My heart raced. It reminded me of the misunderstanding between the former Queen Amalia and the former king. It was a mysterious feeling, but I nodded my head obediently as expected.
Lady Nina smiled and continued to speak words of temptation. “Lady Elianna, in our country, we have all sorts of treasured books, including those that contain not only the true history of the former empire, which has never leaked to other countries, but other kingdoms as well. Wouldn’t you like to see it?”
I almost nodded emphatically, but I managed to stop myself after seeing Prince Christopher’s face. Your Highness, sometimes you can be so scary that it takes my breath away. I was itching to ask what kind of other books there were, but I decided to focus on the seriousness of the situation.
Lady Nina turned her eyes to His Highness and let out a small sigh. “A narrow-minded gentleman only restricts women. He cannot allow a woman’s abilities to surpass his. Because such a man holds the initiative in the world, I think that women will always be seen as being of low value. Don’t you agree, Prince Christopher?”
“Objectively, I agree with parts of that, but if you see this incident as a debt of gratitude, why don’t you just present your precious books to Eli, Black Witch of Rimuru?”
“Well!” Lady Nina’s beautiful eyebrows shot up. “That’s not a pleasant way to address me, Your Highness. I wonder who would have spoken such a name,” she said, directing her eyes at Rei. Rei seemed to be leaning away from her and turning his face to escape her line of sight.
Prince Reglisse laughed for a moment but held it back and returned to the topic. “Well, there you have it. People related to the clan can see the same scenery. Although there are differences in ability, it’s thanks to Nina that I was able to see and learn about all the things that happened to Prince Christopher, Lady Elianna, and my brother Irvin. Nonetheless...”
His voice became a little stiffer. It was apparent that he wanted us to keep the truth about Nina and the Rimuru clan a secret.
Prince Reglisse smiled at me. “Why did they disappear from history? You know the answer to that, Lady Elianna.”
I gasped when it hit me. The reason those with peculiar powers vanished—that would be the same no matter the era. They had been targeted by those in power at the time. I nodded in reply.
As I thought about the history of the Rimuru clan, His Highness, who was focused on the present, asked, “There are quite a few other Rimuru people, aren’t there?”
“Well, yes. But why do you ask?” Prince Reglisse questioned.
His Highness smiled at Prince Reglisse, who gently smiled back. “Because you were so quiet this time.”
I thought so too. The Maldurian nobles and the soldiers who’d come with Prince Reglisse hadn’t resorted to force this time, so in a sense, things had ended peacefully. Perhaps someone from the clan was hiding there as well.
In addition, a prince of Maldura had been detained. That fact alone would have fueled the fire for a militant nation, yet none of the people from Maldura had resorted to force. That was because...
“You used that ability to not only issue a cease-fire to free the Maldurian soldiers detained here, but to inform your home country as well. Perhaps through the eyes of the witch there, you were waiting for information about the cure to be released.”
It was a little late to feel this way, but I suddenly found myself terrified.
Disclosing prescriptions for therapeutic drugs and providing raw materials free of charge—without that, war might have commenced long ago. I once again thought that even those with a gentle atmosphere could be scary and shouldn’t be taken as they appear.
“You are also a shrewd person, Your Highness,” Prince Reglisse remarked, sounding just as shrewd himself.
Something that would certainly stop the Maldurian army from attacking... If I hadn’t studied the abilities of people from other countries, this situation might not have been resolved peacefully. I wondered how far he could foresee the future. Prince Christopher didn’t need Sauslind’s Brain. That was the nature of a king, I thought again to myself.
“Hmph,” Prince Irvin interrupted, sounding sarcastic. “In the end, no matter how you tried to cover your tracks, you were relying on others, right?” Prince Irvin laughed, saying that the crown prince alone couldn’t receive all the credit. Then their verbal battle resumed.
“It’s normal for a member of the crowd to be jealous of the main character, so please envy me as much as you can,” Prince Christopher said immediately with a sneer.
“Well, I’m the one who spent so much time with El that the main character’s shadow faded into the background,” Prince Irvin retorted.
“What?!” the prince exclaimed.
It was only at this moment that I finally understood the significance of having Prince Reglisse sitting opposite me. His Highness and Prince Irvin were boldly arguing in front of others, so maybe they were actually good friends?
In order to proceed with the conversation with Prince Reglisse, I decided to concentrate on the division of roles, because they needed to take the cure and return home as soon as possible.
The next day, during a senior ministers council, the emergency return of the Maldurian delegation was formally decided. It happened unusually fast, but the Maldurian delegates seemed ready to go home before it even happened. It all proceeded very smoothly and naturally. Only a small number of people gathered in front of the royal castle to see them off.
On the way to the border, the same Black Wing Knights who had accompanied me on the way to the Ralshen Region were supposed to escort me, but instead, General Bakula himself showed up. I was worried about his injuries and told him he didn’t have to come, but he gave me an irritated look.
“I could fight an entire regiment from the enemy by myself!” he boasted.
When I was about to return to His Highness and Prince Reglisse, who were exchanging greetings, Prince Irvin took me to the side, near a carriage waiting in front of the royal castle where people were preparing to leave. It was quite noisy.
“To be honest, I was testing you,” Prince Irvin stated. I blinked in surprise, and he flashed me a self-deprecating smile. “I believe that my brother is the right person to be the next king of Maldura, even if he goes against my wishes. Even if he decided to fight against my motherland, which my mother protected even after her existence was erased. Even if he declared war against Sauslind.”
I also remembered that night in the blizzard. As a prince of Maldura, Prince Irvin had declared that he would not hesitate to fight if his position changed. The reason he had felt so anxious then was that he had still been uncertain.
And that was what I had thought before, when I learned about the conflict between Queen Amalia and His Majesty the King. I wondered what I would do if Prince Christopher was set on going to war, no matter how much I tried to stop him.
“However...” Prince Irvin’s voice brightened. “When someone tries to make a decision that you don’t like, you do whatever it takes to stop him. Even if you have to do it by force, like with Jean.”
I felt embarrassed when Prince Irvin laughed. The smokescreen that had stopped Jean was still in the testing stage and was a little lacking in improvements. As the old saying went, failure was the foundation of success.
He laughed again, as if reading my mind, and said, “I have a lot to learn from you. If my brother and Maldura try to head down a path I don’t want, which will lead to our dark history repeating itself, then I’ll stop him with force. I’ll carry on those feelings that my mother left behind. I will not turn the land I love into a battlefield. I’ll be like a ladybird protecting the Eidel flower.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Ever since I had met Prince Irvin at the Autumn Hunting Festival, he had helped me and encouraged me so many times. If it hadn’t been for him, perhaps I wouldn’t be here now. That thought crossed my mind, but I forced it away as I stared back into his black eyes.
“I still want to kidnap you. I’m not lying,” he said, his gaze piercing. Those inviting black eyes; that unfamiliar, foreign scent; that seductive gaze that revealed the culture, customs, and lifestyle of an unknown country. He had done so much for me, yet there was nothing I could do to personally repay him. It was painful, to the point where I felt as if I were suffocating. Nevertheless, I returned his gaze and slowly shook my head.
He quietly took a deep breath, as if he had expected that response. “I wanted to take you out of high society, to the sea and the unknown countries beyond.”
Goodness. I suppressed the pain in my chest and smiled back at him. “Lord Irvin, will you jump out into that world, write a book, and tell me about it?”
Prince Irvin’s eyes went wide, then he laughed. I scored a point on him.
When I turned my gaze back to him with a smile, his typical grin was back. Then he bent down and whispered in my ear, “The look on your face when you hold back your tears is so adorable it makes me want to pin you down.”
My breath caught in my throat. Prince Irvin continued to tease me, even though the blood rose to my cheeks.
“When we rode on horseback together, I embraced you many times. Although you’re very slender, you’re still soft in all the right places...”
“L-Lord Irvin?!” I was speechless.
I then heard Lord Glen cry from behind me, “Whoa... Stop it, Chris! Don’t try to take my sword! Calm down!”
Um, Your Highness? I looked back in a hurry, and Prince Irvin laughed cheerfully in front of me. It was time to say goodbye, as Glen screamed in the background, “Don’t forget we’re in the royal palace!”