Chapter 84 - Deep listening

Chapter 84: Chapter 84 - Deep listening PoV - Shalia The young man is sitting at one corner of the tavern. If one would describe him with just one word, it would be ’average.’ He has short light brown hair and dark brown eyes, his clothes are ones that any commoner would use, and nothing in his face draws attention to him or makes him memorable. In front of him, a beautiful girl sits, drinking from a mug. She appears to be around twenty and moves with the grace and spring of youth. Anyone who thinks she’s a young lady would be mistaken, though. Those apparently green eyes are actually purple, under the colored contact lenses she’s using. That’s because she is, actually, a two-century-old elf, Shalia. The only things that could give her away are the color of her eyes and her pointy ears. The first are hidden by the mentioned colored contact lenses. An idea given by an isekai’d person a couple decades ago. The ears are hidden by a hood, which leaves only strands of her golden hair visible. Blond hair is common among elves and rarer in humans, but it isn’t too uncommon as to be a giveaway. "I see. So she is in Linde’s inn. Good job, Will. Linde is her old friend and one of the most trustworthy people she could have met arriving in this city. I’m glad they met." "Yes. Linde recognized her voice and later went to deliver them the dinner in their room, where she spent a long time." "So they caught up. Good. Linde is a good person, so Lily shall be safe, for now. But don’t lower your guard. The Duke’s men don’t seem to be on the move, but we never know." "Do you think that he can attack? Here in the capital?" "I do. I’m actually very baffled that he hasn’t tried to stop them from reaching the palace yet. He might have a hidden trump that we’re not seeing." "Did you find any news on Martius?" "No. I still have no idea who that guy is. And the three of them have been meeting a lot lately. Martius, Addlington, and De Laurens. They must be plotting something, but what?" "The priests of the Church have been acting weird lately." "Ugh. That’s too big of a headache. They are up to something, and this is the worst moment possible. We need to make her arrive at the palace safely." "Yes, Lady Shalia. That will be done." "If that sad excuse of a duke doesn’t make a move against Lily before she reaches the castle, then he is planning something big and is confident that whatever he’s up to will succeed." "Another thing is that she called the little girl that is with her, her daughter." "Is it true, then? The little one does resemble her a lot. But that would mean that the girl is also daughter of Duke Addlington... This is bad." "How bad?" "He can use it as a fait accompli, as a way to force her into marriage. But for that, he would need to first win the case about the slavery itself." "Maybe he is planning to use the Church to overturn that case? That would explain the meetings with the Pontifex." "Hm. But how? He must have something in which he is confident that he will be able to turn the accusation around. But what? Fait accompli could force Lily into marriage, but not if it exposes his previous crime of imprisonment and assault of a royal." "..." "I will keep watch on them. You go try to unearth some information from within the Church." "Okay, my lady." Shalia drinks the remaining liquid in the mug and sets off, but not before leaving a couple coins on the table. Will looks at the two gold coins and sighs. As always, Shalia has no idea how much stuff costs in the world outside the palace. ::: PoV: Aurea "Good morning, everyone." Lovelace and Lillian are already up and getting themselves dressed for the day ahead when I wake up. "Good morning, sleepyhead." "I’m sorry, Mom." I sit up on my bed and stretch. "I think that I got too carried away yesterday. I didn’t even stay up to listen to our surroundings. That was a missed opportunity." "Indeed, Aurea. It was a nice opportunity. After all, if anyone were to notice our arrival, they would no doubt talk about it within your hearing range." "That’s mean, Lovelace; you could have also listened even though I was asleep." "And I did. That’s why I tell you that you missed the opportunity." Mom and I look at her curiously. "Did you hear something?" "Yes, a conversation between a man called Will and a woman called Shalia." "Shalia..." "Do you know her, Mom?" Mom’s face is full of emotions right now, so much so that it’s hard to read. "Yes. She works for my family. Has worked for generations now, as she’s an elf." "An elf servant... is she...?" "Don’t worry, dear. Our family doesn’t have slaves. She’s a hired worker who took a liking to us and decided to stay." "And she seems to still be working for your family, Lady Lillian. Apparently, her goal is to make sure you arrive at the palace in safety and also to oppose Duke Addlington." "Really? That’s great news. But, was she telling the truth?" "From the conversation, I have little doubt of her honesty. Will is someone working with her and was reporting to her about you, and she is really directing efforts to protect you." "I see... So she isn’t one of the turncoats. That makes me so happy." "This is actually the greatest news possible, but at the same time is worrying. Mom, Lovelace... our disguise wasn’t good enough." "Indeed, Aurea. They seem to have been following us for some time. And they slipped by under our radar." "It isn’t like we’re doing deep listening all the time, though. And our perception range is still limited. So some fish would slip by... I’m just glad that the one who slipped is a friendly one." "And they are monitoring the Duke as well. They seem to be baffled why the Duke didn’t make a move on us. By the way they talked, it seems that they are assuming that the Duke knows we’re coming." "I can’t say I disagree with that reasoning, though. But yeah, it’s sad to see that our hopeful disguise isn’t good enough." "And did Shalia have a theory about it? Why is the Duke letting us get going?" "The Duke has allied himself with the Pontifex of the Church. By Shalia’s reasoning, it’s possible that he’s planning to flip over any accusation against him in the tribunal using the Church. She just doesn’t know how." "The Pontifex... what is his name?" "De Laurens." "I see. Bishop De Laurens is now the Pontifex, huh? He was one of the hardliners who hated me the most within the Church. It’s no wonder they would join forces." Lillian’s earlier happy face has completely faded now. She is frowning, with a serious and worried expression. I need to do something to lift the spirits. "In any case, let’s get down and eat breakfast? I’m starving!" It’s the best I can do in this moment. I’m actually very hungry, after all. I can’t think well when I’m hungry.