27 Chapter 26 - Departure

My father's eyes narrowed at me. I'm convinced that if it was just about anyone else who spoke those words, there would be a charred corpse in my seat right now.

"How?"

"I actually wasn't sure before seeing your reaction. Most of those were conjectures I pieced together from a few seemingly unrelated clues," I said, splendidly bullshitting. "Just know that if I could stumble upon the truth, so can our rivals."

My parents exchanged a look. For a while there was silence... I'm sure they were going over their arrangements and trying to figure out where the leaks might be. I planned to tell them whatever I could to help them cover it up of course; while I wanted to see them pay for their crimes, right now we were all in the same boat so it would have to wait. I'll still try to convince them that the drug trade and other stuff carried far too big of a risk and should be discontinued, no matter how lucrative.

If they refused to listen? Then I would simply have to stop it myself.

"Hm, so you haven't been wasting your time after all. It seems you have an impressive information network established."

"...Something like that."

Not like I could say how I really learned everything. Their previous anger had vanished without a trace, and there was an approving gleam in my father's eyes.

"Good, very good. You are finally starting to take your future duties seriously. Now tell us about these clues you discovered."

"Before that, let's settle the discussion about Christine," I said, then hurriedly continued before they could get mad again. Time to cut my losses. "Forget everything else I've said, isn't it obvious that she does not respond well to harsh methods? She needs a gentle, patient teacher… and to be free from your constant nagging. Pressuring the girl only makes things worse."

"Be that as it may, though," Mother said, tapping her fan on the desk, "It is not as if we can ignore her training. She still has much to learn and is far behind schedule as it is."

"Let me worry about that. I promise to take responsibility, and I'll make sure she stays motivated."

They exchanged another look, then finally agreed.

Great, I didn't have to resort to blackmail after all.

This should be good enough for the time being. At least they won't be breathing down Christine's neck or getting her another psycho instructor, so her home life should be a lot more comfortable until she's old enough to go to the Academy. I wish I could have moved them into realizing that they've been awful parents, enough that they'd apologize to Christine and treat her with love and affection from here on out, but that was wishful thinking. These snakes did not care one whit about their own daughter aside from her political value.

I forcibly suppressed the anger in my heart. They wanted to treat her like a tool instead of family? Fine. Just wait, we'll be sure to return the favor. Any hopes of reconciliation or forgiveness have disappeared after this conversation.

As for her engagement to the second prince? Heh. I never had any hope of changing their minds about that, but it wouldn't matter if I could get Jonathan himself to nullify it. All I had to do was make him a good enough offer in exchange… or y'know, set him up with Mary. It's not as if he even likes Christine, so there's no reason for him to refuse.

Unless... he does it to spite me. Knowing his personality, I can't really rule that out.

Whatever. That's a problem for tomorrow's me. Right now, I had a trip to prepare for!

__________________________________________________________

A day passed, and the mansion quickly returned to normalcy. At least on the surface.

In reality the rumors were growing out of control, and through repeated retellings, the story of how Alexander chased out yet another tutor was soon known by everyone.

Emma shivered as she recalled yesterday's events. While she wasn't present for it, she helped clean up the aftermath. The wreckage of Rosalind Perrins' room told a terrifying story. Shattered vases, broken windows, a bookshelf that had been ripped clean off the wall… this was worse than the time Alexander freaked out after finding a bat in his bathroom. Everyone was sure that his stint of acting well-behaved was over and the tyrannical young master was back.

"Hmm hmm hm~ ba di~ daa~"

Yet here was that so-called tyrant, cheerfully humming an unfamiliar melody as he swayed in his chair. Probably out of boredom since brushing his hair took a lot of time.

Emma shook her head. It's been over a week now since she became his attendant and he has never once treated her badly. She had nothing to fear from him.

...No, shouldn't she be saying 'it's only been a week'? Who knows until when this blissful peace would really last. Her worries and anxiety started clawing at her insides again.

Just when she was starting to feel comfortable around him, believing that the cruel Alexander was gone for good, this happened. He was acting normally now, true, but for how long? Were his lost memories and personality returning bit by bit? She couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever direct that rage at her again, like during that incident with Lady Francesca-

"Is something wrong?"

A concerned voice knocked her out of her daze, and Emma realized that she had stopped brushing.

"Ah! Apologies, young master. I was simply lost in thought for a while."

"No need to apologize for that. But care to share what you were thinking about?"

"It was nothing serious," Emma hurriedly said, forcing a smile. "I was just wondering what Ms. Perrins did for you to… ah."

Did she really just say that!? She was so concerned about not looking scared that she ended up poking the hornet's nest! Her and her stupid mouth, this was a disaster, he's totally going to-!

"Hm? Oh, that woman was being really mean to my sister, so I got mad and kicked her out."

"I, I see."

Emma inwardly swore to treat the young miss like her ancestor from now on. She would never, ever get on her bad side for as long as she lived.

Alexander laughed and continued. "My parents weren't very happy, but I'd still do the same for anyone I care about. Including you, of course, so just let me know if anyone even tries to mistreat you."

...

She really was overthinking it after all.

The old Alexander was gone. Although this new one may have a temper too, he would never erupt at someone who didn't deserve it. Finally able to give him a genuine smile again, she went back to work, her earlier anxiety disappearing like the mist.

For better or worse, she was his attendant, and trusting him was her most basic duty.

…

A few hours later, the preparations for their trip to Cassador were complete. They would be taking a carriage there, and would be escorted by ten elite guards on horseback - ten being the lowest Alexander managed to bargain Mr. Hudson down to.

"Huf," the young master climbed into the carriage, then reached out a hand to help Emma up. "Come on."

"Young master, I can do it myself," she answered, though in the end she grabbed his arm anyway.

Emma smiled bitterly, seeing Loraine giving her an excited thumbs up out of the corner of her eye. Her friends would grill her as soon as she returned. No doubt there would be plenty of questions about what they did in the carriage. This will fuel their sordid fantasies for weeks!

Speaking of which, she couldn't help but let out a gasp when she climbed inside. The interior of the carriage was roomy and luxurious, with cushioned red seats easily large enough to sleep on. There was even a small table in the center for placing tea sets or board games. Most amazing of all, though, was that a cool breeze seemed to be flowing around inside the carriage. Did it have some kind of magical enchantment to regulate temperature? How wonderful. As expected of House Halesworth, truly.

"I've seen the lord and madame use this carriage before, but I never thought I'd ever get to ride it myself," she marveled, looking around with wide eyes. "Is this truly fine?"

"Would you rather walk?" Alexander asked with a teasing smile.

"Um, if that's what you want, I can-"

"It was a joke! Please don't take it seriously, I feel terrible!"

She couldn't help but giggle at his panicked and guilty expression. Her delight, however, was short-lived. Just a few moments later someone else climbed into the carriage, and it was probably the last person she expected.

Christine Halesworth was wearing a shorter and simpler dress than usual, chosen for practicality as she would be spending much time on foot within Cassador. That did not detract from her elegance at all though. Her gorgeous blonde hair was as usual styled in a bun, and she wore a pair of sapphire earrings that nevertheless lost out in luster against their owner's eyes.

Beautiful, Emma thought in a moment of distraction. But wait, weren't they going to buy a gift for Christine? Has there been a change of plans?

The doll-like young miss lit up the instant she saw Alexander, yet her eyes narrowed as soon as she spotted the maid beside him.

"Elder brother, who is this woman riding with us?"

"Be nice, sis," Alexander gently scolded with a smile. "She's Emma, my personal attendant. Is this the first time you've met?"

"...No, but it is the first I'm hearing about her position."

"Oh, it's a recent thing. She's been very helpful though. I don't know how I was able to get ready in the mornings without her."

Christine glared somewhat unhappily at Emma, prompting the latter to sink further into her seat. "Elder brother, I didn't bring my handmaidens, so..." why is she with us? That was obviously her unspoken question.

Oh no. She didn't want her here. Staying would definitely cause the young miss to hold a grudge. No, no, she had to excuse herself now and-

"Then it's a good thing I asked her to come along." Alexander said with a grin. Emma would normally find his obliviousness cute but this time it was no laughing matter! "We have too many guards as it is, so just her will be perfect. The three of us are going to have a ton of fun."

"Um, young master-"

"Come on, time's a-wastin' and we have the entire town of Cassador to explore. Let's go!"

Without waiting another second, he closed the carriage door and gave the signal for the carriage to move, heartlessly extinguishing any chances Emma had of escaping from this predicament. Christine opened her mouth but just sighed before shooting another resentful glare at the maid intruding on her first ever trip with her brother.

Emma felt like her soul was leaving her body.

She would be stuck with them like this. For an entire day.

Merciful heavens... why?