Unfortunately, I'm an Evil Villainess

Chapter 48 - Failed Assassination

"Sir Williams gave me this letter to give to you, my lady. He said it's from your squadron."

"Excellent. I've been wondering what took so long."

Zoe held a thick envelope and I eagerly snatched it. Its contents ran for pages, but was split into two parts like the others. The first was a militaristic report, written by Sir Harrod, and the second was a much shorter letter from the knight apprentice. I threw the report onto my desk for later and began reading the letter.

'My lady,

This is being sent through a secure channel as Sir Williams instructed, so rest assured that the following information is absolutely confidential.'

There was that sense of quiet confidence Mikhail possessed again. I smiled slightly, but I was more focused on the subject at hand.

'The squadron tried to carry out your orders.'

My orders...ah, yes. Assassinating the female lead's father to prevent him from bringing her into high society. My heart leaped. 'Tried' didn't sound good.

'I deeply regret to inform Your Ladyship that there were unseen circumstances, and Baron Bryant is still alive. I would also like to offer my personal apologies, for if I had been already trained and present, I would have surely guaranteed otherwise.'

The only thing that stopped me from throwing the nearest available item in frustration was the boy's casual arrogance in his assurance, which I found satisfying. I sighed, disappointed nonetheless, and continued.

'Please allow me to describe the circumstances.

Baron Bryant is an incredibly private person. He lives at court with his wife, in the castle. He never leaves the castle, and it's rare for him to even leave his chambers outside of attending parliament. It was why it took so long for an opportunity to arise.

Very recently, a close friend of his living away from the capital fell severely ill, to the point of being on the verge of death. Finally, he left to visit him. The squadron struck on a desolate path on the way.'

It was going well up to this point, and irritation rose within me. How could they have been so close, yet let him slip away?

'He had brought more knights with him than our squadron, but we had expected them to be fairly untrained compared to us. Had they been knights of the barony, it would have been true.

But they were royal knights.'

What? My grip on the paper tightened and my heart pounded. It didn't make sense.

'Our knights recognized their fighting style, and besides, they were the only ones who could have matched the knights of Avington. It would have been close, but we were outnumbered and a few of our knights got wounded, so we pulled back.

Again, my sincerest apologies on behalf of my squadron and my current inability.'

Why in hell would royal knights be guarding the female lead's father before the novel even started? Wait, I had gone down this train of thought before. Where, when...aha!

In fact, there were two instances. First, royal knights had been guarding the diamond mine, even though Catherine was supposed to discover it. Second, my family was connected to Baroness Bryant. The truth behind both of these were conspiracies, the world filling in blanks and plot holes the simple romance novel never bothered to address.

If this was the case here too, then things were much more complicated than I'd expected.

'With Your Ladyship's betrothal and the political situation in mind, we decided it would be best not to make another attempt before consulting you first. By the way, the squadron congratulates Your Ladyship.