Chapter 50
Chapter 50
“Phew…….”
Warm steam billowed lazily over the spacious bath.
I soaked myself in it while gazing up at the haze filling the ceiling.
“There’s nothing quite like this.”
For the past week, I had been relentlessly harassed by monster attacks.
I hadn’t slept properly, and even when eating, I had stuffed food into my mouth while keeping watch in all directions.
The hardest part was washing.
I had managed to rinse myself briefly in streams whenever I found the time, but for someone who had lived on modern Earth and, even after coming here, had only ever received good treatment, being unable to bathe was excruciating agony.
I had felt it back in the Sword Saint’s territory as well, but it seemed that for me, this was an even greater hardship than eating.
People really had to live clean.
The place I had teleported to and fallen into was said to be the depths of the Haral Mountain Range, bordering the southwestern frontier of the Britain Ducal House.
It was usually a desolate region frequented by high-rank monsters, and the Pendragon family’s knights had been surveying the area to investigate abnormal monster movements.
‘It’s probably because of me…….’
Perhaps because I had been rampaging around slaughtering monsters indiscriminately, any that weren’t strong enough on their own or part of a pack would flee in panic the moment they saw me.
Those creatures must have made their way all the way to Britain Castle.
Well, as long as I kept my mouth shut, it would remain unknown.
Officially, I was the benefactor who had saved the Pendragon family’s second daughter.
As I brushed back my golden hair, wet and trailing down, I felt how completely I had adapted to this world.
Using the name Leios felt as natural as if I had been him from the start.
There wasn’t even a shred of hesitation.
Well, so what? The one living this reality now was me.
“Ah…….”
As the tension drained away, drowsiness came flooding in.
Still, falling asleep in the bath felt a bit much, so I quickly washed up and went outside.
A servant waiting by the door handed me a pure white gown, and I plopped down into a chair, savoring its soft texture.
Once my status as the Empire’s third prince had been confirmed, Elain had provided me with a luxurious room.
It was roughly fifty pyeong in size, similar in scale to the room I used in the Imperial Palace, so it didn’t feel unfamiliar.
I took a bottle of wine from the shelf, pulled out the cork, and poured a generous amount into a glass.
“Mmm.”
I took a light sip, and an extraordinary aroma spread.
Right, one of Britain’s specialties was wine.
Compared to what I had drunk in the Imperial Palace, it was in no way inferior.
Knock knock.
As I was leisurely enjoying flavors I had never tasted back on Earth, I heard a light knock at the door.
I set the glass down and swept my slowly drying hair back.
“Come in.”
At my reply, the door opened cautiously.
Soon, two figures entered slowly and bowed deeply before me.
“I greet Leios von Ribera, Your Highness the Third Prince. I am Elain Pendragon Britain, the second daughter of the Pendragon family that rules this Britain.”
“I am Percival, chief knight of the Britain family.”
“First of all, we thank you for the help you have given our Pendragon family. Thanks to Your Highness, we were able to overcome a great crisis.”
Indeed, perhaps because she was Elysia’s sister, her conduct was strikingly similar.
With her glossy red hair flowing, she showed me proper courtesy with clear, focused eyes.
“That was done as a matter of convenience. Don’t worry about it.”
At my attitude of skipping the preamble and moving straight to the point, she nodded.
Then she asked in a cautious voice.
“May I ask why you were in the Haral Mountain Range?”
“No, you may not. More importantly, what about what I instructed?”
At my firm refusal, Elain’s expression froze as it was.
But at my follow-up question, she snapped back to her senses and hurriedly pulled something out from her bosom.
“Ah, yes. As you instructed, we drafted a mana oath document and ordered all the knights who saw Your Highness to maintain absolute silence.”
“Hm.”
As expected of someone’s sister, her handling of matters was decisive.
I didn’t know which bastard in the Imperial Palace had reduced me to this state, but once I returned, I intended to be thoroughly prepared to cut off his head without even giving him time to prepare.
For that, security was crucial.
Fortunately, they were indebted to me.
When I told them that if word spread that I was here, they should be prepared for the consequences—and brought up the mana oath document—they instead eagerly raised both hands and prepared it themselves.
“It’s an internal matter. No matter how friendly our relations with the Ducal House may be, it’s not something I can tell you.”
Since she didn’t look convinced, I drove the point home.
If Arthur Pendragon Britain—the Duke of Britain and head of the Pendragon family—had been here, it might have been different, but I could easily press down on a single young lady.
“…I see.”
At the repeated refusal, she showed a faintly regretful expression.
“I wish to rest now. If there’s nothing else to ask, withdraw.”
“Yes, please rest comfortably. If you need anything, call the servants outside.”
The roles felt reversed, but power was a thug.
As I waved my hand, Elain left the room while maintaining a polite demeanor to the end.
“Phew.”
In my languid state, the wine made my mind sway.
I threw myself onto the bed and let the drowsiness wash over me.
It was my first proper deep sleep in a week.
Creeeak.
The door to the room where Leios was staying closed with a small sound.
Elain, now outside, pressed her lips together with a stiff expression.
Sensing that the atmosphere around her was unusual, Percival spoke with a cautious look.
“How was it?”
“…Completely different from the rumors.”
There was no way the Britain Ducal House, bordering the Empire, wouldn’t have heard rumors about Leios, the Empire’s third prince and notorious delinquent.
An incompetent ugly man.
A cursed brute.
There were countless insulting epithets used to describe him.
Recently, rumors had circulated that his attitude had changed somewhat, but perceptions deeply rooted over more than a decade didn’t change easily.
However, Elain hadn’t paid much attention to him.
What mattered were the first prince Carius, the most likely heir, or the second prince Darius.
But didn’t they say meetings always came suddenly?
When she had been driven to a dead-end cliff, surrounded by monsters, Leios appeared like the prince on a white horse she had only dreamed of.
Armed with nothing but a single sword and no armor, he nonetheless displayed overwhelming divine might against the monsters, as if that alone were enough.
Each time his soft-looking hair swayed, monster bodies were split apart, and in contrast, his icy, cold demeanor sent shivers through Elain’s heart while stirring a young girl’s feelings.
‘No. I’m the second daughter of the Pendragon family. In times like this, I mustn’t be swept away by personal feelings.’
The appearance of an imperial prince here was significant.
She didn’t know what business had brought him, but whenever something became directly entangled with the Empire, nothing good had ever come of it, so she couldn’t help but be wary.
Moreover, he had even made them draft a mana oath document to prevent disclosure of his presence.
She didn’t know if it was a power struggle within the Empire, but that made it impossible to leak information outside.
‘Even so, if I just let myself be pushed around, the Pendragon family name would suffer.’
Still, she had played one little trick.
Among those who signed the mana oath document, she had removed her own name.
Fortunately, the thoroughly exhausted Third Prince Leios hadn’t checked the document properly and had fallen asleep just like that.
‘I need to decide our course quickly.’
Whether to inform the Imperial Palace, or quietly bury the matter.
On top of that, tomorrow her sister Elysia and their Academy friends were due to arrive.
To ensure the Pendragon family’s honor wasn’t tarnished, there could be no negligence in their reception.
‘I should consult my sister.’
No matter that she was the Pendragon family’s second daughter, handling such a major incident alone was burdensome.
Resolving to speak once her sister arrived tomorrow, she clenched her small hands tightly.
One day later, Britain’s teleport gate.
With a small flash of light, several figures emerged.
Led by Elysia, Alice, Leysias, Yuria, Maria Diark, and Werner—seven people in total—set foot in Britain.
“Welcome to Britain.”
Seemingly in good spirits at returning home after several months, Elysia greeted them with a smile.
The Britain Ducal House was a nation made up of a single city.
As they exited the teleport gate, the compactly arranged urban landscape came into view at a glance.
Everyone exclaimed in admiration at the neat, orderly impression it gave.
“I thought it was a barren land, constantly at war with monsters throughout the year.”
Werner, having surveyed the cityscape, spoke with a hint of envy at the relaxed atmosphere.
Britain was indeed famous as a fierce battleground against monsters, so it wasn’t an incorrect impression, but Elysia replied with a small smile.
“Battles with monsters usually happen more often around winter. When it’s early summer like now, the frequency is low.”
They left the gate and headed outside.
“……?”
Elysia looked around with a puzzled expression.
For security reasons, they had used Britain’s public gate rather than the Pendragon family’s private one.
Since the public gate was on the outskirts of the city, they had arranged a carriage in advance.
But aside from passersby, there was nothing in sight.
“Uh, just a moment. They were definitely supposed to come to greet us—”
As she was about to head into the street, wondering if she had given the wrong time, a group of people surrounded them.
“Welcome to the Britain Ducal House!”
“E-Elain?!”
Elysia let out a startled gasp at her sister’s sudden appearance.
No, it wasn’t just her sister.
The family’s pride, the elite knights, all clad in colorful armor, formed a path before them, looking as flamboyant as if they were heading to a festival.
Snap.
They saluted with disciplined movements.
Faced with the intimidating sight of dozens of knights, the students—except for Alice—hesitated and looked at Elysia in flustered confusion.
“I am Elain Pendragon Britain, second daughter of the Pendragon family that rules this Britain Ducal House. On behalf of the Pendragon family, I sincerely welcome your visit.”
“Elain!”
Elysia called her sister’s name and glanced at her friends with an embarrassed expression.
They claimed that status didn’t matter within the Academy, but outside, such gaps inevitably showed.
Even so, she hadn’t wanted to distance herself from her friends, which was why she hadn’t revealed it.
It was bound to come out eventually, but she hadn’t wanted such a flashy display.
“Well, everyone already knew, so don’t tremble like that.”
Alice stepped forward first with a wry smile.
Elysia, as the runner-up among the freshmen along with the top student Ostia, had overwhelming recognition.
Naturally, many rumors circulated about her origins, and by now, there was no one who didn’t know of Lady Elysia of the Pendragon family.
Still, because she had thought she had hidden it well, she could only stare at her friends in stunned silence.
But even Maria and Yuria, who had relatively timid personalities, were smiling apologetically as if they had already known.
“…Let’s just go inside.”
Under the barrage of gazes, Elysia’s face reddened.
She let out a small sigh, then hurried forward as if her heels were on fire.