Vol 3 Chapter 32 (2/2)
“Young mistress Selena, dinner is over, so let us return to your room Katarina-sa a hand on Selena’s shoulder
“… Yes, of course Then, Katarina-saht,” says Selena with an expression reminiscent of a doll She leaves the room
She seemed like a completely different person fro, one that sends shi+vers up my spine
All in all, I ended up facing the night still not knohere this was or why I was kidnapped
Selena had worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but naturally that wasn’t a proble me some extre a pleasant sleep
And as I was elegantly sleeping deeply…
“Katarina-sama, please wake up”
“I don’t want to, I’er, Anne”
“I am not Anne, I am Lana”
“Ugh… Lana?”
Huh, not Anne? Who was Lana again?
When I soe to open my eyes, I realize I’m not in my normal dorm room
Huh, where was this again?
As I blearily look around the room, a little bit of my consciousness awakens and I recall where I was That was right I was kidnapped and brought to this heavenly room
My roo yet
“Katarina-sama, there’s someone here to see you”
“What, here to see me?”
Who would coet out of bed, I’m still half-asleep Lana fixes up my pajamas and my hair then sits me down in a chair Then the door quietly opens and a small human silhouette appears
“… Selena?”
A small animal-like noble lady, the lovely Selena Burke, was illuminated by the lamp
Why is she here so late? Ugh, and I’m still sleepy I rub my eyes to try to wake myself up
“Yes Katarina-saht But I was just so worried that you were having a sleepless night, filled with unease…”
It seems rather that Selena wasn’t able to sleep She looks even more unwell than before
On a side note, since I was able to eat delicious food for dinner, I was able to sleep well Thus, I probably look great So, I think that anybody would worry more about Selena than me
“… After dinner, for soly that I shouldn’t tell you why But now I think that it’s really not right to tell you nothing after all…”
Selena has a brooding look She was probably worrying about things while I was deep in sleep I kind of feel sorry
“Uht ht, Selena-sama, you knohy?”
“Yes… I a, after all”
What?! Selena-sa used or being threatened by so… but to think that she was the mastermind…
Putting asideas if she were confessing her sins
“I aht to the throne by kidnapping you”
“… Forcing Jared to renounce his right to the throne?”
Quite frankly it was a motive I hadn’t expected at all
“Yes To have Ian-sa…”
I saw strong detero
And then, Selena began explaining the exact details of the kidnapping…
There were some parts I found difficult to understand here and there, but the general gist is the following Lately, Jared has been gaininga certain faction of nobles, there’s been talk about hi
At the moment, just the firstborn Geoffrey and the second-born Ian have been dueling it out for the right to the throne, but if Jared steps in as well, the fight will beco, Selena wants to force Jared to renounce his right to the throne
But ould she attack Jared, ignoring her main rival Prince Geoffrey? There were some parts of the story that didn’t really make sense to me, but for now –
“I really don’t think that Jared would renounce his right to the throne even if you use me…”
It’s true that I’ve been friends with Jared for nine years and we get along fairly well, but would he really throay his right to the throne for a mere friend?
Maybe if I were his girlfriend or his wife… but I’m just a fiancée he uses as a shi+eld I feel like he wouldn’t go that far for me
“That can’t be, it’s well-known that Jared-sa for you, Katarina-sama,” says Selena passionately
But that’s probably just false rumours that black-hearted prince spread around so woht, but…
“I’m so jealous that he loves you so much,” says Selena, cheeks red as fire
I didn’t really want to crush her dreams, so I kept quiet
Jared-sama, Keith-sama, Mary-sama, Nikol-sama, Sophia-sama, and Maria-saether in one dorm room But the one that should be in this room, Katarina-sama – the mistress of me, Anne Sherry – is nowhere to be seen
It’s been about half a day since Katarina disappeared at the end of the school festival That’s when Jared received an anony ritten in the letter:
We have kidnapped Katarina Claes If you want her to be returned safely, renounce your right to the throne
That’s right – Katarina didn’t just disappear, she was kidnapped
Jared i the letter and explained the situation to them He was even considerate to me, who had been worried about Katarina and unable to sit still, by letting me stay here with everyone else
Once Jared finishes explaining, everyone looks even worse, despite already looking fairly pale before I suspect I myself have a pretty terrible expression on my face as well
Even after he finishes explaining, no one speaks up A heavy silence permeates the room
“So Jared-sa to do?” Keith asks finally after a little while He looks at Jared strongly
“If Katarina can coht to the throne howeverthat takes tiht…” says Jared with a grim face He had completely lost his usual smile
“… Not to uarantee that Katarina will come back safely It’s not unthinkable that if she saw the culprit’s face, she’d be killed to keep it a secret,” says Nikol gravely with a sirim look
“That can’t be! It’s completely unreasonable to kill her just because she saw their face while they were kidnapping her…” cries Sophia in a voice nearing a scream
Although I didn’t say anything out loud, I’ in my heart
“We’re talking about someone who kidnaps people – they probably don’t care if they do so unreasonable It’s possible If that’s the case, Jared giving into the de for her location than to begin preparations to renounce his right to the throne”
“Alan-saood ideas”
“… You didn’t need to add the ‘occasionally’, Mary”
“Heh heh, I apologize Well, if that’s the case, should we go searching for any suspicious people and hs Mary darkly
“No, to search everywhere is a bit rees Keith
“U – uht?” says Maria frantically with a raised voice
Yes, it’s true Apparently a number of people ere likely one of the last to see Katarina on the day of the school festival have hazy memories This is siic – a forbiddenpeople’s minds
The reason why everyone here along with ic is because of last year’s incident Last year, a certain incident occurred During the incident, a certain so her into an unending sleep Everyone worried about her, but thanks to Katarina’s efforts as the incident was successfully put to rest
During the incident, Jared told everyone here, along with est) and Katarina-saic, on the condition that ouldn’t tell anyone else about it
However, last year’s dark ic incident had been successfully put to rest, and the cri ith everyone
So if dark ain in this incident… that ic user involved
“If dark ic was really used, then I’ll be able to tell who the culprit is just by looking at suspicious people”
Maria is one of a select few light ic users in the country, and thus one of the feho can see dark ic, which can’t normally be seen
It’s true that Maria ht it was an excellent plan, but…
“It’s true that it’s a good plan, but if I re used or a little after it was used, right? So wouldn’t you be unable to see anything now, since half a day has already passed?”
“… That is…”
Maria’s expression clouds over Ah, even though I had thought it was such a good plan…
“It seems we’ll have to search every little corner after all”
“Wait a second, Mary! Where do you think you’re going?! Calm down!”
Ignoring Alan’s shouts trying to stop her, Mary’s srows even darker and she makes her way to the door But the moment she makes to open the door, someone knocks and a new person enters the room
“Mary-sao?”
“Oh, Rafael-sao search for Katarina-sama, of course”
There stood Rafael Walt, the culprit behind last year’s incident He was currently working at the Ministry of Magic due to the incident
“Do you have any clues?” responds Rafael with a questioning look He likely already knew about the current situation
“For now, I’o search anywhere that looks suspicious one by one”
Rafael lets out a sh at Mary’s confident words
“That’s much too reckless”
“But Katarina-sa around talking! What do you think we should do then?!” shouts Mary, tears welling in her eyes Despite acting determined, she’s probably worried on the inside
Rafael smiles kindly at Mary
“Everything is going to be alright No harm will come to Katarina-sama,” says Rafael firmly
At those words, Jared stares at Rafael
“What do you mean by that?”
“Katarina-sauard, so there’s no chance that any harm comes to her So, just wait a little bitords brith, “I will definitely save Katarina-sama”