Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 209: Arc 4, Act I, - 54: Neglect No Detail

Tamara Palace opened wide for their entry, the rest of the guests scattering inwards after. Though they were there to welcome, most guests returned to their quarters or back to whatever business they had around.

The Royal Ministry, alongside the Luxinorian King, Krian Mayor, Chief of the Cravoltan Maleficos Ordinate and the other representatives of the nations walked together down the hall to a private meeting room.

As they walked, all their guards took glances at each other, scanning up and down for potential threats before guarding their respective people.

All the while six scribes from the Trailon Regime, checked again and again at their documents, taking note of the premises and filing papers in and out as per the Trailon emissaries’ instructions.

"I believe the letter foretold an envoy; I presumed it to be one," Daiyu walked beside them.

"Yes, that was the case initially," Lady Oakheart nodded.

Lord Oakheart glanced, "We work together most of the time so Prime Minister Woddard sent us together. I hope there will be no issue?"

"Quarters can be prepared easily enough, we were expecting more than one person with guards and such," Feyan replied to which one of the scribes wrote down word for word.

Hotaru took her hands away from holding Jotou’s and stepped forward, "May I also suggest, instead of travelling by carriage across Cravolta, that the prime minister arrive via teleportation? I’m aware it’s expensive."

"We, can take that into consideration," the lord looked back.

The lady continued as the scribes wrote down, "If you have appropriate facilities within the palace to safely teleport Prime Minister Woddard, then it would preferable compared to the treatment we were approached with."

Daiyu half-closed her right eye... and then sighed, "Our apologies, I’m sure you understand the public’s distaste in the matter."

The king’s guard opened up, allowing him to converse, "I am sure the public’s treatment would be the same if I or any of my allies were to step onto Trailonian soil. Blame not the princess for the actions of too many."

"Hm. More proper measures could have been taken, but since that has not occurred in the Trailon Regime it remains to be seen how the public would react."

"Perhaps with a little more control over the population not to lash out."

Though scowls and glares did pass behind their heads, none cared too much to retort. "At ease dear, this sort of passive-aggression was to be expected," Countess Keya subtly tugged on Jotou’s arm.

Jotou could think of every single come back, her head buzzing as she kept her lips shut. "I’m fine," she unclenched her fist, "I’m sure if we had more communication, a lot could be solved..."

"Jotou..." Hotaru hooked her arm by the other side, "Stop being grumpy~ And you stay away," she flashed her fangs to the countess.

"Oh dear, no need to be jealous now."

"I’m not jealous..."

"And I’m, fine. I think I’m allowed to pout of all things. I’m sure they consider me their greatest threat right now, so, there’s comfort in that." ’Comfort in Hotaru holding you too- SHUT UP!’

"If I may interrupt, teleportation within the palace itself is not possible. There are wards, protections and the like. Which is why, a teleported reply letter from Trailon, if any, was to be sent to the Ordinate and not here," the chief strode up.

"Yes, we are aware of that. Which is why we opted to travel via carriage from the beginning and used the railway. However, this matter can be discussed in more detail," the lord answered.

The scribes wrote down more, they walked along the prepared carpets and glanced to the Royal Guard that bowed as they passed by.

Little details and little notes piled up for the discussion they would have about the prime minister’s arrival. One only wondered how much tension was to break out in such a clustered group of elites...

And one only wondered what it would be like during their meeting with the prime minister himself... ’I don’t really need to be here. I can be informed of all of this later, like Meko and Sobi would be.’

Hotaru had not let go of Jotou’s arm. She stole a few glimpses at the blonde whilst her ears would prick to listen up ahead. Jotou barely heard the conversation amidst them; all she could think of was the night before.

She gazed at the redhead... Her hair strands trailing with each step, how securely her arm was holding hers and how they essentially walked shoulder to shoulder.

’Focus. Stop thinking. UGH!’ Jotou blushed a little. She withdrew her arm from Hotaru’s and tiptoed her fingers across her waist to hold her closer.

Hotaru smiled and looked to her right, going red in the face. "You’re being naughty," she whispered, "I can feel your hips walk."

"Sorry."

"Don’t be. But we are busy right now."

"I know, I just." Jotou inhaled, "Excuse us for a moment," she whispered to the countess before breaking away from the group, Hotaru with her.

"Oh, alright," the countess looked back and gently whispered their temporary departure to those around.

"Jotou?" the redhead followed.

Jotou brought Hotaru into a nook within the hallways—no eyes to pry on them. She spoke no more as she pulled Hotaru into a kiss, deeply. Hotaru merely giggled and kissed back.

"I’m sorry, I can’t focus on anything. I’d go train or something, but," the blonde broke apart and replied.

Hotaru lolled both her arms onto Jotou’s shoulders, "What do you want to do about it?"

"I..." ’I need to get this out of my system, right now!’ Jotou peered around the corner, "Can we just, quickly, you know..."

"Aren’t you getting bold," Hotaru kissed again, pushing Jotou into the wall to which the blonde did not protest to. As Jotou tried to grab her, Hotaru put a knee up against her crotch.

Jotou exhaled as Hotaru kneed and pressed into the blonde’s parts beneath layers of fabric. She kept Jotou at a teasingly close distance, "But I have work to do as the temporary royal advisor.

Not that I don’t think you’re absolutely adorable right now. If you can’t focus, it’s okay, I can tell you what happened later. And for that, I need to be there. Understood?"

"...Mhm..."

"Good girl," her eyes flickered blue.

"...Don’t call me that."

Hotaru ruffled a bit of her blonde hair and released Jotou. "Distracting me from my work, tsk, tsk," she shook her head. "Seriously, if you’re too distracted then you shouldn’t be there.

It’s probably better too, seeing there might be sourness since Trailon hates you."

"I have other things I can do, I’ll be fine," Jotou raised a hand.

"Oh... great then. I’ll see you, well, whenever this ends I guess," Hotaru grinned a sigh, "How am I gonna explain why I was pulled away to them~? Hm, hm," she walked away.

Jotou was left alone... She exhaled the biggest breath, the flushing of her face dying down with it, "The hell is going on with me!? I feel like I need to be with her constantly, GAH!"

She scolded herself in silence. "Now I just look desperate... She probably wants to stay away from me now... Or I’m just overthinking this-"

Before she could finish processing the sentence, she felt a chill in the air. Her words let out a breath of puffy white smoke; a chill she somehow knew...

Her attention brought her out of the little nook, now her eyes crystal clear to everything around her—no more cold sensation, no more breaths of white puffs.

She looked to the walls, down the halls and up the- She swore she just caught a glimpse of an icy blue glow darting across the edge of the ceiling; someone was trailing the group of elites.

’Someone who stopped and got close to me when I parted from them. Frost...’ She could sense, but her body did not move in a panic. Why would she be here?

’Trailon’s here, so it makes sense. Or maybe I’m imagining things... Definitely not. Realistically, Frost is only here... for emergencies. Hmm. What’s her angle? Whatever, I better stick to the group then and keep my eyes out.’

"Woosh!"

"Spark!" Jotou turned.

"Hey!" Fumeko snarled as she appeared behind Jotou in shadows.

"Oh, detective," Jotou lowered her fists as the spell faded.

"’Oh, detective’," she repeated, "Why’re you so jumpy!?"

"Why’re you so irritated that I defended myself when something appeared out of nowhere behind me?"

"Uagh," Fumeko leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Her sunken eyes and wincing face faded away for a second, scanning over the blonde, "You’re, wearing pants..." she blushed.

"What? I’m not allowed to?"

"I, just noticed now... It looks- never mind," she scanned over again, a slight gloss on the blonde’s lips, her hair a bit ruffled... She narrowed her gaze.

"Why are you here? Are you okay from your hangover?"

"Everything was a bit blurry, I drank something an hour ago and I don’t feel dead anymore so, I’m back on task."

"Task?"

"You seem distracted..."

"Well, the emissaries are here and," Jotou took a peek to the ceiling, "I’d appreciate your eyes on things, I have to get back to them."

"That’s all fine, but I need my eyes around the entire palace. You asked me to get blackmail info from the guests, remember?"

"Yeah, of course I remember. Did you get anything?"

"A few things last night before I drank a little too much."

"Wasted—you’re looking for the word wasted."

"Anyway... I was hoping to get more info today. What I can tell you for now is that Archduke Filtrin was hitting on the staff with his wives right next to him and they took him to his room, you can probably guess."

"I figured."

"Count Khalim has an emerald collection he obsessively polishes."

"Huh..."

"The best one, the Deputy Minister, the guy you argued with in the council."

"Cornerade."

"Yeah him. I overheard a little conversation he had over the phone with someone called Jinny. From what I got," Fumeko pulled on Jotou to get her back into the nook, checking her surroundings.

"Apparently he’s been pocketing some money from war funds. Using cheaper material to make tanks, firearms, whatever."

"This isn’t something we blackmail... We need to bust this, if affects the entire war."

"I know that. But if we pull the plug on one."

"We pull the plug on them all. They’ll all become much more secure and defensive. Good thinking detective. Alright, we have some dirt. Keep going and how’s Asobi? Have you checked on her?"

"I don’t think I’ve seen her that down. She’s okay I think, but you know; she’s Asobi, she’ll bounce back."

"Alrighty. Thanks detective," Jotou held her by the shoulders.

Fumeko stood tall with a smug-lipped smile, "You’re welcome. Now," she glared, "There’s something about you that’s bothering me... I can’t tell what though."

"Is it the trousers?"

"No, I like those- I mean, uh, hap..."

Jotou smirked and drew her face lower to the brunette, "I think this is the time to blink away detective."

She turned red, before she sniffed... Sea dandelions...? Her eyes widened at the blonde before shadow took her form and she blinked away.

_

"Jotou," Hotaru turned to see the Thundering Blade re-join.

"Sorry, just had to take care of something," Jotou whispered amongst the guests before taking Hotaru by the waist again.

"Oh, the Thundering Blade’s back," Daiyu turned, smiled and glanced back to the emissaries.

"Ah yes, will the Thundering Blade be present during the discussion with Prime Minister Woddard?" Lady Oakheart side-eyed.

"Of course, I value her input," Daiyu replied.

"Considering her relationship with the Trailon Regime to be a rough one," Lord Oakheart stated.

Archduke Guuraj stepped in, "I believe that is exactly why she is vital to be in something like this."

"Have no fear, I’ll be on my best behaviour," Jotou uttered in a leer.

"Might I remind you Lord and Lady Oakheart, that the Thundering Blade has simply defended against the Trailon Regime’s advances," Archduchess Abioye spoke.

"Against, might I add, to underhanded methods used by said Regime," the Vandlevelan superintendent defended.

Jotou turned in curiosity. ’Why do I not like her defending me...?’ She rather looked elsewhere, trying to hopefully catch another glimpse of a figure going across the ceilings.

"Now, now, let’s keep this civil," Count Keya tapped his cane against marble.

"Agreed. Keep such things outside of discussions for now; they shall be discussed during the prime minister’s visit, not a moment sooner," King Akimitsu frowned.

"Very well. Remember, dark magentas and blacks must be adorned on the walls of the meeting room and we will be checking for magical safeguards..." they went on throughout the day.

Within the private meeting room, bigger than the Royal Ministry’s, documents were handed out and discussions were had on how procedures would go.

Jotou gently poked Hotaru in the waist, distracting her for attention. The blonde grew a smirk as the redhead would side-eye her with a grin.

No longer looking around the room for Frost, she now came back to the same dilemma. Her guard up and yet still distracted by the one sitting next to her.

She tried not to neglect any of the detail presented and she focused... enough. And by the time the Sun came down and a light drizzle took over Cravolta City, their meeting had come to an end.

As the emissaries left for their quarters to prepare themselves for dinner and the elite guests began lightly mingling outside of their presence, Jotou dragged Hotaru aside.

The blonde pushed Hotaru into a secluded corner and took what she wanted this time. The redhead made no protest before smiling and pushing her aside, wanting to prepare for dinner herself.

With Hotaru gone, Jotou focused again, searching the halls for Frost to no avail... With an uneasy huff, she abandoned her search and went to prepare for dinner.