Episode 130
The back of my neck went stiff.
'I'm hearing things.'
I instinctively denied the presence I sensed behind me.
But.
"'It was foul meeting you, and let's never see each other again,' was it..."
"..."
"For someone who said that, this is quite the quick reunion."
I couldn't deny the words that followed.
"Hah..."
I let out a deep sigh and slowly turned around.
Jet-black hair, like obsidian.
A man with dark red eyes, like blood, was standing tall and staring at me.
At that moment, a system window popped up.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig finds your actions absurd.]
After shouting so confidently and running away.
He must have found the sight of me, hiding on a mere rooftop without even having left the arena, so ridiculous that he suddenly let out a dry laugh.
'So embarrassing...!'
My face flushed hot.
Unable to meet his gaze, I looked around distractedly before finally, with difficulty, opening my mouth.
"...How did you know?"
"Aren't you underestimating the Imperial Palace knights?"
He replied coldly to my words.
"If you were going to hide inside the arena, you should have hidden that pink hair first."
At his added words, gesturing toward my head with his chin, I felt a belated regret.
'Damn it... I should have just taken out my robe.'
Just as he said, I thought I'd moved stealthily, avoiding the knights' attention, but someone might have seen me.
I shouldn't have been stingy with the scroll and should have just left this place immediately.
Then, a surge of indignation welled up.
'Hey, it's not like I'm the only one with pink hair. How did he spot me immediately among all those people?'
High-ranking officials from other countries were also participating, so there were all sorts of people inside the arena.
Besides, due to the sudden birth of the Pope, everywhere, from the spectator seats to the arena floor, was in chaos.
I had no idea how on earth he had managed to find me so accurately and chase me down in all that chaos.
"Can't you just... pretend you didn't see me?"
I muttered, suppressing my surging shame, and was met with a snort.
"I can't do that. We have things to talk about."
"I don't have anything."
"What on earth were you doing here?"
Even though I said I had nothing, he easily ignored me and pressed.
I had nothing to say, so I shut my mouth.
I couldn't exactly say I was waiting for my HP to run out to be forcibly summoned.
As I was debating how to answer, Kassel suddenly narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
"I just don't understand."
"..."
"If you're the one who installed the new Pope, you should be standing next to him, claiming to be a close aide and requesting purification."
"..."
"I just don't understand why you're huddled up here hiding in that tattered rag state."
"...I wasn't huddled."
I mumbled, correcting his words.
It was then.
'HP -99'
HP 127
Just in time, my HP dropped.
'Good. Now I just have to hold out for 10 minutes.'
I'll deal with Kassel appropriately, then pretend to escape by taking out a teleport scroll.
Now that I had a plan to break through this difficult situation, I could speak quite confidently.
"I had my reasons."
"What reasons?"
"Reasons I can't talk about."
At those words, Kassel's eyebrow twitched.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig feels slight anger at your words and actions.]
Sure enough, a system window popped up, fitting for a character with a trash personality.
I took a hesitant step back, afraid he might draw his sword at any moment.
Then I spotted the sword hanging at his waist and my eyes widened.
'Lumiekar...!'
I remembered how he'd swung it around like it was his own sword, even though it was offered as the tournament prize.
As I was glaring at the sword, trembling with rage.
"Well, fine."
He'd seemed to get his anger under control, giving a slight nod.
"Thank you for understanding..."
"I'm sure the answer will come if I send a formal request for diplomatic relations to Solenia."
I was just murmuring my thanks, thinking he had finally given up trying to dig something out of me, when I was horrified by his next words.
"A-a formal diplomatic request...?"
"Until then, I formally invite you to the Imperial Palace, for the princess's lodging and treatment."
"Wh-what...!"
At the sudden invitation to the Imperial Palace, I shook my head wildly.
"It's fine! I'll take care of my own lodging."
"As the Crown Prince of the Empire, I can't just treat a princess from another country, who has come as a guest, in such a way. There are already quite a few foreigners staying at the palace, so don't feel burdened."
"You don't have to worry..."
"If not an invitation, shall I make it an order?"
Just as I was repeatedly waving my hands and refusing.
He suddenly changed his tone and asked, as if chewing his words.
Solenia wasn't exactly a vassal state of the Empire, but it was a small country that relied heavily on trade with other nations due to its barren resources. Therefore, if the Crown Prince of a large nation pressed the issue with his status, they were in a position where they had no choice but to comply.
Only then did I understand why he kept going on about me being a 'princess'.
'This bastard... he plans to keep me here.'
I could understand Kassel, and yet, I couldn't understand him at all.
I get that he's curious about my identity, since he keeps running into me...
But his political enemy, the former Pope, and the temple faction have fallen, and the main character, Nise, has even become the Pope. Shouldn't he just be happy about that?
Besides, even if he wasn't the 'Female Lead', it was a fact that Kassel cared for Nise in the game.
The ability to control monsters wasn't something just anyone had.
On top of that, Nise had the 'Holy' attribute of a priest, plus healing and curse-removal abilities, making him a major asset.
'So please, just go play nice with each other. Stop obsessing over me...!'
Why won't he let me go so easily?
As I was getting fed up with his persistence, a prodding system window popped up.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig finds your silence suspicious.]
"Are you going to answer which you'd prefer?"
If I refused the invitation, it would become an order, so there was no way out.
I gritted my teeth and retorted.
"Isn't it rather cowardly for a gentleman to use his status to oppress a lady?"
"You didn't make a mess of the opening ceremony without even being prepared for that much, did you?"
He shot back as if he'd been waiting for it.
And he rattled on, as if teaching a child who knew nothing.
"And I suppose your homeland doesn't have such a thing as investigations? In the Empire, when a crime occurs, we call in all related parties and conduct what's called an investigation and testimony."
"I-I kn-know that."
I suppressed my anger and immediately rebutted.
"But isn't it also true that I made a great contribution to stopping the former Pope's tyranny and revealing the new Pope's emergence? Does the Empire have a custom of detaining those who helped?"
"Detention? I'm sure I said I was formally inviting you."
"Then thank you, but I refuse."
"You don't let up for a second, do you."
That's what I should be saying!
I seethed, barely holding back the words that rose in my throat.
"Let's stop with the pointless wordplay."
But unlike me, he ended the subtle battle of wills with a relaxed attitude.
And then he spoke, his expression softening a little.
"I'll arrange a place for you to stay at the Imperial Palace, so go and get your hand treated immediately."
"..."
"After you get it, I'll leave you be, whether you run away or not."
I was struck by a strange feeling at his words, as if he were trying to appease me.
Just a moment ago, he seemed ready to throw me in the palace dungeon by force, and maybe even torture me...
If I listened closely, he'd been repeating the word 'treatment' at the end of his sentences.
As if my mottled hands, which even I wasn't paying attention to, were driving him crazy.
'There's no way.'
I shook my head, quickly brushing off the lukewarm, stirring feeling.
And I, too, suppressed my agitated emotions and answered calmly.
"I'm afraid that will be difficult."
"Why is that?"
"Well, I'm here... secretly."
I thought he would scoff at that.
But he nodded and mused, as if to himself.
"Indeed... the Solenian royalty is scheduled to arrive tomorrow."
I struggled for a moment not to look horrified.
'Just... how much does he know?'
My heart pounded at his thoroughness, to have investigated even that in the midst of all the chaos.
I was on edge, afraid he'd say he knew I wasn't real Solenian royalty.
"Why didn't you participate in the tournament?"
Fortunately, he immediately changed the subject.
But that, too, was a strange question.
I asked back, bewildered.
"Why would you think I'd participate?"
"Hmm... because it would be more convenient for killing the Pope and those temple bastards?"
What on earth does he take me for?
Just as I was about to ask him what he meant by that nonsense.
He suddenly drew the sword, Lumiekar, that was tucked at his waist.
"And, you. You have quite an eye for swords."
Swish, swish!
He swung the raised sword in the air a couple of times.
Perhaps he'd cut something else besides the eyeball monster, as an unidentifiable dark red liquid splattered toward me.
"Ugh!"
I shuddered reflexively and took a step back. The sight of the sword, which I had forgotten, made anger surge in me again.
"I believe that's an heirloom of the Hailey family... Is it alright to treat it so carelessly?"
After all the work I put into restoring it.
Handle it with care, you bastard!
I'd meant it as a mild suggestion, filled with that sentiment.
But that bastard Kassel just swung the sword 'swish, swish' in the air again and said indifferently.
"Adam Hailey donated it himself. What does it matter?"
'Adam, that son of a bitch!'
I imagined pounding my fist on Adam's blond head several times and opened my mouth.
"It seems to be an excellent sword. Your Highness should at least value it highly. What if some random riffraff gets lucky and wins it?"
After saying it, I realized my mistake.
Who was I to be giving him this kind of advice?
But I just couldn't hold it in.
I wanted to snatch it away, and was just staring endlessly at the Lumiekar in his hand with longing eyes.
He suddenly flipped the sword and held the hilt out to me.
"You seem to covet this sword."
"What? No, it's not that I covet it..."
"If you're so worried, why don't you win it yourself?"
And he said those inscrutable words.
I looked down, dumbfounded, at Lumiekar's winged hilt.
"...Why would I?"
"Because you have quite the useful power, and I intend to gather those such as you to subjugate monsters."
At his answer, I could finally understand why he'd been prodding me.
'This is... that, isn't it?'
Kassel seemed to rate my skill abilities quite highly.
He was looking for a Hero with outstanding abilities, after all.
I'd been acknowledged by the Male Lead, but I didn't know if I should be happy about it or not.
'Besides, I'm the one who's going to be doing all the hard work behind the scenes during the monster subjugation anyway.'
It was my destiny, as the one who had to do the quests.
Thinking that, a pointless peevishness welled up.
I hmphed, turned my head, and spat out coyly.
"Sorry, but my power is too busy contributing to my own country."
"Then our nations can just unite and have a close exchange."
"Huh. Are you saying you're going to wage a war of conquest right now?"
"War isn't the only way to unite."
I snapped at him, dumbfounded, and he just smirked at me with a look one gives a naive greenhorn.
'What other way is there to unite nations besides war?!'
I was just bewildered by his face as he smiled enigmatically, like someone hiding a scheme.