“Eh? That girl accepted?”
The image of the cunning girl came to An’s mind and he started to feel a bit of pity for the two Princes. Since things were as expected with the Prince and Queen, An lost interest in the two’s conversation and silently left his hiding spot.
There was a far better show waiting for him elsewhere. Thinking so, he focused his spiritual awareness and locked onto the imprint he left on Sol. The girl’s position was moving rapidly through the capital. An sped along leaping from roof to roof until he finally caught sight of the carriage.
His gaze drifted to the cabin whose curtain was folded and the interior well lit. To his amazement, the girl was holding a bright smile while chatting with Prince Roland who sat across from her. If only the carriage was of special make, then An could satiate his curiosity and listen in.
Sol continued to chat with Prince Roland even after sensing An’s approach. She had long since memorized An’s signature, though she felt the situation was more of the man allowing her to sense him than it was her actually discovering him.
Despite that understanding, she felt proud of herself to have made progress, albeit small progress. Her bright smile brought a smile to the man in conversation with her. Prince Roland never expected the girl would actually agree to a tour of the town with him. Was he more attractive than he initially thought? Perhaps there was no need for drugs and trickery?
Prince Roland only entertained the idea of changing his plan. In truth, his savage nature would never permit him to change the plan just because things were going smoothly. The three day mission he laid out however, could potentially be compressed into one. He was rather excited to arrive at the restaurant.
Although Sol chatted with Prince Roland, she remained alert to her surroundings and the man’s every action. The two remained cordial to each other and there was no clear evidence that either was at fault for any of the actions directly affecting the other. Such superficial things no longer matter at this stage.
Sol continued to ask questions about the capital while Prince Roland answered and even elaborated from time to time. It was clear the Prince held a talent for business. Despite not speaking about it, he knew the many products and stores responsible for selling them. To Sol’s surprise, the Prince even knew about many of the smaller family owned shops. One would know their backyard well, it would seem.
Luckily, Sol was rather passive in this conversation. Throughout the trip, she continued to focus her spiritual awareness on Prince Roland’s body. In particular, she was trying to discover anything he had on him. Although she knew the Prince was targeting her, Sol didn’t actually know what the details were. In fact, inspecting his body was more a form of practice than actual investigation.
Sol continued to manipulate her spiritual sense and test the boundaries when she came across a sudden burst of information. Dizziness overtook her for a moment and she had to use her fingers to massage her temples.
“Are you alright, Lady Reviarra?”
The Prince was actually worried. He knew the girl had a weak constitution and the last thing he wanted was for the girl to collapse during the banquet. Her collapse would ruin his entire plan as anything he attempted later would draw suspicion directly upon him. No matter what title he held, forcibly taking an underage girl after she collapsed from sickness was something that would damn even a King, much less a Prince.
Sol waved her hand to set the Prince’s mind at ease. In fact, the dizziness had passed the near instant it struck her. In fact, she felt her control over her spiritual awareness even increased slightly. The fidelity of information it fed back to her was more detailed. Vague impressions were now less vague.
Everything was still blurry, but there was a degree of clarity that didn’t exist prior. Her new found control occurred after she discovered a small pouch hidden in Prince Roland’s sleeve. Most of her actions up to this point were an attempt to buy time and allow her to focus on that exact point. Unfortunately, her degree of control was lacking.
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Aside from knowing there was something hidden there, Sol remained clueless. She dropped her hands from her temples and continued their conversation. Moving forward, she would keep a degree of her spiritual awareness on that pouch. Did she feel like she was snooping in someone else's privacy? Of course she did! Sol even actually felt small thrill in doing so.
Perhaps… She would get addicted to this.
The carriage eventually halted in front of a novel restaurant. It was nearly 7 stories tall with open air balconies on every floor. The dim candle lights alluded to a suggestive atmosphere and if one looked carefully, wine was laid out ready for every customer greeting them upon arrival.
Beyond doubt, the restaurant was high class. Prince Roland strained his emotions and kept a slight smile across his lips. His hand was held out to assist Sol on her dismount. Sol’s hand reached out and to Prince Roland’s dismay, landed upon a maid’s hand.
Sol snickered to herself when she saw his smile crack and presented an even brighter smile to her personal maid, Ann, who just so happened to appear in the nick of time. After recovering from his dismay, Prince Roland took a careful glance at the maid. She appeared beside him without him noticing.
In fact, he was at a loss on how the woman even appeared. Who told her their location? How did she arrive before them? There were too many questions in Prince Roland’s mind and he couldn’t help but take a second glance at the maid.
“Prince Roland, please maintain the basic etiquette between a man and woman. My maid, Ann, is a shy girl. Your stare might scare her.” Sol said with a humorous pair of eyes. There was no way she wouldn’t enjoy this situation.
Sol gestured to Prince Roland and broke him from his curious gaze. Acting the gentleman, Prince Roland escorted Sol into the restaurant and to the 7th floor he reserved. After settling the young lady in her seat, Prince Roland excused himself for a moment.
Left alone, Sol couldn’t hold it in any longer and started laughing. Despite his escorting behavior, Prince Roland failed to camouflage his unnerved disposition throughout their walk. It was clear Ann’s appearance shook the very foundations of Prince Rolands confidence. In fact, Sol was right.
Outside of Sol’s view, Prince Roland was already in conversation with his hidden guards. “When did that maid arrive? Was she here before us?”
The hidden guards exchanged glances with each other before shaking their heads.
“Master, that woman appeared out of thin air. None of us noticed her until she was already by your side. There’s a good chance that woman is a hired guard.”
The hidden guards held their own opinions about the maid, however their opinions were only opinions based on guesses and intuition. Without proof, no servant would dare influence their Master’s opinion. As such, they could only suggest the maid was a hired expert and ensure their Master was aware of her potential skill level.
It was at this moment that Prince Roland regretted making the first move. He should have waited for his brother to test the waters first. At such a thought, Prince Roland’s eyes lit up. He signaled a guard and sent him away as a messenger before returning to the table Sol was at.
To his surprise, the girl had already ordered food and was, in fact, eating without him. Not only was she eating, he found the maid sitting at her Master’s table also eating. The two were even chatting in a rather casual tone. He suddenly felt a headache and no longer wanted to deal with this abnormal girl, however thoughts of the throne and the money backing Sol boosted his motivation once more.
Ignoring the girl’s impolite actions, Prince Roland ordered food for himself. Since his plan could no longer happen tonight, he decided to just enjoy the show instead. He even accepted the maid’s presence at the table and chatted with her, something that surprised Sol immensely. One must know that Prince Roland was, in fact, a Prince.
How was she to know that Prince Roland was treating the maid as a potential addition to his forces? Strength gives people a platform to sell themselves. In Prince Roland’s eyes, this innocuous maid held enough strength to raise her position enough that his pride would accept eating with her.
The night progressed smoothly and the trio enjoyed the relaxed venue. The 7th floor of the restaurant provided a spectacular scenic view of the Imperial capital. Torches, lamps, candles, and rushlights helped to spread a gentle golden glow through the matrix of buildings. Sol became immersed in the view and her spiritual awareness extended itself into the distance.
As she was enjoying the sensation and feedback from probing the surroundings, Sol’s spiritual awareness encountered a viscous entity. Her engrossed face tightened as she felt the entity react to her probing. Just as Sol was about to probe that entity a little more, she felt her connection with the world wiped out by a familiar awareness.
Sol’s curious gaze turned on An who was rather solemn. Clearly, he just insulated her spiritual awareness with his own. Sol’s gaze drifted back out to the capital with questions in her heart. She could only hold off until she returned before asking An.
Just as Sol was ready to end the impromptu date with Prince Roland, Sol heard the familiar Royal greeting from the carriageway below. It appears that Prince Elric just arrived.