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“But Dad I’ve really gotta meet with Faith and Friedborg today. They’re meeting me here in my room in a few minutes.” Rapunzel didn’t even look at Frederic as she flitted around her room pretending to be busy.
“I had it rescheduled for after the game, sweetheart,” Frederic assured, clearly making no motion to leave the doorway.
“I’ve got a breakfast date with Eugene.” Rapunzel tried again.
“I know you two have dates on Thursday.” Frederic’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. He was clearly not amused.
“I was gonna meet with a new friend of mine. Her name is Dahlia.”
“Your mother told me that wasn’t until much later today.”
“I have to paint?”
“Rapunzel Der Sonne.” Uh oh, he last named her...
“I know bonding with other royals has proven to be...a bit of a challenge for you...” Frederic stepped closer, “But Marie has been looking forward to spending time with you since you were returned to us. Playing a game of racquetball with her won’t kill you.”
Rapunzel raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. If Marie had been so excited to spend time with her, why wasn’t she here the minute Rapunzel returned to the kingdom? In fact, not a single one of her extended family besides her Oma Snow, Frederic’s mother, had even bothered to visit her after her 18th birthday!
“Rapunzel, hi! Over here!” Marie excitedly waved her over where everyone else was waiting out in the garden. Sure enough, Marie was wearing low puffy sleeves. The best for any sport, she’d said at dinner. Though Rapunzel didn’t quite understand why Marie had an entirely new outfit for the discus. She’d seen Marie in a perfectly fine gown just ten minutes ago. Marie ran up and gave Rapunzel a tight bear hug, “Oooh, I’m so excited to finally get to compete with you! If you have any questions about this game, don’t hesitate to ask me. I know you probably didn’t play racquetball growing up as I did.”
“...I sure will, Marie.” Rapunzel did her best to fake a smile.
“Marie here was just telling us about her fencing championship in Galcrest last year!” Lance seemed completely oblivious to the tension, “Turns out I was pick-pocketing at that same tournament! Small world, huh?”
Rapunzel forced out a chuckle and tried her best to look happy, “Yeah...small world...”
Right as Rapunzel grabbed her racquet, Marie suddenly let out a dramatic gasp.
“WAIT! We can’t start yet! I don’t have my lucky armband!”
“Your...lucky armband,” Rapunzel repeated slowly. That might have come out a bit ruder than she meant it to, but who the heck played sports with a lucky armband???
Marie paid no mind to Rapunzel’s tone however, and shoved her tacket into Rapunzel’s hands then rushed off the playing field, “Hold this! Don’t start without me, I’ll be right back!”
Cassandra simply smiled and shook her head fondly as she watched Marie run back into the castle. That smile was...well, Rapunzel couldn’t remember the last time Cassandra looked at her with such fondness.
“Yeah, Marie’s superstitious. She never plays without that armband. The one time she went without it, she fell off her horse in a jousting tournament.” Cassandra explained, “In the meantime, why don’t we just pick the teams or something?”
“Ooh, ooh! Dibs on Marie’s team!” Lance waved his racquet around, completely oblivious to Rapunzel’s death glare.
“Normally I’d pick whatever team Rapunzel’s on, but I know Marie REALLY wants you on her team, Blondie.” Eugene was much more aware of Rapunzel’s sour mood, “So Lance you and I will be our own team.”
Lance’s eyes saddened and he pouted, leaning on Eugene. Eugene gave Lance’s shoulder an apologetic pat, “Cass, you can play for both teams if you want. That’ll be nothing new for you.”
Cassandra crossed her arms and pretended to give Eugene a death glare, “Why did I ever tell you I was bisexual, Fitzherbert?”
~~~~~~
The walk back to Rapunzel’s room was...a little more awkward than Rapunzel would’ve liked. She glanced over at Cassandra, who was staring out at the window with a content smile. Rapunzel hadn’t seen her so at peace since...she’d never seen Cass this at peace before.
“So...that Marie’s tougher than she looks underneath all that sleeve puff, huh?” Rapunzel tried to start a conversation.
“Oh yeah, your dad actually had to ban her from the Challenge of the Brave, cause she kept winning.” Cassandra chuckled and looked over at Rapunzel, “Honestly me being her bodyguard would be kinda more of a ceremonial position anyway. I’d only be defending her against really big threats like an assassination, but the whole Hervan Battalion is a great starting place.”
Rapunzel’s smile instantly disappeared and she pouted, “Yeah, heh...you’re not...actually thinking of taking that job offer, are you?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Cassandra looked a little confused, “Raps, this is the chance I’ve been waiting for.”
Rapunzel couldn’t deny that Cassndra did have a point there. And she was happy for her, she really was. But...whenever she pictured Cass being a guard, she pictured her staying in the Capital. With her.
As they turned the corner Rapunzel bumped into someone. She was about to apologize, but then she saw who it was.
“Marco? What are you doing here? Xavier said you weren’t bringing more Saporian books until this afternoon.” Cassandra asked, tilting her head in curiosity and confusion.
Marco looked...strangely rattled, for whatever reason. Like he’d seen a ghost or something.
“What’s wrong? Shocked to see a Coronan and a Saporian getting along? Yeah. It can happen, mister.” Rapunzel took a step forward to get right in Marco’s face, but Cassandra stopped her.
“I, erm...please tell me I’m not the only guest you have today. Or that...I dunno, Faith and Friedborg are behind on the cleaning or something...” Marco gave the girls a nervous smile, as if he was trying to convince himself of something.
“They were...coming later to help Rapunzel...Why...?” Cassandra instantly picked up on Marco’s fear, her eyes narrowing.
Instead of saying anything, Marco looked around nervously and then headed back the way he came, beckoning for Rapunzel and Cassandra to follow. He led them to Rapunzel’s room-....which looked absolutely TRASHED! It looked worse than when Gregorio the Goodwill Gopher tore up the Gopher Grab the other day.
“What the fiddlesticks happened?!” Cassandra blurted out, too shocked to care about her language.
“I-I dunno! I came in and the room was just like this! If you ask me, this looks like a classic B & E.” Marco observed, and Cassandra nodded in agreement. As they muttered to each other about the crime scene, Rapunzel inhaled sharply as she took in the scene.
She scrambled around the room for her most important belongings. Pascal was alright, the poor thing was trapped in a jar. Her journal was still tucked safely away in her vanity, her paints were right where she left them, her crown was untouched, and her copy of Elena Evangelo was safe and sound.
But where was- oh no...no, nonononono-
Her copy of the Lost Lagoon poem was gone. ...she hadn’t even told Cassandra about LeFleur yet!!!
“If you want, I can contact the guards and fill out a report for you-” Marco offered, but Rapunzel was already shoving him out of her room.
“Cool thanks Marco, bye!” Rapunzel slammed the door in his face and leaned back against it, her face getting paler by the second.
“The book is gone.” She whispered in horror.
“Your copy of Elena Evangelo??” Cassandra instantly looked concerned.
“WORSE!” Rapunzel whisper-yelled, “The Lost Lagoon book, that book of poems! Someone took it!”
Wait...not just any someone!
“MARIE! She must've snuck into my room and taken it!!”
Cassandra gasped like she’d been hit, her eyes turned wide as saucers…and then she laughed.
“Cass, I’m serious! Think about it, in Elena Evangelo, it’s the new character that’s responsible for the coup!”
“Raps, this is real life, not a princess fantasy.” Cassandra tried to sound firm, but she was still laughing too much, “Besides, why would Marie even steal from you?”
“...M-Maybe to overthrow my parents!” Rapunzel knew it was a reach, she knew, but it was the best she could think of.
Cassandra crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Rapunzel knew that look. That was the same look she gave Eugene whenever he...well, whenever he opened his mouth, really.
Rapunzel avoided Cassandra’s gaze as her face scrunched up in thought “Cassandra, I’m serious. If it’s not her, then...then it had to be LeFleur! He was asking me about the book!”
Now that made Cassandra actually look rather serious.
“Monsieur LeFleur has been here at the palace for as long as I can remember...he’s always been loyal to your parents...” Cassandra shook her head slightly, “But if he’s asking about it, that does give him motivation...”
“Well, it’s not like Faith and Friedborg could’ve stolen it!” Rapunzel threw her hands in exasperation, and then froze in her tracks, “Wait, could they...?”
“No it couldn’t be either of them. Faith wouldn’t hurt a fly, and if Friedborg stole the book, there wouldn’t be a single trace she’d ever been here.” Cassandra quickly refuted that idea.
...Rapunzel wasn’t sure whether to be more or less concerned about that. Meanwhile, Cassandra looked down at the floor for a split second and pretended to be lost in thought. She still hadn’t told Rapunzel that Friedborg had somehow found out about their discovery of the Lost Lagoon...she wasn’t sure how to tell Rapunzel. Or if she even should tell her. Would it be bad if Rapunzel knew that Friedborg knew? Would it overcomplicate this whole mess?
“So that just leaves us with LeFleur and Marie as our only real suspects.” Rapunzel thought aloud, “...We should question them both. I’ll handle LeFleur, so he doesn’t know that you know he asked about the book.”
“Which leaves me to ask your cousin. Betray the woman who’s offering me my future on a silver platter.”
“You don’t have to ask her! Just…poke around her room a little!” Rapunzel tried to smile but she could tell Cassandra still wasn’t convinced, “Look, if I’m right and Marie did steal it...it wasn't that hard for us to find the lagoon with that book. And we don’t know how smart Marie is. If she finds the Lost Lagoon and finds out what its treasure is before we do, there’s no telling what she could do with it.”
Cassandra’s eyes narrowed slightly for a moment, and finally she let out a sigh, “Alright. You question LeFleur, I’ll start looking into Marie. I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite us.”
~~~~~~
Rapunzel was a princess of many, MANY talents, anyone with eyes in Corona would agree. However, interrogation was not one of those talents.
Which was why she asked Eugene for help.
She barged into LeFleur’s studio without so much as knocking. He was with her parents and about fifty dancers, going over a routine. No doubt, it was their performance for the Hidden Moon Festival.
“Rise together my doves, and we shall lead the revolution!” LeFleur cheered his dancers on, “Hannah, wonderful posture! Don’t forget to smile, Anna! Mia, mon chere, on your tippy toes!”
“Oh, Rapunzel! Eugene!” Arianna smiled when she saw the young lovers, “How was racquetball with Marie this morning?”
“Oh, she had a wonderful time.” Frederic piped up before Rapunzel could say a word. He gave Rapunzel a pointed look, “Didn’t you, sweetheart?”
Eugene fought the urge to cringe but quickly stepped in, “C’mon, are you kidding, your majesties? What princess doesn’t wanna spend time with her long lost cousin?”
Despite the smile on his face the warning in his eyes to Rapunzel was clear.
Play it cool until we get LeFleur alone.
Unfortunately for Eugene Rapunzel was about as subtle as a frying pan to the head.
“Heh, heh...yeah...excuse me, Monsieur LeFleur?” Rapunzel walked right up to the instructor, who instantly perked up when he heard his name.
Rapunzel was already guiding LeFleur out of the room, one hand on his back and the other already on the handle of her frying pan hidden in the pockets of her dress.
“Eugene and I need to speak to you for a moment. In private.”
CLANG
When poor LeFleur woke up there was a dull aching sensation in his head…instead of out in the hallway, he was in a dark room somewhere in the palace. Tied up in a chair...with hair?
“We have some questions for you, LeFleur.” Rapunzel’s tone was unusually menacing.
LeFleur looked all over the dark space for where Rapunzel was, but he found nothing. He could barely even see a foot in front of him.
“I-I’m happy to answer, princess!” LeFleur tried to sound enthusiastic but he couldn’t stop his voice from trembling in fear.
“Nothing all that serious, LeFleur, just walk us through your day.” Eugene piped up, sounding as casual as ever, “What did you do this morning?”
“He knows what he did, Eugene!” Rapunzel insisted. LeFleur STILL couldn’t see where she was, which was starting to seriously unnerve him. Who’d have thought Corona’s sweet princess could be so terrifying?
“He doesn’t wanna talk, hm?” Rapunzel muttered bitterly, “That’s alright. I have ways of making you talk, Monsieur LeFleur...”
“Rapunzel, don’t you dare.” Eugene sounded a little alarmed now.
“It’s the only way if we want answers!” Rapunzel insisted.
There was a glint of something metal in the darkness...oh sunlight help him...
LeFleur’s toes curled tightly, he could feel his blood running ice cold. He opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a soft and shrill squeak.
Finally, LeFleur was so paralyzed with fear that he didn’t even think to translate his words, “C'est moi! J'ai mangé le dernier biscuit aux noisettes ! Pardonne-moi, Princesse ! Je sais à quel point tu les aimes!!!”
The energy in the room suddenly changed, the tension cracking like ice. There was a soft smack of a hand hitting something.
“Um...Eugene, what did he say?” Rapunzel whispered.
“He thinks you’re mad at him because he ate the last hazelnut chocolate chip cookie at breakfast.” Eugene let out a weary sigh.
“Oh...oh nono! Pascal, can you open the curtains please?”
After a moment, light flooded the room, and once LeFleur’s eyes adjusted he realized that the only reason Rapunzel was holding a knife was that she had just cut a slice of cake for him.
...what an odd mode of interrogation. But LeFleur supposed a bit of cake was far better than the alternative.
“While my heart slows down...” Lefleur spoke slowly, still finding it difficult to keep his words in English, “May I ask what on earth this is about?”
“Someone stole from me and we’re trying to get down to the bottom of it!” Rapunzel’s voice raised slightly.
At the word ‘stole’, LeFleur’s eyes widened like saucers, “Stole?! From you?! What heartless person would ever dream of doing such a thing?!”
The reaction was a bit over the top, but it was normal enough for LeFleur that Eugene was satisfied that it couldn’t possibly be him.
“First of all, I technically stole from Rapunzel.” Eugene held up a stern finger as if he were lecturing a class, “And secondly, well...we thought it might be...you...”
“...Monsieur Fitzherbert, this would be a good time to point out that if I stole anything from anyone, least of all the princess, it could cost me my citizenship in this kingdom.” LeFleur looked downright offended, even angry for what might have been the first time in his life, “Now why would I be foolish enough to jeopardize my home and marriage?”
“But...but you were asking about the book!” Rapunzel insisted, though she looked more and more guilty by the second.
“The book?” LeFleur tilted his head in confusion, and then it hit him, “Oh...oh mon dieu, princess. It appears this is a very grave misunderstanding. I would never even consider stealing from you.”
“Well make a...an understanding! Or your cake gets it!” Rapunzel narrowed her eyes at LeFleur, holding the knife closer to the slice she’d cut for him.
At this rate, LeFleur was starting to berate himself for ever finding her intimidating.
“I simply wanted to borrow the book for my dance at the Hidden Moon Festival.” LeFleur sighed, “The Lost Lagoon is a magical place. Real or not, it brings our people together. And it would mean so much to my dancers. Most of them are Saporian, you see. Making a ballet of the Lost Lagoon for them has always been my dream.”
Rapunzel and Eugene shared a look. Eugene knew in his gut that LeFleur was telling the truth, and he could tell Rapunzel believed LeFleur as well. Pascal however, looked disappointed that LeFleur wasn’t the one who took the book after all. That frog had such a weird bloodthirst when it came to interrogations.
“...I’m really sorry Monsieur LeFleur. I had no idea.” Rapunzel hung her head in shame as she untied LeFleur from her hair, “I may not have the book anymore...but if you like I can tell you some of what I learned about the Lost Lagoon from it!”
Eugene raised an eyebrow, instantly concerned at the idea, “Now, blondie, I’m sure the man already knows plenty-“
“C'est merveilleux!” LeFleur practically lit up and leaped from the chair, “Oui, oui, we shall meet tomorrow morning! I’ll bring a notebook!”
Rapunzel let out a nervous giggle and waved at LeFleur as he pranced out of the room. The moment her bedroom door shut behind him, Rapunzel’s slight smile disappeared.
“Okay, I know I’m not the best with secrets…but I’m not sure telling LeFleur about the lagoon is the best idea.” Eugene flopped down in the chair LeFleur was just sitting in with a weary sigh.
“I couldn’t just give him nothing! This is his dream! You know how I am about dreams!” Rapunzel groaned in mild frustration, “At least we know that LeFleur didn’t take the book...”
She took a step towards Eugene and lay down in his lap. Eugene gave her a tired smile and wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
“I just hope Cass is having better luck than we are...” Rapunzel muttered.
~~~~~~
Unfortunately for Rapunzel, Cassandra wasn’t faring much better.
“This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy...” Cassandra kept muttering to herself as she anxiously tapped her foot.
Owl’s talons tightened in her hair ever so slightly, and Cassandra didn’t have to look up at him to know he didn’t approve of such a scheme.
Sneaking out of the castle was one thing, but she was pretty sure rifling through the belongings of a member of the royal family was borderline illegal. No, scratch that. She KNEW it was illegal! But Rapunzel was right, they had to rule out all suspects. Even if this could potentially cost her the chance at joining the Hervan battalion, and then she’d be a lady in waiting forever and-
Not a moment later, her dear rat Little Guy peeked his head out from a crack in the door and waved his little paw at her.
Good, the coast was clear.
Cassandra nodded and opened the door to the guest room where Marie was staying. She would never admit it out loud, especially not to Eugene, but sneaking around like this was actually a little fun.
She’d almost forgotten that Marie was even more organized than her. The woman had packed outfits for every occasion imaginable- balls, teatime, jousting, fencing, even wrestling; all packed so neatly in her closet, perfectly labeled and paired with a matching headband. Cassandra couldn’t lie to herself, having someone like Marie as a boss would be so easy for her. No chasing after her, no having to reorganize everything to her liking, no cleaning out random mudstains...although she would have to deal with more polishing armor if- when! When she accepted the job.
An alert squeak from Little Guy pulled Cassandra out of her musings, and when she turned to look at him she noticed him trying to pull what looked like some kind of book out from Marie’s pillow...a green leather book!
“Good eye buddy,” Cassandra whispered and grabbed the book. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was whispering, there was no one else in the room who could catch her.
“Well, I’ll be sure to give Raps credit for thinking of...fiddlesticks.”
It was a book indeed, but not the Lost Lagoon book. It was Marie’s own personal journal. And Cassandra KNEW this wasn’t some kind of decoy book in disguise Marie might use to cover her tracks- the leather was the wrong shade of green and the pages looked far too new.
Upon opening the pages, Cassandra quickly realized it was Marie’s journal. And it was...frankly, rather boring. Just nonsense about her training and her food diary. Nothing that would point to her stealing the Lost Lagoon book.
“What are you doing in here?”
Cassandra’s blood ran cold and she snapped the book shut. She didn’t need to look to see if Little Guy had hidden, she could feel his slight weight in the pocket of her skirts. She turned around, slowly, as if hoping she had just thought she heard that voice.
Nope. It was real. Marie had caught her snooping. Cassandra did her best to keep her face neutral, even though her heart was pounding. Oh sunlight above, this was it. Marie was going to tell her father, and then the Duke would take back his offer to enlist in the Hervan battalion, and then the King would find out, and then Cassandra would be banished-!
“Yoohoo, earth to Cass.” Marie waved her hand in front of Cassandra’s face, “Why are you in my room alone?”
Cassandra was too afraid to answer so she just kept her mouth shut. After a moment, Marie’s expression went from confused...to devious.
“Ah. I see...” Marie smirked to herself and stepped closer to Cassandra...why did she feel like she was being hunted right now???
“If you wanted to, you could have just asked.” Marie leaned further, so close now that Cassandra could feel her warm breath ghosting her cheek.
“Asked for...what exactly???” Cassndra looked around nervously. Maybe if she played dumb, she could get out of this alive.
“Cassandra, I know why you’re here. It’s okay.” Marie put a hand on Cassandra’s arm, “Though if I’m being honest, I’d much rather take you out to dinner first. My treat...we could sneak out of the palace later tonight...”
...what was happening??? What was Marie doing? Was this some sort of mind game to get Cassandra to break??? WHY WAS SHE SO CLOSE?!
“FENCING!!” Cassandra suddenly blurted out, so loud that Marie was startled out of…whatever that was, and backed away.
“Er...what?”
Cassandra scrambled for something, anything that would make that make sense, “...Rapunzel wants to fence! With you! On the Hidden Moon Festival!”
For a split second, Marie looked a little disappointed, but then smiled, “Oh…I thought...wait, Rapunzel wants to spend time with me?!”
“...You bet!” Cassandra forced a grin, “She’s been talking about it all day!”
Marie let out such an excited squeal that sounded almost exactly like Rapunzel, clapping her hands and jumping on her tiptoes.
“Oooh, this is going to be amazing! I have to check my sword, mend my helmet, polish my armor! Oh, don’t worry Cass, we’ll just take a rain check on that date!” Marie began to ramble on.
Cassandra simply nodded nervously and gave her finger guns, then quickly took the opportunity to dash out of Marie’s room. That was a close one...TOO close! If Cassandra hadn’t thought of the fencing thing, she would’ve been toast! She knew Rapunzel would hardly like having to fence with Marie, but-
Suddenly Cassandra stopped in her tracks as the entire conversation finally caught up to her paranoia. Marie had said date...WAS SHE HITTING ON HER?!
~~~~~~
Miles away from the palace, the sun was just beginning to set between the Twin Oaks. It would’ve been such a peaceful evening, a perfect view if Rapunzel and Cassandra had decided to go to the lagoon together that night.
But instead, a new visitor approached the oaks this night. A tall man, cloaked in gray. He grinned to himself as he held up a book. An old book, with faded forest green leather and flecks of gold etched into the title...The Lost Lagoon.
It was even easier to steal from the princess than he thought. Clearly, Cassandra was losing her touch.
“Where the two oaks grow close, roots weave like fingers.” The man read aloud, “This has to be the place.”
So he sat and waited...and waited...but no matter how high the moon grew in the night sky, nothing changed. There were no hidden carvings within the Twin Oaks. Not a single firefly came to the man. No magic, no light, no sign that he finally found his prize.
Perhaps he was missing something…no matter. He would just have to return to the palace and see what Cassandra and the princess had found.