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“I-IT’S not my fault. The high priest… The high priest, he—”
Trembling in fear, Medaikonar chewed on his nails now that his military failure had been discovered. The crown prince. Under house arrest. And because of his confinement, he had no way of knowing if the high priest himself was in a precarious position too.
“Your Highness.”
Ker-chak. The door opened and Keunt walked in. Medaikonar jumped up and clung to him.
“You can’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”
This is the climax, Keunt thought to himself. Thus did he have the opening pages of his great epic novel as he mentally penned a rewrite. The crown prince of Kophe, humiliated and tormented by the blasted Arousing Priestess. And his ever-loyal aide, Keunt, always by his side even after his family abandoned him. Then, when the crown prince eventually staged a stupendous comeback and restored honor to his name, Keunt’s eminence would rise alongside his.
“Your Highness! I’ll always, always be with you!”
“Keunt…!”
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IN order to do something about my lack of physical activity, I laid a mat down in my room and started going through a few stretching exercises. Then Richard came calling. I had just stretched my legs out and bent forward, reaching for my toes with my fingers.
“Flexible as ever, eh, Miss Monica?”
“No knock as usual, hm, Richard?”
“Now, now, don’t be like that. Someone’s usually standing in front of your door when it’s a bad time for me to enter, right? So I don’t on those occasions.”
“I suppose that’s true…”
If someone were to ask me whether I actually disliked his sudden entrances, the truth would be that I didn’t. So in order to avoid such shamelessness on my part being discovered, I mumbled the rest of my words and trailed off noncommittally.
Today, he wasn’t in full military dress. Instead, he wore casual clothes since he was off duty. His hair was in its natural state, untouched by stylists. The first button of his shirt was undone, exposing his collarbones. Like this, he reminded me of the Mr. Redhead I used to know.
“I’m assuming you’re doing this because you’re not getting enough exercise? Which reminds me, we haven’t sparred lately. How about a round?” He grinned and indicated the outside with his thumb. I hurriedly shook my head.
“N-No, thank you!”
“Why?”
“Too much stimulation.”
“Too much what…?”
It was just as I said. Ever since learning that my body’s lustful reactions went haywire only where Richard was concerned, I’d been unable to entertain even the thought of sparring with him, even though our bouts had been run-of-the-mill before. I suddenly found it embarrassing for him to watch me fight in thin clothes. Not to mention watching him in his light state of dress made me drowsy in the strangest way.
He smiled in amusement as I fidgeted restlessly then pointed a finger up, like he’d thought of a new idea. “How about this then? There’s a festival today, so why don’t we visit the castle town together and enjoy ourselves?”
“Um…are you sure I can leave the castle? What with the assassin problem and all.”
“This and that are two different things. Remaining cloistered within these walls as mere decoration for too long will dull your brain, body, and senses, right? Wandering around outside and having fun are also part of your job, Miss Monica. And who knows, perhaps you might even notice something on our jaunt outside.”
“Well, if you insist, Richard, then…yes, I’d like to go with you.”
I stood up and looked out the window. In the castle town below, I saw brightly colored banners and floral decorations everywhere. It was clear the people were in high spirits even from all the way up here.
“Then it’s settled. Don’t worry, we’ll all work together to protect you~♡!” he said with a playful wink.
“I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“No, no trouble at all. Besides, both my subordinates and I need to learn more about Kophe, so this will be a good chance to do precisely that. Right then, let’s all get ready for this little excursion.” He winked at Solarus, who stood patiently in the room. “I’ll leave Miss Monica’s disguise to you.”
“Understood, sir.”