A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 92

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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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92.
“That won’t work!”
First, I need to hear what this deal actually entails!
“Minion, what is wrong with you! Do you fall for every handsome face!? That human garbage!! And he claims to love you!”
“W-why are you bringing that up right now, here?”
I jerked away from Ignis and settled onto the sofa.
“Hermes, can we please just discuss the terms of this deal!”
“Wait—is ‘human garbage’ referring to Leonard? And ‘minion’ means you?”
“….”
Yes. Absolutely say nothing.
I clamped my lips shut, and he merely shrugged before taking the seat across from me. Ignis slipped over and pressed himself against my side.
“Are you angry?”
“I’m done.”
I shifted slightly away from Ignis and turned to Hermes. “So what exactly is this deal you’re proposing?”
“You’re Sincester royalty, aren’t you? Order the Myers Duchy’s daughter to use the 【Eye of Truth】 relic and bring me the information I want about Demian. You’ll be meeting him at the Hunting Festival anyway.”
“…What?”
My jaw fell open at the absurdity, and he pressed on urgently.
“The Myers Duchy’s daughter is the Duke’s younger sister, isn’t she? As a family member, she has a responsibility to resolve the family’s suspicions.”
“You may not realize this, but the 【Eye of Truth】 requires an enormous amount of holy power. Using it means she’d be bedridden for a month.”
“So?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Hermes draped one leg over his knee and rested his chin on his hand.
“What’s the problem with being bedridden for a month? She’ll just be lying comfortably in bed, won’t she?”
“Listen here.”
“Demian’s past would benefit you and the Sixth Prince as well.”
“Even so, I won’t sacrifice my friend like that.”
“Are you truly a Prince’s Consort?”
Hermes sighed.
“You don’t understand what matters and what doesn’t. If you can weaken enemy forces by having just one noblewoman bedridden for a month, that’s a bargain, isn’t it? How foolish.”
“….”
“Kindness certainly earns you affection from many. But it will become your shackle.”
Hermes rose from his seat without hesitation.
‘No, that’s an act. He desperately wants to make this deal with me, which is why he came in the first place.’
The 【Eye of Truth】 relic could certainly reveal Demian’s past.
But until now, I had never once considered ordering Cecilia to use it.
Cecilia is not my subordinate.
“Wait.”
After deliberating, I caught hold of this calamity’s mouth.
“I don’t have the authority to command the Myers Duchy’s daughter. But I’ll do my best to ask her.”
“I don’t have the authority to order Miss Myers around. But let me try my best to ask her.”
“Oh, really?”
“But I’m quite displeased at being called an idiot right now. I’m not someone who should be spoken to that way.”
“Ah—so you’re saying you’re a noble Princess?”
“No, I’ve simply been a person of standing since my previous life.”
You wouldn’t know, but I was born in the 21st Century, where constitutions exist.
Hermes wore an expression of utter bewilderment, but soon raised both hands in surrender.
“I apologize.”
“If a single apology resolved matters, why would the Holy Knight Order and judges even exist?”
“Then what do you want? Should I let you hit me?”
“I don’t resort to violence.”
That hardly seemed to be the case.
Ignoring Ignis’s murmur beside me, I continued.
“As an apology and a condition, resolve the rumor between Cedric Myers and me.”
“Are you extorting me?”
“You said being good wasn’t appealing, didn’t you?”
“….”
“If you don’t like it, refuse. I’ll go tell Demian that the Hades Information Merchant wants to know about your past.”
I smiled wickedly, and his pupils dilated.
“I really misjudged you… I’m sorry.”
Hermes asked for a small piece of paper, saying he’d comply with my demands.
I peeked slightly to see what he was writing, and he was writing in dots.
“Isn’t that Morse code?”
“Morse… what? It’s a cipher.”
Right, there was no reason to use telegraph code here.
When he whistled, a pitch-black raven flew in from the window. As Hermes tied the paper to its leg, it flew away again.
“Is it a messenger bird?”
“That’s right. It was waiting outside.”
“So you deliberately let yourself be captured.”
“Did you really think Hades members would let themselves be captured by idiots like Monas Young?”
Truly a princess. A terror incarnate.
I sighed and asked Hermes, who was turning back toward me.
“But Hermes, what exactly is the information you’re after?”
“There’s a woman named Aria. Demian definitely has her. I want her back. Probably… as a corpse though.”
Gasp.
I dropped the pastry I’d been mindlessly eating.
The Priest’s words from earlier came to mind.
—She resembles Aria so much…
—Aria is the missing Priestess Attendant….
“What’s the relationship between Aria and Demian?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to find out, since I don’t know.”
Hermes scratched his head vigorously.
“Aria, the Priestess Attendant, was kidnapped ten years ago to Iaphe Castle. To Lethe Tower, which you can see over there.”
“Why?”
“Demons roam Lethe Tower. Priestess Attendants are efficient at defeating them.”
Hermes turned his head to gaze at Lethe Tower.
“You wouldn’t know this, but that tower creates an exit wherever one desires. When Aria was trapped in the tower, she left through an exit that appeared—and that exit led directly to Blueheart, where Demian resides.”
“Did she meet Demian there and… die?”
“All I know is that Aria went to Blueheart and died there. I don’t know when she left or who killed her.”
For someone speaking of a person he sought, Hermes’s tone and expression were remarkably composed.
“But one thing is certain—Demian must have a reason for keeping Aria’s corpse.”
“Then Miss Aria must have possessed remarkable abilities, didn’t she? Perhaps an enormous amount of holy power?”
“Ordinary.”
“Then… could it be that Demian loved Aria?”
“Preposterous!”
Hermes let out a derisive snort.
“Would any woman willingly stay beside a man like an ice statue? Even the Empress fears her own son.”
“…”
“You must read a lot of romance novels.”
Damn it, I’d been caught.
I fanned my flushed cheeks.
“But why do you want to find this woman Aria so badly?”
A past love? A childhood sweetheart? A separated family member? A childhood friend?
As every web novel trope imaginable flooded my mind, Hermes threw out his words casually.
“You don’t need to know that much. Will you help me or not?”
Hmph, what an expensive man to deal with.
“As you know, Leonard isn’t by my side right now. I can’t make this decision alone.”
Just then, a raven flew through the window toward Hermes.
He untied the note bound to the raven’s leg and read it.
“Those guys really do work fast.”
“Could you possibly resolve the Yeom Moon-seol matter by tomorrow?”
“For me, it’s child’s play.”
“You really do say the most irritating things.”
“As you know, I’m the head of the Information Merchant Guild that controls Blake.”
Hermes, who had been chewing the note in his mouth, looked at me.
“Will you really help me starting tomorrow?”
* * *
A day in the Blake Holy Knights Order was a surprisingly repetitive cycle of tedium.
Sword practice reduced to mere formality, meals devoid of substance, meaningless prayers and worship that served only as holy power training exercises.
Had Cedric truly desired to become an exemplary Holy Knight, he would have given his all in every moment.
But Cedric’s purpose was not to become an exemplary Holy Knight.
He had already reached the pinnacle of his field.
Cedric’s purpose was to gather information necessary for Charlotte by moving through the Holy Knight Order.
Tonight as well, he returned to the Dormitory late.
But what greeted him was a single missed call notification, and the sender was his younger sister.
When he called back, harsh words flew at him immediately.
-Brother! Are you in your right mind?
“…Cecilia. Calm yourself.”
-Do I look calm to you? Well, I already knew you weren’t in your right mind from watching you fail to have a proper conversation with the Princess for years, but I never expected it to be this bad.
“….”
During his brief absence, Cecilia had become increasingly reckless.
“Cecilia. Compose yourself and explain the details according to the five W’s and one H, as befits a lady of the Myers Duchy.”
-The five W’s and one H? What am I, a Harrington Magazine reporter?
A disgruntled voice burst through the communication device.
However, Cecilia soon explained in detail the rumor about Cedric and Charlotte’s engagement.
“…Did the exiled Princesses mention it? Or Prince Benjamin? You two seemed to be getting close lately.”
-Don’t speak as if you’re a third party. The Princess contacted me directly.
Cedric stopped wiping his sword. His brow furrowed slightly.
“The Princess herself? Why?”
-To expose the true culprit behind the engagement rumor, she needs to make a deal with the Hades Merchant Guild’s master, and to do that, she needs to use the Eye of Truth. She asked for your help.
The master of the Hades Merchant Guild. This was the first he’d heard of it.
And so Cedric could once again sense what he truly was to Charlotte.
‘She doesn’t need to explain it to me….’
Or perhaps she had forgotten him.
His chest grew heavy. Cedric steadied his breath before adding.
“Is she planning to use the Eye of Truth on the Empress?”
-The Empress? No. She said she needs to meet with Prince Demian and discover something.

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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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