A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 91

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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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91.
The temporary barracks fell into a chilling silence. Even the lantern that had swayed in the breeze seemed to hold its breath, utterly still.
After a prolonged silence, Leonard’s breathing steadied, dropping a beat.
The sharp anger that had been cutting through him subsided, replaced by cold rationality.
He had always lived like a machine rather than a human, exploiting everything that could be exploited.
William, knowing this, had merely advised him to use Charlotte this time as well. It would be more useful as Emperor, he’d said.
‘But not this. Not this.’
Leonard rose abruptly from his seat.
“If we’re caught not returning the sacred relic, we’ll lose far more. You’re mistaken this time.”
“Your Highness.”
William called out to Leonard once more, but he approached the tent entrance as though unwilling to listen.
“When I return, I’ll send the Blackveil directly to Sincester. It’s for mutual respect between nations.”
* * *
I couldn’t go to Lethe Tower with Alex. I couldn’t reveal that I possessed holy power.
I pretended to be in my office while I went to the tower to practice archery.
Perhaps because the bow and arrows were sacred relics, my practice proceeded remarkably smoothly.
“Let’s stop here for today, Your Highness. If we linger any longer, others will think you’ve gone missing.”
“Understood. Let’s head back now.”
I rose from the floor at Guard Knight Lucas’s words.
But then I noticed a shimmering pink light flickering between the wall’s edges.
“Ignis, do you see that gap?”
“Hmm…?”
“Could it be a rift?”
Ignis fluttered over and shook his head.
“No. I sense many human presences and the sweet scent of that sugary human food I ate this morning, along with the sound of metal wheels rolling.”
“Croissants and carriages?”
“Then couldn’t this be a passage leading to the market?”
“True, Lethe Tower can apparently create exits anywhere at any time.”
Oh ho.
I grinned and turned to Lucas, only to see alarm flash across his face.
“Absolutely not, Your Highness!”
“If we’re caught, I’ll just say I was on an inspection tour~ It’s been a week since I arrived at the castle, and I haven’t set foot outside even once. Does that make sense? Besides, there’s somewhere I want to go.”
“If it’s a dessert shop, I’ll stake my honor and life on stopping you.”
“Good heavens, Lucas! What do you take me for?”
“Well~ given your track record, that’s exactly what I’d expect.”
Ignis snickered, and my irritation flared.
“Ignis, you’re not coming with me. And you don’t need to come either, Sir Lucas.”
“That’s absolutely impossible!”
“Then just Ignis doesn’t come. Besides, I’ve managed fine without you all this time, haven’t I?”
“What!? What are you saying right now?”
At my words, Ignis puffed out his tail and dropped his jaw.
“If I’m your summoned beast, what good am I doing? Lord Lucas, let’s go.”
I heard snickering from behind, but I placed my bow and arrows into the quiver, wrapped them in cloth to resemble a bag, and headed toward the rift.
“How dare you call me useless!? I won’t stand for this! I’ll protect you with all my might!”
Ignis cried out indignantly and fluttered over to perch atop my head.
He tugged at my hair painfully, but it was all according to plan.
* * *
Unlike the Holy Kingdom of Sincester, Blake had few temples; instead, it possessed sanctuaries with altars.
I wanted to see that sanctuary.
The exit from Lethe Tower opened into a secluded corner of the market, exactly as I’d anticipated.
The moment we emerged, I’d already altered my appearance with magic, so there was no risk of being recognized.
The three of us left the alley and hurried toward the sanctuary.
The sanctuary we arrived at was neat and modest.
I approached a Priestess Attendant who was grinding holy water beneath an Aria statue.
“Hello.”
The Priestess Attendant’s eyes widened as she looked at us three.
“Oh my? We have visitors.”
“We’re just here for a casual look around.”
“Please, feel free to explore. It’s small, so there’s not much for me to show you.”
After greeting the Priestess Attendant, I looked around the sanctuary.
There was the altar on the platform, a statue, and a stream of water flowing from it with a fountain—that was all.
“It really is different from Sincester.”
“Aria?”
At that moment, I heard someone’s voice from behind.
I turned to see a man in priestly robes staring at me intently.
“Aria, how did you… survive?”
“Who are you?”
Lucas immediately stepped in front of me, ready to draw his sword at any moment.
‘What did my changed appearance resemble so closely? This is troublesome.’
I quickly calmed Lucas and offered a gentle smile.
“You appear to be a Priest, but I’m not someone named Aria. I’m merely a foreign traveler passing through. You can see that clearly, can’t you?”
Surely I didn’t look exactly like her.
As expected, the Priest examined me slowly, then let out a long sigh.
“My apologies. Your eyes and hair color are the same, but your facial features are different. Besides, that child would be… at a different age now.”
“Are pink hair and green eyes that common?”
“No. That’s why I was mistaken. Especially hair as beautiful as yours would surely be widely known. Aria’s was like that.”
“Who is Aria?”
For a moment, the Priest couldn’t continue speaking.
“Is she someone you cannot speak of?”
“Not exactly… She was a Priestess Attendant who worked with me at this sanctuary. She disappeared at around your age, and I’ve been searching for her.”
“…How troublesome.”
As I stood speechless before such a weighty matter, Lucas approached and cut through the tension.
“Miss, shall we depart? The road ahead awaits.”
“Ah, yes.”
I bowed my head to the Priest.
“Priest, I’m afraid I must take my leave.”
“Forgive me for detaining you. May your travels be blessed with safety and fortune.”
* * *
After that, because Ignis wouldn’t stop chattering about wanting something sweet, I stopped by the city to purchase fried pastries and candies before teleporting back.
But to my surprise, the person waiting for me in the office was none other than the one I’d been searching for so desperately.
“Hades’ Informant,” Alex announced.
Alex tapped the kneeling man’s shoulder with the tip of his sword.
“We found him alongside Josephine’s Son, Monas Young.”
The nameless man showed not a flicker of emotion—befitting a death merchant of information.
I approached him and spoke with all the dignity I could muster.
“Can you find the person who spread those rumors between me and Cedric Myers? I’ll pay double what the Empress gave you.”
At my words, Alex whispered in alarm.
“Do you have that kind of money, sister-in-law?”
“In situations like this, you just throw it out there. Why are you acting so amateurish?”
The man spoke flatly over our hushed conversation.
“I don’t need money.”
“Then what?”
“Interested in making a deal?”
“A deal?”
While Alex’s expression darkened, my heart sank.
Monas Young hadn’t captured Hades’ Informant.
He’d allowed himself to be taken willingly—for the sake of negotiation.
“….”
I scanned the man slowly once more.
「His face bore the mischievous air of a messenger of information. Behind those languid eyes gleamed pale blue irises, and his hair shimmered like water. He looked like a boy who would never age.」
‘This is insane.’
This man is the head of Hades’ trading company.
“…Would you all mind stepping out and attending to your duties? I need to have a word with this ‘subordinate.'”
Everyone, including Alex, expressed concern for my safety, but I compromised by keeping Ignis at my side.
The moment the door closed, Hermes, who had been kneeling, suddenly rose to his feet.
“…What?”
The shackles on his wrists had come undone.
“What is this? These were magical restraints?”
“A keyhole and a scrap of metal—that’s all I need to open anything.”
“All I need is a keyhole and a piece of metal, and I can pick anything.”
The man dangling the rattling shackles toward me wore a smirk.
Now that I think about it….
「Hermes is agile enough to be called a thief who appears once every thousand years.
His weapons of choice are throwing knives, poison, wire, and short swords—instruments of death wielded in darkness.」
“Seeing your expression, it seems you know who I am, so I decided to drop the act of weakness.”
He smiled and held out the cleanly unlocked shackles to me.
“Here. Your shackles.”
“Yes.”
I despise how I become deferential in the presence of the strong.
—Just as I was thinking this, someone snatched the shackles away.
“Ignis?!”
“Get out before I burn it.”
Ignis had transformed into his boy form, his golden eyes gleaming with intensity.
He’s reliable, certainly, but it’s no illusion that if these two clash, this office will turn into a charcoal grill.
“Hmm. I never thought I’d witness a dragon’s humanization in my lifetime.”
Unlike my anxiety, Hermes turned his head playfully.
“Prince’s Consort, will I really get burned?”

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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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