Chapter 172: 172

Chapter 172

 

Anyway, I woke up at the same time as usual at dawn. We woke up early for our morning training every day, so our bodies seemed to naturally wake up around that time. Ellen changed her clothes in her own room and met me at the dorm’s front door.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

We didn’t have proper conversations up until then, but Ellen had tried to initiate a conversation with me for the first time the day prior, so things seemed to have worked out somehow.

We didn’t really have any feelings for each other, but I felt a strange feeling of relief for some reason.

However, there still wasn’t much of a difference from before. We chatted while we jogged.

“Did you have any nightmares last night?”

“ No.”

Looking at her face, her eyes seem less tired than before.

“I had a dream. It wasn’t a nightmare.”

Ellen didn’t tell me what she dreamed of.

“You?”

Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about the fact that she always gave short answers and never tried to continue our conversations, but Ellen was even able to ask some questions to her conversation partner.

Was she trying to change?

She didn’t have to do that.

“I didn’t have any nightmares either.”

Before, I would have tossed and turned multiple times before barely falling asleep. I was so tired I didn’t even have any dreams.

Did she think that I could just casually fall asleep with her next to me? It didn’t matter how old she was, but wasn’t that a bit problematic?

It was more than clear that Ellen Artorius was not feeling flustered in the least.

 

Anyway, there was a question occupying my mind.

“You’re not planning on sleeping in my room today as well, are you?”

“If you don’t like that, you can just come to my room.”

“Why the hell would I do that?”

“If you’re worried about the teachers, we are having vacations, so we could just sleep somewhere outside. We have a lot of money, after all.”

“Why is this conversation going in that direction?”

Why was she giving suggestions as if it was already a given that we would share the same bed? Did she not know the concept of men and women? Of course, I knew she felt very comfortable around me.

Did I have to get ‘Self-Control’ as my next talent?

Ellen didn’t seem to have any intention of listening to me.

 

* * *

 

After our training, we sat down on a bench to rest.

“Anyway, let’s just do this until the vacations are over.”

“Yes.”

After we returned from the Darklands, Ellen, who obviously suffered much worse from nightmares than me, became stranger and stranger.

Anyway, I wasn’t quite sure why, but it seemed like she wouldn’t get nightmares when she slept next to me, so I couldn’t really refuse when she asked me to stay with her until her nightmares let up. It was also an opportunity to train my mental strength.

“And as you should know, I’m a very gentlemanly guy. Ya hear?”

“…?”

This is…

Hey!

Did she not know how great I was? My second life was built on excruciating effort so that I could be considered a member of the general public!

“Don’t ever do this with anyone else.”

Ellen stared at me after I said that.

“…”

She seemed a little confused about what I was trying to say. ‘Did I offend her by what I said just now? Was I talking a bit too carelessly? Should I apologize?’

Ellen thought for some time and then opened her mouth cautiously.

“A while ago, before I went to the Darklands… The gray-haired aunty asked me something.”

“…Did she?”

“Yes.”

Loyar’s nickname was Irene’s Wild Dog, and no one knew her name except for me, Eleris, and Sarkegaar.

That was why the gang members called her Big Sis, other people called her Irene’s Wild Dog, and Ellen called her gray-haired aunty. Whenever that happened, she would get beaten black and blue. However, it seemed like Ellen was aiming for that.

So Loyar had asked Ellen something?

“She asked me if I could die for you.”

Why did Loyar ask her something like that? She thought Ellen was incredibly dangerous, so she might have asked her that as a way to realize the instructions of not hurting Ellen I gave her. 

“I… said that I didn’t know back then. I wouldn’t know something like that unless I was put in an actual situation where I had to.”

Ellen fiddled with her water bottle. She seemed like she was pondering something.

 

Could one die for someone?

One might be willing to protect someone in situations where one wouldn’t die.

However, things might be different in an emergency where one might actually die. One had to be put in that kind of situation first before one could know how they might act.

So that was why Ellen said she didn’t know. She was never in a situation like that before, after all.

However, the answer “I don’t know” wasn’t the same as saying she couldn’t die for me.

Ellen and I had been to the Darklands as well. She had also experienced taking someone’s life at the risk of her own. 

Ellen spoke without looking at me, fiddling with her bottle.

“I… think I can die for you.”

“…”

Ellen seemed convinced that she could die for me. I didn’t know whether she came to that conclusion when fighting with me in the Darklands or after we returned.

After finishing what she had to say, Ellen looked at me.

“You… You aren’t just anyone to me.”

 

Okay.

I then knew what she thought of me.

However, it was then that what Eleris had told me came to my mind. No, I was already aware of it, even if Eleris hadn’t told me.

The truth would much too easily destroy our relationship, and I never thought that my lie would last forever.

We weren’t in danger anymore. No, we had always been in grave danger already.

Ellen Artorius and I.

We might end up in a much worse state than anyone else.

Someday. That could be the case.

“…I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry.

I apologized for speaking such reckless words, but that wasn’t the only thing I felt sorry for.

 

“And…”

“Yes?”

-Pak!

“!”

I flicked Ellen’s forehead.

“D’ya really want to die so unluckily?”

“???”

Ellen’s eyes widened as she couldn’t understand why I had flicked her.

“Just shut up, and let’s go eat.”

Ellen ignored me as if she had nothing to do with me, pouting all day.

* * *

—The Imperial Palace, Emperatos, located in the Imperial Capital, Gradium.

—Inside the Palace.

Originally, it was the Empress’s residence, but after her death, the place naturally became the living space of the Imperial Princess.

It was in the exact opposite area where the Imperial Prince resided, so the Prince and Princess rarely met each other unless it was for an official agenda in a common area in the Imperial Castle.

There was no threat of assassination, as multiple safety measures had been implemented, including tight security and protection. Even if such measures weren’t in place, the Prince and Princess had never made any attempts to assassinate each other like that before. 

Anyway, everyone inside the Palace was under the control of the Princess.

No one would dare to leak any secrets discussed there.

 

And inside the bedroom of said Imperial Palace, where the Imperial Princess resided…

There, Charlotte sat on a rocking chair, not in a dress but in her casual clothes. Almost no light came into the room because of the blackout curtains she had placed in her rather dark room.

The room looked as if it was night, even though it was midday.

Someone was kneeling in front of Charlotte.

“…Your Highness. You… You have to accept it.”

“…We decided not to talk about this anymore, didn’t we?”

The man bowed his head even further at the sound of the Princess’ quiet voice.

“Your Highness, I have put all the information I could find together. I searched all over the continent for personal accounts and information. I’ve been double-checking, triple-checking, quadruple-checking. I’ve looked over your command over and over in case I might have missed something, but the results were always the same.”

“…”

The man was close to banging his head on the ground.

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“The total number of people kidnapped was seven. There was no boy who was even close to his appearance and age group among them. That’s a fact.”

“Dyrus.”

“The boy wasn’t kidnapped! You already know as much!”

“Dyrus.”

“He was much too healthy to be someone who got kidnapped and held captive for such a long time! He didn’t show any signs of starvation. The chances of him being someone who got kidnapped recently, as Your Highness said, are very slim!” 

—Dyrus.

After making some brilliant contributions along with the unidentified boy in the Princess’ escape from the Demon King’s Castle, he had become Charlotte’s escort knight.

After organizing his thoughts, it became obvious to him that it was just too suspicious.

Unlike Charlotte, who was just skin and bones when he saw her, the boy had looked far from that. He had found the magic scrolls straight away. The demons had even moved to help that boy.

And he had purposely ran away…

He had already obtained the complete list of kidnapped people, but none of the people described were in any way similar to that boy.

However, no matter how often he explained that, it was no use. He told Charlotte countless times that the boy was strange and that he should be properly investigated, but she never gave him the order.

“Dyrus. Are you done talking?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Dyrus raised his head quietly and looked at Charlotte.

“What difference does it make?”

“…What?”

“What difference does it make if he’s suspicious?”

Charlotte spoke in a quiet, powerless voice while still looking at Dyrus.

“He could have escaped on his own as soon as he found the teleport scroll. However, he came back to the garrison to save me, and he somehow managed to do it.”

“…”

“Dyrus, no matter how often you tell me such things, it won’t change anything. Even if the boy is suspicious and we aren’t able to identify him. It’s all useless. It doesn’t make the slightest difference.”

“…”

“It would never change the fact that he risked his life to save me. It also doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t even ask for anything in return for saving me.”

There were so many suspicious circumstances surrounding him, but it wouldn’t change anything.

The boy had risked his own life to save hers. Although he was surrounded by various lies, that fact was the truth. Charlotte leaned her body against the backrest of the rocking chair, slightly making it rock.

“My order will stay the same.”

A ray of light entered the room, flashing across Charlotte’s face.

“Don’t investigate the boy anymore.”

Every time light shone on Charlotte’s face, her eyes lit up for but a moment.

Charlotte’s eyes, which became visible for a moment, didn’t shine with their usual golden luster, but were dyed in black darkness, seeming like an endless void.

It was such a deep and dark color that they felt like they led to a limitless abyss.

“Your Highness. He might be the only one who knows how to cure Your Highness’ condition, even if the chance is low.”

“I said it before…”

Charlotte’s black eyes gleamed grimly.

“I don’t want to put his life in danger after he has given me the chance to live just a bit longer.”

A glimmer of hope.

That was why Dyrus had tried to find the boy so desperately, however the Princess refused that. She felt no need to bring him out into the world as long as she knew that he was in a safe place. 

—A certain wizard’s Scroll Shop.

Charlotte and Reinhardt were the only ones in the world who knew that the place was connected to that boy.

Charlotte didn’t tell that information to any of her people.

“I’m tired. Leave.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

After Dyrus left, Charlotte stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘Just… who are you?’

There were a lot of things she didn’t want to accept. However, with each passing day, she grew warier, so she gradually came to accept some of the facts.

‘Are you… really my enemy?’

Charlotte took several deep breaths, covering her eyes with her right hand.

“Haaaaaah…”

When she removed her hand, Charlotte’s eyes were back to her usual golden color.

 

‘Is this cruel?’

‘Wh-why are… Why are you doing this to me? Why me? What are you trying to do to me?’

‘Do you think this is cruel?’

‘Don’t! Don’t do this! Stop!’

‘This is a war between species. It’s a fight that started with the annihilation of the other as a goal.’

‘Don’t touch me! Leave! Leave me alone!’

‘So there’s no reason for us not to have some insurance just in case.’

‘Uuhurk! Urg! Hurrrg! Kyaaaaaark!’

 

Charlotte’s body trembled slightly as she closed her eyes—it almost seemed as if she was convulsing.

She remembered absolutely terrible memories.

 

-Gorge! Bite!

‘U-u-uwa… Uwaaaaaaark!’

‘U-uhuurk! Uwaark! Uwaaaaaaarg!’

 

When she had seen humans eating each other, her bonds of reason had been broken. 

Seeing those who had forsaken their dignity, those whose dignity had been forever lost…

Watching people ripping off the flesh of corpses and even trying to eat the living with no rhyme or reason.

And seeing her mother, who had fed on someone else’s flesh like a hungry ghost.

All of it had made Charlotte lose all reason.

She knew…

She already knew…

She already knew all those things, even if Dyrus didn’t say anything.

She just didn’t want to accept it. That kid’s presence was the only form of hope she had. So all those words were just unacceptable to her.

 

‘Sob, hurk… Sob…’

‘C-calm down…’

 

She just wanted to believe that the boy who had been kidnapped like her had somehow survived.

She knew in her head that it was unlikely, but her heart just couldn’t accept that.

However, she had to accept it. There was so much evidence, so many truths she had no other choice but to accept.

 

‘Hu-urg! Wh-wh… Who. Who are you… How…?’

‘N-no! I mean, I was trapped in here as well!’

 

But how could there have been any survivors?

She had been startled by the boy’s presence. With that, she seemed to have confirmed that she hadn’t lost all her reason and killed everyone. 

She even felt a certain sense of joy.

So she didn’t doubt anything.

However, she had to accept the simple truth that no one could have survived in that situation.

—That boy wasn’t a survivor.

She already knew that there were several suspicious points about him in the countless moments that passed by in the blink of an eye.

The boy… he didn’t know she was locked up there.

He was completely unaware of the gruesome and horrific massacre that left that scene.

That was why she tried to only focus on the most important facts.

—He had saved her life while risking his own.

She just wanted to remember that one absolute truth.

“…”

Tears slipped through Charlotte’s closed eyelids.

 

* * *

 

Nothing had changed since then. We still had few conversations, but we did both exercise and spar together.

The only thing unusual was that Ellen started sleeping in my room, completely abandoning her own room. However, humans were very adaptive animals.

After a few days of doing that, I didn’t really mind it anymore.

Ellen told me she would leave Temple to go visit Loyar, she she came back in the middle of the night that day after she had obviously gotten beaten up by Loyar.

Time passed, and our vacations were coming to an end.

Ellen, Adelia, and I packed our bags and left Temple.

Liana de Grantz, wearing casual clothes, was waiting for us at the entrance.

“You’re just in time.”

We were going to her villa on the Edina islands to play before our summer vacations would finally come to an end.

____

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