Chapter 75: Disgraced
A beard does not make a warrior.
–Plutarch1
-Whoosh!
The back of the scroll, made by hammering thin sheets of pure gold, bore the royal emblem.
“Sherlock Holmes is to respectfully
receive the royal decree.”
“…!!”
Realizing belatedly that her identity
was that of a court lady sent by Her Majesty the Queen, Mrs. Hudson and the maid dusted their sleeves off and knelt.
The court lady, after confirming the three of us bowed our heads, loudly conveyed the Queen’s will.
“By the grace of the heavens, the Queen proclaims. To Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes and Discharged Medical Maiden Jane Watson, I bestow the Seven Step and Fifty Step Invitations, commanding you to attend the court ball with proper decorum on the 19th of May this year. Thus decreed.”
“We are deeply grateful.
Long live Her Majesty the Queen!!”
The royal messenger from Buckingham handed me two envelopes
along with Her Majesty’s decree, then disappeared into the darkness of the street with the carriage without looking back.
“……”
“……”
Only silence lingered in the place where the imperial maid had vanished.
If they were just stunned into silence, that would have been nice.
The main issue was Mrs. Hudson’s suspicious gaze directed at me.
And the next big problem was that Watson had somehow returned from work and arrived at the front of the house.
“Holmes…the person who just came… Who on earth…?”
It seemed Watson had seen the royal emblem on the carriage, as she was stammering.
“Mr. Holmes, Mr. Watson.”
But Mrs. Hudson’s voice, as cold as frost, did not allow Watson to finish her question.
“Yes, Landlady.”
“Shall the three of us go upstairs to the second floor for a quick chat?”
“……”
Looking at Mrs. Hudson’s radiant smile, I felt an indescribable sense of dread.
“So, Holmes… What on earth happened downstairs earlier…?”
Watson, who had come up to the second floor with me ahead of Mrs. Hudson, looked at me with a face on the verge of panic as she waited.
“You saw the emblem on the carriage earlier, didn’t you?”
“I did. Was that not the royal crest?”
“Correct. What you saw was a court lady sent to deliver an invitation to the Royal Ball.”
“Aha…so that’s what it was.”
In the Midfield, it is said that court ladies are selected from middle and lower nobles called Ladies of the Bedchamber, but things are different at Buckingham Palace.
The court ladies of Buckingham Palace, especially those who serve close to the Queen,
are all wives or daughters of high-ranking noble families.
The two most representative figures are:
The Duchess of Bedford, Head of the Royal Wardrobe and Keeper of the Queen’s ceremonial arms,
and the Baroness of Southampton, the Lady of the Bedchamber who carries out Her Majesty’s personal orders.
Even before entering palace service, both were renowned masters known throughout the martial world.
The court lady who visited earlier must also be a noble lady of considerable skill.
“Good heavens… I can’t believe the day has actually come when I’m being summoned to Buckingham.”
Watson, meanwhile, was holding the envelope on the table with both hands, overwhelmed with emotion.
Then, as if something struck her as odd, she tilted her head.
“Wait a minute. Why is Mrs. Hudson upset on a day as joyful and honorable as this? I mean, we’ve just received an invitation to a Royal Ball—and a royal decree.”
“Well, you see…”
Where should I start explaining this?
Mrs. Hudson knows almost nothing about the incident that occurred at the Debutante Ball.
While we were capturing the murderer, she took the train ticket I gave her and traveled to another city.
Even after returning to London a few days after the Debutante Ball ended, she only briefly read in the evening paper that I had solved the murder case at the Debutante Ball.
For this reason, she is unaware that Watson and I received the top prize from the Debutante Ball and were invited to the Buckingham Palace Ball.
On top of that, the call sign
Discharged Medical Maiden and the name Jane Watson written in the royal decree read by the court lady earlier.
“In fact, I was planning to slowly tell Mrs. Hudson about receiving the seasoned pill of the Unicorn Salamander and being summoned to the palace ball.”
“But?”
I hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“I was so preoccupied that I forgot to mention it.”
“…What?”
-Bang!
Just after Watson let out a bewildered voice, Mrs. Hudson burst through the door.
Her face bore the full smile she had when she suggested the three of us have a chat earlier.
“I thought our Dr. Watson might be hungry after just getting off work, so I prepared a snack.”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere feels strangely off.
Both her eyes and mouth are smiling, yet for some reason, there’s an intense sense of menace in the air.
I wanted to say something, but Mrs. Hudson was exuding a presence reminiscent of an old master willing to go down fighting (though Mrs. Hudson isn’t old enough to be called an old master), making it simply difficult to open my mouth.
“Here you go.”
Even amidst all this, Mrs. Hudson was calmly serving cake on plates from a tray and distributing it to me and Watson.
“Mrs. Hudson. It seems my cake doesn’t have any fruit compote on it.”
“Oh dear. No fruit, you say? Well, that’s just how it is with shabby cakes from a shabby boarding house.”
“…?”
Could it be that she was offended by the greeting I gave to the messenger from Buckingham earlier?
No sooner had I glanced at Watson’s cake with fruit on it than she quickly stuffed the fruit compote into her mouth.
I hadn’t planned on asking for any, but somehow I felt a tad displeased.
“Oh my, oh my…”
While I was thinking that, Mrs. Hudson started making a fuss over the invitation and
the royal decree that had been placed on the table.
“The invitation to the royal ball is so elegant and beautiful. And to think that Her Majesty the Queen
has granted a royal decree that can be enshrined in the family shrine; I still cannot believe it.”
Perhaps she’s not feeling as bad as I thought.
After all,
a royal decree is
a command or letter directly issued by the Queen, so receiving one is generally considered a great honor for a family.
It’s even legislated that those who receive a royal decree must enshrine it in their family shrine and keep it safe.
“Oh, yes. You can keep it for me if you like. But…”
“If it’s about that, don’t worry. I plan to take care of it tomorrow.”
Mrs. Hudson smiled meaningfully, as if she understood what I was about to say.
Considering the risk of theft,
sending the royal decree to my family home isn’t a wise decision, and besides, I’m currently living in this boarding house.
In other words, while I’m staying here.
It means that Mrs. Hudson can be entrusted with safeguarding the royal decree.
Since the person in question earnestly desires it and there is no shrine for the Holmes ancestors in my room, there is no reason to object.
However, although I haven’t confirmed who instructed her, the maid who poisons every meal (Watson doesn’t know yet) could target the precious
royal decree at any time.
Losing the royal decree is as good as losing one’s head.
Although I have measures in place to prevent suspicious actions, it might be best to call Lestrade tomorrow to take her away, just to be safe.
Though our frugal living, feeding the White Worm with the money of someone who hates me and gaining immunity to various poisons for free with the antidote obtained through it, will come to an end,
it’s better than having the royal decree stolen.
“I was surprised when someone of high status came by without notice earlier. If I had known it was such a joyful occasion, I would have prepared by bathing and waiting.”
“Indeed.
Who would have expected a direct court lady serving Her Majesty to personally visit the homes of attendees of the Buckingham Palace Ball to deliver invitations?”
So, it’s not my fault that Mrs. Hudson was unable to handle the sudden visit from the court lady.
“I, too, was curious when I saw a carriage bearing the royal emblem.”
Watson also supported me while observing Mrs. Hudson’s reaction.
Perhaps that attempt worked, as Mrs. Hudson, who was upset due to the misunderstanding that I had concealed information, seemed to have softened her demeanor compared to earlier.
“But this invitation, you have to be recognized by the Debutante Ball to get it. I never thought Mr. Holmes would find a partner like everyone else.”
“Ah, it wasn’t easy. Somehow I managed to find one-”
“So who is it?
The lady mentioned in the letter, Jane Watson.”
“Hiccup.”
Watson, who was eating cake, widened her eyes and made a dazed sound.
The shock caused the Face-Changing Technique to unravel, returning her features to their original form.
She hurriedly tried to cover her face, but the fake mustache got caught on her sleeve and was pulled off her philtrum.
“Oh no…”
The fake mustache stuck to the floor.
An awkward silence flowed between the three of us.
“…So that’s what it was.”
The unexpected visit from the court lady led to a disaster.
“Ah, ahhhh!!!”
Watson fled to her bedroom and firmly locked the door.
“Watson. Mrs. Hudson is also quite shocked. Given the situation, shouldn’t the three of us talk and clear up the misunderstanding? Please come out.”
“……”
“Sigh, open this quickly. Before I slice the door open with Sword Aura.”
“I’ve told you countless times not to do that at home, Mr. Holmes!”
“Ah, my apologies. I momentarily forgot that this building has another owner.”
After a while, unable to resist the urging, Watson came out to the living room again.
She had dispelled the Face-Changing Technique and was hanging her head low.
When I suggested explaining the situation to Mrs. Hudson, Watson nodded slightly.
Perhaps due to the unexpected reveal of her gender, Watson was busy fanning her flushed cheeks, and it naturally fell to me to explain what had happened.
“Ah, I didn’t know there was such a situation. It would have been nice if you had told me in advance.”
Surprisingly, Mrs. Hudson did not make a fuss about Watson, a woman, living in the same house with me.
This was quite astonishing.
The Church of England, without exception, considered cross-dressing as a form of gender deviance, holding individuals accountable under Church law and excommunicating them.
Excommunication is a form of sinister religious lynching.
To avoid this, I told Mrs. Hudson Watson’s story with a slight emotional embellishment, without distorting the truth.
It was something I would never normally do, but this time I had no choice.
“Miss Watson is struggling to find her family, and I was unaware of it…”
Of course, the effect was outstanding.
- TL/N: The original quote is as follows—A beard does not make a philosopher ️