A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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70.
“Hm?”
“That fellow couldn’t handle anything related to Demian for ten days while searching for you. Don’t you think it’s time he got back to his real work?”
“The Rift….”
“I’ve been sensing it since earlier anyway.”
Why didn’t he mention this sooner!
My jaw dropped in disbelief, but another question crossed my mind.
‘Why didn’t he take me along?’
I possessed holy power too, so I could seal it far more easily than most other priests.
“Will you go?”
“What?”
“I know where the Rift is. I’m asking if you’ll come like last time.”
Ignis added twenty more portions of beef steak as he asked.
I deliberated—not to stop that massive food order, but to seal the Rift—then shook my head.
“This isn’t Sincester. Unfortunately, I can’t move freely here. I’ll wait for Leonard.”
“Ho?”
“More importantly… Leonard will be safe, won’t he?”
“Hmph!”
At my words, Ignis let out a loud snort.
“If that fellow comes back injured, I won’t eat cookies for three days.”
“Is Leonard worth that much to you?”
“Do you have any idea how torturous it is for me not to eat cookies for three days?!”
In any case, he was saying Leonard would return unharmed.
I exhaled in relief, then comforted the pitiful chef of the Princess Palace who was desperately clinging to Ignis.
“Michael? You can stop feeding him now and get back to work.”
“Yes!”
Time flowed on, and it was already 11 PM, yet there was still no word from Leonard that he had returned.
After the Silverstone incident, we had to worry for a while whether Count Pixis’s remnants would threaten us.
Fortunately, knowing the strength of Blake’s steel-like magical barrier and Leonard’s swordsmanship, no assassins had come for us so far.
Besides, the day after Count Pixis died, Nicholas immediately led the Blackwood Knights and captured the remnants.
Still, my unease persisted.
Unable to contain my growing anxiety, I was biting my lip when it happened.
Crash—!!
The window burst open violently, and someone tumbled through, crashing onto the floor.
The unexpected intruder was Leonard. And he was bleeding profusely from his waist.
“L-Leonard?!”
At the sight of him, my body went rigid.
Of course, I had witnessed and endured many wounded before, but it had been a long time since I’d seen wounds this severe.
“What on earth happened?!”
“…Sa, Shar…otte?”
His eyes widened at the sound of my voice.
He looked as though he shouldn’t be here at all.
“Where…!?”
“Where else? Our room, of course!”
“…Damn it. The spell must have gone awry mid-cast.”
He attempted to rise but sank back down with a groan, his expression twisted in evident agony.
“Leonard?”
Whatever was happening, it looked like I’d be dealing with a corpse today!
When I hurried to pull the bell cord, he seized my sleeve.
“Wait! No one must know I’m injured… Ugh, I can’t allow it.”
“What? Then how am I supposed to treat you? Don’t tell me you’re asking me to trust myself? Please don’t trust me right now! I don’t even trust myself!!”
“You truly are… noisy, even at a time like this.”
Leonard frowned and exhaled a pained breath.
“Blake is different from Sincester… There are assassins everywhere. And…”
He seemed to be barely breathing.
Yet his grip on my sleeve and his eyes were different.
There was an inexplicable certainty—a conviction that it didn’t matter whether he revealed his injury or not.
“Leonard, why on earth…?”
And I couldn’t finish my sentence.
Crimson flames were blooming from Leonard’s wound.
The blood trickling down his waist evaporated in heat as the fire burned across his skin like something alive.
“L-Leonard…!”
“…There.”
As he released a steady breath, the flames gradually faded.
Beneath them, the horrific wound had vanished completely.
“This is… impossible.”
My heart raced violently.
Unable to believe what lay before me, I stared at Leonard again.
“What was that just now? Leonard, who exactly are you—”
“…There’s no time for explanations now.”
Leonard rose as though he had somewhere urgent to be, peeling off his bloodstained shirt.
The jet-black garment he discarded had a massive hole torn through its center.
Something had clearly pierced straight through his abdomen.
His organs should have been ruptured, yet he stood perfectly intact, changing into fresh clothes.
I sat there stupidly watching him before snapping back to my senses and cried out again.
“Leonard! Where exactly are you going!?”
“…”
Leonard had already climbed onto the window frame.
In that moment, he looked anything but human.
His ink-dark cloak billowed in the night breeze, his crimson hair drenched in moonlight, and those flame-like eyes fixed upon me.
He bent his legs and whispered to me like a demon, sweet and intoxicating.
“You should sleep.”
…How could I possibly sleep?
But he vanished like a mirage, and I could only collapse helplessly onto the Terrace.
“Did that really just happen?”
* * *
“That bastard was injured?”
When I mentioned last night’s events to Ignis over breakfast, he let out a scoff of disbelief.
“Minion, you’re trying to keep me from eating cookies, aren’t you?”
“Ignis. Do you really think I’d lie about something so trivial?”
“But I’ve never seen that guy injured before. Anyway, if you’re not going to eat those pancakes over there, give them to me.”
“…This is really strange.”
I quickly snatched the pancakes from Ignis’s grasp and recalled yesterday’s events.
“Hey! My pancakes!”
“Hmm, could flame magic possess such an ability?”
“My lady.”
Goodness! I nearly dropped my fork.
Alex, whom I had arranged to meet, was already seated beside me.
“I’ve called several times, but… why do you seem so startled?”
“My apologies. I was lost in thought. Please, have a seat.”
After offering him a chair, I asked the chef to prepare a meal and refreshments.
Ignis, meanwhile, seemed extraordinarily wary of Alex, his tail held stiffly upright like a defensive dog.
Alex’s lips curved awkwardly upward.
“Why does my lady’s familiar treat me this way?”
“He simply adores you, so please don’t mind it.”
“What, what are you saying, minion!”
Ignis fluttered in confusion, striking my hand with his wings repeatedly.
Accustomed to such reactions by now, I ignored Ignis and smiled warmly at Alex.
“It’s been quite a while, Sixth Prince. I’m truly sorry for burdening you with work despite you not being my adjutant.”
“Since I am my brother’s right hand, it is only natural that I assist my lady.”
Alex then handed me two documents.
Identity forgery for the Cleur siblings and Salon de Siren.
Dispatch of Benjamin Prince’s escort personnel and division of a portion of the Imperial Palace’s private assets.
As I read through the documents, Alex’s expression grew troubled.
“But must we truly do this? He is already a defeated prince. There is no need to concern yourself—”
“I believe that what we do will eventually return to us like a boomerang.”
Jack Clore is the finest light mage in Silverstone. Rosalian is beloved by the Prince of Serbi Kingdom.
When one helps such people, greater assistance returns in kind later.
Of course, in the case of Benjamin Prince and the Princesses, it was simply the bare minimum duty as siblings.
“If they accept our proposal, that’s good. If not, then it isn’t. That’s all there is to it.”
“Rosalian is a wise woman. She will understand that was the best course of action. And Benjamin won’t resent his brother either.”
“He won’t?”
I looked at Alex in surprise, and he took a sip of tea with a slightly bitter smile.
“The 3rd Empress despised Leonard greatly. Yet the fact that she took his hand means Benjamin will understand it was her best choice.”
“Why on earth did the 3rd Empress hate Leonard so much?”
“To understand that, you’d need to know Blake’s history in depth.”
“Oh… right here and now?”
At this tea table?
As I sighed, Alex laughed.
“I’ll keep it brief. Historically, Blake’s emperors have never possessed ‘pure blood.'”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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