“Hey, Albert, what do you think?”
Albert’s expression twists in reaction to Cate’s sudden question. “About what?”
“About that Lia girl—think she’s promising?” Cate whispers to avoid others hearing of her identity as a girl.
“That remains to be seen,” Albert replies flatly. Mark listens silently.
“I think she’ll transform before our eyes,” Cate murmurs playfully.
Using my blindfold and poor vision as an excuse, I grip Victor’s hand as I dive into the lake’s waters.
Ugh! It reeks!
This is literally a rotten swamp. How stupid am I to think clear waters would be waiting beneath the murky surface?
I desperately swim deeper into the gray water, snorting a little air out of my nose as I go. I sense Captain Marius and Jurd behind me.
Will those boys be okay?
I know I don’t have time to worry about them, but I turn around to check on them anyway.
“Soldiers are expendable.”
Victor’s words echo through my mind. They send shivers down my spine.
Guess I’ll have to carry out this mission with Death peering over my shoulder. The bottom of this lake holds something so valuable, Victor would sacrifice his own men to get it… I’m coming out of this alive, no matter what it takes.
I muster my wits and put everything into swimming downward. I suddenly spot an opening by one of the boulders.
I think that space will fit one adult.
I glance toward Victor. He motions with his hand, telling me to swim inside. He must have spotted it, too.
I firmly grip the boulder, fighting against the water pressure to squeeze myself through the hole. The moment my upper body is inside, I’m taken by a powerful current.
Wh-what?! What’s happening?
I clench my lips and pinch my nose shut.
If I don’t make it out of this hole, I’m absolutely drowning to death.
“Agh!”
The current flings me atop the flat surface of a boulder, and I take as big a breath as I can.
I can breathe!
I drink in all the oxygen at once. I’m wheezing and gasping for air, but I made it without swallowing any poison. Victor, Captain Marius, and Jurd are all flung onto the rock beside me in that order.
Okay, Princey, I made it here without dying. Where’s my damn medal?
I steady my breath as this taunt runs through my head. Once I finally calm down, I glance at the others and see they’ve already recovered.
……What are your bodies even made of? I need to train harder.
“Hey, kid, you’ve got balls,” Captain Marius says, flashing a toothy grin.
Victor takes the lead. We leave the boulders and travel deeper into the cavern. I balk for a moment, unable to see what lies ahead.
There’s no light. How does he know where we’re going?
Nevertheless, Captain Marius and Jurd follow Victor obediently, without complaint. It smells like a dirty dishrag that’s been soaked for days in here, but it’s tolerable. To be honest, Roana Village smells worse.
“Ouch!” Jurd’s voice echoes through the cavern. He stubbed his toe on a big rock.
Victor ignores him and carefully trudges forward, pressing his hand to the wall as he goes. I trained to navigate without sight out of admiration for Old Man Will, but the darkness has to be terrifying to people who aren’t used to it.
After all, we have to navigate through this dark tunnel without a flashlight—er, without a torch.
“We’re splitting into two groups.”
Victor’s sudden command brings us to a halt. I strain my eye and see that the path diverges. This is uncharted territory for all of us.
I can hear a faint trickle of water coming from one of the paths… Maybe there’s a waterfall.
“So I take it there’s something at the end of one of those paths…,” Jurd mutters.
“There might be something at both of them,” I say.
“Or there might be nothing at either of them,” Victor replies.
I’ll just pretend “there might be nothing at either of them” was never an option.
Imagine, there being nothing after everything we’ve been through… That’s a heavy crime. I’ll make Victor run a lap around the palace on his hands.
“How are we dividing the groups, Your Highness?”
“I’m going with the brat.”
Why me?!
“Are you sure about that?” Captain Marius asks.
“You got a problem with it?”
“No, er, it’s just, Bitsy here might be too big a burden…”
“I agree. We cannot entrust your life to a rookie like him,” Jurd cuts in.
Quite right, gentlemen. I’m just a guy who can’t tell my ass from a hole in the ground.
Victor frowns at their protests. Then he turns his glaring eyes straight at me.
What an intimidating gaze…and why must I be on the receiving end of it?!
“Hey—will you abandon me to save yourself?”
“……Hyep?” I blurt out, completely taken aback.
“Would you ever abandon me to save yourself?” he asks me once more, sizing me up.
Would I abandon him……? That would be the cringiest thing ever!
I mean, I have no loyalty for this kingdom or its prince whatsoever, but I’m no weasel.
History’s greatest baddies would never stay silent if I did such a thing. Their baddie ghosts would stab me in my sleep.
“I don’t want to die, either, so I’ll save you, even if I don’t want to.”
The trio react to my declaration with confused expressions.
“Anyway, Your Highness, I’d rather die in your place than do something so weaselly.”
“What a weird turn of phrase… And you damn well should be willing to give up your life for your prince,” Captain Marius rebukes me.
Oops, that’s right. I’m on Victor’s special task force right now. What the hell am I here for, if not to protect him with my life?
“Well, I know you’re rough around the edges, Lia, but that’s why I can trust you,” Victor says.
“I can trust you”—those words are music to my ears. I feel accepted. After all, many people can’t be trusted, no matter how long you know them. Though it doesn’t sit well with me that the compliment came from Victor.
“If your life is ever in danger, Your Highness, I’ll laugh in your face while I rescue you,” I declare boldly, standing tall and assuming a diligent expression. Almost simultaneously, a fist descends on my head. “Ouch!”
Curse you, Victor… Have you forgotten I’m a woman?
“A bit after the fact, Your Highness, might I remind you that Bitsy here can’t see?”
Captain Marius…that really is after the fact. Then again, Victor knows I actually can see.
“This kid fought a lion and won. If he dies, that would be the sign of the apocalypse.”
That was a compliment, right?
““Fair point,”” Captain Marius and Jurd say in unison.
“So which path are we taking?” I ask.
“Which is speaking to you?” Victor asks.
“I don’t want to go down the one that leads to water.”
“……Water?” Victor raises an eyebrow. The other two look at me, obviously puzzled.
“There’s a faint trickling of water coming from this path—don’t you hear it?”
I point toward the right. They strain their ears, but can’t hear it.
My senses definitely have gotten sharper since I gave my eye to Old Man Will.
“I can’t hear anything, but if you can, then I’m sure that path leads to water,” Victor says.
“I guess when you’re blind, your other senses get sharper…,” Captain Marius marvels.
“All right, we’ll take the righthand path, then,” Victor says, and sets off.
“Huh? But I just said I didn’t want to go to the water,” I protest.
“Yeah, that’s why.”
Right, I forgot. Victor’s a total troll.
My shoulders slump as I glare at the prince from behind my blindfold.
“You’ve really got a great personality,” I say sarcastically. Victor smirks in amusement.
But I’m not the slightest bit amused.
“I get that a lot.”
“Come back alive, you two,” Victor calls out to Captain Marius and Jurd as he heads farther down the path. I scramble to follow him.
Was that little send-off to his subordinates his way of being considerate?
The cavern is dark, but I can still clearly see Victor’s golden hair. How fortunate that he’s a blond. I can always find him in the dark. The ground is a bit damp, and the air is humid. It’s as if a storm just passed through.
The sound of water grows gradually closer. Victor quickens his pace, hand on the damp wall.
“You were right, kid, there’s water ahead.” His voice echoes through the cavern.
Feels like we’re in a highway tunnel.
“Do you know what the lake’s source is like?” I ask him.
“Nope… What do you think it is?”
Hey, don’t answer my question with a question. You’re the prince of this kingdom. Shouldn’t you know more about it?
“Can’t answer me?” he asks.
“There are limitations to what a person can predict based merely on preexisting knowledge.”
“Use your imagination. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”
“You’re being ridiculous… Okay, maybe there’s tiny gemstones?”
“I wouldn’t mind that.”
I don’t know what answer he’s looking for. But if this treasure hunt is anything like it is in otome games, there’s bound to be some magic at play— Oh, is that it?!