Interlude: Behind the Departure...
Meanwhile, in Beltrant, the capital of Beltrum; the morning after Rio and Celia had visited Count Claire’s territory...
At the foot of the hill where the Beltrum royal castle stood was a large lake that sustained the water for the entire capital. Next to the lake was a harbor where enchanted airships were anchored.
At present, the Ricca Guild’s enchanted airship was also anchored there, awaiting the boarding of Liselotte, the only daughter of Galarc Kingdom’s great lord Duke Cretia. In a private room on board the enchanted airship, Liselotte impatiently waited for departure as her waiting maid, Aria, poured her a cup of tea. But contrary to her elegant manner of sipping tea, Liselotte sighed wearily.
“Goodness me. We can finally leave...”
After being invited to Celia and Charles’ wedding ceremony, the uproar over the abduction had resulted in her containment in the Beltrum castle’s guest house under the pretext of protection up until last night.
“It’s been four days since the ceremony was suspended. Given how busy your daily life is, my lady, I humbly believe that this was a well-deserved break...” Aria, Liselotte’s close confidant and head maid, said to her in a calm voice.
“But the work will be piled up when we return, you realize? When I think about that mountain of paperwork...” Liselotte muttered with a gloomy face. As the governor of Amande, the president of the Ricca Guild, and the fact she would have been gone a week by the time she returned, just imagining the amount of work piled up had her feeling despondent.
“There’s no helping that. Try not to think about it until we return,” Aria said bluntly.
“...Well, I suppose you have a point. It’s not like I can do any of that work in my current situation.” Liselotte sighed quietly and pouted, her lips sticking out cutely as she slumped her weary body over the table. Seeing that, Aria thought her expression was befitting of a normal fifteen-year-old girl rather than a noble or merchant. Aria giggled at the sight of Liselotte’s true self.
“Lady Liselotte, it’s Chloe!” The voice of a young girl could be heard along with a knock on the door.
Liselotte immediately shot up into a proper posture and gave the girl permission to enter the room. “Come in — you can open the door.”
With a clack, the door opened. “E-Excuse me. I came to report that the preparations to depart have been completed.” Chloe — a cute girl in her early teens, wearing attendants’ clothing — stated her business with a hint of uncomfortable nervousness.
“Got it. Tell them I’m ready to depart at any time. Quickly and safely, that is,” Liselotte said with a nod, smiling gently.
“U-Understood, my lady! Please excuse me!” Chloe bowed deeply and left the room.
“She still seems to be rather nervous,” Liselotte said with a giggle.
“Honestly. Her training period is over now, yet she still has no awareness of herself as a maid.” Aria sighed tiredly.
“Fufu, that’s a newbie for you. And isn’t she just scared of you?” Liselotte said amusedly, turning to Aria. “Even taking that into consideration, her awareness is still lacking,” Aria stated resolutely.
Liselotte chuckled. “My my, how strict of you.”
Several minutes later, the enchanted airship departed from Beltrant’s harbor with Liselotte on board. The wings attached on either side of the sailing airship flapped gently, gradually increasing the speed of the boat along the surface of the water until it lifted off into the air. Its speed accelerated along with the liftoff, causing the ship to soar gently into the sky. At normal operating speed, the airship flew at roughly 50 knots (approximately ninety kilometers per hour).
Today’s weather was clear; the enchanted airship was swathed in bright rays of sunlight as it left the city of Beltrant behind it and flew on eastwards to the Kingdom of Galarc.
Then I guess I shall head off, too.
Reiss, the ambassador of the Proxia Empire, watched the airship. He stood on the surface of the water away from the harbor and gazed up vacantly at the sky.
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