Chapter 144: Betty's Realization
"That's it exactly. There's all this fuss about whether the main body was taken apart or not, but if you look closely, the point is that it was fixed. Wilhelm Corporation insists it never broke down, but if it never broke down, why would they take it apart? The captain of the ship said the Prince's secretary fixed it."
The Head of Administration clapped his hands.
"So, it's highly likely that someone close to the Prince who was on board at the time knew the inside of the Magic Dome?"
"Exactly. And to be associated with the Magic Dome, they'd likely have lived in Pulder rather than Herot, right?"
"......"
The two looked at each other in silence. After a moment, the Head of Administration narrowed his eyes and muttered in disbelief.
"You don't mean to say that the Princess consort might be involved with the Magic Dome, do you?"
At that, the Captain chuckled and shrugged.
"The Pulder Shipping Alliance places great weight on that possibility. Ansen Wilhelm and the Princess consort attended Herollington University at the same time, and Ansen Wilhelm founded his company around that time."
"Oh... good heavens. If that's true..."
The Head of Administration couldn't finish his sentence. His vision tilted sharply to one side.
He looked at the Captain in surprise, but the Captain was contorting his face and reaching out to him.
"Hold on!!"
Things tilted to one side all at once, and the Head of Administration fell, hitting his head against the wall.
Crash!
The sound of something breaking and a scream erupted at the same time.
The Captain, who barely managed to keep his balance, ordered a crew member to sound the emergency alarm and then strained his eyes to assess the situation.
He desperately hoped it wasn't that. But piercing through the silent black sea, a huge, black monster that shook the massive ship soared high.
"Ah..."
The Captain involuntarily sighed and squeezed his eyes shut.
It was a Megalodon.
The Captain, who had been frozen for a moment, soon widened his eyes and rang the emergency bell.
"Everyone, stay alert! Scatter to your positions! Protect the passengers, and the mages, activate the Magic Dome immediately!! We're getting out of this area as quickly as possible!"
"But, a Megalodon at this time?! Isn't it supposed to be hibernating now?!"
The Head of Administration, clutching his head, said half-crying, and the Captain sharply clicked his tongue and pushed him in the back.
"It's unusually warm this year, so it probably doesn't know it's winter or something! Shut up and go check on Miss Emma!!"
The Head of Administration staggered away.
The Captain increased the speed to the maximum. The engine made a loud noise, and the sound of the Magic Dome firing could be heard as well.
He could see schools of Coelacanth leaping out of the sea like flying fish.
"Please..."
For some reason, a feeling of dread surged within him, but all he could do was increase his speed and get out of the area.
But his uneasy premonition eventually became a reality.
The loud firing of the Magic Dome, which had been going on incessantly, suddenly stopped. At the same time, the sound of Coelacanth tapping against the bottom of the ship sounded like hail.
"Damn it, the Magic Dome!!!"
The Captain roared and ran towards the Magic Dome.
"What the hell, what are you doing stopping the attack!!!!"
"C, Captain...!"
"What?!!"
The Captain felt the moment the mage turned to look at him stretched out like an eternity. The Captain's spine chilled as he saw the mage's hand firmly placed on the terminal.
The mage shouted, half-crying.
"The attack isn't working!!! The Magic Dome has stopped!!!!"
Shortly after, a bright red firework launched from the luxury ship carrying the Pulder President's precious daughter painted the dark night sky red.
It was the worst possible signal, pleading for rescue in an emergency.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Betty looked at the Princess consort with worried eyes.
No one else noticed that something was wrong with the Princess consort, but Betty, who took care of her sleeping arrangements, noticed that she was different from usual.
The biggest change was in her sleep.
Unlike how she always woke up refreshed, she had a very hard time getting up, and she suffered from headaches in the morning.
"Shall I call a doctor?"
Olivia shook her head at Betty's question.
"No, I'm fine."
"It's been four days already, and you've been struggling with headaches every morning."
Olivia was silent for a moment.
She always suffered from headaches the morning after taking sleeping pills. Fortunately, the headaches subsided over time.
She tried not to take them as much as possible because they weren't very good medicine, but what could she do if she couldn't fall asleep without them?
She was keeping the fact that she was taking sleeping pills a secret from Betty as well. It was because of the atmosphere that tabooed mind-altering drugs.
"Are you sure I don't need to call a doctor, Your Highness? Actually, you're having trouble sleeping in the evening too..."
"No, Betty."
"But..."
"I'm fine. Rather, is there any... news?"
Betty shook her head with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry."
It had been four days since Noah had left.
There had been no contact from him.
As Olivia turned her gaze to look into the distance, Betty quietly stepped back.
The Queen Consort thankfully sent her the newspaper every morning. If it weren't for that, Olivia would have been isolated in this magnificent and beautiful castle.
Olivia's gaze landed on the front page of today's newspaper. It featured a photo of a recently built warship. The article said that the warship commanded by Noah had left Hemmington and was heading to the capital.
Olivia's heart beat wildly.
"It said he left last night... will he come today?"
She got up from her seat and paced around, then ran to her study. On the desk in the study were the blueprints she had been working on day and night for the past four days.
Olivia stopped and stared at them blankly, then ran to her bedroom.
Then, she went into the dressing room, which she hadn't entered for a while, and picked out the dress that looked the prettiest to her, and took out the diamond set he had given her for the first time.
"Your Highness, are you going to wear a dress? Would you like me to help you?"
When the maid who had followed her asked, Olivia smiled shyly and replied.
"Would you help me?"
"Of course! I'll make you look pretty."
The maid carefully dressed Olivia. She neatly twisted her hair up, blushed her face, and applied pink lipstick to her lips. Dressed in a light pink dress, Olivia looked like a cosmos flower.
"You look so, so beautiful!"
While the maid was exclaiming in admiration, Olivia also looked at herself in the mirror.
I hope I look pretty in his eyes too.
"Thank you. You've worked hard."
As the maid left, Olivia paced around the room in her pretty outfit. Her attention was all on the other side of the window.
Then, she was startled and quickly ran to the balcony overlooking the mansion. She opened the door with a thud and looked over the railing, but she must have misheard. She couldn't hear the sound of a carriage.
"......"
Olivia chuckled and came back into the room.
Olivia paced around the room until the pale winter sunlight lay deep inside the room and disappeared with the faint sunset. As the long shadow of the sunset swallowed Olivia and disappeared, a dim darkness crept in.
Olivia couldn't leave the vicinity of the balcony until the darkness grew darker and thicker.
Olivia, unable to let go of the lingering hope that he might come, realized only after the moon, which had been hanging at the top of her head, slipped away to the west.
He's not coming today.
Olivia, who had been foolishly standing there all day for fear of ruining her dress and the hairstyle the maid had done for her, finally slowly sank down. When she wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face, she felt as if she was all alone in this vast universe.
The darkness that she had been forcibly pushing into her heart without resolving it burst out as if it had been waiting and swallowed her.
A splitting headache struck, and a feeling of her whole body melting coldly washed over her, and she was suddenly frightened.
Olivia hurriedly got up and took out the medicine bottle she had kept deep in the drawer. Then, with trembling hands, she took out the medicine and shoved it into her mouth without water. She wanted to fall asleep rather than have the abyss drag her down.
"Disappear, please disappear."
A jet-black curtain poured down over her head. Olivia accepted the curtain with her whole body without resisting, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Betty, who was standing by the door, covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes, wide open, turned red, and eventually tears fell.
"Your Highness... Oh, my God..."
Betty staggered and approached the sleeping Olivia. The Princess consort, who had fallen asleep in her pretty outfit, was slowly collapsing. No, maybe something had already collapsed somewhere.
Betty opened the drawer, which had been left ajar, with trembling hands. There were a few white pills in the small glass bottle, and the words 'Pulder General Hospital' were written on the surface.
She looked at the medicine bottle with a trembling heart, then pushed it deep inside so that it couldn't be seen and closed the drawer.
Then, being careful not to wake Olivia, she took off her shoes, loosened the fastening of her dress, and pulled the blanket up to her chest.
She felt sorry for the flower that wanted to bloom but couldn't and was withering.
"Oh my, so... so that's why you've been suffering from headaches so much."
Betty stared blankly at Olivia's gaunt face before leaving the room. Then, she told the maids who were in charge of the bedroom.
"Buy some tea that's good for sleep. And for the time being, I'll be cleaning Her Highness's bedroom, so don't touch it."
