One day several days later as I waited for the cabinet meeting.
Maid: "U-Um... e-excuse me, Lady Regina..."
A maid stepped into my room.
Regina: "What is it? What's that matter?"
Maid: "I just accidentally overhead Claude on the phone..."
She spoke hesitantly as watching my reactions closely.
Regina: "On the phone?"
Maid: "Yes, milady. He seemed to be speaking with Sir Adolph..."
Regina: "Minister Adolph?"
(But why would Claude be...?)
Regina: "Are you sure he didn't just call to discuss the cabinet meeting?"
The maid looked at me with upturned eyes.
Maid: "Well... what they were discussing was..."
I couldn't believe my ears when she told me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I bolted out of my room and made a beeline for Prince Wilfred's location. I had to tell him what I had just heard. I was sprinting for the office, when... I crashed into someone rounding a corner.
Regina: "Ah... e-excuse me!"
I hastily apologized to the person, and...
???: "Wh-What's the matter?"
I saw Claude looking back at me.
(Ack... it's Claude!?)
Regina: "Oh, um... I just wanted to see Wilfred..."
I downplayed it and Claude looked at me dubiously.
Claude: "Did something happen?"
Regina: "Well..."
(But I can hardly tell the mad involved about it...)
Regina: "Nothing happen, but... is Wilfred in his office?"
Claude: "No... is there something urgent that you need him for?"
He watched me steadily and I fell silent.
(Ugh... maybe I should save it for later... but...)
Claude: "If it's not too urgent..."
Claude: "I can let him know to come find you. Could you tell him then?"
Regina: "...Alright."
I returned to my bedroom as filled with uncertainty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night. I had sent Prince Wilfred a text en route. But otherwise, I simply waited in my room for him as I had been instructed. I couldn't get the words of the maid from this morning out of my mind.
(I'm sure it must be a misunderstanding... but...)
Just as I sighed softly to myself when Prince Wilfred stepped in.
Regina: "Ah...!"
I hurriedly ran to him and Prince Wilfred gently patted my head.
Wilfred: "That's... quite an enthusiastic greeting."
Regina: "Welcome back. But there's something I have to tell you..."
Wilfred: "...What?"
Regina: "It's about Claude..."
I told him what I had just heard from the maid. According to her, she had heard Claude on the phone with Minister Adolph and they had discussed...
Wilfred: "What? He was leaking information about us?"
Regina: "Yes, the way he was talking made it sound that way..."
I hunched my shoulders and he let out a hearty chuckle.
Wilfred: "...Haha, how very fascinating."
Regina: "Fascinating...?"
I was taken aback by his unexpected reaction and he looked steadily at me.
Wilfred: "Regina... do you suspect Claude?"
(Ugh...)
(Mm... but even if what the maid said was true and there must be a reason for it.)
Regina: "I trust him, of course. Claude would never do anything like that."
A faint smile crossed Prince Wilfred's lips.
Wilfred: "Really...?"
He murmured and he pulling me close.
Wilfred: "You're awfully trusting, aren't you?"
Regina: "Of course I am. But don't you trust him, Wilfred?"
Wilfred: "Who could say? There's no telling how low people might sink."
(What...?)
I stood there as I staring at him in mild shock and he chuckled lightly.
Wilfred: "But... not Claude. I trust in him."
(Ah...)
Wilfred: "And you as well... Regina."
He said as he meshed his lips to mine as leaving me feeling relieved. But vague uneasiness rose within me.
(I do trust him, but that would mean the maid's words are...)
Prince Wilfred seemed to pick up on my feelings. He squeezed me tightly in his arms.
Wilfred: "Let's just wait and see for a bit. I'll be more careful on my end."
Regina: "Alright."
(For now on... I'll leave this in Wilfred's hands.)
I thought to myself and nestling quietly in against his chest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I was on my way back to my room after finishing my princess duties for the day. Claude addressed me as making my heart skip a beat.
Claude: "Lady Regina, what would you like for dinner tonight?"
He spoke in a perfectly normal manner.
(Yeah, the maid must have been mistaken...)
I thought to myself as I replied.
Regina: "Could I have some red meat?"
Claude: "Very good. There's also the matter of..."
As I listened to him to talk and I noticed the maid from before she hiding behind a nearby pillar.
(I see, she must suspect Claude...)
(But there must be some reason she thinks about that...)
As I wavered inwardly when Claude looked at me.
Claude: "Lady Regina? Is there something the matter?"
(Ah...)
When he looked right at me, I repiled...
Regina: "Um, Claude?"
I started to speak up, but then remembered my discussion with Prince Wilfred the other night.
Claude: "Yes, how may I help you?"
The face looking at me now didn't look like it had anything to hide. But not to me at least.
Regina: "Could you show me that new trick of yours again when you've got more practice on it?"
He smiled bashfully at that.
Claude: "Very good, milady."
(Yeah, he's no spy... he'd never turn on Wilfred.)
(Claude is as far from that as someone could possibly be.)
I thought to myself as I smiled back to him.
Regina: "Say... the big meeting is coming up the day after tomorrow, isn't it?"
Claude: "Yes, that's the plan."
Regina: "I hope it all turns out well..."
Claude: "...Yes, truly."
His expression grew clouded for a moment, but... at the time, I hardly even noticed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night. Claude, steward of the Philip Kingdom... met with a lone man in a room in a certain hotel.
Man: "So you're telling me about you would betray Prince Wilfred?"
Claude: "Yes... for an appropriate level of compensation."
His demeanor was quite calm and in fact, the other man seemed more pressured than Claude did.
Man: "But how?"
Claude: "If you possess the hidden documents..."
Claude: "Hand them over and I'll make it appear as though Prince Wilfred hid them himself."
Man: "As if he did it?"
Claude: "Yes, sir."
Claude: "With myself as a witness as even the other ministers would believe it."
Man: "But if you do that, your own position would be..."
Claude: "I would certainly be unable to remain in Philip Castle."
Claude: "And that's why I require an appropriate level of compensation."
After a period of silence, Claude rose sharply to his feet.
Claude: "I believe this would mark a break down in negotiations."
Claude: "That leaves me with no reason to burn any bridges."
Man: "Wait, hold on. You've worked for Prince Wilfred for years, right?"
Man: "You would really just...?"
Claude: "Yes. Whatever happens now, the royal family is certain to lose public trust."
Claude: "Serving such a family would mean little..."
Man: "I get it. You make a good point. Alright. I'll pay what you ask."
Man: "But in return... I want you to sign a contract."
Claude: "A contract...?"
Man: "Yes, to ensure that you don't betray me."
Claude leveled a cool gaze at the man... once he had never shown anymore before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night before the cabinet meeting. Prince Wilfred squeezed some time into his busy schedule to come see me.
Regina: "Tomorrow's the day, huh?"
Wilfred: "Yes, it certainly is."
His gentle arms embraced me. I basked in his embrace as always and I asked softly.
Regina: "How have things been with Claude?"
Wilfred: "Hm? Oh... my checks haven't turned up anything suspicious."
As he answered me and I noticed something a little off in his tone.
(Wilfred...?)
But when I studied him when he just gave me his usual smile.
Wilfred: "What's wrong?"
Regina: "Wilfred... are you hiding something from me?"
I blurted the question out and he let out a faint chuckle.
Wilfred: "I wouldn't call it hiding... but there's something I'd like to tell you."
Regina: "Something you'd like to tell me?"
Wilfred: "It's about the cabinet meeting tomorrow..."
He said as then he told me about it. It was something I had never imagined. But... while I was surprised and I still gave him a firm nod.
Regina: "Alright. But when I told you about what the maid said..."
Regina: "You did take a certain tone about it."
Wilfred: "Yeah... there's still some things I'm not certain about."
Wilfred: "So I can't be sure yet exactly how this will turn out."
Prince Wilfred said and then he left the room. I laid back in the bed.
(Please let the cabinet meeting tomorrow go well...)
I prayed fervently just before drifting off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After they were done speaking, Prince Wilfred returned to his office. His steward Claude looked up from preparing some tea.
Claude: "Prince Wilfred... how was Lady Regina faring?"
Wilfred: "Oh, you know..."
Wilfred: "She's got a lot to be worried about, but I'm sure she's fine."
Claude: "Is that right?"
Wilfred accepted some tea from Claude and he took a slow as leisurely sip.
Claude: "Tomorrow's the day, hm?"
Wilfred: "Yes..."
After several long moments of silence... Claude abruptly spoke up in a mumble.
Claude: "Say... Prince Wilfred..."
Wilfred: "Yes?"
Silence fell once more and Prince Wilfred looked right at Claude.
Wilfred: "I'll be counting on you tomorrow."
Claude stiffened in place at those words.
Claude: "Very good, sir."
He answered in an oddly weak tone and Prince Wilfred gave him a serious look.
Wilfred: "I trust you."
Claude's eyes widened for a moment and then he bowed his head low. When he stepped out of the office and he slumped against the door and he let out a heavy sigh. Then the corner of his lips curled into a faint smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day of the cabinet meeting. I listened a bit tensely as Prince Wilfred spoke.
Wilfred: "First, allow me to give a basic timeline for this matter."
Wilfred: "Someone used a recent hike of agricultural taxes as an opportunity to add revisions allowing them to collect absurd amounts of revenue under the guise of shipping fees."
The meeting room was silent save for the echo of Prince Wilfred's voice within.
Wilfred: "The question of who approved these revisions is of course a matter of concern."
Wilfred: "But all documents pertaining to this matter about even the meeting minutes as have comepletely vanished."
Adolph: "Yes, we've heard this all before."
Adolph: "Why have you gathered us here for this time?"
The other ministers nodded in firm agreement when Minister Adolph spoke.
Minister A: "He's right."
Minister A: "We have busy schedules and can't be summoned on whims for no reason..."
King: "Be silent. Of course there's a reason we called you all here. Wilfred?"
Prince Wilfred started to speaking again with the King's prompting.
Wilfred: "Yes. After a great deal of investigating and I learned something."
Wilfred: "I called you all here to report it."
Minister B: "And that is...?"
Wilfred: "The local shipping fee revisions and the tax rate increase..."
Wilfred: "Authority for that was all in your hands, was it not, Minister Adolph?"
The room froze. I gulped. The King was looking away sadly as though he had already been informed.
Adolph: "Me, you say? I wish you would stop making such wild accusations."
Adolph: "I would never..."
As he stammered about for some reason, but the other ministers all let out sighs of relief.
(Wait... hold up... does it were these people being...?)
Something about this didn't sit right with me. But Prince Wilfred paid that no heed. He continued to press Minister Adolph.
Wilfred: "This is no wild accusation. You hid behind the pretext of raising taxes..."
Wilfred: "To line your own pockets with the money from your very jurisdiction."
Adolph: "That's ridiculous... do you have any proof of this!?"
He raised his voice and Prince Wilfred gave a smirk.
Wilfred: "Certainly. Here's the proof."
The documents as he produced... were the lost documents from the time when the shipping fee had been approved.
(Wilfred...)
Wilfred: "This includes the meeting minutes..."
Wilfred: "And the documents here are stamped with your seal of approval, Minister Adolph."
Adolph: "There... must be some mistake."
Minister Adolph looked like he was growing overwhelmed... by the sheer force behind Prince Wilfred's calm words.
Wilfred: "A mistake? Such as?"
Minister Adolph started to speak up... then his expression lit up and he looked at Prince Wilfred.
Adolph: "Wait, hold on. Where did you get these documents?"
Prince Wilfred looked taken surprisingly off guard at his retort.
Wilfred: "Where...?"
Minister Adolph smirked.
Adolph: "I get it. You must have been the one hiding them all along."
Wilfred: "...What?"
Adolph: "How else would these documents have emerged at such convenient timing?"
The tables seemed to have turned. Now Minister Adolph was the one starting to press, I felt more keenly than before that something wasn't right here.
(But why do I have such a bad feeling about this...!?)
Adolph: "As a matter of fact... I've found this whole situation to be strange."
Adolph: "I've been conducting my own secret investigation."
Adolph: "I've received a little tip through that. Claude!"
He called out and Claude emerged from the where he had been standing by.
(Ah...)
The words the maid had told me all came rushing back into my mind.
Adolph: "Surely you of all people..."
Adolph: "Would know the truth, that Prince Wilfred has been hding these documents?"
Everyone awaited Claude's reply. Then...
Claude: "Indeed."
Claude: "The one concealing the documents was none other than Prince Wilfred."
He answered in a clear tone.
King: "...What did you say!?"
Wilfred: "Claude..."
(Claude...!?)
The King and Prince Wilfred were stunned and the ministers all started to raise a clamor.
Minister A: "Wh-What's the meaning of this!?"
Minister B: "Why... this is a matter that concerns the whole of the Philip Kingdom!"
The cabinet meeting had reached an astonishing development that would rock the entire Philip Kingdom. How would it end...? But right now, all I could do was bear witness to the situation unfolding before my eyes.
~End of (Princess Sequel) Chapter 6: Day 6~
To Be Continued...