CH 16

Millicent began to doubt whether deciding Adriana Beasley as the new target would be the right decision.

Her broken leg was the problem.

Servants were attached to her all day because of her discomfort. Millicent had been secretly spying on her for days, but there was no luck. It was not easy to establish an excuse to get close to her.

Nor could she use poison. Each of the five maids had to be killed in a different way. People would buy the suspicion of a chain of deaths at some point, but it was still best to postpone it as long as possible.

Today, she was determined to catch up with things outside the royal palace.

Adriana came to visit Queen Jadalin early at midday. She retreated with the help of her maids. Just then Millicent found Rubert.

“Lend me a horse.”

Rubert Mulally did not always ask for lengthy explanations. He only raised his eyebrows once and immediately brought two chestnut-haired mares he kept in the Cardinal’s office.

“I’ll take one of them.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He took off his priest uniform and put on a black hood over his head.

“Why?”

“Because I always wondered what you do and how you do it.”

“I’m not trying to kill anyone right now.”

Even if she wanted to, there was no way to do it. Millicent once again tightened the hat strap under her chin.

“I know.” Rubert whispered. “And I don’t want to know either, not until you kill who and how anyway.”

“Are you worried about your soul?”

Millicent asked, not forgetting what he had said when they were eating at the diner.

“Yes, I am. I’m a priest, in case you were wondering. I can’t be that corrupt,” Rubert chuckled. “Even for you, Millie, there are limits to your depravity.”

He pretended to be nonchalant but looked a little sad. A few words came to mind that Millicent could say back. But they were uniformly thorny thoughts.

Rubert was not someone to be treated like that. She had already owed too much to him and Uncle Mulally.

“Let’s go.”

While Millicent remained silent, Rubert stealthily mounted his horse.

As expected, Adriana had not yet left the royal palace. She was crippled and glowering. Still, she seemed to have managed to ride in the carriage. And with Frederick’s help.

“Be careful, Lady Adriana.”

Frederick’s tone was very friendly as he held her hand and pushed her into the carriage. Naturally, Adriana was so ecstatic she could die.

“It seems that the king himself is escorting that lady to the Count’s residence again today.”

Millicent, who had been watching from her hiding place, frowned.

It wasn’t a one time action. Frederick had been escorting Adriana home under Jadalin’s watchful eyes for several days.

The carriage and escort procession slowly departed. Millicent and Rubert followed discreetly.

Millicent stared at Frederick, who was riding a black horse from the front. He wore a long sword at his waist. He even seemed to be wearing leather armor, judging from the thickness of his cloak.

Then she counted the vassals escorting Frederick. They were all selected elite knights. She could roughly guess their identity just by looking at their body movements.

Therefore she had no chance at all to target Adriana.

“Don’t do anything reckless like attacking His Majesty.” Rubert whispered, as if urging the man with the broom to sweep the yard. “You’re no match for him. He’s a truly gifted knight.”

“It’s already unfair for me to fight the king because of my class.” Millicent looked away at Rubert’s unreasonable concern. “I wish I could sneak into the Count’s mansion…”

She hoped for the last straw. But when she arrived, her hopes were quickly dashed.

The Count’s mansion was strictly speaking the villa of the Beasley family. The real house was supposed to be in the Arlan estate.

And yet, it was heavily guarded like a fortress. Iron thorns were embedded into the walls, and men in Beasley family uniforms stood at ten paces apart in front of the main gate, their eyes glaring for threats. It looked like even an ant would be smashed if it had any chance to enter.

“Count Arlan is paranoid by nature.”

Rubert said. “I heard it’s because he was caught off guard a few times by the Duke of Hamston in the old days.”

Damn George Brennan, why would he make her job so difficult by punching other people in the back? Millicent felt the urge to send him away to be with his daughter (dead Charlotte) right now.

“The short trip with the noble lady is quickly over.”

Frederick dismounted his horse with a gentle tone as when he had placed Adriana in the carriage.

“Will you be with us again tomorrow, Your Majesty?”

Adriana gasped, not wanting to let go of the supporting hand.

“Of course, until your leg heals.”

On the other hand, Frederick seemed less than thrilled with the woman swooning over his face. He had experienced too much of that sort of thing and was used to it.

“You really are an idiot, Millie.”

Rubert said as he watched Adriana turn on her charm. “All normal women react like that in front of His Majesty.”

Millicent was stunned as to why she was suddenly being judged.

“Why can’t you tell at a glance?” Rubert clicked his tongue. “And I’ve been thinking…haven’t you already met His Majesty when you were young?”

“Me?” Millicent tilted her head.

“You were invited to the royal banquet for young Prince Frederick’s birthday.”

Rubert gave Millicent a look that said ‘Why I remembered it but you didn’t?’

“Oh, that banquet.”

An unpleasant feeling welled up. Millicent frowned.

“Well…yes. I’m sure we met then.”

She remembered the overall framework. Prince Frederick’s tenth birthday. The day was twisted from the start, and the end was nothing short of a total disaster.

But she couldn’t quite recall the details. In particular, no matter how hard she tried to remember about Prince Frederick, whom she had certainly greeted once, it was blurry as if she was tracing through a fog.

“…I don’t remember meeting Prince Frederick at that time at all.”

Frustration quickly became irritation.

“Ah, that’s all right.”

Perhaps her memory was damaged when she died in the fire. Not a good time to recall old memories anyway. At least it was better to put it off until after getting rid of Adriana.

“You’re the one who’s been babbling to me.” Millicent grumbled, trying to change the subject.

“What did I do?”

“You said that King Frederick is scary and unpredictable…… You made a big deal out of it! But from my point of view, he’s nothing special.”

She pointed to Frederick, who was walking Adriana into the mansion with his hand holding her elbow. He looked as boring as the rest of the men when he did that.

“He’s just following chivalry.” Rubert said casually. “It’s not the same as leveling the nobility and standing above them.”

Suddenly he lowered his voice. “All of that is a burden to bear because His Majesty wants something from Count Arlan.”

“What does he wants?”

“All the favors granted by the court are by nature a transaction.” Rubert said. “His Majesty gave Count Arlan’s daughter hope that she could be selected as the Royal Mistress, and even instills in her the illusion that if she gives birth to a bastard with the Beasley blood in her veins, the child could become heir to the kingdom. It’s about raising the stakes.”

“What stake?”

“It costs a lot of iron and money to build new barges to be used in times of war. And there’s a lot of both in the Arlan estate. And so do blacksmiths.”

“Why on earth do we need barges when we’re going to fight on the northern border?” Millicent grumbled.

“Do you really want to know why?”

Rubert smiled excitedly. Millicent shook her head hurriedly because Rubert could talk about the international situation for three days.

“In the Bodegas Empire, the situation in the kingdom has stabilized, and the power is being completely reorganized to the center of the royal authority. So, in an attempt to prolong the war, they  secretly send material support to the north through the sea…”

“A shake of the head means ‘no,’ Your Highness the Cardinal.” Millicent did her best to stop him from talking.

Before long, Frederick reappeared after finishing his business. He kindly escorted Adriana into her room and was seen off by the servants of the Count’s residence.

As he mounted his horse along with his knights, the curtains of the second floor windows were drawn.

It seemed that Adriana wanted to wave to the king as he returned to the palace. Or perhaps she hoped he would take off his hat and greet her again before he left.

But Frederick did not pay attention to Adriana behind the curtain and just rode away.

“I paid too much attention and I’m hungry, Rub.”

No reason to follow the king any longer.

Millicent sat down on a tree stump in the forest and took out the bread, ham, and cheese she had stolen from the royal kitchen.

“…How did you steal more than enough to feed three knights?” Rubert was surprised to see the huge loaf of bread.

“It’s my natural talent, you know.” Millicent shrugged and put the ham on the bread.

“Indeed, since Baron Mariboro has been appointed as the Custodian of the Royal Estate once again…”

Rubert said with a tone as if he were trying to convince himself of something. Millicent, however, was preoccupied with the thought of killing Adriana and had no time to pay attention to him.

“If it’s too difficult, why don’t you just go after the other maids first?” Rubert suggested.

“If you move everywhere between the various prey, you’ll miss them all. Once you’ve made up your mind, sticking with it is the basis of hunting.” Millicent said. “And the harder the hunt, the greater the satisfaction of the successful operation.”

“Yeah, well, you’re on your own.” Rubert waved his hand as if her dog poop philosophy was too annoying. “Don’t get caught.”

“I know.”

Millicent shoved a piece of cheese into his mouth to stop his nagging.