CPSMBD Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

Professional

 While the Crown Prince might have thought nothing of it, I couldn't possibly face him the same way as before—not when the memory of that day remained so vivid in my mind.

To be completely honest, I wanted nothing more than to take extended leave and hide away at home.

But there are some things you can't avoid, no matter how much you might want to.

One such inevitability was my weekly briefing to the Crown Prince about affairs within the Empire.

And today was that dreaded day. There was no escaping this private audience with him.

I gathered the materials I'd prepared in advance and headed toward the Crown Prince's office.

Each step felt as if I had one-ton weights strapped to my feet.

"Ah... I really don't want to go."

With a heavy sigh, I knocked on his office door.

As I entered, the Crown Prince fixed me with a sharp gaze.

"Wasn't the briefing scheduled for 3 o'clock? Or am I mistaken?"

"No, Your Highness. Three o'clock is correct."

The Crown Prince absolutely despised violations of scheduled work hours.

"Ensure this doesn't happen again. Understood?"

"Yes, I apologize."

I admitted my fault without protest.

With my wrongdoing so clear, I had no room for excuses, even if I had ten mouths to speak with.

Unable to meet his eyes directly, I fixed my gaze somewhere around his neck and began my report.

"There have been consistent reports throughout the Empire of children disappearing and then returning. In just the first half of this year, three such cases have been reported."

"Are the returned children unharmed?"

"Yes. They've all returned completely unscathed. Every single one of them."

"Were there any demands for money or valuables in exchange for the children's lives?"

"According to the guardians, there were no such demands."

"If these were kidnappings, there must be some purpose... Are there any commonalities among the children who disappeared and returned?"

"That's... they couldn't find any common factors. The ages and genders vary, as do their social status, wealth, and even their locations—they're all completely different."

After a moment of contemplation, the Crown Prince spoke.

"What do the children say about what happened while they were gone?"

"They claim to have no memory of anything that occurred during their disappearance."

The Crown Prince's brow furrowed.

"This is certainly strange. Has the Investigation Bureau not found any explanation yet?"

"No, they haven't. Since there's no actual harm done, it seems these cases are being given lower priority than other incidents."

"There must be a reason these incidents keep occurring. Given the identical pattern, it's clearly the work of either one person or a single organization..."

"The Investigation Bureau has also concluded it's likely the same perpetrator."

"The pattern was only recently identified, I assume?"

"Yes, that's correct. When they compiled previous reports, they found similar patterns in complaints going back at least five years. They're still reviewing records from before that..."

"Including unreported cases, there must be quite a few incidents. Just because there's no apparent harm doesn't mean we should take this lightly. Tell them to focus more resources on the investigation."

"Yes, I'll relay that to the Investigation Bureau."

The briefing continued with reports on prices and other major events within the Empire.

Since I only needed to briefly summarize the key points from my prepared documents, the report concluded quickly.

As the regular briefing ended, the Crown Prince handed me a document.

"And this. I need you to handle it."

I took the document and quickly scanned its contents.

It was a directive regarding the selection of committee members for the upcoming Royal Unity Festival.

Until now, the committee selection for the Unity Festival had been handled by the Emperor's office.

This was because the festival was originally the Emperor's idea, created to promote unity and boost morale among civil servants working in the royal court.

"Is Your Highness taking charge of this festival?"

"Yes, it's been transferred to me. The Aide's Office doesn't need to handle the festival directly. Chief Aide Violetta only needs to manage the committee formation, and they'll handle the actual preparations. I want you to take charge of organizing the committee."

"Yes, understood."

However, since this hadn't previously been handled by the Crown Prince's Aide's Office, I wasn't sure what criteria to use for forming the committee.

"Would there be any reference materials from previous Unity Festivals?"

"There should be records of how the committee was formed last time in the archives. Check the upper section of Zone F."

"Yes, understood."

"The materials are stored quite high up. Let me help you."

I couldn't trouble His Highness with such a trivial matter. Besides, after that kiss, I wanted to avoid being alone with him as much as possible.

"No, thank you. I can manage."

Just as I was about to rise from my seat to head to the archives, the Crown Prince stared intently into my eyes, as if trying to read my thoughts.

Why was he suddenly doing this? I couldn't understand.

"Then I'll take my leave."

"...Very well."

Did he have something else to say?

For all that intense staring, he let me go rather easily.

I headed to the archives adjacent to the Crown Prince's office.

Vast records and information about the Empire filled the bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling.

'Let's see, Zone F, upper section...'

Just as the Crown Prince had said, there were records from the Unity Festival held three years ago in the upper section of Zone F.

They were too high for me to reach, so I needed to bring over a stepladder.

Standing on the stepladder, I stretched up on my tiptoes and reached as far as I could. But the file remained just beyond my fingertips.

I pressed my other arm against the top of the bookshelf for leverage, trying to reach even higher.

That's when an ominous creaking sound emanated from the shelf top supporting my arm.

'What? Why is it making that sound?'

It should be fine, right? If it could support the weight of hundreds of heavy books, surely it could handle the pressure from my arm.

Gathering all my strength, I stretched further, and my fingertips finally brushed against the file.

'Got it!'

Wait... what?

The world tilted backward.

'Oh no. It's not the world—I'm falling backward.'

The stepladder I was standing on had lost its balance and was tipping over.

Damn it, I should have just accepted when the Crown Prince offered to help.

Why did I have to be so stubborn?

I flailed my arms trying to regain balance, but my body was already falling helplessly backward.

I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the impact.

But the expected pain never came.

This was strange—I should have hit the hard floor by now.

I cautiously opened one eye to find the Crown Prince's face above me.

He had caught me with one hand and was looking down at me with an expressionless face.

"What are you doing?"

"Your Highness, what are you doing here?"

"I didn't trust you'd manage, so I followed just in case. And sure enough, you were already falling to the ground."

I see.

I didn't realize being Crown Prince required having precognitive abilities.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes..."

"I told you, didn't I? I offered to help."

"Haha... Yes, you did. I should have graciously accepted Your Highness's help when offered."

"..."

Ah. This was awkward.

Ever since that day, I hadn't known how to act when alone with the Crown Prince.

I needed to get up quickly and grab the materials and leave... but...

'Huh? Why is that...'

Something fell with a thud beside me.

It was a bundle of documents.

If it had fallen just a bit to the side, it would have hit my face.

As I looked up, clutching my chest in relief, something shocking was unfolding.

The near-miss with the document bundle was the least of our problems.

Books and papers were cascading down from the shelves, heading straight for us.

"Uh... uh?"

The massive bookshelf that occupied an entire wall was collapsing toward us with a thunderous crack.