Fish Don't Know About Water - Chapter 30

— I don’t think I’ll ever see you in a wedding dress.

She often said this while braiding my hair.

— It would be so nice if I could see it.

I thought it was just a complaint. I thought she was worried there would be no man willing to marry the Little Lady.
I didn’t realize it meant she would die before I reached marriageable age.
It’s strange. Why did I suddenly think of the deceased Countess?
I hadn’t thought of her for a long time…
At that moment, the nocturne ended.
The phonograph…
…
The phonograph made a screeching mechanical noise and stopped. It felt like waking up from a dream, and I opened my eyes wide.
My head ached as if it were being pierced by a needle. I groaned and rubbed my throbbing temples.
It’s strange. I haven’t had a headache since coming to Costonia. Though I’ve been overdoing it lately… (Did I take too many homemade fatigue recovery pills?)
I felt the Prince’s peculiar gaze as we sat side by side on the sofa. He could have kindly asked if I was feeling unwell. But expecting such behavior from this stiff prince would only disappoint me.

— All the broken parts have been repaired.

Minister Hinler said as he removed the record from the phonograph. A faint dark green light shimmered around his hand.
I stared blankly at his hand, which was glowing. His hand was smooth like a young person’s. (Is that too perverted a thought?)

— Miss Cochrun. Given the circumstances, His Majesty has conveyed that the wedding will be held simply in the chapel within the base.

The Minister turned to me, the green light around his hand fading. I nodded absentmindedly, lost in thought.

— That’s fine.

— The wedding date is tomorrow. His Majesty said you could decide the time, Miss Cochrun.

— T… Tomorrow… So soon?

For the first time, the Prince, who had been sitting with a stern face, reacted. He turned sharply to me, frowning.

— Wha… What about the wedding dress?

— Do you think I don’t even have a dress for going out?

— A d… dress? That’s r-ridiculous…

— You said the Commander has to board the combat airship soon. Where would we find the time to prepare everything?」

The editor unconsciously smacked her forehead with a loud thud. As a fellow woman, she felt sorry for Phenelity Cochrun. She was also disappointed from the perspective of someone who had anticipated a royal wedding.

“What’s the matter?”

Sir Gallant looked puzzled as he watched the editor clutching her forehead and groaning.

“The King is too much. I thought the Little Lord and the Prince would have a royal wedding after returning home!”

“In these times, a grand ceremony is impossible.”

“A royal wedding event means an official holiday. I was looking forward to my first vacation since joining…”

The editor stomped her feet in frustration and turned the manuscript to the next page.

「The Prince seemed displeased with the hastily decided wedding date and the modest ceremony. He kept grumbling about how I wouldn’t even be wearing a dress.
But what could we do? Spending a fortune on a wedding during wartime would only invite the public’s criticism. (Complaints about war expenses, tax waste, and such. I have no intention of getting involved in such complicated issues!)

— Cheer up. What’s the big deal about a wedding?

— ……

— Colint, who stays in the room next to mine, got married to a foreign officer in the chapel last week. She couldn’t find a dress and wore a sky-blue dress.

As I tried to comfort the sulking Prince, I suddenly thought of this. If my mother were alive, how would she react to the news of me marrying into the royal family?
Would she be shocked? Or happy? Or would she feel sorry for her poor daughter? (She’d probably cry the most!)

— Why, why would she be sad?

The Prince, who had heard my mumbling, asked with a confused look.

— My mother had a saying she often repeated when she was alive. ‘Daughter, do you know the quickest way for a woman’s life to be ruined?’

I leaned comfortably against him and mimicked my mother’s gentle tone.

— ‘It’s marrying into a conservative family.’

Sir Esca, who was standing by the door watching our conversation, twisted his face as if he was about to laugh at my imitation.」

Sir Esca? When did he appear in the room? The editor frowned and reread the previous content.

The only people the Little Lady met in the study were Prince Viett and Minister Hinler. Yet, a character who had never been mentioned before suddenly appeared. Did the Viscount enter the study while the safe house spell was active?

「— That makes sense.

Minister Hinler nodded in agreement.

— There’s no family more conservative than the Hartmann royal family in Westenia.

— Right? My mother’s words are spot on.

I was delighted to find common ground with the Minister for the first time. But it was short-lived. Realizing my situation, I sighed deeply.

— Whew, just once! I only opened the window for a man once. I never thought it would lead to marriage…

Well, the Hartmann royal family is a conservative place stuck centuries in the past. From their perspective, a man climbing the wall of a building where a lady lives at night is a scandalous and disgraceful incident, right?
Does the royal family not consider it a youthful indiscretion? (Anyway, the Prince seemed to have acted impulsively under the influence of alcohol!)」

Wasn’t it more than once? I remember the Little Lady opened the window twice. The editor tilted her head and continued reading the draft.

「— Well. I look forward to our future together, Commander.

I abruptly extended my hand to the Prince. He, sitting nobly with his legs crossed and arms folded, staring straight ahead, glanced down at my hand.
He stared at my hand with a peculiar look for a moment. Then, he slowly unfolded his arms and extended just two fingers towards me!
Doesn’t the Prince even know how to shake hands properly? I resisted the urge to criticize him and grabbed his thick fingers. Then I shook them up and down vigorously.
Despite everything, I felt quite good. Having a life partner might be a rather interesting thing!」

“Sir Gallant. Doesn’t this part seem a bit strange?”

The editor tilted her head after reading the last page of the manuscript.

“The part where the Little Lady refers to her mother as ‘Countess’ here. The writing style and narrative have subtly changed from this point. Even if it’s describing deep inner thoughts unrelated to the situation during the brainwashing spell, it feels like a different person wrote it…”

“Enough.”

She was startled by the cold command and shut her mouth. She slowly lifted her gaze from the manuscript. Sir Gallant was looking down at her with a blank expression.

“You are a very suspicious person. Perhaps you should consider moving to a detective agency instead of a newspaper office?”

“…I’m sorry. I overstepped.”

The editor hurriedly bowed her head, feeling the chill in the office. She suddenly recalled the only warning her superior had given her when she first took on the Little Lord’s novel.

‘Remember, it’s best to just work without thinking in front of Duke Gallant.’

‘Why?’

‘Don’t ask. Just know that, in the eyes of that ghost, we commoners are no more than talking typewriters.’

She had thought it was a silly joke because of the added comment. But it was a serious warning without any humor.

The editor glanced at Sir Gallant’s opaque face. His eyes looked like he could easily eliminate a powerless worker like her without a second thought.

The previous editors who couldn’t last long and quit one after another. Did anyone ever hear from them again? What if they had all been quietly disposed of for offending the ghost?

The editor swallowed hard. That’s an evil spirit. An evil spirit born from an obsession with the Little Lord.

Does it make sense for the first Minister of Magic, who died young, to become a ghost to protect his greatest masterpiece? This is a story material itself. A horror novel with blood and death!

“I will start editing right away, Sir Gallant.”

The editor, shivering with chills, pulled the typewriter from the corner of the desk. And under Sir Gallant’s close watch, she revised the draft of <Pepe>.

She suddenly felt sorry for the readers who would enjoy this manuscript. At the same time, she found them pathetic.

Most of the people in Westenia are under a big misconception. The illusion that they are peeking into and enjoying every detail of a woman’s life.

Because they pay for <Evening Whisper> daily. Because they are familiar with a famous person they have watched since childhood. They fall into the illusion that they have the right to scrutinize and mock a living person.

They probably think Cochrun is just a character that exists in print.

Even though this woman is a living, breathing person like themselves. They only peek at a life pieced together to suit the tastes of those in power. And they keep running their mouths.

The editor smirked secretly at Sir Gallant and mechanically typed away on the typewriter.