Chapter 27: Twenty six

Of course, Rasputina should have expected that old man Cetheri was willing to do whatever the Saintess requested of him so long as her daughter was concerned. 

“Are you certain you won’t be needing a carriage this time as well?” the King asked worriedly. 

“All’s well, Your Majesty.” She bowed politely and smiled to reassure him. “I have my acolyte to assist me and Her Highness in the capital, there is no need for Your Majesty to trouble himself with preparations for our short trip.” 

He frowned, but managed a smile in the end. “I-I see, then I’ll leave Anastasia in your capable hands…” 

Honestly, Rasputina wouldn’t have minded if she was given the royal palace carriage to travel in—but she feared that it might be a shock too frightful for the person she was planning to pay a visit to should she pull up in such a grandiose carriage together with the princess. Hence, she decided to simply walk to their destination, much to the chagrin of Anastasia. 

“How long more do we have to walk, Rasputinaaaaa?” the poor princess whined as she stopped once again on the cobblestone road. “I don’t have any more energy left in me to continue…” 

“We barely left the palace ten minutes ago, and you’re already tired?” she said, shaking her head in disappointment. 

“You should have just asked for a carriage from the King if you knew we were going to walk this far~!” Anastasia continued to complain. “Look, we’re almost reaching the end of the main street!”

Rasputina sighed. “Just bear with it for a little longer, didn’t you say you wanted to meet Maria?” 

“W-wait, we’re meeting Maria?!” Anastasia’s eyes gleamed brightly and she suddenly skipped ahead of Rasputina in excitement. “What are we waiting for? Hurry up, or else I’m gonna leave you behind!” 

“...what happened to your lethargy, I wonder,” Rasputina mumbled as she hastened her pace to catch up with the overjoyed princess.

The quaint two-storey cottage house fittingly named「The Cottage」greeted their eyes once they rounded the corner on the dirt road. Anastasia let out a ‘woah’ noise as she slowly took in the scenery in front of her—a thin trail of smoke serenely rising up from the chimney of the inn while in the distance, rolling hills glistened in the morning sun; a family of wrens flew across the pastures against the backdrop of white-capped mountains on the horizon. The soft scent of roses wafted in the fresh morning air as the pair neared the cottage house; it seemed like Granny’s rose garden had begun to burst in bloom while Rasputina was away. 

“Wait here for a moment,” Rasputina instructed Anastasia before she pushed open the wooden gate and entered the compound. There were faint noises coming from inside the inn, so she was certain that someone would open the door for her once she knocked. 

“Coming!” A familiar voice reached her ears before the front door swung open. “How can I help—y-youuuu?!” 

She winced and huffed at Theo, “calm down, there’s no need to shout in my ear first thing in the morning.” 

“...” Theo stared up and down at her, then shook his head to snap out of it. “How did you manage to get out of the palace and wander all the way here by yourself?” 

“Big sister Rasputina!” An excited shout suddenly interrupted their exchange; from behind Theo, Maria came running forward with a dripping ladle in her hand. “Welcome back!” 

She pulled the young girl into an embrace. “How’s life here so far? Did you miss me?” 

Maria giggled in response. “It’s been great, Uncle Theo and Granny have treated me very well these past few days!” 

“Uncle?” Rasputina raised her eyebrow at Theo. “You’re into that sort of thing now?” 

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he hissed. “It just feels weird to be called ‘big brother’ when I’m already of marriageable age.” 

She let out a snicker and glanced around. “Where’s Granny, by the way?” 

“The babushka went to the market at the next village over to buy some necessities.” Theo nodded at the empty stable, indicating that Granny had taken the cart along with her. “Anyways, it isn’t good for you to stay in the public’s eye like this. Come inside, we’ll talk more upstairs.” 

“Hang on, Theo, there’s someone I want to introduce to you first.” She turned to the bush behind her and raised her hand. “You can come out now!” 

“Ah…hello there.” Anastasia slowly stood up, revealing herself to the flabbergasted Theo and Maria, and smiled sweetly. “I, uh…nice to meet you all, I’m Anastasia.” 

“Eh?” Theo’s wide eyes darted wildly between Rasputina and the unexpected newcomer, utterly at a loss of what to do. 

“B-b-big sister, y-y-y-you and H-h-her Highness—!” Maria’s mouth opened and shut like a goldfish gasping for air. 

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Rasputina stifled a laugh and nodded her head. “Well, Anastasia’s been wanting to see you and Theo in person, so here we are. Shall we take our conversation inside?” 

 

---

 

A table was set up in the middle of the kitchen; Theo sat at the head, while Rasputina and Anastasia sat across each other. By the stove, Maria had finished boiling some tea for their guests and hastily served them each a teacup and saucer. 

“S-sorry, Your Highness, we don’t have milk here to mix with your tea…” she said apologetically to Anastasia. 

“It’s alright, Maria-chan, I don’t usually drink tea with milk.” The princess gave her a polite nod. “And calling me by my first name is enough, you don’t have to address me so formally.” 

“...?” Maria glanced at Rasputina, who briefly translated what Anastasia just said; she clutched at the teapot handle and smiled brightly. “I-I can call you big sister Anastasia?” 

Anastasia let out a giggle and smiled. “Sure, I don’t mind. Oh, Theo, feel free to address me as such too.”

“I’ll stick to just Anastasia, thank you.” Theo sipped at his tea and paused, shifting his gaze to Rasputina. “So, do you know the identity of this imposter we have on our hands?” 

“I found out that her real name is Ray-something, and she apparently can’t bring back the real Anastasia or something,” Rasputina rejoined with a sigh. “The sooner I find the cure to her transmigration disease, the better—” 

Anastasia folded her arms and pouted. “Hey, my name is Rei Hayashi!” 

Theo ignored her as he answered Rasputina, “this is the first time I’m hearing about a ‘transmigration disease’, I’m not sure if I can offer any help in my capacity...I doubt there’s an apparatus out there that can help with curing malady of the psyche too, huh.” 

“Oii, can you stop treating me like I’m some sort of ill patient?” Anastasia grumbled, leaning forward to grab their attention. 

“I really can’t make heads or tails of your words…” Theo muttered. “Bratukha, how can you understand Her Highness so perfectly?” 

“Hmm?” Rasputina shrugged and pointed at the silver hairpin tucked in her blonde locks. “This thing can magically translate whatever Anastasia says in my mind, but it somehow doesn’t work for everyone else.” 

“Magically?” He gave her a quizzical look. “Does it have the same origins as your transformation as well?” 

“Transformation? Rasputina?” Anastasia tilted her head in confusion. 

“I don’t have the faintest idea,” Rasputina replied, ignoring the princess’ mumbles. 

“If she can’t speak the empire’s language, then that is quite the troubling problem, isn’t it?” Theo whispered. “You can’t pass her off as the real princess in front of His and Her Majesty.” 

“Exactly. Well...yesterday night, we found a bilingual dictionary that can possibly help Anastasia learn our language; but I’m worried it would take quite some time for her to become proficient.” 

“Khuynya, it’s worth a shot at least. You aren’t stupid enough to not know that you can’t fool the empire forever, and I’ll be implicated in your bullshit if you’re caught.” 

“I know, I know,” she hissed and changed the subject. “Anyways, I got a lead as to the nature of this disease,” she said while gracefully tipping her teacup to her lips. “...a certain woman named Cecilla in Elvetica. From what I could gather, she is the former head maid of the palace and was the personal attendant to Her Highness before she was discharged.” 

“Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?” Theo smiled wryly. “The République-sœur is ten times bigger than the capital, you know?” 

“I have a plan,” Rasputina said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “And it starts with this letter.”

“Letter?” Theo gawked at the beautifully ornamented paper laid out on the table. “T-this is…” 

She grinned in self-satisfaction. “A royal invitation to attend the Inauguration de l’Exposition Universelle on the fifteenth of Solis.”

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