As Olivia speculated, Tiana indeed went to the underground passage.
However, no matter how much they questioned her, Tiana’s lips didn’t loosen up and she only says that she went there because she was sick of the work.
For the time being, Tiana was told to stay quietly in the room with guards assigned to watch her. It appears that the guard will cross-examine her later but with her stubbornness, it’s unlikely that she will talk.
For now, Olivia and the others decided to leave Tiana to the soldiers and the guards at the site and return to their inn. After all, they only happened to be involved in the search for Tiana but the reason they are here in the first place is to accompany Princess Florencia.
Because they were covered in dust from walking around inside the ruins, the group decided to take a bath before dinner.
After having her hair done by Taylor, Olivia asked her how the princess is doing since she stayed back at the inn.
“Is the princess doing better?”
“I can not say for certain but when I checked in with her guard before lunch, I was told that Her Highness will be eating in her room again because she isn’t feeling well yet. They also told me that the princess would like to keep resting after lunch as well so I headed outside together with Her Highness’s waiting ladies.”
“Did you go shopping?”
“Yes, they were told by Princess Florencia to go out and enjoy themselves so they invited me to go with them. I managed to find a good rose tea so I bought it as a souvenir. I will have you try it later, My Lady.”
“Thank you. Fufu, this town is really filled with roses isn’t it.”
The soaps the inn prepared for them were rose scented. The perfume oil in the bath also contains a mixture of rose and the inn is even selling these items as their feature products.
After getting out of the bath and drying her hair, Olivia changes into a dress. Her platinum blond hair is now glossier than usual because of the perfume oil and since she will be going to bed right after dinner, Taylor only applied that to her hair without using any other products.
When they headed to the dining room downstairs, Cyrus and Alan were already waiting for her. However, Princess Florencia is still nowhere to be seen. They waited for her for a while but it doesn’t seem like she is going to join them perhaps because she’s still feeling unwell.
“Maybe we really should arrange a doctor for her?”
Cyrus says that they should go to see how the princess’s doing later and proposes they call a doctor. If her condition really is that bad, it might be better if they wrap up this trip and return to the capital.
“I will go see her after dinner then.”
“Ahh, thanks. Let us know how she’s doing later.”
“Understood.”
Alan asked the waiter to bring the menu to Princess Florencia and ordered a lamb stew with red wine for his main course. On the other hand, Olivia and Cyrus ordered grilled chicken. Aside from the main course, the other menus are the same and the waiter soon served them white wine and vegetable salad as appetizers.
“Today is exhausting isn’t it.”
After gulping down the white wine, Alan sighed and said so.
“You shouldn’t drink too much when you are tired you know.”
Even while he says that, Alan still reached for the decanter. It was then Alan refilled his wine glass.
That the waiter Alan asked to deliver the menu to the princess’s room returned with a deep blue face.
“My apology for interrupting, Your Highness. May I trouble Your Highness for some of your time? It’s about your companion.”
Seeing the waiter’s panicked look, Alan stood up with a suspicious expression. Olivia and Cyrus also tried to stand but Alan shook his head and headed off with the waiter.
“I wonder what happened. He seemed upset.”
As expected, they couldn’t muster up their appetize after that so both Olivia and Cyrus put down the tableware. After a while, instead of Alan, one of the escorts rushed into the dining room.
“His Highness Cyrus, Olivia-sama, His Highness Alan said that you should hurry to the princess’s room, sir……”
Did something really happen?
Olivia and Cyrus looked at each other before following the escort to the corridor on the second floor where Alan was waiting for them.
The corridor on the second floor was crowded and they could see several of the inn’s staff. There.
When they headed upstairs, they noticed that the door to the princess’s room was left open.
A slightly sweet scent drifted from inside the room.
“Aniue, what happened? Where’s the princess……”
“I’m trying to find her right now. We can’t talk here, come to my room.”
When Olivia entered Alan’s room following Cyrus, Alan closed the door and clicked his tongue. He was in such an incredibly bad mood that Olivia was surprised.
“Aniue, you are scaring Olivia.”
When Cyrus pointed that out, Alan apologized in a small voice and sat down on the sofa.
When Cyrus asks him what’s going on, Alan lets out a sigh and gives them a brief answer.