I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 11 - Searching for Lea – 1

Even though they said Lea had disappeared, the ship was at sea.

So logically, it was clear she had to be hiding somewhere on board.

After Surin and the others left, and after Raphael had taken off Rose’s wig, Rose stared hard at the ship’s floor plan.

“Guards are stationed at all the stairs going down from the third floor to the second, right?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

“Then that means… it’s not easy to get to the second-class rooms or lower, is it?”

“Maybe not.”

“If we assume no one can get to the second-class area, then is it safe to say my sister is still on the third floor?”

“Could be.”

“…Your Highness.”

“Raphael.”

“…Lord Raphael. Do you even care?”

When Rose glared at him from over the floor plan, Raphael smiled brightly.

“What do you think?”

Rose puffed out her cheeks a little in frustration.

She was doing her best to find Lea, but Raphael didn’t seem interested at all.

When Rose fell silent in irritation, Raphael seemed to realize he’d gone too far.

He leaned in, looking at her face, and apologized.

“Sorry, sorry. Don’t pout like that. Hmm… your reasoning isn’t bad, Rose, but you did overlook a few things.”

“…I did?”

“First, here. The stairs going from the third floor to the second-floor restaurant. Guards are only stationed here when the restaurant is open. At night—yeah, at least during yesterday’s masquerade ball—the restaurant was closed, so no guards were there.

Then there’s the emergency stairs. No guards there either.

Also, if someone staying in a first-class room goes down to the second-class rooms, the guards won’t stop them, even if they see them. It’s the other way around that’s a problem.

So, Lea, who has a first-class room, can go anywhere on the ship as long as she doesn’t hide her status.”

“……”

Rose didn’t know that. She drooped in disappointment.

As Raphael gently patted her drooping head, he continued.

“Now here’s the problem. Lea can move freely around the ship. But a first-class passenger wandering all over would stand out, and the guards would remember it.”

“Then… we should ask the guards, right?”

“Hmm, wrong. Not quite.

If you did the same thing as Lea, we could probably catch you pretty fast.”

“What?”

Why was he suddenly talking about her?

Rose looked confused, and Raphael kept smiling as he spoke.

“Unfortunately, Lea is quite clever.

She might use the guards’ testimony to throw us off, but she’d never leave any evidence linking back to herself.

So what we can guess is: when she went down from first-class to second-class, she might have looked the same.

But once she got to her destination, she definitely disguised herself.

That’s why, even if we question the guards, we won’t be able to trace her.

If we rely too much on their testimony, we’ll be dancing in the palm of her hand and never find her.”

“……”

Even though he already knew all of this, why didn’t he say so earlier?

Rose pouted again.

Raphael chuckled and poked her puffed-up cheek.

“I gave you a hint. Why the pout?”

“…You don’t seem serious.”

Rose complained, but Raphael remained calm and relaxed.

“Of course.

Because it’s fine with me if Lea isn’t found.”

“Why!?”

“Why? Because I have you.

Honestly, this situation is even more convenient for me.”

It wasn’t convenient for Rose at all.

She frowned in frustration, thinking, This is not what we agreed on!

Raphael gave a long, exaggerated sigh.

“Don’t be mad.

I may not be motivated, but I will help search for Lea.

If I don’t, you’ll probably hate me.

So of course, I do plan to find her…

What happens after that, well, we’ll see.”

“…What?”

“Oh, nothing. Anyway, my lady, how do you plan to proceed?”

Rose looked between the ship’s floor plan and the travel schedule.

“In three days, we’ll dock at Huig Port in the country of Seld.

If my sister is serious about escaping, she might get off the ship there.

So, before that, I’ll search the ship from top to bottom!”

The ship would stay at Huig Port for four days.

During that time, passengers could come and go freely, and there wouldn’t be any official roll call before leaving.

If Lea really planned to escape, she could get off at the port and disappear somewhere.

That would make finding her much harder.

When Rose said this, Raphael nodded while pressing a Florentine biscuit to her lips.

“Yeah.

Well, that’s good enough for now, I suppose.”