Just as Dorinia thought Syvelinde was dangerous,
Syvelinde also believed Dorinia was not to be trifled with.
This was understandable, after all, Dorinia behaved as if she were Elvira’s most loyal hound.
Dorinia imagined that if Maurice ended up in her hands, she would surely whip him.
And Syvelinde, on the other hand, thought that when Dorinia took Maurice around the royal palace, she must have treated him quite roughly.
For example, what if she randomly scolded Maurice, the captive, hurt his pride, and caused him serious psychological harm?
Though both were the Queen’s Confidante, in truth they were not close at all—just ordinary colleagues.
And it was impossible for either to know what had happened between the other and Maurice.
Thus, neither would back down at this moment.
“…I understand.”
After Dorinia invoked Elvira’s name, the Marquis’s young lady appeared to give in, her expression indifferent as she nodded and stepped aside, as though convinced.
“Thank you for your understanding, Your Excellency. Please, continue to follow me, Mr. Maurice.”
Believing she had successfully protected Maurice from the she-devil, Dorinia saluted with an unchanging expression, then looked at Maurice to signal him to keep following.
Though Dorinia looked as though nothing was amiss, deep inside she felt a sense of honor and pride.
Like a mother hen who had driven away a hawk to protect her chick, she was quite proud of herself.
But that pride did not last long.
And why, you ask…
“…Mr. Maurice, the weather is wonderful today, isn’t it?”
“…Mr. Maurice, have you ever visited the Courtyard Garden? The scenery there is beautiful.”
“…Mr. Maurice, have you eaten yet?”
Dorinia had thought Syvelinde would obediently leave since she couldn’t go against Elvira’s orders. In reality, Syvelinde casually walked right up beside Maurice.
Then, with a completely unreadable expression, she forced herself into a conversation with the bewildered Maurice.
She clearly didn’t seem like the chatty type, yet insisted on talking with Maurice.
It was as if she were extremely interested in the Queen’s captive.
This left Maurice feeling very complicated, worried that what happened between the three of them would be exposed to Elvira.
He vaguely sensed that Syvelinde was concerned Dorinia would harm him, and acted out of kindness, but he really didn’t need Syvelinde’s protection—since Dorinia wasn’t an enemy, either.
Now, in the eyes of outsiders, it seemed Maurice was a guest, Syvelinde was the host accompanying him, and Dorinia, walking in front, was nothing more than a simple guide.
Dorinia, feeling her earlier pride was wasted, stopped again and looked back with a displeased expression at the cold-faced but overly familiar Marquis’s young lady.
“Your Excellency Syvelinde, what exactly do you mean by this?”
The young spy’s brows furrowed more deeply than before, her tone noticeably sharper—anyone could tell she was unhappy.
“…Hmm? Is there a problem? I just happen to be going the same way as you.”
The Marquis’s young lady showed not a hint of panic at having upset Dorinia; she simply explained her actions blandly.
Yes, she really couldn’t defy Elvira’s order and take Maurice from Dorinia.
But Elvira had never said she couldn’t follow along with Dorinia and Maurice, right?
Don’t ask—if you do, the answer’s simply that her destination happened to be the same, and she just made casual conversation with her friend’s captive.
“Going the same way? Don’t you have your own matters to attend to? And isn’t this not the direction of your Office?”
Dorinia was at her wits’ end—wasn’t this excuse a bit too casual?
“…No problem. I already finished all my tasks in advance today, so it’s not strange for me to show up anywhere along the way.”
“…Besides, I haven’t done anything odd, have I? Miss Dorinia, just pretend I don’t exist.”
With that, Syvelinde really did fall silent, calmly locking eyes with Dorinia once more.
She was so well-mannered that Dorinia wanted to retort, but couldn’t find any reason to.
After all, Elvira had indeed never said only Dorinia was allowed to show Maurice around the palace.
“Suit yourself, then.”
Left with nothing to say, Dorinia ignored Maurice’s encouraging glance to drive away Syvelinde, and instead, with a cold face, moved to Maurice’s other side.
“With you here, Mr. Maurice’s chances of trying to escape are even lower.”
In the blink of an eye, Dorinia—who had been Maurice’s only hope—became one of the reasons for his complicated feelings.
She stubbornly put Maurice between herself and Syvelinde, talking over him to the Marquis’s young lady on the other side.
“…Mhm, don’t worry. If Mr. Maurice ran away, El would be very sad.”
Syvelinde also quickly accepted this arrangement, her tone cold as she stated that it was all for her friend’s sake.
Unable to drive each other away, the two finally reached a compromise: both would remain, supervising one another’s actions in order to protect Maurice’s body and mind from harm.
“Um, excuse me, do you two really have to walk on either side of me?”
While their intentions were good, for Maurice, it would be better not to set off at all.
Having both of them walking side by side with him would only make Elvira suspicious about their relationship.
On one side was the young spy, who seemed strict in public but was surprisingly easygoing in private.
On the other, the Marquis’s young lady, who appeared cold but truly was nothing of the sort, with a transcendent air.
They seemed completely different, but both had secretly tasted the Queen’s captive behind their monarch’s back.
Both were blond subordinates—was there really any need to surveil each other like this?
Faced with Maurice’s subtle hints and reminders—
“Mr. Maurice, you must understand: you are just Her Majesty the Queen’s captive, you don’t have that much freedom.”
The protector on the left sounded harsh to Maurice, but her eyes constantly darted to keep an eye on the Marquis’s young lady on the other side.
“…Driving away a lady is extremely rude, Mr. Maurice. As a knight, do you really want to do that to me?”
The protector on the right seemed to be moralizing Maurice, but she, too, was keeping a close watch on the spy’s every move.
Each believed she was protecting the ‘helpless’ Maurice from the other’s hands.
“…Hmph, fine, whatever you two want. Having the company of two beauties isn’t a loss for me, after all.”
Seeing that neither picked up on his true meaning, and knowing he couldn’t spell it out, Maurice could only maintain a stony expression and make a flippant remark.
The good news was, in the eyes of the passing Servants and officials, this was simply a captive putting on a brave front under the watch of two of the Queen’s Confidante—no one would ever guess what had actually happened between them.
The bad news was, this was exhausting.
The two women’s good intentions only left Maurice mentally drained.
Of course, Maurice would never let it show—who knew what bizarre things these two might do to apologize if he did?