INTERMISSION
Whose Is He?
1
“They found her?! In Liesbaden?!”
Water sprayed into the air. Like a dolphin leaping out of the sea, Alice had dramatically stood up from the bathtub filled with milky water.
“W-wait, Lady Alice! You’ll get my clothes wet!” Rin kicked the soaked towel to the side as she rushed out of the tub as well.
She was the one who had disclosed the newest report about Sisbell just now.
“My clothes…”
“This is serious. I need to get out of here. Fill me in when I’m dressed.”
Alice stood in front of the fogged mirror. Her skin was flushed pink. Her wet hair clung to her naked form. She could have been a painting.
“…Being a princess can be so annoying. Why do I have to care about my skin during a crisis?”
“You don’t need to check yourself in the mirror. I can assure you: You’re beautiful.”
Rin wasn’t focused on her skin. Her eyes were locked onto the princess’s chest.
Alice’s breasts rested weightily on her folded arms, the added support allowing them to maintain their plush, round shape.
“A marvel.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing… Phew. They’re quite something, Lady Alice…”
Rin had nothing to push up, even if she crossed her arms. It seemed she wasn’t all too pleased about this striking difference between them.
“All right, Lady Alice, please get dressed.”
“Hold on. I need to dry myself off first.”
In the dressing room, she used a towel to dry the water off her long, golden locks. While Rin prepared a change of clothes, Alice began to work on the rest of her body. This was normally a task for her attendant, but there was no time for that.
“It’s fine. Just fill me in.”
“There’s only a small nugget of information that I can disclose. Before noon, Lady Sisbell passed through a checkpoint in the Sovereignty.”
“And entered Liesbaden, I imagine.” After she shimmied on her underwear, she passed her arm through the sleeve of her nightgown. “Just Sisbell and Shuvalts?”
“There were four people who seemed to be her guards. According to Lady Sisbell, they were mercenaries who she hired in Alsamira to help her cross the desert.”
“…Seems reasonable.”
It would have been a wise move. Sisbell must have considered the possibility of the House of Zoa lying in wait for her as instructed by Lord Mask.
“That’s a relief. Now we know why Mother’s guards missed her—so she was safe.”
“Yes. I imagine she’ll return to the central state soon, though the queen would like her to stay in Liesbaden.”
“Does she want me to protect her? But that means being accompanied by some unsavory types.”
“We’re forming a search party for Sisbell—a joint effort between the Zoa and Lou. I will be the supervisor for our family.”
“That’s right. Let’s work together to find Sisbell.”
Lord Mask wouldn’t allow Alice to search by herself.
“Even if I do find her, it will be trouble if Lord Mask is with me.”
“There will be a summoning of blood relatives.”
It was like Rin had that response ready.
“By the queen’s proclamation, the Lou, Zoa, and Hydra will have a conference tomorrow. As second-in-command of the House of Zoa, Lord Mask will not be exempted from the meeting.”
“…But doesn’t that include me?”
The heads of family and the second-in-command for each of them would attend. It had become customary for the queen and Alice to serve as representatives from their house. Even if they were trying to confine Lord Mask, Alice wouldn’t be able to skip out.
“Lady Elletear is here.”
“Oh! Right! My older sister is in the palace, so I don’t have to attend!”
Mother knew best. The woman who won the last conclave was still going strong.
“For all of tomorrow, the House of Zoa won’t be able to make a move. Lady Alice, you will lead the agents of our family and head to Liesbaden.”
“All right… To be honest, I don’t understand Sisbell, but she is my younger sister.”
Alice was obliged to run to her aid. If she left at sunrise, she would arrive at Liesbaden in the evening.
“I need to help her.”
Alice had no idea she would immediately regret that very statement.
2
Nebulis Sovereignty. Liesbaden. Ten o’clock in the evening.
The Felix Hotel provided a panoramic view of the shopping district, illuminated under neon lights. It was a luxury hotel used by wealthy tourists and company socials.
In a room upstairs…
“I don’t exactly find this reassuring.”
It had been outfitted with antique furniture and an expensive sofa. There was enough space in the living room to fit a jumbo screen. Jhin leaned back in a chair.
“This is the bougiest I’ve felt in my entire life. Is this a joke?”
“It’s hard to relax,” Iska answered, lying down on top of the carpet.
The sofa was almost too luxurious to sit on. He felt far more comfortable where he was.
…I guess this is the second-most expensive experience in my life.
…Alice’s room tops the list. I mean, it was the presidential suite.
He had been a prisoner back then. So this was the first time Iska was staying in an extravagant room as a guest.
“Sisbell is in Room 902. We’ve got Rooms 901 and 903 to sandwich her. This hotel has its own alarms, and I doubt that the astral corps would cause a scene within the Sovereignty…”
He got up from the floor, turning around to see Commander Mismis and Nene. The girls were staying in Room 903 and looking glum on the sofa.
“Got it? You don’t have to be on edge, guys.”
“We’re not on edge, Iska,” Mismis said.
“What?”
“We’re just here to…”
“…Guard you , Iska,” Nene finished.
Their voices were oozing with uncharacteristic malice.
“Keeping watch so a pest doesn’t latch itself onto you, Iska.” Mismis gripped her handgun.
Nene was palming a handmade, high-power grenade.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I feel like that witch will sneak into your room in the middle of the night, claiming she needs a guard.”
“……” He couldn’t deny that.
After all, she had snuck into his room in Alsamira.
“But I was going to sleep on that sofa as a bed…”
“Nuh-uh. Your bed is the frontline, Iska. If she steps foot in here, I’ll blow her to bits with this hand grenade!”
“And I’ll turn her into Swiss cheese with this handgun!”
The soldiers’ faces were earnest. If Sisbell tried to enter in the night, they weren’t kidding about launching a counterattack.
“C-could you please calm down?!”
“I’m serious!”
“Me too!”
Room 902.
A small nightlight illuminated the bedroom.
“……”
Atop a bed that was much too large for her, Sisbell was silent as she wrapped herself in a thin terrycloth blanket.
She was naked underneath. She had no energy to change into her nightwear, much less dry her hair. She had crashed into bed from exhaustion.
…I’ve only just gotten back to my home country… Why am I so tired?
Maybe being on the run chipped away at her psyche.
“It’s just the beginning. The real plan is going to start now…”
She had successfully returned to Liesbaden. However, as soon as she crossed the border, her location had become known. First, there would be the assassins from the House of Zoa. There would be search parties proclaiming they were there to protect her.
It would involve the House of Lou, too—calling on the private forces of her two older sisters.
“I can’t let down my guard… My mother is the only person I can trust. One of my sisters has to be connected to the House of Zoa.”
Either one of them could be a traitor—perhaps even both. They must have been in league with that monster she’d seen by chance.
…Are they planning on shutting me up by capturing me? …As if!
She had to strike before she was struck. She needed to expose the traitor among them, report her findings to the queen, and have them locked away.
That would protect the queen’s life.
…I will save my mother… As someone who shares blood with the Revered Founder, I refuse to hand over the royal family to that monster!
Ba-dump. Ba-dump . Her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
She was nervous and agitated. It felt like her heart had been punctured by needles. Her attendant had told her it was psychological pain from stress.
“Please take care of yourself ,” he had told her.
“No, Shuvalts. I just have to bear it for a little longer…”
There was only one way to win: by reaching the palace and using her abilities to expose the traitor.
Yet, there were three ways she could be defeated: by getting captured by the underlings of Elletear, Aliceliese, or the Zoa.
She would be hauled off, and either held captive or quieted by the traitor. It would be over. This was why she needed guards.
If she were to say what was really on her mind… If she were to scream from the depths of her heart…
What she really needed was a powerful subordinate working under her forever instead of temporary guards…then, she would never have to worry again.
“Right, Iska?”
“Just so you know, I haven’t given up on making you my subordinate.”
“……” She placed her hand on the left side of her chest.
Though she still had a long way to go, the humble mound had a feminine softness to it.
She recalled the events of the day when she had clung onto his hand, pressed her chest against him in an inexperienced way, and tried her hand at seduction. She had done it because he was an adolescent boy.
As a princess, that was something she should have been embarrassed about. Had the queen witnessed this, Sisbell would have been reprimanded.
…But mother…we have to agree to disagree, since you think your status as queen comes before anything else.
Pride came second. For the sake of protecting her country, she wouldn’t snub weaponizing her sex appeal. She wouldn’t pay any heed to disgrace or the need for dignity. There were more despicable things happening in the world, like surprise attacks on the battlefield.
“I’m fine… I’m fine if everyone thinks I’m a dirty witch…”
Who cared if she was looked down upon? Who cared if everyone thought of her as some cheap witch?
…But mother…I feel at ease when I can hold someone…
She liked being around Iska.
“He’s all I have right now.”
She had held his arm and felt his warmth. And relief had pooled at the bottom of her heart.
Though her initial motive had been to seduce him, she had forgotten her goal while engrossed in the pleasure of embracing him. If only they could stay that way forever. She would never have to worry about anything else.
Iska and the rest of Unit 907 would guard her for thirty days.
“…Twenty-four days left? Twenty-five?”
She had more than enough time.
She didn’t need to rush. She would head to the central state and then charge into the palace.
“Guide me, astral energies.”
She prayed to the planet.
If that would lend her words power, then she would offer as many prayers as she needed to make her wish come true.
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