n

n

nBecause her shoulders would become stiff if she just read all day, Rachel spends her time doing other things as well such as embroidery and the like.

nRachel had been sewing through a handkerchief for a while now, and after setting her needle down, she took a look at the embroidered image she had done.

nLooking at the framed flowers she had created, she murmured to herself,

n“Hmm……it’s too quiet.”

nHer thoughts weren’t about embroidery.

nOne month ago, in other words, from the time that Rachel became aware of the Prince’s conspiracy to abandon the engagement.

nBut as she made her preparations, Rachel didn’t move to block them……..because it seemed interesting.

nThe Blockhead Prince and his lackey followers, she wanted to see how far they’d go.

nIf they were to throw her into prison, then she could continue to skip her Queen’s education until the King returns and rejects the engagement abandonment.

nThe trouble she couldn’t cause herself that was likely to now occur left her feeling thrilled.

nThough she decided to ride along with the Prince’s conspiracy on that line of thinking……. the Prince’s base had turned out shallower than she had thought. Even though a week had already passed, he hadn’t come up with any ideas other than striking at her through force.

n“Like this, I feel embarrassed going to such great lengths……..it’s boring.”

nThe Prince would use a variety of dirty tricks to harass her, and she would enthusiastically repel them as they came.

nAs she raised her cup to take a drink, Rachel realized that her tea had gone cold, but even cold the refreshing fragrance of the luxury tea leaves still lingered and tickled the nose.

nRachel blankly stared into the air for a while before laughing with a smile.

n“That’s right. This wait and see attitude is unlike me. Until now I thought I’d just wait for the Prince to make his move…….un, let’s robustly move forward from now on.”

n♠

nBecause a jailbreak would most likely occur in the middle of the night, prison patrols are being performed well into the night.

n“Well, the palace’s prison only has the Lady inside it right now……….I really don’t think there’s going to be a jailbreak…….”

nAlthough, work was work.

nThe prison guard’s footsteps echoed as he descended the stone steps, and he saw the Duke’s daughter sitting on the floor with the lights dimmed. It seems that she was still awake. Leaning against her cushion, she was looking up at the sky through the small window.

n“What are you doing?”

nAsking for purely skeptical doubts, a beautiful woman illuminated by the moon’s light responded.

n“My, Mr. prison guard. Good evening…….I can see the moon right now, so I thought I’d do a little moon-viewing.”

nAs she spoke Rachel held up a glass cup pinched between her fingertips. The scent wafting out of the glass caused the prison guard to make a strange face.

n“Oi oi, should a Duke’s daughter be having whiskey……….”

nWhiskey was a powerful type of alcohol. And it was clear through the shot glass that she was drinking it straight. A nobleman might drink something like that every once in a while, but it was basically a type of liquor for laborers and people irrelevant to society at large.

n“Oh, you must like it quite a bit if you can understand what it is simply by the fragrance. Would you like one?”

n“You, you’re not already drunk…….um, EHHH!?”

nThe prison guard watched amazed as Rachel shook the bottle of good spirits in a good mood…….but he was doubly amazed to see the bottle Rachel had in her hands.

n“Oi, that’s not a 30 year old bottle of Saint Valentinus is it!?”

n“My, so knowledgeable.”

n“There’s no way I could drink something like that………it’d cost two months of my salary that would.”

n“I took it from my Father’s cabinet, but the seal hasn’t been broken which means there’s quite a bit here. Yes, glass.”

n“No, I’m in a position where I can’t accept………no, but a 30 year old Saint Valentinus……..”

n“I have snacks as well.”

nThe noblewoman held out a tray: sliced corn beef with raisin butter, smoked cheese with pickles, liver paste spread on crackers……….

n“Now now, we pour it to the rim………”

n“Oooooooh……this, this thirty year old bottle…….!”

nBringing the bottle closer to be seen, the prison guard refused to be tempted with this legendary masterpiece of liquor mumbling to himself over and over again, “No, I can’t”.

nUnable to resist the charm pulling on him, the prison guard dried his cup immediately after the protruded brown bottle had filled it.

n“It’s a pretty good drink. Now, three drink rush.¹”

nAlthough he had thought it to be wasteful to drink up this gem in an instant, the amber fragrant liquid was once again poured to the rim of his cup.

nTwo drink tuned to three drinks and eventually became four. As his tongue loosened and became used to it, Rachel would always pour him another. Finally the prison guard forgot about the job he was supposed to be doing and began drinking comfortably, but he failed to notice that Rachel had quit drinking herself halfway through.

n“After all whiskey is best straight. That afterglow after it passes down your throat leaving nothing behind.”

n“You understand!? This nose can’t pass that aroma by! Lady sure can drink.”

n“Yes yes Mr. prison guard as well. Ah, how about some chocolate?”

n“Ooooh, sorry!”

nThe prison guard had become completely drunk, and Rachel’s sweet words poured into him as easily as the alcohol he had been drinking. Plenty of alcohol had turned into a feast, a good deal of fun, and an unopened one was given as a souvenir……….

n“Nooo, let me tell you Lady, I understood our talk quite well.”

n“Ufufufu, even though I haven’t done anything bad at all. But Elliott is always going on about “Me Me Me”. Even though I try to make people understand me, I can’t……..I hate it.”

n“I know, I get iiiiiiiiiiit. Ish all thanksh to the Prince’s crap head. Un, Lady isn’t bad!”

nWith memories of a fun drinking party, a level of trust had been successfully coaxed out as any lingering suspicions were crushed. Rachel continued to whisper sweet-sounding input that became embedded in the prison guard’s brain.

nBy the time she was done, the prison guard’s alcohol muddied thinking abilities would have {Prince = foolish and evil, Rachel = pitiable and good} seared into his subconscious thoughts.

n“Night has gradually been coming to an end I suppose. Please do be careful on your way home. And don’t drop your long-awaited whiskey?”

n“Oooooh, leave it to me! Ah, thas right! To makes talking outside the castle easier, Lady schouldn’t talk bout our fun.”

n“Yes, I understand that. And if you’d please drop off any letters or allow me regular visits without anyone else knowing.”

n“Hu can trush me. Yosh, I’ll manage somehow!”

n“Thank you so much.”

n♠

nThe prison guard slowly walked up the stairs with staggered steps, heading straight home while carrying his important souvenir.

nAnd then from the front chamber of the dungeon where the light couldn’t touch, a woman rose up from the shadows and took a step into the light.

n“My Lady, we could manage even without such a petty official. Most things for us…….”

nRachel made a small smile as she pulled out her bedding and prepared her cushions.

n“We’ll do the same for the guards at the castle gate. It’s important that we have the courtiers of the castle hold my shoulder over the Prince’s. Those who share my thinking especially, we will require their sympathy and cooperation in order to best abuse Elliott.”

n“Hah, as you say, so shall it be. As for the matter of the mansion that we discussed the other day, I shall make the preparations.”

n“Thanks.”

nWith her servant once again melting into the darkness, Rachel pulled herself underneath her blanket and turned off the light.

n1. It’s a proverb that spans languages. What it means is, “Anybody who shows up late to the party has to chug!”

n