The Young Lady Has Disappeared

Quietly, quietly. A doll sneaks out of the room.

The doll, illuminated by moonlight, walks slowly without making a sound. Opening the door without a sound, creeping like a cat.

Who could it be? It's me, of course.

Having slipped out of the room still in my maid uniform, I slowly scanned the letter.

The letter from the imperial princess was lightly scented, as if perfume had been sprayed on it. As expected of something from the imperial family, it wasn't vulgar but quite a pleasant scent.

Surely they haven't sprayed some kind of drug on it. I don't think they're the type to terrorize a mere maid like me.

In any case, the letter contained the meeting place and time. Although it was supposed to be secret guarding, there was little chance of being harmed during the day when people's eyes were everywhere, so we were meeting at night.

By the way, doesn't this person ever sleep? What on earth are they planning to do at this hour?

The meeting place was the garden where I first met the imperial princess. As I slowly admired the garden, still beautifully in bloom, and moved deeper inside, a familiar voice pierced my ears.

"You've come."

"This lowly one greets Your Highness the Imperial Princess."

"Hmm, that's enough. And can you drop that damn 'lowly' bit? Even if you are a commoner. I really don't like that. The old empire wasn't like this. Anyway, the nobles are ruining the country..."

Wh-What's this? Startled by the sudden tsunami of words, I hurriedly bowed my head. Then the imperial princess quietly closed her mouth.

"...I understand."

"No, I spoke unnecessarily. Forget it."

"Yes."

Even if I wanted to forget, it was too intense a memory, but I didn't mention it and just bowed my head. After all, one word from the imperial princess could send my head flying. Though I don't think she would do that.

"The reason I called you out so late tonight is... because of rumors that illegal smuggling is happening in the academy."

"Illegal smuggling, you say."

"Yes. Since it's illegal smuggling, it's probably not imperial citizens, so it must be one of the foreigners. I've judged that this is being carried out under Prince Belrus's leadership."

"Then do you intend to catch them in the act of smuggling?"

"Hmm. That's right. And since it could become dangerous in the process, I'd like your help."

"I understand."

I don't think there will be direct combat, but it's a natural concern since it could still be dangerous.

As I nodded, the imperial princess smiled brightly and grabbed my hand. Surprised by the sudden skinship, I looked at her, and the imperial princess looked up at me, clearing her throat as if slightly embarrassed.

"Ahem, ahem. We might get separated, so hold on tight."

"Ah, yes."

I'm not particularly tall, but the imperial princess was quite short for her age, so I had no choice but to look down at her slightly. Until now, I had consciously bent my knees slightly to meet her eyes, but now that she was holding my hand, I couldn't bend my knees, so I quietly looked down at the imperial princess.

"Do you have something to say?"

"Umm, ah. Where are we going?"

"Where we're going... There are several buildings in Aptem Academy. And among them, there's bound to be the oldest building. Do you know?"

"Hmm... Are you referring to the old building? Where the clubs are gathered."

"That's right. You know it well. Even students attending the academy don't know about it unless they join a club. You know."

The old building. Although its official name is the club area, almost no students call it the old building, but I, who had recently studied the history and geography of the academy, knew about it. One of the reasons it's not called the old building is that it doesn't look that old, despite being called the old building.

After Aptem Academy was built, most of the buildings underwent expansion and remodeling, but only the old building was maintained as it was. This was due to a resolution to preserve the building of Abraham, who was a legendary architect at that time, like a cultural heritage. Thanks to this, the old building was able to preserve its place for 300 years after Aptem Academy was built.

I don't know what the building materials are, but the old building, which has remained intact for over 500 years without any damage, was like a pride of Aptem Academy.

"Smuggling in such a building..."

"To be precise, it's near there. You know there's a lake near the old building, right?"

"Yes. It's a lake that leads outside."

Although there are almost no students who go outside through that lake, it was quite suitable as a passage for smuggling. It's not too deep so it's not dangerous if you fall in, and in case of an unexpected crackdown, if you drop the goods in the lake, in the worst case, you won't get caught.

"They've used their heads quite well."

"Actually, these are things that one could naturally think of, but imperial citizens have no need to smuggle, so they don't think about it."

Befitting Aptem Academy, which was originally used to hold the children of foreign royalty and nobility as hostages, excessive taxes are imposed on goods brought in by foreigners. That law, identical to the empire's, remains the same even in this era when it has shed its skin to become an institution solely for study and networking, so foreign students were often unable to bring in goods from their home countries.

In fact, this was natural for the empire, because if foreign goods were to spread in the empire without taxes, it could cause serious economic problems, so it was understandable in a way. The free city where Aptem Academy is located was also close to being pro-empire, so it just followed the empire's laws.

Having passed the beautiful white old building, the imperial princess and I started walking slowly towards the lake, even muffling our footsteps.

The lake at the old building is quite large, but there was only one place suitable for smuggling. A secluded yet spacious fishing spot.

Although it's called a fishing spot, students themselves don't enjoy fishing much, so it was mainly used by professors. But even professors had no reason to come all the way to the old building to enjoy fishing, so it was hardly used now.

In other words, it was an optimized place for smuggling.

Holding the imperial princess's hand tightly, I slowly followed her. In the lakeside forest, shunned even by moonlight, we started looking for the fishing spot, relying solely on our sense of direction.

Despite the forest being pitch dark without a single point of light, it didn't take long to find the fishing spot, thanks to the imperial princess's surprisingly good sense of direction.

The imperial princess and I, who had taken position in the bushes overlooking the fishing spot, sat down and waited for the smugglers to arrive.

After waiting like that for about 30 minutes, a doll-like figure appeared at the fishing spot. But the imperial princess and I just quietly watched the figure. Just in case, it could be a professor who came to fish, and we had to catch concrete evidence that this person was smuggling.

As moonlight gradually started to come in, the figure's face began to become visible. A man wearing glasses, which are rare in this world. The man was biting his lips nervously and pacing back and forth as if waiting for something. After waiting like that for another 10 minutes or so, a boat started to come in from far away. Only then did the man's face brighten.

The boat reached the shore, and the person on board got off. He firmly secured the boat and started unloading the goods. About three or four crates were unloaded from the boat, and the man who was moving the goods got back on the boat. And then, the imperial princess started to move.

"Don't move!"

"Ugh?!"

"Huh?"

The man with glasses was startled and fell backwards, and the man who was on the boat looked at the imperial princess with a slightly confused face. The man, having confirmed the purple hair, slowly started to get off the boat. The man with glasses seemed to have lost his glasses and was fumbling on the ground looking for them.

"This lowly one greets a member of the imperial family. What business do you have here?"

"Are you trying to play innocent? I received intelligence that you were smuggling here."

"Hmm, smuggling. Smuggling. Well, it is smuggling indeed."

"See? If you surrender quietly now, I'll make sure no harm comes to you."

The man who had found his glasses by now put them on and looked at the imperial princess with a pale face. His slightly dark skin suggested he might be from the Kingdom of Karain, a country based in the desert.

"W-Wait a moment. Arhan. You're not thinking of anything strange, are you?"

"Your Highness. The imperial princess is alone."

"B-But we're talking about Imperial Princess Chloe, who they say would have taken the position of crown prince if she were a man."

"If she were a man, that is. You don't think I can't subdue one woman, do you?"

The man called Arhan looked at the man with glasses with sharp eyes. At this, the man with glasses was startled and waved his hands in denial.

"O-Of course I trust you, Arhan, but... W-We're talking about the imperial princess here. She might have brought knights!"

"No. I don't sense any presence now."

"Tch, so you're resorting to violence after all. To think you'd willingly accept punishment. Come out."

"...Haah."

As I sighed and came out of the bushes, the man called Arhan looked at me with a slightly surprised face.

"To think I couldn't sense your presence..."

"Th-That maid!"

Unlike Arhan who was slightly surprised, the man who appeared to be the prince of the Kingdom of Karain widened his eyes and started to step back. You're acting so surprised, it's making me feel like I'm something special.

"What's the matter, Your Highness?"

"I-It's the maid who took down two of Prince Belrus's knights! Arhan! Run away quickly!"

"Just how far has that rumor spread?"

Over my grumbling, the interested gaze of the man called Arhan stuck to me.

"...Now that's interesting."

"It's not an interest I particularly wanted."

"A maid who took down Endain's knights, good. Let's have a match."

Haah. Is there no choice?

"...Catherine, maid of the Fortus family. I will now protect Her Highness the Imperial Princess."

After politely greeting them by holding the hem of my skirt with both hands, I slowly started to take a stance as I watched him charging towards me.