"...and the King's not going to execute her!"

"No way! Really? Even though she poisoned him? Isn't that, like, treason? Less majest-y or something?"

"I guess so. The flower shop girl next door told me that it's because he loves her."

"But everyone knows their marriage was arranged and political."

"Doesn't mean that he can't love her."

"Huh. That's a good point."

"Or, you know, maybe it's because the King can't afford to kill Queen Ilana yet," piped up a new voice. Auntie Dela and I paused in our gossip and turned our heads together. 

A snotty-looking kid was perched on a bar stool, looking as calm and collected as could be. Judging from the amount of ruffles and lace that was on her fluffy pink dress, she was probably rich, too. I raised an eyebrow at her and at Auntie Dela, who shrugged back in response.

I pasted on my customer service smile. "Hello! I'm very sorry, but the restaurant isn't opening until six--"

"With two nations vying for our resources, it would be disadvantageous for King Sylvester to dispose of the Queen, no matter how treasonous she is." She flounced her blonde, bouncy-looking hair back. "I thought that much should be obvious."

Auntie Dela frowned. "And why's that, kiddo? What if she up and kills him before he can do anything about her again?"

"Queen Ilana is weak. Everyone knows that. It's more likely that the Queen is part of a bigger group. Killing her would be just the first step in angering whatever organization she's working with, and who knows what they'll do then," the rich kiddo said. She smiled at us, her white teeth glittering in their perfect alignment. "I'm Justine, by the way."

"Hello, Justine," I said obediently. "The restaurant doesn't open until--"

"I know," she cut in (again). "I'm waiting for someone here."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're waiting for someone. At a closed restaurant."

"I got in just fine, didn't I?" She flashed me another grin. "And besides, I have even better gossip than just the news about the Queen."

I glanced at Auntie Dela, whose eyes had begun shining the moment Justine had said gossip. I shrugged. "Fine, but only until your person gets here, alright?" I still had an hour left before my shift actually started, so why not?

Justine plopped off the bar stool and pranced towards us, a smug grin still lingering in her face. "Then why don't I start with the freshest, biggest news?" She leaned forward conspiratorially, and so did we. "And it's about the Prince."

Rosa immediately popped up in my head, and a bubble of curiosity formed. "The Crown Prince?"

"Mmhm. As of today, he's become engaged."

"Ooh," Auntie Dela said immediately. My eyebrows shot up my forehead as well. "To who?"

"To whom?" Justine corrected, still smug. "To Lady Mildred, of course."

"Lady Mildred?" Now where had I heard that name before? I was pretty sure I'd heard of her, but I couldn't tell just where and how I had.

Auntie Dela seemed just as hesitant as I was, her eyes narrowing as she ran through all the high society gossip we knew. "Lady Mildred," she mused, tapping her chin with a pudgy finger. She gasped. "Lady Mildred, of the Lindvall household?!"

I gasped too. Now that name, I knew.

Justine nodded, looking more and more like a satisfied cat the further I saw her. "So you know her," she gloated.

"How could we not!? The house of Lindvall! Y'know, the most well-known nobles in the history of Durova!" Auntie exclaimed. She drew back, her eyes sparkling on Rosa levels now. "They've just gotten engaged?!"

"Well, it's been in the talks for quite a while now," the little girl allowed. "But it's only been officially decided today."

"Wow," I breathed. "That is crazy." 

The Lindvalls were one of the oldest and most prestigious families in Durova, who were truly only second to the royal family. From what Mother Lily had told us when we were little, the Lindvalls were usually kept out of power relations and all that political stuff because they were just too powerful to be part of it. Which meant, an engagement of the strongest aristocratic family and the royalty... I shook my head just imagining it.

Now I knew where I'd heard of Lady Mildred before. "So the Crown Prince is marrying the Orchid of the Court," I said aloud. Apparently named so because her pale skin and light-colored hair paired with her lush green eyes matched perfectly like an orchid's colors. Yeah, I had heard of her.

"I heard she's a beauty," Auntie Dela said.

Justine preened. "Well," she said prettily, "I can't deny that."

I frowned. Why was she acting like we'd just complimented her?

Auntie Dela leaned forward again. "So when's the marriage? The Prince is still in schooling, ain't he?"

"Yes, but once he graduates--"

"Lady Justine," a deep voice interrupted from the doorway. All three of us turned as one. A man who looked very much like a butler (I'd never actually seen one, only footmen and carriage drivers, so I was going off of the illustrations inside Mother Lily's favorite romance books; but seeing how he was complete with that one-eyed glass spectacle looking thing, whatever that was called, I was pretty sure that he was indeed a butler) bowed towards us. "The carriage is out and ready for you."

"Perfect." She hopped to her feet (I hadn't even noticed she had sat down on our table; her standing height was the same as her sitting one) and nodded to us. "It was nice talking to you two," she said primly, then flounced out the door.

Auntie Dela and I stayed frozen for a few more moments after she successfully left, then turned to each other with identical questioning looks.

"What was that?" I finally asked.

Auntie shrugged, standing up and stretching. "Who knows? Well then, little Filian, see ya around."

I burst out laughing. "Have fun gossiping," I replied, teasingly.

"Hey, I ain't denying anything," she answered, then promptly took up her bag and left. I could see how she pumped her legs to walk as fast as she could, and I couldn't help but laugh again at how determined her back looked to me. 

The bell tower gonged five, and I stood up as well, turning to the kitchen. Time to get ready for work, then.

But before I could get any further than five steps, the restaurant doors slammed open. I didn't even turn to look. "Sorry, the restaurant doesn't open until--"

"I know!" 

I brightened immediately. "Oh! Rosa! Oh my goodness, did you hear--"

"Here!" she cried, huffing. 

"Hear?" I echoed, confused.

"Here! The villainess! She's here!"

"A villain?" I was immediately alert. My left hand naturally covered my right, rubbing my bandages from the cut I'd gotten last week. It wasn't so bad that I wouldn't be able to fight. "Where?"

She shook her head, her face scrunched up from (apparently) running. Had she been running from some criminal? "She left, but I would recognize that carriage anywhere. Green and gold," she said darkly, her light brown hair covering her eyes.

"Wait, carriage?" I frowned. "A little girl left in a carriage, like, not even five minutes before you got here. Are you talking about that?"

"Little girl?"

"Yeah, like around this tall, blonde, pink fluffy dress."

She frowned, too. "She is blonde, she probably wears dresses, but that small? I'm pretty sure she's around my height."

"But what other carriages run around here that aren't the basic wooden ones?"

"But what teenager turns into a child outside of Detective Conan?" Rosa suddenly whirled around to face outside of the restaurant, shouted "There is always only one truth!!!¹Shinjitsu wa Itsumo Hitotsu!" to the world, then turned back to me to continue. "Maybe it was a little sister," she mused.

I remained expressionless. After a long beat, during which she looked at me very innocently, I rolled my head back to face the ceiling and sighed. 

"Fi?"

"Okay, yeah." I looked back down at Rosa, who had strolled in and was now sitting at the bar counter. "Justine is probably not the villain you're looking for."

"Villainess," she corrected. "And no, her name's not Justin."

"Justine."

"Yeah. Her name isn't that. I was talking about Mildred."

I looked at her sharply. "Lady Mildred of the Lindvall house?" I asked, incredulous. Rosa began blowing off some dust on her sleeve. "I was just going to talk to you about that. Did you hear? She's engaged! To your guy!"

Rosa frowned, pausing. "I had a guy?"

"Um, didn't you tell me yourself? Hello? Crown Prince? Prince Alexander?"

"Eugh!" she yelled, recoiling. She glared at me. "Please do not refer to the Crown Prince as 'my guy' ever again for as long as I live. I'd rather, I'd rather..." She looked around until her eyes fell on the bag of soil near the ground, for Cook's gardening. "Eat dirt! That's right! I'd rather eat dirt than have him!"

I blinked. "But Rose, I thought you were aiming for him!"

She sighed. "Where have you been all this time? He's the target I chose for the sake of humanity, not someone I'm aiming for. Gross!" She wrinkled her nose and stuck out a tongue. "Gross!"

"Aww c'mon, he isn't that bad," I scoffed. "He's still the Crown Prince, you know."

"That's, like, the only thing he has going for him. Such a faker." She rolled her eyes. "Man, I hated him since the day I heard about him. Ever since my sister was gushing over him, I was so done with him." She shook her head.

I heard some clangs from the kitchen and resumed walking to my original destination, now that I realized we weren't in any mortal danger. "Really?" I said. "Which one?"

"Hmm?"

"Which sister?"

When I looked at her, Rosa looked a tiny bit shell-shocked for a second before she said, in a smaller voice, "Oh, not one you know."

I opened my mouth, about to say what I always said-- "I know all your sisters, what do you mean"-- when I saw the look on her face and the words died in my throat. My feet stopped as well.

You see, ever since we were little, sometimes, just sometimes, she would get this exact same expression on her face. Her eyes would gloss over. Her mouth would droop at the corners even as she pressed her lips together, like she was suppressing some kind of urge. She would get all still and silent, pondering something deeply at the strangest of times, something I never got to know.

It would flash by so quickly, the light would come back into her eyes and she would appear normal again, that for a time I had thought I was just imagining it. 

But here it was again, that crestfallen and hopeless face she made, which always made me feel helpless and lost for words myself.

I took another breath, ready to say something, but Rosa was bounding up before I could say a word. "I haven't been here for a week, man!" she said, her eyes taking a mischievous turn. "I gotta say hi to Cook, or he's going to be mad." She cackled as she went, leaving me behind. 

The air I'd taken in whooshed out of me again, and I watched her leave. If only, I thought.

If only whatever it was that ailed her like this throughout her entire life would be washed away, just as easily as how she let her fake smile replace her grimace.