The night that Wales, who was thought to be dead, revived and tried to kidnap Henrietta. He remembered seeing his corpse. But he couldn’t recall much.
“I am sorry.”
Henrietta said in a tiny voice.
And then…
It started raining. As small raindrops beat against the window. They could hear people in the streets shouting “Che! Rain!,” “Out of nowhere!”.
Henrietta started to tremble.
“Princess?”
Henrietta muttered in a tiny voice. In a voice that seemed to vanish.
“…can you do something for me?”
“W-what?”
“Hold my shoulders tightly.”
The wand fell from the trembling hand of Henrietta and made a dry sound hitting the floor.
“What's wrong?”
“I’m afraid of rain.”
After those words… Saito remembered that on that night it started to rain as well. Henrietta and the revived Wales used that rain to create… a huge tornado that tried to swallow Saito and the others.
Saito silently sat down next to Henrietta and held her shoulders. Henrietta kept on shaking.
“Princess…”
“Because of me… everyone died… I killed them. I don’t understand. I do not understand. Can I ever be forgiven?”
Saito thought for a while and said.
“No one can forgive that. Indeed…”
“That’s right. I… I have no forgiveness for what I did to you or other people… When I hear the rain, I can only think about such things.”
Henrietta closed her eyes and drew her cheek to Saito’s chest. Her hand firmly gripped Saito’s. At the sound of the rainfall, her shivering grew stronger. She was not a queen, not even a princess… she was just a lonely, weak girl now. A girl who fell in love with a prince from a foreign country. Maybe this person, was weaker than anyone. She cannot do a thing, without someone next to her. Yet she was forced to put on a crown. She was forced to grip the scepter that commands the war.
He thought unhappy thoughts.
Chapter 3
Louise was watching the falling rain and pouting. Where had Saito gone to in the middle of such rain? Louise finished warming-up a while ago and when she turned around to her familiar for some chastisement… Saito was gone.
Although she searched the inn inside out, he was nowhere to be found. At first she thought he had gone back to attic and hid himself there, but it was empty. However… her commoner clothes, that she had bought to blend in, had disappeared as well.
Feeling somewhat uneasy, Louise left the attic. When she returned back to the inn, Scarron and others looked worried.
“No good, rain… Customers will stop coming because of this rain.”
“However, it's quite noisy outside. Did something happen?”
Indeed, as said, one could hear outside the sound of rainfall mixing with the roar of palace guards. Louise opened the door and stepped outside. She approached a soldier with a sword and called him out.
“Hey, what happened?”
The soldier shot a short glance at Louise’s camisole and declared in annoyed voice.
“Eei! Shut up! It is not bar woman’s business! Return back to your inn!”
“Wait.”
Louise still called him to stop and took Henrietta's authorization papers out of her cleavage.
“Though I look like this, I am Her Majesty's court lady.”
Pop-eyed, the soldier looked at Louise, then at her authorization papers, and then back at Louise again, and stood upright.
“F-f-forgive my rudeness!”
“Just speak.”
The soldier in a tiny voice explained to Louise,
“…We finished inspecting Champ de Mars, but when we returned back to the royal palace, Her Majesty had disappeared.”
“Is it Reconquista again?”
“The criminal’s objective is unknown, but he was certainly skillful… Suddenly a mist came out of her carriage…”
“Were you on guarding duty at that time?”
“It was a newly organized corps.”
“I see. Thank you. Do you have a horse?”
The soldier shook his head.
“Useless!”
Louise began running towards the royal palace through the rain. At a time like this, where the heck has Saito gone to? She clicked her tongue angrily. Really, just when you need him the most he is not there!
Agnes pulled the horse that she was riding on to a stop in front of a certain large residence. It was the Richmon’s residence… here, during the day, she conferred with Henrietta.
It was the corner of an upscale residential area where often lords reside. Agnes looked at a huge and wide two-storied residence and crooked her lips. She knew painfully well that Richmon lived here for 20 years and used any possible method to build this luxurious mansion.
She knocked against the gate, loudly announcing her visit. The gate window opened and a page stuck out his head.
“Who’s there?”
“Please tell Richmon that Her Majesty’s Musketeer Agnes arrived.”
“At such hour?”
The page said in a suspicious voice.
Indeed, it was around midnight.
“Urgent message. I need to convey it by all means.”
Inclining his head, the page disappeared inside. After a while, he returned and removed the bolt of the gate.
Agnes gave the bridle to the page and headed towards the residence.
After a while, when she passed the living room, she finally saw Richmon sitting at the fireplace, dressed in his nightclothes.
“An urgent message, huh? It better be good to wake me up so abruptly.”
Richmon muttered, not trying to hide his lofty contempt towards Agnes.
“Her Majesty disappeared.”
Pikun! - Richmon’s eyebrows shot up.
“Kidnapped?”
“It’s under investigation.”
Richmon looked doubtful.
“Big incident indeed. However, is it similar to the other day’s kidnap case? Is Albion involved again?”
“It’s under investigation.”
“That’s not the way guardians should talk! Under investigation! Under investigation! Yet you cannot do a thing. You always bring trouble to the law academy. What units were on duty?”
“Us, musketeers.”
Richmon stared at Agnes unpleasantly.
“It just proves your incompetence as a newly established unit.”
Richmon declared in a voice loaded with sarcasm.
“To clear our name, we are doing the best we can at investigating.”
“That’s why I said! Swords and guns are children toys against magical wands! A whole unit of commoners cannot replace a single mage!”
Agnes watched Richmon quietly.
“Grant the permission of military acts… I would like to get the permission to block highways and ports.”
Richmon rejected the cane. He grabbed a pen that flew towards him through the air, wrote something on a parchment and handed it to Agnes.
“Do your best to find Her Majesty. If you are not able to find her, all members of the Musketeers will be hanged by the war tribunal. Think about it.”
Agnes turned to leave but halted in front of the door.
“What? Is there anything else?”
“Your Excellency…”
In a low, anger filled, stifled voice, Agnes began to squeeze out words.
“What?”
“There is hearsay about the incident you were involved in 20 years ago.”
Hauling the string of memory, Richmon closed his eyes. Twenty years ago… a revolt that shook up the country and he remembered the suppression.
“Aah, so?”
“Your Excellency was involved in the ‘Slaughter of D'Angleterre’.”