Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 275

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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275. What the Princess Forgot

When she returned to the lobby, her younger brother had taken over Serena’s chair.

He wasn’t just sitting there. The young brat was sitting arrogantly with his legs crossed.

‘That’s bad for spine and pelvic health. Can you break and reattach a curved spine too?’

The bones that would hurt from crossing legs weren’t Serena’s bones, but her brother’s. She was about to overlook her brother’s arrogance when she somehow felt people’s expectant gazes.

‘What? Oh, the chair.’

There was only one proper chair in the lobby. This was because Prince Willow had made exactly one and then stopped making chairs.

There was a chair that came with the alchemist’s workshop, but it had no backrest so you couldn’t lean back.

Since Serena found sitting in chairs more comfortable than sitting on the floor, she often sat in the chair, and somehow the perception had solidified that the chair was exclusively Serena’s.

Everyone seemed to expect and anticipate that the Princess, who was obsessed with seizing control, would chase the Prince from the chair.

When Serena approached her brother, the Number Siblings’ eyes sparkling brightly was a prime example.

‘I’d like to do that too, if I could.’

Serena smiled bitterly inwardly and acted contrary to people’s wishes.

“Straighten your legs and sit properly. You’ll regret it later.”

She pointed out her brother’s posture, but yielded the chair.

“Ah, that’s the Princess’s cha—”

Serena cut off the Guide’s words and shouted loudly enough for everyone in the lobby to hear.

“Let me introduce him again so no one is unaware. This person here is His Highness Prince Pakling. He is the one who will become His Majesty the King of Huji in the future, so show proper respect.”

“Hmph.”

Seraph snorted arrogantly and crossed his legs the other way.

‘I heard alternating which leg you cross is worse than always crossing the same side.’

Though she had given advice born from experience, her brother was still young and the advice didn’t seem to resonate. Serena said no more.

When the Princess respected her brother’s authority, those who understood power accepted it, while those who didn’t fell into confusion.

Prince Willow, who had been watching the situation most interestedly while pretending to prepare food, subtly raised the corner of his mouth.

Serena rubbed her temples.

‘So this was the problem when Seraph came to the lobby.’

In the presence of others, she had to unconditionally establish her brother’s authority. Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to worry about such things when Serena could just hold the power?

‘No. Then the hierarchical order within the labyrinth itself would be endangered.’

Why do you think Count Alpha immediately knelt and gave a grand greeting upon seeing Prince Willow? As a strong person, he knelt before the Prince’s status to maintain the hierarchical order.

Serena’s yielding of the chair to her brother was for a similar reason.

Since Serena, the absolute ruler of the lobby, lowered her posture first, naturally the people in the lobby would respect Seraph more than Serena.

However, this also created side effects that Serena didn’t want.

The phenomenon Serena least wanted. The appearance of someone with higher status than herself had become reality.

‘I was only wary of Father, but there was Seraph too.’

In a hierarchical society, a subject’s achievements directly translate to their master’s accomplishments. If she wasn’t careful, there was a possibility that all of Serena’s activities would be absorbed as Seraph’s achievements.

To prevent this, Seraph, the beneficiary, would need to recognize his sister’s consideration and share power. But Serena couldn’t trust her brother.

‘Even when I respected him so much, he still whined that I wasn’t taking care of him.’

It was fortunate that Seraph was only staying in the lobby briefly.

If Seraph had completely joined the lobby, Serena would have worried about how to distribute power until her abundant hair became like the High Priest of Effort’s.

Serena stood beside Seraph who was sitting in the chair and gestured to Grey. Grey had been circling around Serena like a hyena, looking for a chance to speak to the Princess.

“Report.”

“Sister Sesi succeeded in taming the Labyrinth Chicken that’s the floor boss, and the vending machine produced grains like barley and rice which we purchased. What about Your Highness? What happened?”

The old man showed off a child’s lung capacity, finishing his report without taking a breath, then asked a question.

Serena’s gaze turned again to Shullen’s grave in the corner. Serena sneered inwardly.

‘If I were truly a good sister, I wouldn’t have left him to look at the grave alone before giving up the chair to secure his authority.’

Serena swallowed a sigh and tried to sit on the floor to share what had happened on the 11th floor.

It was a bit uncomfortable with her ankle fixed in a splint, but Prince Willow skillfully supported her.

“Please sit here.”

The Prince brought a low chair and placed it behind Serena.

“Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Of course! Princess Your Highness’s pleasure is Lord Willow’s pleasure, and my pleasure too!”

Grey even clapped his hands in delight. Seraph, who had been sitting in the chair, suddenly frowned, making an expression as if his stomach was twisting and he might vomit.

Even though the chair was low, having a backrest made it definitely more comfortable. Serena sipped the tea that was served to her second after her brother and shared what had happened on the 11th floor with the remaining group and the second attack team.

At the story that the priest group had been completely wiped out by Duke Oren alone, not by the labyrinth’s monsters, traps, or gimmicks, even the Number Siblings who had been eavesdropping on the conversation darkened their faces.

“I see. So Uncle and Brother Sirius…”

“I owe a debt to the Prince and Count Alpha. I will surely repay this.”

“Please don’t say such things, Serena Your Highness. Aren’t we companions joining forces to escape the labyrinth? If you don’t let us do what we can, Sirius would rather be angry. Hahaha.”

“If this is how things are… it might be wise to halt the attack and wait for rescue…”

At the story that the Sword Master’s sword energy had cut through the prison made by Earth’s divine magic in one stroke, Grey hardened his soft cheeks and pondered seriously.

Hearing the old man’s muttering, Olive asked.

“Is the rescue team really coming? There’s no news.”

“They’ll come! They definitely will!”

While there’s a saying that no news is good news, rescue team news should be an exception. Perhaps he had been secretly worried, as Grey got angry in advance.

Perhaps his head hurt because of the rescue team with no news at all, as Grey held his head with one hand and extended his remaining hand to the Princess.

“Show me that magical tool that came from the treasure chest. Olive said it was something she’d never seen before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That way of speaking, really.”

At Olive’s impudent way of speaking, the child’s hand moved toward the staff, then stopped just before touching it.

Serena handed over the object presumed to be a coin patch to the old man. Since there were two, she gave one to Countess Nex.

Cold ashen eyes carefully examined the magical tool(?) from the box. Seraph, sitting in the chair looking down at people, examined the old man’s round crown with bewildered eyes.

A child participating in an important meeting was one thing. The Prince taking on the role of secretary was another thing.

But how should one interpret a child leading the meeting?

As Seraph fell into confusion and was about to send a silent question to his sister, Countess Nex spoke first.

“This is… a magical tool that you attach somewhere to use.”

‘Coin patch.’

Serena put all her energy into managing her expression and maintaining a poker face, when Countess Nex added.

“I think you need to attach the two pieces to different places for the effect to manifest.”

‘Right. Some people use coin patches by attaching two centered on the painful area.’

“I’m sorry. Unless I use it directly, this is all I can figure out.”

“I think I know a bit. If my guess is correct, this is a treasure of the labyrinth.”

At the old man’s confident words, Serena was quite surprised.

‘A coin patch is a treasure like the golden egg-laying Golem Chicken?’

Explaining a hundred times can’t compare to seeing once directly. Grey looked around and beckoned to Serena with his finger.

“Princess Your Highness, please lend me your staff.”

“How impudent!”

“I’m sorry, Aunt!”

At the thunderous scolding, Grey was startled and apologized to Philia.

Then, realizing the scolding hadn’t come from Philia but from another direction, he turned his head toward the correct direction where the scolding had fallen, and looked up.

There was a beautiful boy who could be called the greatest beauty of Huji in a different sense from Philia, scrunching up his pretty face.

“You’re not even an ignorant fool who doesn’t know royal nobility! How dare an attendant serving the Imperial family disrespect the most prestigious and noble royal house of Huji on the continent?”

‘Oh dear.’

Serena sighed inwardly. Just when he seemed to have grown a little, why was he acting like a painted troublesome royal again?

Prince Willow put down his pen and paper and bowed politely to Serena.

“I apologize for my servant’s rudeness, Serena Your Highness.”

“I accept it. May I decide the attendant’s punishment?”

“Of course. Since he’s still a child, I only ask that you avoid harsh punishment.”

The Imperial Prince had personally bowed and apologized, and the punishment of the erring attendant had become Serena’s responsibility. She thought this was sufficient, but Seraph’s frowning face showed no signs of relaxing.

The moment Prince Willow, noticing Seraph’s uncomfortable feelings, reached out to help Grey bow his head, Seraph suddenly stood up from the chair and pointed accusingly at the Prince.

“I can’t stand it anymore! Get away from that child right now, you filthy hypocrite!”

Seraph boldly walked between the Prince and Grey, hiding the old man behind himself.

“I don’t know about the promiscuous Empire, but here in Huji, we don’t tolerate such unethical relationships! You disgusting pervert!”

Everyone in the lobby’s eyes widened at Seraph’s words and actions.

Especially Prince Willow and Grey, who had been branded as perverts and hypocrites, were confused and felt wronged as they couldn’t understand the situation.

“Pervert? Me?”

“You’re calling our Lord Willow a pervert? This could develop into a diplomatic issue.”

Seraph looked at Grey, who came out from behind him to defend the Prince, with genuine disgust.

“Good heavens. How did he brainwash a young child to make the victim take the perpetrator’s side? You must be acting brazenly because you trust in the Prince’s favor, but snap out of it. Your master doesn’t love you. Haven’t you seen him spreading his charms everywhere?”

“Charms aside, but brainwashing and love? Favor?”

Grey, who had been angry at the combination of words that didn’t suit an attendant, blinked. Serena, who realized why her brother suddenly got angry, screamed internally.

‘Aaaaah! I forgot to tell Seraph to keep his mouth shut!’

To make excuses, it had been too long since she last warned him about rumors, and so many big events had happened on the 11th Layer that there was no opportunity to recall the rumors that had been proven false.

As a result, Seraph, who as the Prince of Huji and Serena’s brother knew about the scandalous rumors suspecting the relationship between the Empire’s 5th Prince and his attendant, boldly exposed the Prince’s perverted acts.

“Ha! There’s no use playing innocent! Huji has long since figured out that you’re the Prince’s boy toy!”

“Gah. B-boy toy?”

Grey grabbed the back of his neck upon hearing words that made him doubt his ears.

Prince Willow also jumped like someone who had heard the most terrible sound in the world. No. He jumped as someone who had actually heard the most terrible sound in the world.

“Lord Seraph! What kind of devastating and absurd words are those! I absolutely cannot tolerate such insults!”

“This has gone beyond a diplomatic issue! The Empire will officially protest!”

“Uhahahaha, there was such a rumor? I’m dying, this is so funny I’m dying.”

Olive, who had guessed the old man’s identity, collapsed holding her stomach. Low, who had been flustered watching the guide cry from laughing so hard, grasped the situation.

“Huh? If you’re laughing like this, then it’s not true, right? About the young master and the Prince?”

The Number Siblings, who also didn’t know about the rumors, fell into confusion.

“What’s a boy toy? The pronunciation is weird for an abbreviation of pet.”

“I know that one. It’s the same word as concubine.”

“Huuuh?”

“Cough cough cough cough. Then Grey oppa is, cough cough. The Prince’s concubine?”

Shocked Neet coughed as if her lungs would pop out. The bandage below her eyes got wet with tears.

Countess Nex also didn’t know about the rumors, but quickly denied it for the child’s emotional well-being.

“That’s not right. It must be a misunderstanding. Neet, you have good memory, so you’d know, right? Did the Prince and Grey seem to have such an inappropriate relationship?”

“Cough. No.”

“Right, there’s probably been a misunderstanding.”

The basis for Countess Nex’s confidence was Grey’s magical abilities.

Would a Prince take as his boy toy the genius magic boy who would become the official successor to a genius Grand Mage? Even if the Emperor forgave it, the Grand Mage wouldn’t.

“It’s a misunderstanding as the Countess says. Miss Lavenda, please believe me. I have no interest in young children! If anything, I prefer older women!”

“Haha, I see.”

Prince Willow made eye contact particularly with the mysterious stranger as he desperately made excuses. Lavenda, who didn’t want to get involved in the dispute between high-ranking people, hid behind the young knight who was standing with his mouth agape in surprise.

“A misunderstanding?”

As Seraph glared, Philia stepped forward.

“Since Lord Seraph is misunderstanding, I have no choice but to reveal the truth to clear up the misunderstanding. Grey is actually the late-born illegitimate son of Duke Pein, the Empire’s Grand Mage. Being a late-born child who’s smart and excellent at magic, he was so pampered that he has absolutely no manners. The rumor spread because people misunderstood His Highness the Prince’s desperate behavior, not knowing how to handle his young uncle.”

“Kuheheheheh, I’m dying.”

Olive rolled on the floor again after hearing Philia’s words. Low confirmed that this version was also far from the truth and scratched his bald head.

Unlike Low, Seraph was somewhat mollified by Philia’s explanation. Since Philia only thought about her sister day and night, he figured she would accurately understand matters related to her sister’s honor.

However, the Prince contorted his face for a different reason than before.

“So Duke Pein of the Empire, contrary to his reputation of rejecting countless temptations in the promiscuous Empire’s social circles and remaining faithful to his wife, actually had an illegitimate son, and he’s a twisted person who inserted that illegitimate son as an attendant to his grandson going as an envoy to a foreign country?”

“Kuhak, heukhakhak. Add the information that he’s suffering from hemorrhoids, anal fistula, and anal fissure too!”

“How vulgar. If he’s such a vulgar human being, I don’t feel sorry for him at all.”

Seraph despised the Grand Mage. Grey, who had been complaining of high blood pressure from another Huji Jeolmi’s contempt, suffered from rising blood pressure again.

“I see. So the Empire’s Grand Mage was someone who knew nothing of honor. Even if the boy toy thing was a misunderstanding, it’s fortunate the marriage proposal was cancelled. Right, Serena?”

“What? The marriage proposal was cancelled? Gaah! Gah!”

Grey, who had opened his mouth at words he couldn’t let pass, grabbed the back of his neck again and pounded his chest with his other hand.

“Gah!”

Blood. The old man spewed a fountain of bright red blood and collapsed.

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