“Tenma! Master Merlin!”
When we reached the castle and told the gatekeeper we were there, he went to fetch someone from the king’s guard. Prince Lyle showed up with Edgar and Sigurd in tow.
The prince was about to question me, but Edgar stopped him.
“Prince Lyle, I think we should hear the guards’ report before Tenma’s,” he said.
The prince nodded and took the guards’ report first. After reading it, he said, “Good work. I’ll handle the rest. Consider this report the entire official account.”
Essentially, he was imposing a gag order on them. The guard saluted and left.
“Prince Lyle, you came out here personally... Does that mean you had some idea this might happen?” Gramps asked.
“I did,” he admitted. “Word just came that Chaos escaped from the prison camp mine he was working in. We figured he’d target Tenma, so we were preparing to send guards his way. We were just about to send someone to let you know when I heard that you’d already arrived at the castle.”
“So that’s why you were in such a hurry,” I said.
“Exactly. I’m sorry, I should’ve sent the knights the moment the alert came in.” He then told us that it was his fault that he didn’t do things in the correct order and bowed his head to us right there in the entrance of the castle.
“Nah, Gramps and I are fine. We didn’t get hurt at all. The real problem is that Amur and Eliza were attacked, right?”
They were both daughters of powerful nobles, and since Lyle had accepted fault in the matter, the royal family would need to take responsibility, especially since Amur had nearly been killed. Now, the only question was how they would do that.
“I’ll discuss it with my father and the others. I’d like you to attend that meeting and explain everything you know about what happened,” Prince Lyle said.
We followed him to a room where the king and the others were waiting. The moment I stepped inside, the tension was so stifling I wanted to turn around and walk the other way.
“Tenma, Master Merlin, this way, please. Lady Eliza, over here.”
Gramps and I were led to seats near Prince Caesar. Eliza was directed to a seat right across from the king and Queen Maria. Prince Lyle sat beside the king. In terms of royals, the king, Queen Maria, Prince Caesar, Prince Lyle, Dean, and Jean were all present. Edgar and Sigurd had gone to alert the knights who’d been preparing to attack Chaos.
The meeting began. It seemed like I had come in second to Eliza when it came to apologies, but that made sense given the situation. Gramps and I didn’t mind, so it wasn’t a big deal.
“Tenma, Master Merlin, here are some tea and sweets for you...” Jean said, being extra considerate.
Prince Caesar and Dean also seemed to be walking on eggshells around us, but Jean especially was. I asked him why, and he told me that he felt personally responsible for the girls having been attacked since his response had been delayed.
Apparently, when the news about Chaos’s escape had come in, Prince Lyle had wanted to deploy the knights immediately. However, Jean had convinced him to wait, citing the bad weather. He’d also said that since Chaos was a former tournament winner, they should avoid fighting him and that there’d be no guarantee that Chaos would be heading to the capital. He’d suggested that they organize themselves better before making a move.
“But everything backfired,” Gramps muttered. “Still, anyone would’ve done the same. You made the best decision at the time.”
“Yeah. It’s a shame people got hurt, but no one died. And let’s be real...if you had sent out those knights unprepared, someone probably would’ve died,” I agreed.
Dean started to argue, but he eventually agreed with me. “But... Well, I suppose if three of them couldn’t take him down and Amur nearly got killed, that’s certainly possible...”
Even though Kriss had beaten Amur in the tournament, she’d had the advantage in terms of pure physical strength. Yet even though three of them had fought against Chaos, Amur had nearly been killed. Even if they’d sent elite guards, they could’ve lost their lives.
“There’s a lot more to talk about, but I think we should discuss the details with Father,” Prince Caesar said.
Just then, the king and the others finished talking, so Gramps and I were called upon next.
“Master Tenma, Master Merlin. I am deeply sorry for putting you in danger due to my lack of judgment,” Prince Lyle said.
“I accept your apology. I wasn’t hurt, so please don’t worry too much.”
“And I only showed up at the end, so there’s no reason to apologize to me,” Gramps said.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Please focus on Amur more than us,” I said. “Chaos nearly killed her.”
“Of course,” the prince said. “I’ll make sure to pay her a visit and apologize properly.”
It was weird seeing Prince Lyle like this, but I guess that just went to show how seriously apologetic he was.
“I’ll go thank Amur as well. It’s not an exaggeration to say that her fighting as hard as she could against Chaos was what kept others safe,” he said.
He was right. If Amur hadn’t fought as hard as she had, several of the girls might’ve gotten killed. Or worse, Chaos could’ve slipped away and hurt people elsewhere.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you also did a service, Tenma. We’re all very grateful to you,” the king said.
Then, we moved on to the next topic.
“So the attacker really was Chaos... You say that Amur was holding her own against him at first, but then he drank some kind of suspicious potion, and even three of them attacking him at once wasn’t enough to stop him? I don’t think you’re lying, but there’s so much I don’t understand...”
Since Eliza was the only one who could explain what had happened before I had gotten there, she took the lead in retelling things. The king and the others still seemed confused.
“I’d guess it was something like a powerful performance-enhancing drug. But I’ve never heard of one that can alter your body so drastically and so quickly,” Gramps said.
At any rate, we knew Chaos had used some kind of illegal substance, but other than that, we didn’t have much to go on.
“Your Majesty, Count Sylphid and Lord Albert have arrived,” Cruyff said as he entered the room with Eliza’s father and Albert.