Chapter 189: A Little Earlier, in the Capital
Chapter 189: A Little Earlier, in the Capital
The day after Robby’s departure, the Queen and Chancellor Richelieu were meeting in secret in a room of the Royal Palace. Thick curtains hung over the windows so that no one could peek in from outside. Soundproofing was also in effect, preventing any sound from leaking out. One attendant each of the Queen and Chancellor Richelieu stood behind them. No one else was in the room. Even the shadow people had been excluded.The Queen spoke in a low, whispering voice.
"Richelieu, have you identified the mastermind behind the recent attack that targeted me?"
Hearing that, Richelieu smiled with one cheek and answered,
"What are you asking at this late stage? Does the Queen with her hellish ears not already know everything?"
The Queen made a face as if that was unexpected and said,
"Calling me ’hellish ears’ is rather rude! I merely have slightly better hearing than others. Therefore I know nothing. That is why I am meeting with Richelieu like this, is it not?"
She spoke while gently rocking the teacup she held, with a slightly sulky manner.
Richelieu wore a somewhat troubled expression and said,
"Is that so? I find it hard to believe that someone of the Queen’s stature would not understand, but I will take Your Majesty’s words as they are. Even so, even if the Queen has no certainty, is there not someone whom she can roughly surmise?"
Richelieu raised one eyebrow and asked back. The Queen said "Well, my," and answered while rocking the teacup in front of Richelieu’s eyes,
"Yes. If I am forced to think about it, it is not as if there is no one, ufufu."
Once again she returned an ambiguous reply, but Richelieu showed an amused face and said,
"Then shall we both reveal the name of the person who comes to mind at the same time?"
"Well... saying it aloud might allow someone to overhear, so let us stop. Hmm, in that case let us write it on paper and show each other. Writing the name might cause problems, so how about writing a number?"
"Hoh, a number? Interesting. Very well, let us write."
The Queen and Richelieu smoothly wrote a single digit on the paper in their hands. Then the Queen placed the paper on her knee, while Richelieu hid his between his fingers.
"Then, Your Majesty, together. Three, two, one, please."
The papers the two of them showed at the same time had the same number written on them. It was "3." When the Queen wrote "Maxim" with her finger on the table, Richelieu also smiled and nodded.