The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10
“The Margrave? How dare you speak so rudely to your aunt….”
“Your Excellency, please calm yourself!”
A short man threw down his bow and clung to the raging Margrave, trying to restrain him.
Though he merely dangled in the air like a cicada clinging to the Margrave’s flailing arm.
“Aren’t you ashamed before the Holy Knights? You’re the one bringing disgrace to the family—please stop this!”
He was the type to speak his mind even while sweating profusely.
Curly brown hair and large horn-rimmed glasses. I acknowledge you.
“Is that man an advisor?”
Wolfgang, who had drawn close without my noticing, asked.
I was wondering the same thing when an unexpected answer came from Rotar.
“He is the Margrave’s Consort. Though he did originate from an advisory position.”
“…Consort? That man?”
Wolfgang murmured in disbelief.
Now that he mentioned it, I recalled the information I’d gathered before meeting the Margrave—something about a romance and marriage to a commoner advisor ten years his junior. Seeing it with my own eyes felt peculiar.
In any case, the curly-haired man seemed to have succeeded in calming the Margrave down with considerable effort.
Though his gesticulating toward me while flailing his arms and legs was somewhat irritating, the Margrave’s expression was gradually softening.
Soon the Margrave exclaimed in a gentler tone.
“I’ve kept my niece standing for far too long! Come inside at once.”
Yes, I was the excuse.
The Margrave and his Consort disappeared rapidly from the tower top. Shortly after, I heard a brief click of the tongue.
“This is partly why I was reluctant to come.”
Rotar swept back his bangs with a sharp expression. Yes, it was rather harsh.
I had no confidence in soothing Rotar the way the curly-haired man handled the Margrave. Instead, I picked up the edelweisses scattered on the ground and handed them to him.
“Win through psychological victory. Imagine each of these flowers as something the Margrave dropped.”
“….”
Now that I imagined it myself, it didn’t seem very effective. Rotar’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
Yet the bouquet of edelweisses in his arms seemed to please him. After a brief sigh, Rotar brought the flowers beside my face and whispered.
“They suit you well. A flower that resembles you.”
“In what way?”
“In your persistence.”
Was that an insult or a compliment?
While I pondered this, he placed the bouquet in my arms and walked ahead. Wolfgang, standing beside me, nodded and added his own words.
“I agree with that assessment. The Holy Maiden certainly has a nature that survives no matter how much one tramples her.”
“Should I test that theory on you?”
“My, why react that way to a compliment?”
After kicking his shin, I followed Rotar.
Soon after entering the castle’s interior, I found it modest yet dignified. The crimson lighting and red carpets placed throughout were quite effective.
The Margrave and his Consort were nowhere to be seen. Instead, an extremely elderly Butler who looked as though he might collapse at any moment greeted us with a trembling frame.
“Welcome, all of you. Hehehehe.”
The Butler instructed several maids to guide the Holy Knight Order to their quarters.
Then he walked toward the staircase, saying he would personally show Rotar and me to our rooms.
“Your Highness has grown even more robust in my absence, haha.”
“Your words alone are appreciated. How is your body?”
“Oh, I’m living day to day, haha.”
“Don’t speak like that. Death comes to all in its own time.”
What kind of conversation was that?
I half-listened to the exchange between the Butler and Rotar while examining the interior of the castle more carefully.
Three visible floors. Yet in the corner of the first floor, I caught a glimpse of stairs descending underground.
Given how openly it was positioned, it didn’t appear to be a secret passage.
“Butler. What do you use the basement for?”
At my question, the Butler’s head tilted.
For some reason, his beady eyes behind the monocle seemed to glimmer.
“The basement! A truly magnificent space, haha. It’s divided into two main levels. The first level contains the Prison, Torture Chamber and Discipline Room….”
“….”
This Butler was also rather peculiar.
Yet what followed was quite intriguing.
“Below that lies the Treasure Vault. You might say it contains spoils of war that the Staufen Family has skimmed off for generations rather than surrendering to the Imperial Palace, haha.”
“Show me that first. Right now.”
I caught the scent—the refined aroma of generations of embezzlers’ prized collection.
Yet even as I descended the basement stairs, I could not have anticipated it.
“…What?”
That I would encounter here the soulmate I had yearned for my entire life.
***
Let me move the schedule forward.
The Butler, faced with the new mistress’s directive to ransack the pantry, readily nodded and changed course.
“Shall we take a leisurely tour starting from the first basement level? It holds many cherished memories for me as well, hehehehe.”
How does one accumulate memories in an underground prison? Puzzled, I descended the stairs behind the Steward.
Upon reaching the basement, iron-barred cells stretched in neat rows. No prisoners were visible. However.
“Oh? It seems that one hasn’t been cleaned yet, hehehehe.”
…A single cell drenched in blood caught my eye.
I pretended not to see it. The same restraint was necessary when I discovered the iron door standing alone between the cells.
A door handle fastened with approximately five locks. Above it hung a plaque reading “Torture Chamber and Discipline Room.”
Why on earth? Does the Staufen Family use the same implements for torture and discipline?
While I pondered the moral standards of the Staufen Family, the Butler felt along the wall near the Torture Chamber and Discipline Room.
Soon the seemingly ordinary wall rose into the air with a metallic clang.
“Please follow me carefully from here.”
The passage descending to the next basement level was considerably dark, illuminated only by the lantern in the Butler’s hand.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, my mouth fell open the instant I glimpsed a portion of the basement reflected in the flickering light.
“If I were the Emperor, the Staufen Margrave would face immediate execution.”
“That might indeed occur if discovered, hehehehe.”
Ah, I’d only thought it to myself. Yet there was reason for teasing the keeper of truth.
Gold, silver, jewels and ornaments. Dazzling treasures literally piled like mountains. What in the world—had he gathered these treasures as though displaying them at a common market?
The Butler walked without hesitation through the darkness, lighting the wall sconces. The entire basement level soon blazed with illumination. The moment I took it all in, a thought crystallized.
“I would never worry about money for the rest of my life.”
“So long as one evades pursuit successfully, hehehehe.”
Ah, I’d only muttered it to myself again.
I wiped the saliva dripping from my mouth with my hand. It was immediately after that I discovered a rod protruding among the glittering jewels and precious metals.
‘Hmm?’
Unlike the other treasures, it was matte and dark. Examining the rod’s end closely, I noticed a circular hole bored through it—something about it felt….
“…What?”
It was far too familiar. Chillingly so.
I immediately knelt and pulled the rod from the mountain of treasures.
“Elise?”
A startled voice drew closer from behind me.
“There are sharp jewels here. Please lift your knees.”
I heard the rustle of a jacket. He seemed to be trying to place something beneath my knees. I apologize, but I had no capacity to worry about that.
I lifted the object I’d barely extracted from the heavy treasures and placed it upon my palms. For a long while, I stared at it in silence.
“Elise, what is the matter?”
A hushed voice settled near my ear, tinged with slight tension.
I slowly raised my head to face Rotar. And I asked.
“Rotar, do you know what this is?”
Rotar gazed quietly at what I held in my hands, then spoke.
“An ancient weapon of mages, is it not? Perhaps its name is….”
“A gun, yes. Heh heh.”
Yes. A gun.
I averted my gaze once more.
Walnut-brown stock. A slender cylindrical barrel. The trigger nestled within its guard.
‘In my next life, I want to live long. With hands that are whole and unblemished.’
The sole wish that had dragged me to this point—the only reason I had ever prayed. It was the entirety of my former life, granted but once.
The only weapon I knew how to wield had finally fallen into my hands on the sixth cycle.

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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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