374 The Curse Is Real
The attack was reported to Mother early the next morning and I'm sure the king and queen were also informed about the event in front of their gates.
I was seated on Mother's lap while Mother hugged me from behind as we sat in her office.
"Ooh my poor, poor child… It must have been so scary for you…" She cooed.
It's not like I've never fought monsters before, Mother… Plus I had Katsuki and Sebastian with me…
"So… Do we know who or what those things were?" I asked Mary who was standing on the other side of the table, letting Mother rub her cheek on the back of my head.
Mary shook her head, "Unfortunately, we do not have any information on it yet. We are also not sure if they were targeting Young Mistress or the Third Princess."
"Well… They don't look or even sound like Mahuns… Especially when I shone the light on them… And the thing they threw at me was not magic was it?" I pointed out.
Sebastian also shook his head, "I did not hear any spells being chanted when it attacked you, Young Mistress, so I believe it was at least not a type of magic casting we are familiar with."
So he's not ruling out that that thing might just be using another way of casting magic like myself.
"Are they perhaps… Summons like Mistress's?" Katsuki suggested.
Sebastian turned to her, "Those things displayed some levels of intelligence, especially with how they reacted to the Lumenmancy magic that Young Mistress casted, which leads me to believe that they are most likely not. But I cannot rule out the possibility either."
Mary raised her hand, "If I am allowed to speculate, I believe this might have something to do with the prophecy of the princess?"
Sebastian gave her a side eye, "Might the Head Maid be suggesting that they were demons?"
"Perhaps not demons, but maybe something that is related to them. I would guess that the prophecy might be pointing to a cult of sorts that is looking to strike a bargain with a demon or were delusional enough to think they can control it. Those things might be some kind of monster they managed to control which caused them to have those delusions."
Ugh, I knew I should have just used [Screened] on them first…
I sighed, "Don't tell me I'm going to need to be escorted all around the place again?"
Mother hugged me tighter, "Ara, ara? Did my little one not like that?"
"I don't really hate it… But I would prefer I don't need to have an escort like that all the time…"
"Ufufufu~ If my little one does not want it, then there's no need for that~"
Eh? Really? I was so sure that Mother would insist I have a guard at all times like before. I wonder what changed? Or maybe there's something else that I don't know?
Oh well, I definitely would prefer that to having someone constantly guarding me all the time…
Of course, I have nothing against Katsuki accompanying me, but not when the others are also around to watch over me and follow me wherever I go…
Sort of like Tiara's situation with Aria I suppose… Which I found a little ironic since she was stuck with such a situation from the start.
Sebastian squared his shoulders, "This still does not make the current situation any better I'm afraid. We now know that the prophecy for the Third Princess might very well be happening right now and Young Mistress has become involved in it too."
I tilted my head slightly, "I'm surprised you're not asking me to just cut ties with the princess…"
Mother patted my head, "Ufufufu~ Like I said earlier my little one~ We would always place my dearest child's wants over everything else~ Does my little one want to cut ties with the princess?"
"Umm… No?"
I would feel quite bad for her if that happens, especially considering what I was trying to help her achieve right now…
In the first place, I got acquainted with her because of our mutual love for sweets. Then I wanted to help her with her so-called curse by helping her gain the strength needed to take control of her own fate.
Now that we know the threat was very real and might even happen very soon, I should be doubling down on my efforts to help her instead of cutting her off.
What do I gain from all of this?
Hey! I look out for my fellow sweet lovers ok?! Especially when they are really cute!
Plus, I have her to thank for introducing me to that store! I'm not that ungrateful to forget about something like that!
"Is there something we can do? Find out where they came from and maybe destroy this cult that is targeting the princess, maybe?" I asked.
Mary seemed to think for a moment, "We would need to utilise every possible connection in our information network… But without any clues, it would be difficult to even get any results…"
"What if… We use the Princess as a bait?" Katsuki suggested.
Everyone turned to look at my Inugami maid.
"As bait you say? You would say to use the princess, the Third Princess of the Lehcarouc Kingdom, the one that the King and Queen dotes on, as bait?" Sebastian reiterated.
She nodded, "That would help us draw out the perpetrators, wouldn't it? Besides, if it ensures Mistress's safety, there is no better reason not to do it."
Err… Katsuki? You're really suggesting to make use of someone from the Royal Family as bait just to protect me? I don't even know what I should say to that? What does Mother think?
"Ufufufu~ Little Katsuki has become quite a capable maid of my little one hasn't she?" Mother giggled.
Right… I should have known that Mother would be happy about it instead.
But since I don't hate Tiara and didn't want her to summer unnecessarily, I went ahead to ask Katsuki, "Ummm… How are you planning to use her as bait?"
"It's simple, Mistress. You just need to bring her out on another date again and we will catch the perpetrators this time."
Oh.
Sorry, but when she said about using the princess as bait, I thought she meant to have the princess tied up and set outside to let the enemies come get her while we wait in the bushes or something…
Well, I guess my concerns were unfounded then.
Mary lifted a finger, "If Young Mistress does not mind, I can suggest that you take the princess around on a gourmet trip to enjoy the various sweets shops in the capital. We shall deal with any of those demon followers if they show up."
"That sounds like a great idea and all but… Would the King and Queen even accept this idea?"
"Ara, ara? We are helping them free the princess of the curse by dealing with the threat and also fulfilling their little princess's wish of wanting to be free as well. If anything, they would be leaping at this chance, my little one~"
Oh right, they would basically be having our family take care of the princess for free.
But this is still a good plan! I get to go and enjoy sweets with the princess and not need to worry about a thing! I don't even need to pretend to sneak her out this time! This would be great!
Katsuki continued, "If Mistress is keen on the plan, shall I draft a letter inviting the princess on another date?"
Mary inclined her head, "I shall also write a letter to the King and Queen to explain to them of our intent as well."
"Ara, ara? My little one is going on a date with the cute princess~ Ufufufu~"
I want to say it's not a date but ugh… I'll let them have this one since they seem so happy about it for some reason. It did help take away the depressing feeling that was hanging over them at the start so I can't complain.
They've already begun discussing which shops that I should go to and even what kind of clothes I should wear.
"Since we do not need to go incognito this time to draw them out, we can dress up my little one as much as we want~" Mother giggled while rubbing her face against my cheek. "I wonder what shall we do with your hair this time? Maybe we should do a braid? Or curl it? Ufufufu~ Just leave this to Mama!"
"I shall prepare the dresses for your choosing as well, Mistress." Katsuki offered.
We're not even going out today and they want to prepare for it right now… They really are excited about this I see…
I bet all this is just an excuse so that they could dress me up…
Well… I have to admit that that is fun in its own way but they can go a little bit overboard at times… And I feel that this little 'date' with the Princess where I would need to go out in public with her would present them the perfect opportunity for them to go as far as they want to…
Maybe I should just back out of the plan right now?
But sweets… Ughh…. Do it for the sweets…
