2. What Happened in the Forest

Kalintz rode across the meadow with the pleasant wind at his back and thought back to the sight of Blair turning around at full speed earlier.

She and Tilda Royce didn’t have much of a connection to speak of.

Then again, Blair Mervish didn’t have much of a connection with anyone at the palace. Throughout her time as a frons, she had seemed like someone simply waiting out the required period with no particular investment in any of it.

She gets more interesting the more I watch her.

Though he hadn’t taken an interest in her from the beginning, either.

The day she first arrived at the palace, Blair had been wearing a forced smile with an expression that said she was bored to death. He had thought to himself, if that’s how she feels, why bother being a frons at all. Probably angling for the prestige of having been one.

That had been the entirety of his first impression of her.

He had been so indifferent to her that it was only recently he had even learned that the woman who had overheard his argument with Ernst about the wig in the garden that night was Blair.

Then, not long ago, he had slipped out of the palace as he sometimes did and was making his way to his usual spot when he caught sight of her by chance.

She was bundled up in a black cloak, but there was no other woman at the palace with hair that red and curling. It could only be Blair Mervish.

What is she doing out at this hour, dressed like that.

Frons were not permitted to leave the palace grounds during their stay without special authorization.

But that dark hooded cloak pulled low over her head, and those careful, cautious steps, were nothing like someone who had been given permission.

Kalintz felt something stir in him for the first time in a long while. Curiosity, sharp and alive, made him forget his original purpose entirely. He followed her.

He wasn’t sure how long he walked. The place she arrived at was a quiet lake deep in the forest. The path led far enough in that no one would ordinarily come this way, yet she moved through it as though she knew every step by heart. This was clearly not her first time.

He had always thought he was the undisputed master of slipping out of the palace undetected, but here was an unexpected rival.

Blair approached a tree near the lake. Someone had cut it down deliberately, leaving only a jagged stump.

She dropped down in front of it and rummaged in her clothes, then set something on top of the stump. Whatever it was caught the light in small flashes, like a necklace or a bracelet.

“Allen, I’m here. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Blair murmured into the empty air.

“The gap in the wall I was using got blocked, you know. I don’t know who made it, but it was so useful.”

A gap in the wall? Could she mean that opening in the wall beside the north gate?

Kalintz thought back to the passage that had been sealed after he was caught sneaking out through it by the head of the guard.

“So I had quite a time finding a new one. The security just keeps getting tighter, I swear.”

She kept talking, even with no one there to listen.

She went on about one small thing after another. How there had been a dessert last week she had never tried before, and it was so good she nearly fainted. How a wedge of cheese kept going missing from the kitchen every day, and the culprit turned out to be the cat the chief chamberlain kept.

Like someone murmuring at a grave.

But there was no grave. No headstone. Not even anything resembling a memorial tablet.

While Kalintz was puzzling over it, Blair’s topic shifted to how suffocating life at the palace was.

“There are nothing but impossible people everywhere!”

She beat her chest in frustration.

“Phew. But in two more days, that wretched princess consort selection or whatever it is will finally be over! And then I’ll be free, Allen!”

“Pfft.”

The cheerful profanity that came tumbling out with her bright smile made a short laugh escape Kalintz before he could stop it.

“Wh, what? Who’s there?!”

Blair shot to her feet and called out sharply.

Kalintz considered his options for a moment. Step out and show himself, or quietly turn around and leave.

He didn’t particularly mind either way. He was far more thoroughly disguised than she was. A perfectly ordinary linen tunic and a brown wig. Even if he walked out in front of her, there was little chance she would recognize him.

But his deliberation didn’t last long.

“…… That’s strange. Did I hear wrong?”

Blair muttered to herself and seemed to settle back down.

More naive than she looks.

Kalintz decided he could afford to watch a little longer and held his breath carefully behind the tree. But a long stretch of silence passed with nothing from her side.

He strained to listen, but the voice that had been chattering away like a bird had gone completely quiet. Wondering if he had somehow lost track of her, Kalintz slowly leaned out from behind the tree.

“I knew something was there.”

Red hair appeared from the other side of the tree without warning.

“Who are you? Why are you hiding and spying on me?”

Blair had a branch in her hand, pointed at him, eyes sharp and hard.

Kalintz realized in that moment that her murmured ‘I must have heard wrong’ had been deliberate, said loudly enough to flush him out. He let out a short, helpless laugh.

“Ha. Clever.”

He murmured low, genuinely startled, though he hadn’t let it show.

Blair didn’t back down. She shook the branch, which looked like it would snap at the slightest pressure, and raised her voice.

“What? You’re the one who got caught hiding in the bushes like a rat, spying on people. And you’re calling me clever?”

Blair Mervish was not more naive than she looked. She was braver than she looked.

“Do you really think you can do anything with that branch?”

The words seemed to land with some weight, because she flinched and took a step back. She looked exactly like a startled squirrel, and a quiet laugh slipped out.

“What, why do you keep laughing! Why were you hiding and watching me?”

For all her bold words, the end of the branch trembled in her white-knuckled grip.

Kalintz let the edge out of his voice and answered.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. My apologies. This path doesn’t see many people, so I followed to make sure you weren’t someone suspicious.”

“…… What, are you the head of the guard or something.”

Kalintz narrowed his eyes at Blair’s nerve. Here she was, having snuck out of the palace herself, and still managing to be cheeky about it.

“Not necessarily the head of the guard, but surely anyone who spots suspicious movement near the royal palace ought to pay attention.”

At the words royal palace, Blair’s shoulders gave a small jerk.

Kalintz caught it. She clearly did not want anyone to know she had slipped out of the palace.

“Was this near the royal palace? Hm, I didn’t realize.”

Her clumsy attempt at denial made something playful stir in him.

“Whether you knew or not, that seems like something to sort out in front of the palace’s head of the guard.”

He said it in a perfectly serious tone, and Blair went white.

“What are you talking about!”

“You’re getting quite worked up. That’s suspicious in itself.”

“You’re the one saying something ridiculous!”

“Formal speech? Getting more suspicious by the moment.”

Blair had shifted from informal to formal mid-argument now that things weren’t going her way, and Kalintz found it quietly funny, though he kept it to himself.

“Fine! I won’t say another word, so just go wherever you were going!”

Blair snapped. Kalintz looked at her face steadily.

A gust of wind arrived at just the right moment and flipped back the hood that had already been half-slipping, sending it fully off.

Waves of red hair spilled out and scattered in the breeze. Startled by the sudden wind, her deep green eyes went slightly wide.

The setting sun, just beginning to sink, layered itself over those rounded eyes. Whether it was the reddish glow of the dusk or something else, the flush on her cheeks deepened, and her lips, pressed into a small pout, stood out all the more.

So that’s what she looks like.

The woman standing in front of him was entirely different from the Blair Mervish he had kept in his memory.

“What, why are you staring? I told you to go.”

Blair’s voice was wary. Kalintz realized he had been looking at her face for too long and slowly turned his gaze away.

“…… If you won’t go, then I will.”

Whether she felt uneasy at his silence and stillness, Blair moved to leave in a hurry. She started back the way she had come, then paused, glanced back at Kalintz, and turned in the opposite direction instead, disappearing quickly.