Fourth Arc: Ninth Chapter

"Oh! Remie, and Lady Julia...!"

"Cosette! Ah, thank goodness! I'm so relieved to see you safe!"

"Julia here couldn't settle until she'd seen your face, Cosette. It was quite something."

When I got back to the room I'd been given, Remie and Lady Julia had come and were waiting. Seeing the two of them looking so relieved, I felt sorry for having worried them, but at the same time my heart went warm and soft.

"It sounds like you were quite in the thick of it. You're not hurt?"

Setting her teacup down with a click, Lady Julia spoke. Belying the gentle, caring tone, her sharp eyes said lies would not be allowed.

"I haven't heard the details myself yet. Now, explain."

Remie, on the other hand, had eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Um..."

Though it was only yesterday, it somehow felt like an event from long ago. I slowly began to lay out the outline of the incident, as shocking as a roller coaster.

"What?! King Michael, really...! How bold!"

"Oh, how wonderful...! Just like a story! And so, what did you answer, Cosette?!"

"What?! No, um... I was too embarrassed to remember much, sort of."

At the two of them, eyes shining like dreaming maidens, I scratched my cheek and mumbled an answer. As I told the tale, it somehow turned into talk of Michael, and unable to hold out against the fierce assault of two young girls, I ended up having it dug out of me root and branch.

Along with an embarrassment I can't put into words, getting to feel like a young girl again for the first time in ages lifted my spirits despite myself.

Face red, mumbling, before me Remie clutched her head with an "aargh."

"Ah! The crown prince, what is he doing! After chasing all the way to Lumelica!"

"Truly! How spineless!"

"I'm completely on Team Michael! The charm of an older man, after all!"

"Then you and I could become sisters, Cosette? Wonderful! Hey, Cosette! While you're at it, switch from the prince over to Lord Michael!"

"Switch...? Wait, wait, both of you?! The prince came to visit Michael's sickbed, you know?!"

At the way they were talking about the prince, I raised a voice of protest.

"Don't say such things about him! On his holiday, he came all the way to Lumelica to visit and is working hard at his duties. He could take it easy at home over the holiday, but he's so serious about it."

Between the school and his duties, the crown prince is already run ragged as it is, and to load a sick-visit on top too, the King is being rather crafty! He's the one to inherit the throne, so maybe it's a matter of course in this world, but in past-life terms he's still a high schooler!

Ignoring me, lost in thought, Lady Julia gave a "hmph" through her nose. Then she spread both arms in a big shrug, like an American.

"He obviously forced his way here on the excuse of a sick-visit! I'll grant him the spirit, but the crucial follow-through, well..."

"Exactly. He seems steady, but he's naive, or childish, somehow."

"Oh! As I thought, once you become a married woman you talk differently!"

"Honestly, Julia!"

"We'll be hearing about your romance with Lord Elliot, won't we! Right, Lady Cosette!"

"Kyah, wonderful! I've been itching to hear it!"

The spearhead turned on Remie, and I quietly let out a sigh. I should probably give in and admit my own feelings soon, too.

Pushing the face seared into my mind, the one that wouldn't leave, into a corner of my head, I let the girls' talk bloom.