Lost in the Imperial Palace
Back in my room, I tried to sort through everything that had just happened, but my mind refused to cooperate.
Things had moved so fast I could barely keep up.
“Would it be all right if I stepped out for a short walk?”
I asked the maid who had been assigned exclusively to me when they gave me the room. A little stroll might help clear the fog in my head.
“There’s no need to ask me for permission. Please feel free to do as you like.”
With that, the maid rose from her seat and fell into step right behind me as I headed for the door.
So “exclusive” meant she planned to shadow me wherever I went.
“You don’t have to follow me. I’m literally just going to walk around a bit and come straight back. Or is it against the rules to go alone?”
“No, nothing like that. The restricted areas of the palace are guarded by soldiers anyway, so there shouldn’t be any problem… but are you truly certain? The grounds are so vast that first-time visitors often get lost…”
“I’ll be fine. I’m not going far—just a quick turn around the nearby halls. While I’m gone, please take a rest yourself.”
“…Understood.”
Leaving the maid bowing behind me, I stepped out of the room.
It was kind of her to worry about a guest, but it felt a little excessive. Even if this was the imperial palace and the paths were complicated, it was still just a building. How could anyone actually get lost?
“…Where am I?”
Yes. That “anyone” turned out to be me.
No joke—exactly as the maid had warned, the place was a labyrinth. The corridors repeated the same layout over and over, so I couldn’t even tell whether I had already walked down a hallway or not.
And it was enormous. After wandering aimlessly for a while, I had no idea where I was standing.
Doors dotted the walls here and there, but I hesitated to open any at random; who knew who might be inside?
I would have loved to run into someone who could give me directions, yet for some reason even the servants who had been bustling about earlier were nowhere to be seen.
I stood frozen in place, trying to decide what to do, when something moved at the very edge of my vision.
Finally—someone I could ask! I whipped my head around, only to find a small four-legged creature ambling along at a leisurely pace. Far too tiny to be a person.
“Yaongi?”
The distance made it hard to see clearly, but I could tell it was a black cat.
Maybe because it was the same color, it looked so much like the Yaongi I had grown close to at the academy that the nickname slipped out before I could stop it.
The corridor was quiet enough that the cat must have heard me; even from afar I saw its ears twitch, and it turned its head in my direction.
Curious, I took a single step closer. The cat startled as if shocked and bolted away on quick little paws.
The moment I saw it flee right in front of me, some instinct took over and I was chasing after it before I realized what I was doing.
Come on… doesn’t everyone get that urge sometimes? When something runs away right under your nose, you just want to chase it. Not to bully it or anything…
Anyway. The cat vanished around a corner, and a beat later I rounded the same corner in pursuit.
But by the time I turned, it had already vanished without a trace.
“Hah… hah…”
In its place, a few steps ahead, stood a girl catching her breath hard.
“Eh? Boss?”
“Meow! I—I mean, no, that’s not—uh… Elicia?”
The completely unexpected appearance left me stunned in more ways than one.
I had never imagined I would run into Presia here.
Then again, thinking back, right before the break she had mentioned being summoned to the imperial palace by the emperor. I hadn’t asked exactly when, so it had completely slipped my mind.
“Wow! I never expected to bump into you here, Boss. It’s been a whole month, and meeting by chance like this makes it feel even more special. I’m really glad to see you.”
“Hah… hah… Me… me too. Glad to see you.”
Presia finally managed to steady her ragged breathing and answer. A bead of sweat was rolling down her small forehead.
“Ah, Boss. Did a cat just pass by here? A black one?”
“W-well? Wh-why a cat all of a sudden?”
“Nothing important. I couldn’t see it clearly from far away, but I spotted a cat that looked just like the one I used to play with at the academy.”
“N-no way. How could the academy cat possibly be in the imperial palace? Do you know how far Ferenc is from here? You must have been mistaken, Elicia.”
“Yeah, you’re right, of course.”
Obviously the Yaongi from the academy couldn’t just show up in the palace out of nowhere.
It was the most natural thing in the world… so why, the more I thought about it, did that black cat keep feeling exactly like Yaongi?
Maybe after a whole month without seeing that little face I was already missing it.
“Hmm… no matter how I look at it, it really did look just like Yaongi…”
“Hic!”
“Are you all right?”
Presia suddenly hiccuped loudly. Combined with how out of breath she had been and the sweat on her face, I couldn’t help worrying that something was wrong.
“I-I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
Yet even as she said so, another drop of sweat slid down the side of her neck.
She insisted it was nothing, but I still couldn’t stop fretting over her.
“I don’t know what you’re pushing yourself for, but you should head back to your room and rest.”
With that, I took her hand and half-dragged her along, determined to get her back to her room.
“E-Elicia?”
“You can say you’re fine all you want, Boss, but no. Unless His Majesty the Emperor himself summoned you, go to your room and rest.”
“Wait a second…!”
Presia tugged at my hand, trying to resist being hauled off, but I had no intention of stopping.
This time I wasn’t going to yield.
Presia already had poor stamina; it was better to look after her health while she still could. Better to be a little strict and disliked than to regret it after she collapsed.
“Actually, looking at how exhausted you were earlier, even walking might be too much. Just hop on my back.”
I easily scooped up the stubbornly planted Presia and swung her onto my back.
Fortunately, once she was settled there she stopped thrashing. Her small arms wrapped around my neck, and she quieted down at last.
Still, she clearly had something to say; she pressed her face right up beside my ear and spoke.
“Um… Elicia?”
“Heh… y-yes?”
Her voice and the soft puff of her breath tickled my ear, and an odd little sound slipped out of me before I could help it.
Luckily Presia didn’t seem to notice—or at least didn’t care.
“My room’s the other way.”
Ah. Right. I was still lost.
“Yeah, here it is.”
Following Presia’s directions as she pointed over my shoulder, I finally reached her room.
I crouched low so she could reach past my hands supporting her thighs and turn the doorknob herself.
The well-oiled door swung open without a sound, and inside we found a maid—apparently the one the imperial household had assigned exclusively to Presia, just like mine.
“Oh my!”
“Hello.”
Since I was carrying Presia, I could only nod in greeting.
Some might say a newly minted countess had no business greeting a maid, but after more than ten years as an ordinary citizen I couldn’t shed the habit overnight.
Other nobles might sneer if they saw me, but right now the only other noble present was Presia, and even if there had been more, I didn’t particularly care about their stares.
“Lady Presia, what happened? Are you unwell?”
“I ran into her by chance in the corridor and she seemed a little under the weather. Could you bring a cup of warm water to the bedroom, please?”
“Goodness, she looked perfectly fine when she left the room earlier… whatever could have… Just a moment, I’ll bring it right away.”
With a slightly flustered voice the maid hurried off for the water.
In the meantime I carried Presia into the bedroom.
“There we go…!”
I carefully laid her on the bed. Just as carefully she unwrapped her arms from my neck and shoulders.
I rested a hand on her forehead, but I couldn’t quite tell whether she had a fever or not.
Better to be sure.
If my hand wasn’t reliable enough, I could compare with my own forehead.
I gently brushed her bangs upward with one hand and slowly brought my face closer.
“W-wait…! I’m not ready for a kiss yet…!”
The moment I leaned in, Presia flailed her hands in sudden panic.
Even so she didn’t push me away, so I was able to press my forehead lightly against hers.
I held it there for a moment, but even this method left me unsure whether she was running a temperature.
In all the novels I’d read, this was how they checked for fever… I guess that was just fiction after all.
I lifted my head and once more laid my hand across her forehead.
“Ah.”
This time there was no doubt—she was warm.
And now that I looked properly, her face had gone red; she was clearly unwell.
“You do have a fever. Stay in today and get plenty of rest.”
“……”
Presia was usually a bit quiet by nature, but she always answered properly. This time there was only silence.
Instead she wore a sulky little pout, clearly still annoyed that I had forced her back inside after she had gone out.
Next time I should bring some snacks she likes and try to cheer her up.
Still, everything I did was for her sake. I hoped she wouldn’t hate me too much for it.