending her dress whenever she wasn't taking care of her, but it seemed she had been doing something else. There couldn't have been that many places on Opal's dress that needed mending.

"Um... 'mischievous lady'... I mean, what do you mean by pants?"

"Hehe. I heard from Marzia that you used to climb trees and tear your dresses when you were a child."

"Oh, that's right."

"It was a problem, but when you were scolded for climbing trees and running around in a skirt, you wore your brother's pants under your skirt and said, 'This way, there's no problem, right?'"

"...That did happen."

Opal averted her eyes from Najya, who was enthusiastically recounting her past. Unaware of Opal's discomfort, Najya continued confidently.

"So, when you and Sir go on your love escape, you might be worried about your skirt. But if you wear these pants under your skirt, you won't have to worry even if it flips up, right?"

"...That's true."

In a dire situation, she wouldn't be concerned about her skirt flipping up, but Najya had thought about it. It was a bit awkward to be considered mischievous even at her age. Besides, it wasn't a love escape but a regular escape.

"...I'll wear the pants from tomorrow, then."

"Yes!"

Since there was no resistance to wearing the pants, Opal decided to use them from the next day. Najya happily agreed. Opal was likely to be taken back to Passma's port or the manor, and there would be an opportunity to escape. The pants might be useful then. However, she couldn't afford to make a mistake in deciding whether to escape or comply.

If there was an uprising of the anti-royalists in the capital—something that was certain to happen—how would Alessandro act? The fact that Cole believed Claude had been killed by bandits suggested that such a plan existed. What was the person who could make Claude look like a bandit and attack him doing now? As she pondered, Opal sealed the letters to her father and Duke MacLeod.