Checkmate Part Two
Baron looked up from his breakfast as Toto came into his study with a letter and a worried expression.
"This just arrived from the palace. The messenger said it was urgent."
Although his boiled egg was more interesting, Baron forced himself to put his spoon down and use his bread knife to open the letter.
Attention all nobility;
It has come to the attention of the crown that a grave injustice has been done to the widow of Lord Machida Mitsuki following his unfortunate demise in a duel last month. Count Mitsuki is currently under investigation for her murder, although there remains small traces that she survived being thrown out of the family estate in the most fatal of seasons.
Baron's blood immediately boiled. "He didn't dare!" he snarled while quickly reading the rest. He could distantly hear Toto asking questions, but it could wait until he had all the information.
For reasons known only to Lady Haru, the royal network has concluded from the little they could glean of unusual happenings around the same time is that she has chosen to be a peasant rather than return to her family of origin or seek refuge with another family of noble birth to legally insist on the widow's compensation she is entitled to, as well as justice for being turned out so ruthlessly. The Earl Yoshioka has been pushing for justice if not his niece returned. To those who have met Lady Haru, have her portrait done from your memories and search your populace person by person if need be, and bring her to the capital for the royal trial of Count Mitsuki by order of the crown.
Baron blinked. "Oh no," he groaned, setting the letter aside and rubbing his eyes and temples in despair. "Oh no."
"My lord, what is it?" Toto asked, revealing his worry by addressing the man formally when there were no witnesses to their brotherly bond.
"Do you remember the garden party I hosted last summer?" Baron asked tiredly, although he already knew the answer. "Particularly the Mitsuki family?"
Toto's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Unfortunately. The only one of them that seemed like there were any redeeming qualities was the wife of the younger brother, Haru? Yes, Lady Haru. She at least knew how to say please and thank you and had a sense of humor, even if her husband didn't like it."
"That's the one. It appears that the count kicked her out after his brother died last month."
"In this weather?!" Toto demanded in horror.
"She's alive," Baron stated as a fact, still angry that this had to happen to him of all people. "She's living as a peasant, but she's alive, and the crown wants her back in order to have the count properly tried for attempted murder at the very least."
"Oh, thank heaven!" Toto breathed with relief, holding a hand to his heart. "But why are you taking this personally if the king and queen already know where she is?"
"They don't, not yet at least. Toto, I need you to prepare the Rose Suite for a lady, and talk to Pelia about having a few gowns made as soon as possible with a winter coat," the lord sighed while forcing himself to stand up, now that he had no more appetite. "Also, send word to my home in the capital that I will soon be arriving with a lady of noble birth. I have a very good guess that Lady Haru somehow managed to keep a little gold on her person to come straight here and find honest work."
Toto's eyes widened with shock. "… Specifically the hat shop?"
"The hat shop," Baron agreed while pulling on a thick woolen coat in his favorite shade of grey before setting his new favorite top hat where it rightfully belonged. "Please be gentle with her if I am right, she will not appreciate being dragged back into politics."
Toto saluted him like the soldier he'd been once. "I'll make sure everything's perfect for her and the sled is ready for you," he promised, uncharacteristically turning on his heel to get started at once.
Baron appreciated that. He knew the king and queen would want to see Haru immediately, but they couldn't possibly fault him for making sure that she was dressed warmly for the trip. As he walked through his manor, he couldn't help revisiting that garden party.
He hadn't really wanted to host it, but his rank had certain obligations attached to it, and everyone was so eager to see him married off that the entire affair had been little more than an annoyance. One would think with his fairly low rank, that noblewomen and the ladies of the noveaux-rich wouldn't find him all that interesting. Unfortunately, a handsome face was considered just as much of a dowry as a pretty one, and he'd had girls clamoring for his attention the whole party.
It was strange, that the reason he could remember Lady Haru so clearly was because she was more or less the only woman in attendance not making a fool of herself or gossiping with the other wives.
No, she'd been content to act as a wallflower, which he found puzzling when he noticed the wedding ring on her finger. Lord Machida hadn't minded until she made the clear mistake of exchanging a few words with Toto when he offered her some sandwiches on a tray and said something humorous enough to win a smile out of her.
It chilled him that the smile seemed to be as rare as it had been radiant, a fear that had been reinforced when her husband pulled her away and made her stand next to him for the rest of the party, though still ignoring her.
Really, Baron couldn't see just why Lord Machida insisted on chasing anything in a skirt when he had a perfectly good wife at home, one that was clearly starved for attention.
Well, she was certainly going to be getting plenty of that before all this was over. It was all his patience could manage as Muta drove the sleigh through the manor's front gate and down the charming street that would lead all too soon to the hat shop.
He flinched as he remembered his wording to Toto. Perhaps it would have been prudent to say 'a guest of noble birth' instead of 'a lady'. Such a mistake would be bound to circulate rumors that he was pursuing Haru, no matter what he or she protested.
He shook his head and tried to focus on his favorite hat shop as it slowly came into view. 'What can I say to her? How will I keep her from panicking or trying to flee when she sees I recognize her? If she was clever enough to make it to my baronetcy with barely a trace, she'll know immediately why I'm seeking her out.'
"Uh, Baron?" Muta asked worriedly, making the lord blink and look over at one of his childhood friends, who had already opened the little door to the sleigh. "Something big? You haven't said a word no matter what came out of me."
"It's not you," Baron wasted no time assuring him, forcing himself to take his normal noble stature and exit the sleigh. "I should only be about ten minutes."
"Ha. In a hat shop?" Muta couldn't fight back a sarcastic laugh.
"You'll see soon enough," Baron answered, since anything else was only going to delay the inevitable. 'Perhaps I should have insisted on someone else driving me. I shudder to think of his dialogue on the way back.'
The little bell above the door rang cheerfully as he passed through it, inhaling the familiar scent of one of his favorite places. Leather, sandalwood, and dried flowers mixed with the crackling wood on a nearby fireplace as the man half-asleep behind the counter suddenly jolted awake with a warm welcoming smile at the tingling bells.
"Good to see you again, my lord! Already back for a new hat?"
"In a way, Howl," Baron tried to ease his way into what he knew would be an awkward confrontation. "I'd like to speak with the young lady that made this one." He tipped his grey top hat with a simple gesture. "As soon as possible, if you please."
Howl grinned wickedly at the request, though Baron failed to see the humor. "I'll go get Naru right now." He didn't waste a second disappearing through the door behind him.
Baron could vaguely hear him calling as footsteps slowly became softer. "Oh, Naru! You've got a customer that wants to talk about a special order."
Technically not what the lord said, even if it was more accurate than he would have liked. Baron took in a long steadying breath, still unsure of what exactly to say to the poor girl.
Not even her own family. She must have had a reason not to seek asylum with her own family, especially since they had been closer to the county than his own baronetcy.
The door opened, and a slim brunette was suddenly shoved through so that Howl could slam it shut behind her.
Her brown eyes turned as large and round as teacups as that familiar face took him in, clearly seeing the recognition in his own eyes. "Oh no," she groaned, much the same as he had earlier.
"I'm afraid so," Baron attempted to console her.
"Please no?" she begged, covering her face with her hands, trying to keep him from seeing any tears that escaped her control.
"I can't," he explained sadly.
She heaved a long sigh after a minute. "How high up?"
"The top."
If short sentences were enough to communicate everything when Howl at the very least was sure to be listening, he wasn't one to argue.
Haru hmphed angrily. "How nice, but tardy. Now?"
"As soon as possible."
She sighed, her shoulders sagging with the weight of her new, or perhaps old depression. "Consequences on both of us?"
"Secrets don't keep. We both know that," he apologized, glad that she recognized that he wasn't the enemy.
She growled tiredly. "I hate my life. I'll go give Sophie my resignation and collect my things, I guess."
"Thank you for considering how much I know the local terrain better than you in any weather," he decided to gently remind her in case she was planning to slip away anyway.
"I am not signing up for that again, don't worry," she assured him darkly as she turned back to the door. "We can discuss my terms on the way to your manor." She knocked twice before Howl allowed the door to open enough for her to slip through.
"That's fair," Baron agreed happily, though he didn't move from his spot in the hat shop.
It took a minute, but even he had to grin a little when Hiromi burst through the door with three of the other hatmakers hot on her tail.
"She is a lady, isn't she?!" Hiromi demanded with a wide grin.
"To the last hair of her," Baron confirmed, since it was bound to come out sooner or later in spite of her wishes. "Please take Lady Haru's actions and meager handful of half-lies as the most sincere compliment to yourselves and your lifestyles."
"She didn't offend me," Hiromi smirked, holding out the upside-down bonnet in her hand to the others, who grumbled while rummaging through their apron pockets until dropping coins into the woven straw. "Next time I tell you someone eats soup more quietly than a breeze, take my word for it!"
"She wasn't stuck up like the ones that follow our baron around," one of them grumbled before sullenly returning to the workroom.
"Which is why I'm willing to take her under my wing until justice is served to her former brother-in-law," Baron agreed, feeling his expression turn dark at the thought of the would-be murderer.
Hiromi scowled in return. "Show no mercy, my lord. I doubt that Naru or Haru was exaggerating when she told us how awful her in-laws were to her if they threw her out in a snowstorm."
"If the king and queen have the poor taste to let the lout off easy, I thoroughly plan on correcting the matter," Baron informed the girls, who all grinned evilly before filing back through the door.
It was a bit longer before Haru had returned, now wearing standard peasant winter clothes and carrying a carpet bag.
"Allow me," he offered while firmly taking the bag. Although he could easily handle the weight, he was still surprised enough to look between it and the owner, who looked determined now that she had accepted her fate.
"One of my terms is that for the trial, this is what I will wear."