Chapter 29
After the sightseeing voyage ended, Elisa also returned to the naval base.
She had to inspect the condition of the Tenisi, which had completed its mission, and review the reports that had come in while she had been attending the party aboard the ship.
As Elisa was busy dealing with the backlog of work, a knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
“Admiral.”
“The underground prison has been opened.”
“I never gave such an order.”
“Who dared do something so bold?”
“Well…”
“It was the Vice Admiral who ordered the underground prison to be opened.”
“Who is being held inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“We were unable to find out.”
“My apologies.”
Elisa set her pen down with a sharp tap.
“I’ll go myself.”
Who would dare imprison someone there without my permission?
Could he be punishing one of my sailors?
No matter how thoughtless Adrian Oberon might be, and no matter how little regard he had for her, surely he would not violate naval regulations.
If he had…
If he had actually done something like that…
Marriage or not, I ought to execute Adrian for insubordination.
Elisa hurried toward the underground prison.
However, when Elisa opened the prison door, the one trembling in terror was Garon Heisen.
She almost let out a hollow laugh as she realized just how little faith she had truly placed in Adrian Oberon.
The moment Adrian Oberon saw Elisa, he froze with his pistol still aimed directly at Garon.
Without sparing so much as a glance at Garon Heisen, who was crawling across the filthy, muddy prison floor, Elisa walked straight toward the rigid Adrian.
“Why did you bring Garon Heisen into the Navy?”
“Explain yourself.”
“Why do you think I did it?”
The prison was so dark that she could not clearly make out Adrian’s expression.
Still, perhaps it was only her imagination, but his voice seemed to tremble with unease.
Now?
After recklessly opening the underground prison without my permission?
Out of habit, Elisa was about to snap back, <How would I know?>
Instead, she looked down at Garon Heisen, sprawled pathetically across the ground.
Rather than shouting, she simply lifted her head and stared straight up at Adrian.
Just as the noble ladies who admired him had done aboard the sightseeing ship.
“Wasn’t it for my sake?”
“…Huh?”
Confusion was evident in Adrian’s voice.
Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Elisa could finally make out his expression.
He looked completely unable to grasp what was happening.
For one of the rare times in his life, Adrian stood before her utterly dumbfounded.
Elisa reached out and took Adrian’s hand.
He reacted as though he had been struck by electricity.
Even so, he did not pull away from her touch.
While Adrian stood there blankly staring at her, Elisa intertwined her fingers with his and removed the pistol from his hand.
“Those bastards who insulted me showed up here.”
“You simply couldn’t let that slide, could you?”
“…You actually believe what I said?”
“…?”
“Of course I do.”
Elisa had no idea where Adrian’s sudden disbelief had come from, but she simply went along with the atmosphere.
Just what ridiculous misunderstanding is that idiot Adrian Oberon having now?
Joy now completely filled Adrian’s face.
It was the only thing shining inside the dark underground prison.
Little by little, Adrian stepped closer to Elisa.
However, no matter how much of this was merely an act, Elisa no longer wanted any unnecessary physical contact with him.
She had already suffered enough because of him aboard the ship.
She had absolutely no intention of causing another “accident.”
Without letting Adrian notice, Elisa took half a step backward and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Then she applied pressure with her arm, preventing him from coming any closer.
“But Adrian.”
“You don’t need to dirty your hands on my behalf.”
Elisa held up the pistol she had taken from him.
Since one hand was occupied keeping Adrian back, she emptied every round from the loaded pistol using only one hand.
After making the weapon safe, she casually tossed it aside.
“Ugh!”
Instead of landing on the floor, the pistol struck Garon Heisen in the back before bouncing away.
Yet Adrian behaved as though Garon Heisen no longer existed.
His entire attention was focused solely on Elisa.
“I know.”
“I know you handle everything so perfectly that I never even need to lift a finger.”
“That’s right.”
“You don’t need to deal with trash like this.”
“Throw him out of the Navy immediately.”
“But Elisa.”
“I still haven’t cut out this bastard’s tongue.”
Adrian said it as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Eek!”
A frightened squeak came from beneath their feet.
Elisa merely glanced at him once before choosing to ignore him.
“He isn’t even worth that.”
Elisa pulled the bell cord inside the underground prison.
A bell rang throughout the prison.
Hearing it, Adrian’s adjutant hurried inside.
The moment he saw Elisa standing there, he visibly flinched.
“If this is how you stand guard, even a child could break through the Navy’s defenses.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Take this trash outside.”
“Remove him from the naval base.”
“The Navy knows nothing about this.”
“Make sure no problems arise.”
“Clean everything up properly.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll remember that.”
Adrian’s adjutant hoisted the whimpering Garon Heisen onto his shoulder and left the underground prison.
The head of the Heisen family was a vassal of the Grand House of Oberon.
No matter what happened to his son, he would never dare raise an issue if the other party was the future Duke Oberon.
Adrian Oberon must have relied on exactly that when he pulled something like this inside the Navy.
“Why didn’t you cut out Garon Heisen’s tongue?”
“If I cut out someone’s tongue every time I got angry, the very first tongue I would have cut off would’ve been yours, Adrian Oberon.”
“Your tongue is still perfectly attached.”
“So why shouldn’t Garon Heisen’s still be attached as well?”
“…”
Adrian became as motionless as stone after Elisa’s cutting remark.
Now that no one else was watching, Elisa clicked her tongue at him.
“Now tell me the real reason.”
“The real reason?”
“I said tell me the real reason you dragged that bastard into my Navy.”
Adrian remained silent for quite a while.
Yet throughout the silence, he continued staring at Elisa with eyes full of things he wanted to say.
However, Elisa had no idea why he was looking at her as though he could barely breathe.
“Is this really such a difficult question?”
“You just answered it yourself.”
“What?”
“The nonsense about doing it for my sake?”
“That was just acting so you could play the role of my fiancé.”
“…”
“And you’re calling *me* the better actor?”
Without saying another word, Adrian lowered his gaze to the floor.
He bent down and picked up the pistol and the bullets Elisa had thrown away.
The arrogant Adrian Oberon simply tried to leave the underground prison without giving her an answer.
Elisa grabbed him firmly by the back of his collar.
“Don’t you know that bringing an unreported prisoner into the underground interrogation chamber means confinement is unavoidable?”
“I know.”
“Then answer me.”
“And I also know that the Admiral and the Vice Admiral are exceptions to that regulation.”
Leaving only those words behind, Adrian walked down the prison corridor.
He stopped at the iron door leading out of the underground prison and looked back.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“…Tsk.”
“How do you even know such an outdated regulation?”
“When will you finally acknowledge that I am the Navy’s Vice Admiral?”
“Were you someone who needed my acknowledgment, Adrian Oberon?”
“Yes.”
“Now this is the Elisa Shooter I know.”
After exchanging several more remarks, they realized they had already reached the end of the underground corridor.
As the two emerged above ground, they found the Royal Guard, who had accompanied the Queen to Roserica as her escort.
“Her Majesty wishes to see both of you.”
“Please come with us.”
As the Royal Guards approached, Adrian stepped one pace ahead of Elisa.
His body half shielded her, preventing Elisa from even getting a proper look at the guards’ faces.
“What is this about?”
“We have received no message other than that Her Majesty wishes to meet with both of you personally.”
The Royal Guards led them to Elisa’s office.
Inside, the Queen was pouring tea into three teacups.
Yet beneath that appearance of composure, both Elisa and Adrian knew perfectly well that the Queen was concealing her displeasure.
“There’s no need to be so tense.”
“Sit down.”
As soon as the two of them sat, the Queen spoke.
“He’s more persistent than I expected.”
“I heard that relationships between men and women are treated very conservatively in Shulid.”
“What exactly is wrong with Schultz Tugrahan?”
“Tsk.”
“Even after seeing the two of you kiss, it seems he still covets you, Admiral Shooter.”
“C-Cough—”
The moment the Queen bluntly uttered the word kiss, Elisa choked on the tea she had been drinking.
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