The Duchess of the Attic

49. Escape play

"Hey, why are you alive?!?

"I'm back."

"Oh, no, that's stupid! Yeah! No! You can't see this situation! If you don't get out of there, there's no life for this woman!

It was Cole's roar that watered down the emotional reunion because of it.

Cole is poking his knife at Opal with his shivering hands.

Claude looked at the figure and then raised his hands.

"You're so cowardly to take a weak woman hostage."

"Who's weak?

Julian erupted into Claude's words.

Opal glanced at Julian, but of course it had no effect.

"... what's the demand?

"Way to get to the station without harming us."

"Naturally, make sure you can use the train."

Claude was still staring at Opal as he listened to Cole's gruesome demands.

Opal also stares back quietly.

"- Okay. Let's make demands."

"Heh...?

"Fool, you are. You're letting us get away with this for one guy? I wonder what Alessandro would say?

He'll agree with you.

"You're full of idiots."

When Claude acknowledged, Cole made a dumb voice just saying he couldn't believe it.

It was Julian who reacted instead, and Opal, angry at the word, tried to kick it out of his skirt.

But I get caught up in it.

That made me angry again, and I glanced at Julian.

"Look, the princess is angry. Hurry up and get the carriage-- No, can you get the train ready?

"... Opal, are you okay?

"I'm perfectly fine. I'm very angry, though. When I was free, there were two people who wanted to beat me up."

"Let it be."

Ignoring Julian's words in a ridiculous tone, Claude asked Opal.

Of course it's not okay, but Claude seems relieved by Opal's anger.

He said he was still okay.

Julian snorts at such an exchange.

"Okay. Hey, let's go, Julian."

"... you're a stupid man"

Surprisingly, when Claude waved one hand, the soldiers surrounding the inn paved the way.

Julian smiles at Claude like she made a fool of herself as Cole speaks.

Opal's loathsome grin, but Claude shrugged her shoulders without looking concerned.

Cole poked me with a knife and it was hard to walk while I was tied with rope, but it wasn't that far to the station so I managed to walk.

Then I can get him on the train.

The train didn't seem to be ready to leave right away and we were going to wait for a while, but until then we were staring at Claude through the window.

Eventually, when the train left, a loud explosion sounded in the rear.

"You blew it up?

"Yeah, that's how I gave the instructions."

"Well done, Julian!

Seeing Cole rejoicing that no chaser would come with this, Opal thought it was simple.

If the only railway in the territory of the Duke of Botzeli is destroyed, so is the chaser, but it takes time for reinforcements to rush.

Are we securing other escape routes when the Alessandro army comes in again across the mountainous area of that natural fortress?

Perhaps Cole hasn't thought about it, but maybe Connally has something to do with it.

I thought so, and Opal glanced at Julian sitting beside him.

"Are you anxious?

"... Naja must be safe, right?

"It would be safer for her to stay away from you."

In that reply Opal stared at Julian as he explored him, then missed his face in a grumpy manner.

Keep looking out the window.

The train is going well and will arrive at the station near the consulate after lunch.

"... the people at the consulate... are all under Connally's control?

"The servant just needs to listen to the one above him. They don't have the brains to think about it."

Even the servants, who were approximate in the beginning, when Opal earnestly embarked on territorial reform, the female servants, including the housekeeper, had broken it down.

I am worried about the servants brought from Wang Du's mansion, but I am sure the housekeepers will shelter me as a fellow servant.

Duncan didn't bluff either......

(No, you can't. I can't imagine Duncan taking my side.)

The opposite is likely to be resented because the precious land could be a battlefield.

It wasn't just Connally's argument, it was a reassuring element for Opal to be on the side of the people.

- It's like winning.

"I was able to get out of all those King's armies intact before. You can float, can't you?

"Intact? With that?

The rebels on the train are happily making noise.

But even a short distance to the station, there seemed to be a dispute here and there by the time the king's army took control, and he had seen the bodies and blood of rebel soldiers who apparently took his breath away.

Julian just flaunts his shoulder at Opal for pointing that out, and he doesn't seem to be willing to embarrass the soldiers.

"It worked this time because Claude was in command, but we don't know what's next, do we?

"What, you knew Alessandro was a ruthless man?"

"That's right. The first Lord's deputy here was sick and dead, but he was poisoned, wasn't he? The second escaped when he realized he was poisoned and reported to His Majesty. So I guess the third one sent someone who could pretend to be well manipulated by Connally."

"So, are you all right? You wouldn't have been manipulated well, would you?

"I'm not here because I was fine. I'm sure they didn't even think it necessary to deal with her because she was a woman, or that Her Majesty had already turned her hand so that she wouldn't be poisoned."

Without a doubt, I guess Alessandro's hand was stopping him from poisoning.

That's how he turned Connally's consciousness against Opal.

Opal doesn't even know how much he turned to this Duke's territory in that gap.

(Well, now it's time to get to the point...)

Alessandro has been twitching and hunting down anti-Kings over the past four years.

I wonder how many people have noticed that.

The same goes for Opal, but Claude seemed to have played a positive role as well.

"Here we are."

"You don't have to tell me. I know."

"You're not a cute one."

"Now?"

Opal, who had lost his mind, returned to me with Julian's voice.