Chapter 51
Chapter 51
At the center of the Britain Ducal House, Camelot Palace.
Elysia’s group entered the palace together with the knights of the Pendragon family who had come out to receive them.
Camelot Palace was the symbol and center of the Britain Ducal House, but as its name suggested, it did not possess dazzling splendor.
At a glance, it even gave off a bleak atmosphere.
However, it was by no means shabby.
“So this is the famed Camelot Palace.”
Werner let out an admiring remark as he looked around.
Usually, when one thought of a palace, it was common to imagine towering roofs that seemed to pierce the sky and an atmosphere smeared thick with decorations, as if to display the wealth and stature of the nation.
Camelot Palace, however, was impeccably neat.
Nothing was superfluous, and its structure had been built purely with practicality in mind.
“It’s almost lunchtime, so please unpack your belongings in your assigned rooms first. Our Pendragon family does not neglect its guests, so you may look forward to it.”
“Really? That sounds worth looking forward to.”
At Elysia’s words, Alice grinned.
Since the dungeon incident, the distance between them had narrowed.
Under the common denominator called Ostia, they had shared many stories, and it would not be an exaggeration to say they had now entered the category of friends.
“Hm hm.”
At the high-class facilities she had not experienced in a long time, Alice let out an involuntary snort.
Bayern Academy was the Empire’s finest academy, but there were limits to the environment an ordinary student could use.
Moreover, until coming to Britain, she had been stuck in the infirmary, so she wanted to shake off that stifling feeling.
She placed her luggage down in her private room, which seemed to be about fifty pyeong in size, and immediately threw herself onto the soft bed.
At the sensation of comfort that seemed to envelop her entire body, Alice let out a deep sigh and stared up at the ceiling.
“…When is that guy coming?”
She dangled her feet that had slipped off the bed in midair and recalled the face of a certain man.
An appearance more handsome than most celebrities.
His light brown hair at the academy had been nice, but his original brilliant blond hair and blue eyes were more captivating than any man Alice had seen until now.
Slap.
“…….”
As an embarrassing thought surfaced, Alice smacked her own cheeks.
‘I’m someone who will leave anyway. I mustn’t forget that.’
She buried her face into the pillow and let out a deep sigh, but the lingering image of Leios’s face did not disappear.
And the reason Alice held him in her heart was not merely because of his looks.
In this world, there was no one she could trust.
She had to be on guard even while eating and sleeping, and each day was spent in anxiety.
To someone like her, Leios had become a steadfast pillar of support.
To be honest, even during her academy life, Alice had not been able to fully trust him.
She was told it was because of the Goddess’s Mark, but what did that matter, that he would take her in like that?
As an imperial prince, there would be many more outstanding talents around him.
She herself was just an ordinary assassin with nothing special about her except that she had come from another world.
Of course, there were a few things she had not revealed, but based on the information that was visible, there was no reason at all for him to take her in.
‘But back then…….’
Alice placed her hand over her chest.
During the academy examination, due to the scheme of August, the Empire’s Fourth Imperial Prince, a high-ranking demon had possessed his body.
She had tried to stop the demon together with Leios somehow, but in the end, she herself had suffered a fatal wound.
She did not want to die.
After being suddenly dropped into this world, she had even killed others just to survive somehow.
But for the result to be only this.
Lying on the cold floor, unable to move a finger, the sensation in her limbs began to go numb from the tips.
She already knew it.
That this wound was beyond recovery.
-Please…….
But then, there was a faint voice she heard by her ear.
In a voice more desperate than her own, it pleaded for something.
Just before her life was severed, when all her senses were meeting death, through her faintly opened eyes she saw Leios’s desperate face.
He suddenly stripped off his clothes and put a transparent undergarment on her.
Then, without hesitation, he stabbed his sword into it.
When she opened her eyes again, she was on a bed in the infirmary, warm sunlight pouring down.
The wounds that should not have been strange even if she had died were gone as if they had been a dream.
She was merely floundering from her depleted stamina.
‘Why, why did he try so desperately to save me?’
Judging from how he had healed her near-fatal injuries and kept her alive, he must have used something precious.
If he was an imperial prince, it would not be strange for him to carry at least one such artifact for emergencies.
But Leios did not say a single word about it, nor did he make any show of it.
Rather, he even seemed relieved that she herself had not noticed, glossing it over awkwardly.
So it was hardly strange that when she thought of Leios, a dull ache naturally welled up in her chest.
“…Hup.”
They had told her to come down immediately for lunch after unpacking, so she could not keep holding on to thoughts that led nowhere.
Thus, Alice got up from the bed and went outside.
“Hm?”
While heading down the stairs to the first floor where the dining hall was located, she spotted two sisters on the terrace.
‘Elain, was it? They really look exactly alike.’
Their vivid red hair shimmered in the sunlight.
They were sisters who resembled each other down to their strikingly beautiful appearances without a single discrepancy, yet for some reason, the two were talking about something with serious expressions.
‘Did a monster invade or something.’
Thinking it would not be bad to hunt a few as payment for the meal, she was about to pass by them and head to the dining hall when her feet stopped at a familiar name she suddenly heard.
“…The Third Imperial Prince Leios…….”
“…Of all times, at a time like this.”
Her head slowly turned toward the Pendragon sisters.
The Third Imperial Prince Leios.
She had not misheard.
And so, Alice quietly murmured as she brought her finger close to her lips.
“Blessing of the Silver Veil.”
Wooo—
With a small tremor, her appearance and presence began to slowly fade.
Soon, Alice, perfectly assimilated with her surroundings, moved her steps quietly, approached close to the two, and silently eavesdropped on their conversation.
“The movements of the monster group that had been active inside the mountain range changed in an unusual way. We encountered him while investigating that.”
“…What do you mean? Why would the Empire’s Third Imperial Prince even be in that mountain range?”
“He washed up and fell asleep as soon as he arrived, so I couldn’t ask that far. Even when I tried to get the full story, he made us write a mana oath contract that prevented us from speaking. I managed to slip out through a loophole, but everyone else is bound by the contract. …Thanks to that, we got through a dangerous situation, but.”
Leios von Ribera.
That was Ostia’s real name.
‘Ah, she doesn’t know that Leios is Ostia.’
Elysia was rather dull when it came to picking up on things.
Unless she saw his face directly, she would not realize the two were the same person.
‘Still, to think he’d arrive first.’
At the fact that she would soon be able to see him, Alice felt a slight lift in her mood.
Since he had not shown his face to them, he must have caused quite a commotion in the mountain range.
There was a high probability that the unusual monster movements Elain mentioned had been caused by Ostia.
“…Haah. I really don’t know what all this is about.”
Elysia shook her head while clutching her throbbing temples.
At that, Alice deactivated the Blessing of the Silver Veil and stepped forward.
“Can you guide me to him? I’m acquainted with him.”
“……!”
At her sudden appearance, Elysia and Elain reflexively stepped back and brought their hands to the swords at their waists.
But soon, after recognizing Alice’s face, they lowered their guard with flustered expressions.
“…Sister’s friend?”
“Alice? No, more importantly, what do you mean by acquainted?”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
Alice spoke lightly as she shrugged her shoulders.
The two exchanged looks with expressions that were hard to describe, then turned toward her with troubled faces.
“For now, it’s difficult to make a quick decision on this matter, so please understand. First, may I ask about your relationship with the Third Imperial Prince?”
“Hmm, lord and subordinate. No, superior and underling? Retainer? Something like that, roughly.”
What Alice wanted was a bit different, but objectively speaking, their relationship could be explained within that category.
At that, Elain was about to voice her refusal.
No matter that she was her sister’s friend, she could not rashly arrange a meeting with a prince based on just that.
Even if he was a scoundrel, he was still a legitimate imperial heir of the Empire.
If something were to happen to him, the ones who would be put in a difficult position would be themselves.
“Alright, I’ll trust you.”
“Sister?!”
However, Elysia calmly nodded.
Elain tried to stop her, surprised by that decision, but soon closed her mouth when she saw the trust shining in her sister’s eyes as she looked at Alice.
“Elain.”
“…Alright.”
At present, the acting head of the family was Elysia.
In such a situation, opposing that decision would not be befitting of a member of the Pendragon family, so Elain finally nodded.
“It’s been a few hours since he fell asleep, so it wouldn’t be strange if he were up by now, but since there’s been no call, I guess he’s still sleeping.”
Elain had assigned Leios a room on the top floor of the main building, in case he might run into Elysia or her friends.
She had stationed an attendant in front of it and ordered them to report, but there had been no news yet.
Thus, they headed there themselves.
Knock knock-
“Your Highness, this is Elysia Pendragon Britain, acting head of the Pendragon family. May I request an audience?”
With a light knock, Elysia asked inside in a polite manner.
But no matter how long they waited, no answer came.
“It seems he’s still asleep…….”
Bang.
Alice opened the door without hesitation and stepped inside.
Elysia and Elain behind her tried to stop her with pale faces, but she had already taken long strides forward.
“Hm.”
At the center of the large bed, a blond-haired man with a familiar face was fast asleep with a peaceful expression.
Seeing him like that, a sense of fondness welled up in Alice, but soon, a mischievous urge arose.
“…Miss Alice!”
From outside the door, Elysia called out to her in a small voice with a stiff expression.
But Alice smiled broadly, signaling that it was fine.
“My lord isn’t so narrow-minded that he’d scold his subordinates over something like this.”
Still, it slightly bothered her that he was sleeping so peacefully without a care in the world.
Looking around the room for something that would snap him awake at once, her eyes landed on a sword leaning against the bedside.
“That’ll do.”
Out of courtesy toward the Pendragon family, Alice and the others had disarmed themselves.
Thus, she grabbed the hilt of the sword and drew it.
Shing.
The sharply honed blade reflected Alice’s face.
At the same time, a sound as if someone’s breath had caught could be heard behind her.
Elysia hurriedly tried to throw the whip she had pulled from her bosom, but Alice’s movement was a step faster.
Thud.
Holding the sword in a reverse grip, she stabbed it toward the bed where Leios lay without hesitation.
As the sharp tip pierced through the soft mattress and sank in deeply, Alice could feel the sensation of two arms wrapping around her neck.
“…Hello?”
Thus, she lifted her head, met the eyes of the face she had missed so dearly, and greeted him with a bright smile.