Chapter Forty-Six
The Valliere mansion was a palace. It had to be a palace, because it was pretty big. As Louise looked up at the many windows, she saw a figure by a window and shyly waved at it, receiving a wave in return.
A servant by the mansion's gate had taken one good look at them and then sighed in disbelief. "Again," he had mumbled, "Please, come this way Sirs," he had added, guiding them through the garden and past a lake where a boat drifted aimlessly in the middle of it. "The Duke will receive you shortly."
They passed through many hallways, all filled with paintings, vases and suits of armor, the wealth practically oozing out from every single object on their path. Louise couldn't help but stare numbly at the displays of swords and ceremonial weapons hanging from the walls. They were left inside a rather large room with a long table, where they were to wait.
"What might I bring you while you wait, Sirs?" the maid asked gently.
"Nothing, thank you," Louise said gruffly. The maid bowed, and then left the two of them alone in the large room.
"Louise," Saito said.
"Not yet," Louise replied, fidgeting with the border of the her mask.
"Louise," Saito insisted, and Louise grasped at her mask and removed it, letting her hair free from her cloak's cowl. She glared at Saito, and held the mask with her right hand.
"There," she said flatly. "Satisfied?"
"A lot," Saito nodded.
Time passed, and as Louise kept fidgeting for the mask, Saito extended a hand. "Give it here," he said. "Come on, Louise."
"I'm not going to be so rude as to put it back on!" Louise snapped hotly, still clutching on to the mask.
"Louise, hand over the mask," Saito said firmly.
With a tiny groan, Louise did as much. It was strange, but for once it was Saito the one in command and Louise the one following orders. The girl was apparently too nervous to complain too loudly, and as she began to look out of the window, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes shut, taking a deep breath.
When the door opened to admit the maid once more, Louise blinked, and then paled. There he was, the Duke.
"Allow me to present the Duke Pierre de la Valliére," the maid said with a bow as the man stepped inside. He was clutching on to a walking cane that ended with a rather large diamond on top, and his blond hair fell in curls around his face, which held a goatee that -coupled with the monocle- made him look like the stereotypical evil villain in Saito's eyes.
Thankfully, he also had a smile on his face as he stepped inside.
Unfortunately, the smile lasted barely a few seconds.
"We apologize for disturbing you," Saito said. "We have a letter addressed for your wife-the Duchess of La Valliére, but we know not where-"
"Ah, of course," the Duke said, taking a breath and turning his sight away from Louise and towards Saito. "You aren't the usual royal messengers," he added.
"We are knights of the North Parterre," Saito said. "I'm Saito, and this is Louis," Saito added, gesturing at Louise who simply remained quiet, her gaze fixed on that of the Duke. "We have a letter from The Lady D'Orleans, concerning her future visit through these lands-and she wished to exchange correspondence with your Lady Wife, the Duchess," Saito had done his work, ensuring everything would be said properly. Charlotte had been nice enough to help without asking why -really, that girl was too kind for her own good- and so there he was, bluffing with the Duke, only, not really.
"I-I see," the Duke said, his expression having returned to gaze at Louise. "Well, my Lady wife rarely stops by. You would have better luck seeking her out by the mountain pass of the Heavy Wind. It's what they called it after she-well, after she made it," the Duke made a nervous chuckle, "if you are going to meet with her anyway, might I ask you for a favor? I find myself with a few letters I need to deliver her-"
"Of course," Saito said with a bow. "We would be glad to help."
"Give me just an hour, meanwhile, I'll have the servants escort you to the gardens," the Duke added in a slightly hurried tone, before stepping out and leaving the maid to do just that.
Louise had tried to go for the mask the moment the Duke had left, but Saito simply held on to it, shaking his head. "Nope," he muttered, "Not a chance, Louis."
Louise growled, but then exhaled loudly as they ended up in the gardens, large and filled with the most varied of plants. "I think I lost years of my life," Louise mumbled. "No, I'm sure I'm going to die young now. Is my hair turning white, Saito?" she grabbed a lock of stray hair and pushed it up for Saito to examine, before clutching on to it and pulling it a bit. "What do you think is going to happen now?"
"I think we just need to wait," Saito said softly. "Enjoy the flowers, the lake, and-"
"Why do you think the boat's adrift in the middle of the lake?" Louise asked, puzzled. "Wouldn't it make sense if it were ashore?"
Saito blinked. "Or we can be adventurers and query about pointless things, yes, we can do that too, Louis."
Louise did not waste time snatching the mask from Saito's hands and nearing the lake's pier while putting it back on. She hummed and thought about it, "Perhaps there's a monster in the lake," she said.
"Or perhaps the rope simply failed due to use and nobody thought about repairing it," Saito pointed out, gesturing at a piece of frayed rope. "The Duke didn't strike me as the type to enjoy sitting on a boat in the middle of the lake."
Louise's shoulder slumped. "I'm being silly, right?"
"Yes," Saito said with a knowing nod. "You are being very, very silly."
Louise bristled, stomping her right foot on the ground. "Pardon me for being worried!"
"You are forgiven," Saito replied with a teasing smirk, which soon became a half-shocked visage of fear as Louise turned her back on the lake to look at him. Louise froze.
"T-There's a monster in the lake," she said.
Saito nodded fearfully, and as Louise turned...
There was nothing.
"Saito," Louise said sweetly. "Run."
Meanwhile, from the mansion's last floor, the Duke looked down at the two knights of the North Parterre that seemed to act like kids around his lake. He clutched his staff and turned to the shadows of his office.
"They seem too stupid to be spies, or to want something," one of the voice in the dark said.
"I have to agree with my sister-they didn't even say they had found your daughter-we can check, but if you just let them reach Karin she'll do it herself," the second voice in the dark said.
"I'd rather she didn't," the Duke said. "Those poor girls-and these are knights of the North Parterre, I'd really like to avoid a diplomatic incident with the kingdom of Gallia. It's hard enough keeping the Tristain and Germanian crowns pacified-I can't add another to the list," he sighed. "Please do me this favor, Daphne, Amethyst?"
"Fine," the two voices in the dark said at the same time.
The Duke clutched his staff even tighter, if such a thing was possible.
He didn't dare to hope.
But hope was too hard a thing to uproot.
He wasn't like his wife, after all.
