There was about a month left until the snow festival would be held. It wasn’t exactly a lot of time to plan something.
‘I need to move fast.’
After finishing the stack of paperwork as quickly as I could, I went to see Katana that evening.
First, I had to check if the magical tool had definitely been used to steal the information, and where it had been attached.
When I knocked and said my name in front of Katana’s room, the door swung open.
“Evelyn! Hurry, come in!”
Katana greeted me unusually cheerfully. Just like a few days ago, when I returned to the palace.
Feeling a little confused, I went into the room and sat at the table. Katana suddenly asked,
“What happened?!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“What do you mean, what? With Caesar!”
“Oh……”
I let out a small sigh. Only then did I realize why Katana was so excited to see me. A few days ago, I had talked with her about what happened with Caesar, but I hadn’t told her how it went afterward.
“Sorry, I’ve been too busy to come find you.”
“I figured. Actually, I went to the emperor’s palace to see you, but you looked super busy, so I just left. So? What happened?”
“Well, we worked things out.”
“Worked out?”
I thought back to what happened with Caesar that day. We had an honest conversation, so I guess you could say it was resolved.
“Hmm, maybe I should call it making up?”
But Katana asked again, as if that wasn’t the answer she wanted.
“Did you confirm each other’s feelings?”
“Feelings? I mean, if you put it that way…… but it’s more like we cleared up the misunderstanding.”
“What do you mean? So are you two getting married or not?”
“What?!”
Startled by the unexpected question, I opened my eyes wide. Married? Caesar and I, getting married?
“What are you talking about, Katana? Why marriage all of a sudden?”
“Hmm? You’re not?”
“Why is this even turning into that kind of conversation?”
“But you said you confirmed your feelings.”
Katana spoke with a confused look.
Over the past few years, Katana had learned a lot about noble society, including how things worked in social circles. Honestly, her behavior now didn’t feel out of place even within the imperial palace.
‘So I let my guard down……’
I guess she still had more to learn. Jumping to marriage just because we made up.
‘She is still a child, after all.’
I explained slowly.
“It’s not that kind of feeling. I just meant things went back to how they were before. Like old times.”
“Really?”
“Yeah……”
“Are you sure? Did Caesar say the same?”
Katana asked, looking a bit disappointed.
“He didn’t say it like that, but…… I think so?”
As she kept pressing, I couldn’t help but replay that day in my head. Caesar told me not to leave, I said I wouldn’t, we hugged, held hands……
‘……Was that a little weird?’
Now that Katana said something, I realized others might’ve seen it as something more.
‘……No, still, it’s not like that.’
I shook my head firmly.
“I’m sure. It’s not like that.”
“Geez……”
Katana pouted and finally gave in.
“Then if it’s not about marriage, why did you come?”
“Oh, I wanted to ask if you had time tomorrow.”
I finally brought up the real reason.
“I always have time.”
“Then do you want to go to the training grounds with me?”
****
The next day, I told Caesar about the plan to meet Katana at the training grounds.
“Today, we should be able to confirm it for sure. Whether a magical tool was used or not.”
“How are you planning to detect it?”
Caesar, still buried in paperwork, asked without lifting his eyes.
“Since Sir Alvin can’t know, I’m planning to do it while he’s training at the grounds. He’ll probably have set most of his belongings aside by then and be too distracted.”
“That’s a good idea. Let me know what you find.”
“Yes, of course. By the way, Your Majesty, what about the snow festival?”
“Oh…”
Caesar’s hand, which had been writing quickly, stopped. He looked at me and smiled softly.
“Floria said she wanted to go. Apparently, a big cat made of snow appears in the final parade.”
So it was Floria’s idea, after all.
“Could I… maybe go too?”
“You? To the festival?”
Caesar looked at me with surprised eyes. I had almost never accompanied him to any outside events before.
“Of course you can. But what’s the occasion? Do you want to see the cat too?”
“Well? I mean, I do want to see the cat, but…”
I burst out laughing at Caesar’s cute guess.
“I was thinking we could use the festival to lure out whoever spread the rumors.”
“A trap? How?”
“I’ll explain after I detect the magical tool. I’m not sure yet.”
“Hmm. Alright. I trust you’ve got a plan.”
Caesar finished speaking and stretched both arms above his head. Now that I looked more closely, he did seem tired.
“Are you very tired?”
“I’m fine. I caused this mess—I need to take responsibility.”
Caesar smiled calmly and extended one arm toward me.
“Holding your hand might give me more energy.”
I was about to take his hand naturally, but then I flinched.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. Just had a random thought.”
I brushed it off and took Caesar’s hand.
“Eve, your hands are small.”
Caesar looked at my hand thoughtfully.
“…Your Majesty, your hands just got bigger. We used to be about the same.”
“Did they?”
Caesar chuckled and turned his attention back to the papers. It looked like he was planning to finish his work while still holding my hand.
But I couldn’t take my eyes off our hands.
‘Is it because of what Katana said…?’
For some reason, Caesar’s hand felt unfamiliar today. The calluses from swinging a sword, the long fingers, the prominent knuckles…
I cleared my throat and adjusted my posture. That was a pointless thought.
*****
A few hours later, I met Katana at the entrance of the training grounds. She looked around in wonder at the place she’d never seen before.
“Do I just scan the whole area?”
“No, I have a spot in mind. Just a moment… He should be here soon.”
We stood near the entrance for a bit, and soon Olche strolled out from inside the training ground, his face full of annoyance.
“Sir Olche, over here!”
“Milady… What now?”
“It’s His Majesty’s order. We need someone to guide us through the training grounds.”
Despite his attitude, I knew from last time that Olche was reliable and skilled.
“Where do you want to go?”
“The place where Sir Alvin keeps his belongings while he’s training.”
“Even if it’s a royal order, stealing isn’t allowed, you know.”
I shot him a glare instead of responding to the unnecessary joke, and Olche gave an awkward smile before leading the way.
Once some distance had opened between us and Olche, Katana, who had been hiding behind me, asked,
“Is the magical tool among Alvin’s belongings?”
“Probably. It’s very likely.”
“Hmmm…”
Katana had run into Alvin a few times while coming to and from the imperial palace.
Soon, we arrived at the break room where the knights stored their personal items.
“It should be in here, but I can’t open anything without Alvin’s permission.”
Olche pointed to one of the cabinets as he spoke.
“That’s fine. I don’t plan to open it. Katana, go ahead.”
“Okay!”
There was no big issue with detecting magic without opening the cabinet.
Katana placed her hand on top of the cabinet. Olche watched, clearly not understanding what was happening.
Time passed. Longer than it usually took Katana to scan documents.
“…Katana?”
Does it always take longer to detect magic than to scan records? I asked curiously, and Katana frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Huh?”
“There’s no magical tool inside this. But… a bit farther away…”
Katana’s hand slowly moved, then stopped toward the direction of the training ground where Alvin was practicing.
“It’s coming from over there.”
“Outside? Are you sure it’s nearby?”
“Yeah! It’s really close!”
Katana spoke with full confidence.
“If we look around a bit, we should find it soon.”
That might mean Alvin was carrying it with him during training.
‘Could that be? Would he really have a magical tool on him while training… Ah…!’
There was one thing Alvin never took off. Not when training, not when eating with family or meeting friends, not even when sleeping. His sword.
‘If the magical tool is attached to that sword, everything makes sense.’
I quickly turned my head and asked Olche,
“Sir Olche, is there a place where we could watch Sir Alvin from a distance?”
“Without him noticing?”
“Yes.”
Olche, already in sync without needing more explanation, led the way.
We left the break room and headed to the training grounds.
The training grounds were divided into three areas.
The largest space, for the royal guards, was on the outside. Inside that was a private area for high-ranking individuals like Emperor Caesar or his chief aide, Alvin. At the far end was a small field where Floria and I had once played ball.
Olche took us to the guards’ training area.
“If we stay here, Alvin won’t notice us. Not that he pays attention to others while focused on his training anyway.”
In front of us were piles of straw and wood props for training. Just like Olche said, it would be hard for Alvin to notice us unless he looked carefully.
As soon as we settled in, I asked Katana,
“How is it? Can you feel it?”
“Hmm…”
Katana focused for a moment, then nodded strongly.
“Yeah! I can feel it from Alvin!”
‘I knew it!’
There was no doubt now—the magical listening device was attached to Alvin’s sword.
“It’s attached to the sword he’s swinging, right?”
I asked confidently, but Katana tilted her head.
“The sword?”
“Huh? Isn’t it?”
“I feel it… coming from inside Alvin’s body.”
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