‘Hold on, hold on, hold on!’

“Hello! We are currently falling!”

I shouted while falling with the two divine beasts and one Marquis. François Duhem’s eyes opened wide.

‘Yes, I get that you are handsome today as well, and I am truly thankful that you came here, but the situation has not gotten any better. It’s still very serious.’

Swooooooosh!

“Oh, I see. I suppose it is time for me to put on a show……”

– Screeeech!

The Marquis spoke weakly. Demy opened his mouth and screeched. The way he was sticking his pink tongue out made it clear that he was very entertained. I resisted against the intense gust of wind and barely managed to extend one arm.

The little guy swam in the air for a bit before he seemed to have decided that it was not enough as he grew some vines to hang onto me. I hugged the red panda and scolded him.

“Why are you not listening, hmm?”

– Squeeeee.

“That, what was it again?”

The Marquis, who was firmly holding me in one arm, scowled. Thankfully, this cliff was deep as otherwise, we would have kicked the bucket a long time ago.

“Your specialty! Your specialty, Marquis Duhem!”

“Ah. Thank you very much, madam.”

I wanted to glare at him and ask who was a madam here, but I could tell that the Marquis’ condition was terrible. His hand was warm and he was boiling with a fever. His forehead had cooled off thanks to the cool breeze and had beads of sweat on it while his eyes were oddly unfocused. I felt guilty because he looked so sick. He elegantly swung the mace in his other hand.

He seemed to have brought it with him because it was difficult to control his mana.

“Then…… Why don’t we go to my place, your highness?”

“Yes, please!”

I could now see the sharp rocks right below us. I hid the kiddos deep in my clothes and clenched my eyes shut. ‘Wow, it would be so much better to just faint!’

“Mommy!”

– Paaaaat!

I saw a bright light pink light just as I was about to have a date with the grim reaper.

*

As time flowed until noon that day…

Cédric was co-leading the investigation with his mother. They decided that he would receive the reports on his own when Frédérique was busy, and right now was one of those times.

“The Imperial Guard led by Captain Duhem have yet to enter the Imperial Capital, your Royal Highness,” Duke Simon de Sarnez calmly commented.

His neck looked dark red. The Duke had received burns on the right half of his body during the Officer Candidate School’s opening terrorist incident. He supposedly received the help of healing priests, but he currently had a mask over the right side of his face. He looked like he had the flu on the day of the incident, but he seemed better now. He still looked down but not as if he would fall over at any moment.

He stepped into this investigation as a Pair de Riester involved with politics and as a victim of the terrorist incident.

The Imperial Crown Prince nodded his head. “How odd.”

“Yes sir. It is common knowledge that the paths in the south are rough, but it is rare for the envoy to be this slow.”

“We also did not get any news that it rained or snowed in the south,” Élisabeth, who was standing next to the crown prince, added on.

His orange eyes scarily sank down. There were no reasons for him to be delayed but Hervé Duhem, one of the strongest mages in the Empire, did not reach the Imperial Capital on time. The justification to dispatch them was because of the severity of the crimes, but the real reason was to protect the Prince. But they did not hear from such a group. This unfamiliar sense of nervousness made Cédric feel uncomfortable.

“Your Royal Highness, if you give the order, we can send the Imperial Capital Garrisons to the south to search.”

“……”

“A search,” The Duke continued his explanation. There is a chance that they ran into a setback because of a herd of demonic beasts or something. We recently increased the number of garrisons so there should be no issues with defending the capital even if we dispatched a portion.”

“I heard about that. Duke Sarnez, I heard you have trained a lot of special forces and even gave a bunch of money to support them.” The young Countess smiled as she whispered. The man smiled benevolently.

“I simply did my duties as a vassal for the peace of the Imperial family and the Empire.”

“……We will do as you suggested. Send only a small group of the core members in order to ensure that there are no gaps in the safety of the Imperial Capital.” The crown prince answered. The chances of there being a problem was low because Johann Geens was there.

However, the Prince always seemed to get wrapped up in issues, as if he was the eye of the storm. The issue itself was extremely sensitive, so he needed to expect something out of the norm.

He could not send any more members of the Imperial Guard, though.

The Duke nodded his head and got up. He looked dizzy but he quickly stabilized himself. The crown prince nonchalantly asked.

“I heard that Dame Sarnez arrived at the Lord’s Castle before the prince?”

“……Yes, your Royal Highness.”

He was talking about Christelle. Élisabeth smirked as she peeked at Cédric. They always bickered but he still seemed to care about his friend.

“Is there an issue back home?”

“No, your Royal Highness. It’s just that…… My daughter returned first because she is ill.”

The Duke calmly commented. The crown prince scowled.

“That is unexpected.”

‘She’s ill? She is capable of getting sick? I was wondering why she was so quiet despite something like this happening.’ Élisabeth was extremely shocked as well.

“Is she very ill? I thought it was weird that she left the Prince behind, but it seems like I will need to go check on her.”

“That’s okay.” The Duke gently cut her off. The left side of his face, which was not covered by a mask, looked as gentle as ever.

“It might be the flu going around the western part of the Empire right now so I told her to avoid going out for now. I was worried that it might spread to important figures in our Empire. I will have her come to the Imperial Palace as soon as she gets better.”

“Mm. Then please give her our regards.”

“Thank you very much. I will do so.”

He respectfully bowed and left the room. The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard finally sat down and stretched.

“Ahhh, what the hell is going on? A sudden terrorist incident, his highness getting framed for some complete nonsense…… I want to go home even though my report is not done.”

“Something’s odd.”

“Hmm? What’s the issue?”

The young Countess, who was leaning back on the couch, turned her head to look at Cédric. The man looked serious.

“It’s concerning that they got separated right at this time.”

“……”

“Why are you laughing?”

He scowled. Élisabeth grabbed a nearby cushion looking as if she was about to cry and…

“I’m not laughpffff.” She urgently buried her face and started crying. Rhea and Perry, who had been playing with a fire snake in the next room, ran over after hearing one of their favorite big sister’s crying. The crown prince held back a sigh while watching Perry climbing up his knees. Perry was going, ‘kiiii, kiii,’ as if to ask him what was going on, but he could not say anything.

“Looking for your friends. You’ve become a true member of society. Big sis is so touched……”

“I’m seven months older than you.”

“Ahhhhhhh.”

– Cruuu.

The young Countess hugged Rhea and laughed. He seemed to be the only one feeling like something was off as she looked normal despite her reunion with her fiancé getting delayed. She did show some concern, but she seemed to be thinking that nothing much should happen to a group with the Captain of the Imperial Guard, a Cardinal, and a healing priest.

It seemed more reasonable than his unexplainable anxiety. The crown prince chose to change the topic. Work was the only way to get the Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard to stop laughing.

“The autopsy results?”

“Oh, right.”

She quickly calmed herself and put Rhea down.

“You were right. There were traces of poison in young master Andresy’s corpse.”

“……”

The crown prince clenched his teeth. He had experienced something weird in the terrorist incident that killed one person. It was the fact that the dead culprit had foamed at the mouth as he bled. The young boy did die instantly from the explosion, but Cédric’s instincts had told him that was not just body fluid. It led him to request an examination instead of immediately cremating the body. The one who did the autopsy was the doctor he trusted the most, Sir Michel Moutet.

Élisabeth continued to speak. “He must have consumed the poison right before causing the incident. Whether it was given by the person who planned this or he himself brought it… That bastard was supposed to die there.”

“……”

“It would have been a headache if you managed to calm the flames and he survived. He can’t even lie because we have her Eminence with us.”

Basically, this terrorist plot was well thought out, including the aftermath. They had cut off the tail to completely hide the mastermind. It was the type of crime someone like Jesse Venetiaan could never even imagine.

Cédric’s gloved hand was tightly clenched. Perry hugged his fist as if telling him to calm down.

“But there are so many different poisons that can kill people that he needs some time to fully figure out the properties. It would be easy if it was just a poisonous herb, but he said it might be poison from a demonic beast. I told him that we will give him a week.”

“Four days.”

He gave a short response. The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard’s jaw dropped. ‘Listen to this tyrant.’

“Finish it by that time.”

“Sadie, my dad is a person too.”

– Knock knock.

Someone knocked on her Empress Palace’s reception room door at that moment. David appeared looking awkward.

“Your Royal Highness, you have a guest.”

“Didn’t I say that I will be rejecting all audience requests for a while?”

“That……”

“Vice Commander Moutet!”

Slam! A young voice shouted through the open door. Élisabeth immediately stood up. Eva Blanquer, who was full of tears, immediately jumped into her arms. The young Duchess was shaking for some reason. The young Countess wanted to take a look at her face, but the child simply cried without raising her head. The crown prince looked at David. The middle-aged man silently shook his head.

“Eva?”

“Vice Commander Moutet, apparently my brother is dead. My brother……”

‘My goodness.’ Élisabeth gasped. ‘Robert Blanquer is dead?’

“How did that happen? Was there an accident or something?”

He was the same age as Cédric. He did get an unhealable injury from the duel, but he had no issues prior and was an extremely strong mage. It was uncharacteristic for a trash like him to die like that.

“I’m not sure. The Lord’s Castle, hiccup. I received a message. My mother, sob, said to stay in the Imperial Capital for now……”

“I see. You must have been so shocked. My goodness.”

– Plop.

An envelope fell from the young Duchess’s robe. Anybody would be able to tell that this envelope was expensive. Perry and Rhea ran over, sniffed it, and tilted their heads. They then looked up at the crown prince. His head tilted in the same direction.

“What is going on?”

– Whimper

Rhea tapped on the envelope with her black nose, as if asking him to look at him. She had an extremely serious look on her face. She still seemed to think that the Imperial Palace was the Bakery Detective Office.

Cédric peeked at Élisabeth and Eva before bending down for the divine beast. It was just once.

– Pruu

Perry pushed at a spot with his front paw. The crown prince pulled up the furball of a divine beast.

“……Some ink splattered.”

There were two specks of ink that would be hard to find without taking a close look. The two divine beasts confirmed the man’s reaction before quickly running to the next room. They were so hard to understand. He slowly stood up and looked at the two girls.

“Shh…… It’s okay. We will be with you. Why don’t you stay at the Count’s Estate for a while?”

Eva sniffed and nodded her head at the young Countess’s cautious question. Her shaken soul was releasing unstable ether. The crown prince pulled out his handkerchief.

– Screeeech

The divine beasts returned at that moment and called out to him again. Cédric looked down at the carpet. Rhea spat out the item in her mouth.

“Are you touching top secret information as well now?” He sternly asked. The thing the two punks brought was the anonymous envelope that had been on the table. Sarah Belliard had left behind this envelope that was full of ‘evidence’ about the Prince’s rebellion plans.

Perry opened and closed his mouth as if he felt wronged. He then pushed hard against one spot of the envelope. He pushed so hard that his paw print was left on it.

“……”

The crown prince’s gaze sharpened. The voices of his close friend and his cousin became distant.

That too was also some ink splatter.

*

My eyes bolted open. Unfamiliar wallpaper, unfamiliar bed…

“Eek!”

I gasped as I sat up. This was not the time to be getting a snooze. My mind filled with concern and fear as soon as my mind woke up.

‘I need to save Captain Duhem, Sir Johann, and my friends……!’

“Ah! He’s awake!”

“We, we greet the Moon of the Holy Kingdom……”

“Did you sleep well, Prince Jesse, the witness for my celestial covenant?”

“Cough, cough!” I got anxious at this outburst of greetings and coughed. I needed to go help people precious to me, but my mind was blank and I could not think. I quickly covered my mouth with my sleeve, but the coughing did not stop. I just pulled the blanket up and covered all the way up to my neck. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

‘There are three women I don’t know in my bedroom! Wait…… I do know two of them?’

“Young lady Antoinette?”

“Yes, my esteemed sir!”

The Marquis’s first younger sister, who had her long hair up in a ponytail, extended her arm and bowed like an actress in a musical. She was wearing an extremely splendid outfit despite it being early. I blankly looked at the others as well.

‘The timid one over there is young lady Thérèse, the one I met during the masquerade, then that person over there is probably the second sister……’

“My name is Maria! I carried you all the way here, your highness!”

The young lady who was dressed like a staff at the stable while wearing a hat with some soot put her hands against her hips as she spoke.

“T, thank you very much.” I barely managed to thank her and gulped.

‘So these are the heavyweights of the Marquis House of Duhem, the sisters, Antoinette-Maria-Thérèse……’

—
Translator’s Comments

Why do I suddenly feel the need to sing Team Rocket’s prepare for trouble! and make it double (or triple in this case!)

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