Beeeep─!
“Huh?”
I reflexively turned my head toward the sound.
‘What was that? Did I hear wrong?’
But as if to shatter my doubts, the sharp sound of a flute rang out again.
Startled, I jumped up from my seat.
“Lady Dilucia?”
The ladies around me looked at me in confusion. It seemed they couldn’t hear the sound of the flute at all. Thanks to that, I was sure the sound I heard was indeed ‘that’.
I turned toward the crown princess and gave a slight bow.
“Your Highness, I apologize, but may I leave first?”
“Lady?”
Lilian seemed a bit surprised by my sudden request, but she must have sensed the urgency in my gaze because she immediately nodded.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
“The cream stew was delicious. I also enjoyed chatting with the ladies.”
As planned, I got some useful information and took care of the culprit who sent that troublemaker to the flower shop, so it was an incredibly fulfilling time.
After gracefully finishing my farewell, I left my seat.
Just then, I saw Boris approaching.
“Sister, I’m sorry for being away for so long. His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly started asking me all sorts of questions…”
“His Highness?”
“Yes.”
He looked completely exhausted.
How odd. Pedro, who values efficiency above all, normally prefers summarized reports.
For him to personally question things for over an hour was strange.
But that wasn’t important right now. I quickly asked Boris for permission to leave.
“It’s fine. But Boris, I’m sorry, I’m tired so I’ll head back first.”
“Huh? Already? There’s still plenty of time left.”
He looked at me, wide-eyed.
“I forgot to mention, but I have a condition where I break out in hives if I’m exposed to moonlight for more than an hour. I’m already feeling dizzy, like I might collapse. See you tomorrow!”
If sunlight allergy exists, then moonlight allergy could too.
Besides, the table where I had the stew was near the window, so just let it slide.
“S-Sister!”
Leaving the flustered Boris behind, I hurriedly exited the banquet hall. I felt bad for abandoning my partner, but more than that, I was anxious about the flute sound.
The source of the sound seemed to be a distance from the banquet hall.
‘What’s going on?’
I never imagined I’d hear the flute here. I hadn’t brought along anyone who could use it.
Moreover, the unstable tone made me move faster.
The sound was still audible, but it was erratic, almost like a scream at times.
I lifted my cumbersome skirt with both hands and started running when suddenly, I heard a real scream.
“Help! Somebody help!”
The voice was filled with terror.
I froze for a moment when I realized it was a voice I knew.
“Jeffrey?”
A chill ran down my spine and a sense of foreboding rose within me.
‘Could it be that Duke Rivolte or the beastmen attacked?’
We were already ambushed by bandits on our way here. It wouldn’t be surprising if the enemies used the commotion of the celebration to launch an ambush.
I quickened my pace.
‘I won’t forgive anyone who lays a hand on my people!’
If it’s the beastmen, I’ll call for Ludwin, and if it’s Duke Rivolte…
I was calculating how many threats I had over the Duke as I arrived at the source of the sound.
The scream was coming from a secluded pavilion in a corner of the garden.
As soon as I stepped inside, I shouted.
“Let go of him right this…!”
But when I arrived, what I saw was Jeffrey, on the verge of tears.
“Boss…”
“Jeffrey, what are you doing here?”
He was dressed head to toe in the black work uniform of Laplace Garden. He must have snuck in to find me.
“Wait, so what attacked you was…?”
The only other living being in the pavilion, aside from Jeffrey, was an unexpected person, or rather, dog.
Ludwin, who had somehow escaped from his room, was fiercely tugging on the black hem of Jeffrey’s clothes. As soon as Ludwin saw me, he rushed over.
“Eek!”
The force with which Jeffrey’s clothes were being pulled caused him to fall backward with a thud.
“Ludwin? How did you get out? What about Lena and Airi?”
Ignoring my questions, Ludwin circled around me before leaping onto me. Already large, he stood on his hind legs, towering like a giant.
“Ahh!”
He must have been really worried because he practically crushed me, sniffing me from head to toe in a thorough inspection.
“W-Wait, Lu! Ahah, it tickles!”
Barely managing to hold onto his muzzle and calm him down, I stood up, only to see Jeffrey, who was still lying on the floor, let out a long sigh and pointed to the corner of his mouth.
“I think he came because he heard the sound of the flute. Sigh.”
“Oh.”
Now that I looked, Jeffrey had a short silver flute in his mouth. It was the kind used by members of Laplace Garden.
The flute emitted a special high-frequency sound that only trained individuals could hear. I was one of them.
“Oh, right. Animals can hear it too.”
Ludwin must have seen me blow the whistle a few times before. Thinking it was a signal from me he probably rushed over in a panic.
“It’s okay, Lu. Nothing happened.”
After thoroughly checking me over for a while longer, Ludwin finally sat calmly by my side.
I dusted the dirt off my dress and approached Jeffrey, who was muttering under a cloud of gloom.
“Sigh, why do I even bother… That damned dog… No, never mind. Why did I even take this job in the first place…”
“Jeffrey?”
He snapped out of his muttering and looked at me with a resigned expression, sighing deeply.
“Boss, just know I really care about you.”
“Uh, thanks. I appreciate it.”
Caught off guard by his sudden confession, I awkwardly thanked him as he handed me something.
“Take this. I came here to give it to you.”
It was a small wooden box, about the size of a ring box. When I opened it, I found two thumb-sized pills made from ground medicinal herbs that were hard to find.
The strong scent of herbs hit my nose.
“This is…”
“You asked Katie for this, didn’t you? I don’t know what it’s for, but she said it’s the result. The effect is immediate, so time it carefully. Also, let her know how well it worked.”
It was the antidote for the smoke drug I ‘acquired’ from Loren not long ago.
It arrived much faster than expected.
“As expected of Katie. I should visit her sometime.”
Katie was a genius pharmacist at Laplace Garden, someone the Imperial Pharmacy tried multiple times to recruit, but she stayed with the Garden saying she wanted to live freely.
I figured it would take more time since the poison was created by the beastmen, but she whipped up the antidote in just a few days.
Katie was truly amazing after all.
“I was wondering what on earth she was making after being asked to find all sorts of strange ingredients, but it turned out to be something the boss requested.”
“What kind of… strange ingredients?”
“Hmm.”
Jeffrey averted his gaze for a moment, thought about it, then smiled.
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
“Ugh.”
For a moment, I hesitated about whether I should really feed this to Ludwin.
But the hesitation was brief.
“Well, Katie only makes life-saving medicine, after all.”
Though she was also very knowledgeable about poisons.
Ludwin sniffed the pill in my hand curiously but recoiled at the sharp scent, stepping back and snorting in disgust.
‘But there’s nothing she can do about the smell.’
Jeffrey rose from his seat, dusting off his cloak.
“I’ve delivered what I came to give, so I’ll be going now. Oh, and one more thing.”
Suddenly, Jeffrey frowned.
“The second prince has made a move.”
“What? Prince Iggit?”
This was unexpected news.
“I haven’t found solid proof yet, but it seems related to the beastmen situation. About two weeks ago, an unfamiliar outsider started visiting the prince’s palace frequently, and then Duke Rivolte entered the palace. Shortly after, an imperial decree was issued.”
“Don’t tell me, the execution order…”
I covered my mouth with both hands and looked at Ludwin. He just stared at us without showing any particular expression.
‘The second prince is being manipulated by the Imperial Consort and Duke Rivolte.’
Iggit Valer Lucretia was a fool obsessed with noble bloodlines.
So, it meant Duke Rivolte was the one who persuaded the Emperor to issue an extermination order for the beastmen.
That meant he talked the Emperor into issuing a decree that could very well lead to the death of his own son.
‘Is he out of his mind?’
No matter how much he saw Ludwin as a thorn in his side…
I glared toward the mansion.
‘That man is staying in the same mansion as us?’
Realizing that Ludwin’s strained relationship with his father might involve more than just personal grievances made me want to pull my hair out.
“Ugh, why me? Just let me rest.”
I had finally finished the original story and was looking forward to retirement. Why was this happening now?
Jeffrey just shrugged his shoulders.
“You’ve always been the type to attract trouble, boss. This shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
“Do you think I enjoy it?”
After living for over a decade in this world, I sometimes forgot that I had been transmigrated into a villainess’s body.
And to eliminate the risk factors early so that I’d survive, I had no choice but to dive into these situations before things got out of hand.
Unable to explain any of that, I just gave him a pained expression.
“Well, at least now I have Lu, so I’ll manage somehow.”
Woof!
Ludwin barked as if to say, You can count on me, wagging his tail as he stuck close to me.
Those amber eyes gazing at me were certainly reassuring.
“Oh, and watch out for that dog too.”
