Asella was sleeping peacefully under the blanket, embracing me.
Hmm, what exactly is this situation?
My last clear memory is running with Asella and chasing away the assassin.
Judging by how clear my mind feels, I must have slept well thanks to passing out.
"Princess?"
I called out timidly, but there was no response.
It just seems to be Asella.
Wait, what's going on?
My body was clean and I had been changed into fresh clothes. The maids must have washed me.
Asella was wearing pajamas. The design was the same as what I'd seen during the X-ray examination, but these were black.
But why is she in my bed?
In my room.
"Princess."
Asella continued breathing softly, fast asleep.
"Hey, Asella."
...She really must be sleeping.
That's a relief. If she had been awake, I might have been dragged away for disrespect.
As I observed Asella with her face buried against my chest, a strange impulse began to creep up.
'I wonder whose cheeks are squishier, Neria's or Asella's.'
Even as her physician, I can't unnecessarily touch the royal body.
I can only examine what's necessary for medical purposes.
The truth is, since Asella will be slender in all aspects ten years from now, this might be my only chance to check.
'Well then.'
I gently placed the back of my hand against Asella's face.
Asella turned her head slightly but showed no major reaction.
...Is she a deep sleeper?
I haven't done a sleep study on her, so I don't know her sleeping habits.
'Maybe I'll touch a little more.'
I trace her cheek with my thumb.
The texture might be similar to Neria's.
It's like a high-quality linen balloon filled with flour.
Carefully, I use my index finger too, grasping her cheek fully.
...Hmm.
Comparison complete.
Neria definitely has better cushioning.
Still, there was something oddly addictive about how her skin was cool and seemed like it could be kneaded into any shape I wanted.
"Mmm."
Asella must have felt uncomfortable because she completely buried her face against my chest.
That startled me.
I thought I'd been caught.
As I looked at the back of Asella's head, which now resembled someone digging a tunnel for food, her protruding ear caught my attention.
That looks soft too.
The moment I gently stroked the back of her ear.
"Eek!"
With a strange yelp, Asella hunched her shoulders and pinched my side hard.
That hurts.
"Princess? Are you awake?"
Asella was still twitching her back.
"Muscles don't contract that long during sleep. If you're awake, you could just say so..."
Finally, Asella raised her head groggily.
Her furrowed brow suggested something had displeased her.
"Why did you wake me?"
"You seemed to be mistaken about where you should be sleeping."
"...This is my palace."
"That's true, but there's no need for it to be my bed specifically."
"...I thought it was Max's room."
"Max?"
"Yes. Since Sheila went to take a bath..."
"Who's Sheila?"
"My doll... Never mind!"
Asella threw a tantrum, kicking the bed with her feet.
"Young Lord, why are you up so early?"
"I usually sleep for short periods. Though I feel like I slept deeply last night."
"...How annoying. I was planning to leave before you woke up."
"What?"
"Shut up."
I notice every day that Asella is always in a low mood in the mornings.
She has low blood pressure, so I should be understanding.
"After yesterday's events, you should rest more, Princess. I'll immediately assess the situation and respond accordingly."
As I tried to get up, Asella suddenly pressed her hand on my shoulder.
"Young Lord should sleep more too."
"Pardon? But..."
"Sleep."
"Yes."
From experience, making Asella repeat the same order three times never leads to good results.
I lay there wide awake, counting the dots in the ceiling pattern.
***
"I have no excuse."
Tanya knelt before me, bowing her head.
"I failed in my duty as a guard knight. While you were being attacked by an assassin, I wasn't by your side to protect you...!"
Tanya's clenched fists trembled, clearly feeling a heavy responsibility for this incident.
I had sent her away knowingly. I could handle the assassin alone.
There was also Asella's order, and catching the culprit was important too.
Seeing her in such a submissive posture for the first time, I felt like teasing her a bit.
I leaned back in my chair, holding an ice pack to my forehead.
"Oh, my aching body. Captain, can you see the wound on the back of my head? I scraped it when I fell yesterday. My whole body aches from running at full speed."
"Ugh, all my fault..."
"I think I've developed trauma too. I start trembling in fear whenever I see anything with a sharp edge."
"Seppuku...! I'll atone for my sins with ritual suicide!"
Tanya exclaimed with her eyes tightly shut. I decided to stop teasing before she actually went through with it.
"I'm joking, I'm fine. I heard you caught the assassin who was disguised as a servant. Good work."
"But I still failed in my mission..."
"It was Asella's order, so it's fine. I'm glad Neria is safe too."
"Sniff, I thought something terrible had happened to you, brother..."
Neria had been quite frightened yesterday and kept sniffling into her handkerchief.
"I heard Boris and Bruno immediately evacuated you to the guest room. Well done."
"We were just doing our duty. You're the one who suffered, Teacher."
"I should have smashed that assassin's skull," Bruno said, clenching his fists as his triangular muscles bulged threateningly.
"This assassination attempt is serious. Someone infiltrated the imperial palace targeting the Marquis and the Princess. Uncovering who's behind it would be a significant achievement. I already have my suspicions about who ordered it."
"R-really? Brother, is the imperial palace always this dangerous? I... I don't want you to get hurt..."
Neria trailed off. She must have realized that being the royal physician isn't always a pleasant job.
She probably feels conflicted, unable to ask me to quit immediately.
"This doesn't happen often, so don't worry. Asella and I will respond to it right away."
"Okay... but I wish you would come back to the mansion sometimes."
"I'll take a vacation and visit next time."
I patted Neria's head to reassure her.
I want to go home too, I really do.
But for now, there are quite a few things I need to take care of.
"Captain, how long are you going to stay like that?"
Tanya had progressed from pressing her head to the floor to a full kowtow.
I helped the disoriented Tanya up and went to examine Asella.
***
"The culprit who ordered the assassination has confessed?"
"Yes. He's a minor baron who shouldn't even have been invited to the party. Obviously he's just a paid scapegoat. They'll execute him and consider the matter closed!"
Bang!
Asella slammed the table in frustration during my examination.
"Please don't get angry. I need to take your measurements again."
"How can I not be angry? We nearly died, and they expect us to fall for the enemy's obvious scheme."
Asella clicked her tongue, her eyes blazing.
"Two of our knights died. Young Lord, I show no mercy to my enemies. Grudges—"
"Must be repaid tenfold."
"How did you know? That's exactly it. I'll tear them to pieces."
Asella was expressing her anger quite intensely, which makes sense.
You know how sometimes you get even angrier when you lie in bed at home after an incident and calmly think everything through?
She was already irritated, and the news about the fake culprit must have been the final spark.
Asella must have intuitively guessed that the real culprit was from Tojin Palace.
'If the Marquis was the target, other interests would be involved.'
It could have been targeting a noble attending the party or a member of the imperial family.
But so far, I think those who would try to assassinate Asella are limited to succession candidates.
"I can't let this go. I'm declaring war on Tojin Palace."
Asella's heart rate and blood pressure were higher than usual.
Her dilated pupils indicated excessive adrenaline secretion.
I gently stroked Asella's back.
"Eek! What are you doing?!"
"It's bad for your health. Please calm down. Remember the breathing technique I taught you before."
"Young Lord, sometimes anger needs to be expressed."
"Express it in front of the enemy. Right now, you're surrounded only by allies."
"Allies..."
Asella seemed to accept my advice and slowly regulated her breathing.
"Do some stretching too. Lift your head up."
"Fine. I'll do it myself, so don't touch me as you please."
Weren't you embracing me this morning?
Asella's sense of personal space is peculiar.
"Would you like me to bring you your attachment doll? It's right there."
"Huh? Ah."
When I pointed to the doll sitting neatly on the bedside table, Asella looked flustered and licked her lips.
"Um... Young Lord, that's, well."
For some reason, Asella mumbled while scratching the back of her neck and glancing at me nervously.
"It is a doll... I did mention I was washing it? That wasn't a lie..."
"The washing must have finished quickly."
"Ah, yes. That's right. ...Why is it there!"
I told her to stretch, but Asella hunched her neck and clicked her tongue.
A little later, Asella had calmed down somewhat, but her indignation hadn't completely disappeared.
"Anyway, war is war. Prepare for armed conflict with Tojin Palace."
"You're still not fully calm, Princess. Someone of your stature can make more rational judgments."
"Are you refusing my order? I can't just stand by after being attacked first."
"That's not what I meant. But can we really defeat Tojin Palace in an all-out war? We'd be crushed if they brought just the 2nd Corps."
"...That's a valid point."
Asella couldn't argue with me since she was capable of making the same calculation.
"Besides, given the magnitude of this issue, wasn't it His Majesty the Emperor himself who decided to execute the baron and close the case?"
"You're only perceptive at times like this, Young Lord. You're right. His Majesty must know it's a factional struggle within the imperial family."
"Is that so? And there's no punishment?"
"Competition among succession candidates is common sense. His attitude is basically to engage in as much scheming as you want, even assassination."
Common sense, huh.
The Emperor defines what's common sense in the imperial court.
This is truly a lion's den with only a thin coating of gold on the outside.
So that's why Asella and other succession candidates work so hard to build up their palaces and factions.
Come to think of it, the imperial palace houses the current Emperor's siblings, but not his older brother.
Since the Emperor wasn't the eldest son, there must be a history of purges during succession.
And now he's making his children repeat the same pattern.
"From His Majesty's perspective, revealing the truth about an imperial family struggle would be disadvantageous. The Western Marquis, who got caught up in this, would demand compensation from the imperial family."
"That's right. It's more convenient if the Marquis was the target, so he accepted the baron as the culprit."
"Yes. All the more reason to exercise restraint. If we charge in now, we'll just be treated strangely by all imperial factions. We don't have justification, do we?"
"So should we just let this go?"
Asella looked serious.
If this incident passes quietly after the Celestial Dragon affair, attacks will likely continue.
Not only would it trigger a bad ending, but the Wolgwang Palace faction would lose power.
I need to get rid of Georg while I have the chance.
"As you said, Princess, we should retaliate. However, there is a way to reverse the power imbalance."
"How?"
I answered:
"Let's request a trial by combat."