The Blue Sea of Marielle Clarac, page 18
“Take this, Your Highness.” A maid gave Princess Mira a summer jacket and a hat with a wide brim to shield her from the rain.
I threw a cape around my shoulders as well. The rain was light at the moment, so that was all I’d need. I could only hope it wouldn’t worsen before we made it back to the hotel.
Prince Severin motioned toward his horse. “Marielle. Ride with me.”
I laughed. “Oh my, I’m honored. Would someone be so kind as to help me up?” I turned to the knights, but they all avoided my stare or ran away.
Lord Nigel tilted his head. “Why don’t you ask the Vice Captain? That would help ease the knights’ minds.”
Alas, Lord Simeon shook his head. “I cannot. Marielle, ride with either His Highness or Sir Nigel.”
I sighed. “Yes, sir.” Flicking my eyes back and forth between the two of them, I ended up selecting Prince Severin. Lord Nigel was way too tall and most likely extremely muscular because of how much he trained. I wanted to be considerate of his horse and not force it to carry two people. “His Highness is probably lighter...”
His Highness narrowed his eyes. “I’m not overweight, yet I wonder why your words are offending me.”
He lifted me up onto his horse. I would have to explain the situation to Julianne later on, but knowing her, she wouldn’t be jealous.
The maids and hotel staff also took their places on the knights’ horses, and we somehow managed to make our way across the bridge. The knights took the lead as the rest of us trailed behind, with Lord Nigel bringing up the rear. The front of the line was where we really needed to be cautious, but having him behind us was heartening.
We set off on our horses at a light trot. By about the middle of the bridge, the knights in front suddenly stopped, forcing the rest of us to follow suit.
“What’s wrong?” called out Lord Simeon.
The answer came straightaway. “There’s a suspicious object in front, sir.” The phrase “suspicious object” sent a chill through me.
My husband moved forward and peered at the place his subordinate was pointing to.
“It’s at the base of the railing there,” said the knight.
Lord Simeon squinted and lifted his glasses a bit. “Ah... There it is.”
Huh? What is it? What’s there? I wobbled anxiously, making Prince Severin turn around to hold my head still.
“Explain, Simeon.”
“There are black cylinders tied around the railing. As far as I can tell, there are two—one on each side.”
“Those weren’t present on our way over, correct?”
“No, sir. We can assume they were placed here while we were on the island.”
The maids and staff began muttering restlessly behind us.
Lord Hilbert yelled out an order. “Go investigate them immediately!”
“It would be dangerous to approach them carelessly.”
“Well, we can’t just sit here twiddling our thumbs, can we?” Lord Hilbert turned to a horse carrying one of the officials. “You there! Go see what they are. Those things may have been on this bridge from the beginning. Maybe you all just missed them on the way here. You’re locals, so you’d know if you looked. Go!”
“Hilbert!” Princess Mira tried to stop him, but he ignored her.
The officials exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. Before they could respond, the Visselian soldiers pushed their horses forward. The Lagrangian knights stopped them before they could get too close to the objects.
The stronger the rain became, the more irritated Lord Hilbert got. We’d known that it would storm, so he really hadn’t needed to come with us. No one had invited him.
Mr. Meyer called out to Princess Mira. “Go back a bit farther, Your Highness. It may be dangerous. Stay a good distance away until they’re finished investigating.”
“Understood...” Princess Mira had her horse walk backward instead of turning around, since the narrow bridge was already packed with our entire entourage. She was notably good with the reins—her horse wasn’t confused at all and followed her orders without question.
Meanwhile, Lord Hilbert was struggling with his, unable to get it to move the way he wanted, so he was blaming the soldiers near him for being in the way. Those soldiers moved forward a bit to make room, then a bit more since Prince Severin and I were nearby.
Lord Simeon and his subordinates climbed down from their horses to investigate the objects. Will they be okay? The cylinders won’t explode if they get too close, right? I couldn’t help but wait with bated breath. The knights knelt down and discussed something over the objects. One Visselian soldier poked his head through the bars of the railing to check under the bridge. When he came back up, he shook his head.
I clutched Prince Severin’s back. “I wonder if everything’s all right.”
“The situation doesn’t appear dire so far.”
The knights pulled the wrapped wire loose from one of the cylinders. One knight picked up the offending object and brought it somewhat close to his face. A moment later, his expression brightened significantly. The cylinder must not have been dangerous. The knight announced that we were safe, making everyone sigh in relief. The other cylinder was also pulled out, then the soldiers in front urged their horses on and began to cross the rest of the bridge.
A maid riding with one knight looked back at Princess Mira. “Your Highness, we’ve just been informed that everything’s fine...”
But right as she said that, the horse she was riding startled. It had gotten spooked by someone in front of it—Lord Simeon—who was running between the horses toward Prince Severin. His tight expression made me nervous. What happened? Was it not all right after all?
“Tell me, Simeon,” His Highness ordered.
Suddenly, we were rocked by a thunderous sound and a tremendous impact.
“Aaaaah!”
Our horse jolted onto its hind legs, almost throwing me off. Prince Severin pulled me close to hold me steady, forcing him off-balance as well. He managed to remain seated, then tugged the reins to soothe the frantic horse.
“Settle down! Marielle, hold on tight!”
I realized that he was struggling to control the reins with just one hand, so I quickly grabbed onto his body with both arms. There wasn’t time to consider modesty or anything of the sort. It was all I could do to cling to him and not be thrown off.
With his hands now free, he yanked on the reins even harder and shouted at his horse.
I panicked further. “Um...! Should we maybe get off?!”
“We’ll get trampled if we do! Stay still!”
Thanks to His Highness’s daily training and general expertise, our horse settled down in no time. I lifted my head once we stopped thrashing and found Lord Hilbert on the ground holding his bottom—he’d been thrown off, and his horse had run off back to the island without a rider.
Princess Mira had stayed in the back, and she seemed to be fine—Lord Nigel had placed himself nearby to protect her. I let myself feel relieved for a moment, then looked back to the front of the group to see what had happened.
“Huh...?” My eyes didn’t register the sight at first, and my mind whited out. Then, goose bumps overtook my entire body.
The center of the bridge was gone. It had completely collapsed, revealing the surface of the ocean beneath. The metal railings on either side of this gap were also gone, so there was nothing connecting the two halves of the bridge.
“Why...? Ah!” I’d focused on the collapsed section in my shock, but I quickly spotted something frightening: On the other side of the gap from where I was, there was a person holding on to the jagged, broken railings dangling over the sea. “Lord Simeon!”
My husband was about to fall into the water. He gripped the railing with one hand, barely holding on.
Prince Severin stopped me from trying to clamber down. “Don’t panic. He’ll be fine.”
“How, exactly?! We have to save him!”
“Something like this isn’t enough to hurt him.” His Highness pushed his horse as far forward as he could.
Lord Simeon, still hanging by one hand, shouted up at his subordinates, who’d run to the edge of his half. “Several people fell in! Get a rescue boat out here immediately!”
My breath hitched. Down in the sea, I could see horses swimming for their lives. There’s two... No, three of them. Even though they were land animals, they were skillfully navigating back to the island. However...none of their riders were with them.
In the surrounding waters, two heads popped up among the waves. Seemingly Visselian soldiers, they were struggling to not get swallowed up. We had to save them posthaste, or else they’d drown. It was already high tide, and the sea was violent due to the stormy weather. On the other side of the bridge, some of our knights jumped back onto their horses and galloped toward the hotel to alert the island.
Lord Simeon clenched the muscles in his arm and managed to pull his entire frame up. Once his other arm was near enough to the railing, he grabbed it with his hand. Now holding on with both hands, he valiantly swung his legs, and the motion, like that of a pendulum, made his body sway back and forth in large movements. He then used that energy to launch his body forward. His subordinates atop his side of the bridge shot their hands out immediately, and Lord Simeon grabbed hold of them. Once he was safely back on the bridge, my sigh of relief was so strong that it took the rest of my energy with it—I felt as though no air would be left inside of me.
Prince Severin raised his voice enough for the knights on the other half of the bridge to hear—the distance was small enough to allow for that. “Was anyone hurt?”
“There are a few with light injuries,” answered Lord Simeon with an equally loud yell. “What about over there?”
“Ah... This one has light injuries as well.” His Highness turned back and chuckled at Lord Hilbert, who was still pressing his hands against his backside as he complained incessantly. “Seems those who fell off their horses managed to avoid getting stomped on.”
I nodded. “Yes. They were lucky no one else was too close.”
Taking a moment to calm down and think rationally, I realized what had occurred without having to ask: An explosion had destroyed the bridge. A bridge wouldn’t simply explode on its own without something igniting underneath. Some human force had intentionally set up explosives here.
Prince Severin examined the area. “What about the objects from earlier? Those didn’t explode, did they?”
“No, sir.” Lord Simeon’s voice was frustrated. “Those were empty cylinders. They’d been placed in obvious spots, so I assume they were decoys. My deepest apologies. I noticed far too late.”
The cylinders had been made to look suspicious so that they would distract our guards. The real explosives had been placed in the areas where Their Highnesses would’ve stopped their horses, and they had been underneath the bridge so we wouldn’t find them. But...how were they detonated? There were still a few questions left, but the goal had certainly been to harm our royalty.
Though my husband had figured out their motive, he’d been unable to stop the explosion. He’d lamented that he’d been too late, but it had been unavoidable. There was no way he could’ve made it in time, especially since no one had known where the bombs had been set up. Had he come back just a bit earlier, he could have been hit by the explosion directly. A cold sweat ran down my back at the realization that his delayed response had kept him safe.
This is classified as terrorism, isn’t it? Bombs were planted to attack Their Highnesses. The knights’ fears have become reality.
I couldn’t help but quiver. I shook my head and told myself to hold it together. Terrorism had happened, but no one had been severely hurt, meaning the culprit had failed. Nobody died. We survived by the skin of our teeth.
Prince Severin said that same thought out loud. “Let us be glad that we’re all safe. The only thing we have to worry about is the rescue boat, but I think we’ll be fine on that front.”
The people who’d fallen into the sea had managed to swim over to the legs of the bridge. They’d be able to grab on to the pillars and wait for rescue. The horses swam more energetically than the humans, so by this point, they were making great progress toward the island. We wouldn’t have to worry about them either.
That meant the current problem was actually us, stranded on the wrong side of the broken bridge.
His Highness stared up at the sky, accepting the raindrops that fell straight onto his masculine face. The sounds of thunder had gotten closer, and streaks of lightning occasionally darted through the clouds. If I recalled correctly, open areas were dangerous during times like this...and so was water. Are we not surrounded by danger everywhere right now? Bomb terrorism and a lightning storm. What a situation.
Prince Severin immediately decided that standing around doing nothing would do us no good. “Simeon, we’re going back for now. The tide will lower while we wait, and if the rain doesn’t die down, then we will leave by boat once it stops. We’ll be on standby indoors.”
“Understood. We, the knights, will do our best to retrieve you as fast as possible.”
“Please do.”
“Marielle?” my husband called out. I leaned over so he could see me. “Follow His Highness’s orders, and don’t do anything rash. You must not act alone, no matter what.”
“Yes, sir...” I’d anticipated words of comfort, yet he was lecturing me again. My shoulders slumped at my betrayed expectations.
“Sir Nigel, please take care of Their Highnesses.”
Lord Nigel’s laugh had bass to it. “Yes, sir. Leave it to me.”
Boo! That’s it? That’s all you’re leaving me with? You won’t tell me anything else, dear husband? My glare at Lord Simeon—with my cheeks puffed out to maximum capacity—caught his attention.
“I’ll be back for you as soon as I can. Please trust me and wait.”
I do trust you...more than anyone else in the world. “Understood! Please bring sweets as well!”
His Highness drove his knuckles into my scalp. “Why would you say that in a situation like this?”
It’s important, I’ll have you know! We were heading back to the island as fast as we could, but we most likely wouldn’t make it in time for lunch. Everyone’s already starving!
That made Lord Simeon laugh. He raised a hand to signal his agreement. Yes, he’ll be fine. He never breaks his promises. He won’t betray me. As he said, he’s going to return as soon as he can. I waved back at him. Don’t worry. I’m not afraid! I’m fine!
Prince Severin swiveled his horse so he could address those behind us. “We’re going back to the island and waiting until the storm passes.”
Voices of approval rang out. “Yes, sir!”
“Good idea. Let’s hurry back!”
Lord Hilbert, who was still on the ground making a fuss, hastily got back on his feet when he realized no one would help him. “W-Wait! Don’t leave me behind!”
Lord Nigel, seeing that there was no other option, reluctantly offered his hand to Lord Hilbert to pull him up onto his horse. No word of thanks came, of course. Lord Hilbert simply continued to gripe the whole time.
Escaping from the strengthening rain, we galloped back to the island. Behind us echoed the sounds of lightning splitting the sky apart.
Chapter Twelve
Those of us left on this side of the bridge were me, Prince Severin, Lord Nigel, Princess Mira, Mr. Meyer, Lord Hilbert, and just one Visselian soldier. Not a single one of the princess’s maids remained, so I volunteered to take care of her.
I walked over to her. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m fine,” she muttered. “I managed to stay mostly dry, aside from my jacket. What about you, Mrs. Marielle? Please don’t forget about yourself.”
“I’m also all right. I have my cape, and Prince Severin blocked most of the water for me.”
His Highness grumbled, “You’ve got some nerve using a crown prince as an umbrella.”
“You didn’t get wet in the places I was covering, so it’s only fair.”
We were given cloths to wipe off with, so we didn’t have to stay wet and shiver. I dried Her Highness’s hair for her, while the prince and Lord Nigel took care of themselves. We’d known it was going to rain, so we’d prepped beforehand. Only Lord Hilbert had arrived empty-handed, which was why he glared at us with contempt. I offered him one of our towels in response, but that only fueled his anger.
“Such an unthoughtful woman! Don’t just shove it at me in silence! Wipe me down!”
“Oh...” He’s asking me to dry him off? All right, fine...
“Cut it out, Hilbert.” Princess Mira stopped me and scolded him. “How could you say something so rude without giving thanks? Wipe yourself down instead.”
“She’s helping you out!”
“Just my back. I dried off the places I could reach on my own, and so did everyone else. Why can’t you?”
“It’s not that I can’t—I’m saying she has no respect for royalty. She’s the rude one!”
“Didn’t you call me the shame of Vissel? Look at how you’re acting now. Are you saying this is how we should carry ourselves?”
“Excuse me?!”
Prince Severin stepped in front of Lord Hilbert, who was about to fly into a rage. When Lord Hilbert shrunk back and shut his mouth, His Highness beamed an intense smile at him.
“If you need help, allow me to assist you. Hand that to me, Marielle.”
I placed the towel into Prince Severin’s outstretched hand.
“All right then, we’ll start with your head.” He gestured to Lord Hilbert. “Could you bend down a bit?”
“N-No,” Lord Hilbert stammered. “I couldn’t possibly make you do something like this...”
“Don’t be shy. I have two younger sisters—I’m very used to taking care of them.” His Highness wrapped Lord Hilbert’s head in the towel and began roughly rubbing it back and forth. “My youngest sister in particular is a tomboy, so I had to constantly look after her. When she’d fall into a puddle and cry her eyes out, I’d wipe her down and make her change, just like this. How nostalgic! That was when she was about six years old.”
