The Unfilial Heir Who Tries to Kill Me Tempts Me - Chapter 66

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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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Episode 66.

Alhabah was a distance that could be reached in a day’s leisurely carriage ride from Lucifenia.
But instead of a carriage, we decided to use Teleportation Magic to reach just before the checkpoint.
“You do enjoy making things difficult for yourself.”
“If we arrived in a carriage bearing the Grand Duke’s seal and went looking for the temple, everyone would turn their attention to us. There’s no need to openly advertise that we’re involved in the Seldwich incident.”
Crow Wing must already be searching for me. Perhaps they’d already found me.
We would inevitably meet someday, but there was no reason to flaunt our existence to them right now.
I wanted to enjoy a little peace for as long as I could.
It would be even better if Leoni held strong and eliminated them all before they could make a move.
The atmosphere at the checkpoint we finally reached was grim.
While Seldwich’s inspections had been strengthened as a precaution against crime due to its nature as a tourist hotspot during the holiday season, Alhabah had clearly stationed heavily armed guards who were menacingly scrutinizing every visitor.
“This wasn’t what I expected.”
Something felt off.
No matter how many more visitors the temple had been receiving lately, this level of inspection without even a war seemed excessive.
Something was wrong.
I narrowed my eyes.
At first glance, there appeared to be more guards than visitors.
“Let’s just go ahead.”
Just as I was about to resume my halted steps, the checkpoint suddenly erupted into commotion. A man was dragged out from the city entrance. Two burly guards slammed the struggling man to the ground.
“I’m telling you my intentions aren’t suspicious! I just came to see my younger sibling who lives here!”
“Then why were saws and axes hidden in your bag?”
“That’s because I’m a carpenter…!”
“Enough. Leave.”
The guards who spoke so firmly turned away. The man, looking dazed and hollow-eyed, trudged back the way he’d come with a forced laugh.
Wow.
What was that.
I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it with my own eyes.
Worried I might end up like him, I reflexively patted myself down, but fortunately I had brought nothing but the documents I needed.
“The atmosphere does feel rather strange, doesn’t it?”
“Certainly excessive. Unless they’re planning to seal the city off entirely.”
While Alhabah was a closed city by nature, visitors weren’t normally turned away without reason simply because the temple was located there.
Or was something happening inside the city?
That was when Kaius turned to look at me.
“Is there no planned scenario for this?”
“A scenario? Oh.”
Right, there was such a thing.
After a moment’s consideration, I shook my head.
“I don’t think it’ll work this time. Alhabah isn’t a tourist attraction like Seldwich, and if I gave some suspicious excuse, I’d be thrown out just like that man.”
Look at those unfriendly guards.
They’re more than capable of it.
Instead, I pressed the envelope of Refugee Application Documents I’d been holding into Kaius’s hands.
“Hold onto this. Honesty is our weapon, so let’s go for it.”
Kaius’s incredulous gaze pierced into me.
“You’re telling me to do it?”
“Or should I?”
I’m an exiled criminal.
Would you really trust this to me?
Kaius let out an exasperated laugh, remarking that he only emphasizes being a criminal at convenient times like this.
What can I do about it? It’s the truth.
In the end, he reluctantly accepted the envelope.
“Didn’t you say you’d come alone sometime?”
“Did I? Obviously it’s far more efficient to accompany the great and capable Grand Duke of Lucifenia. I’ll simply sit quietly beside you as your incompetent personal mage.”
I made a zipping motion across my lips and grinned.
Well, what can I say.
We’ve been doing this for more than a day or two now—don’t look at me so strangely.
As we finally approached the checkpoint, a guard carrying a spear approached us with a look of displeasure.
“What brings you here?”
“We’ve come to obtain refugee status.”
“…A refugee? Are you certain? You look like nobility.”
The guard’s eyes swept over Kaius and me with undisguised skepticism.
At a checkpoint in any other city, such insolence would be unthinkable, but Alhabah was different—backed by the temple, the guards could afford to be bold.
“We have refugees under protection in our domain.”
“Your domain? Are you a lord? Which domain?”
Wow. That got his attention.
Look at those wide eyes.
I wouldn’t have opened mine like that.
I glanced at Kaius’s expression, worried. Fortunately, he looked unmoved, and he didn’t seem angry.
When Kaius met my gaze, he quietly raised an eyebrow—a silent question about whether I wanted to reveal we’d come from Lucifenia.
I glanced around discreetly. People were already murmuring and staring at us.
What should we do?
If I’d known it would come to this, I should have just taken a carriage. At least getting through the checkpoint would have been simple.
That was when it happened.
“Why not simply let them through?”
A youthful voice came from behind me. A man in a white robe stood at my back, and beneath his wide-brimmed hat, hair of a pale mint green caught the light.
…Wait?
Pale mint green hair?
“Oh—oh no! Brother!”
The guard who’d been eyeing us so casually just moments before snapped to rigid attention, bowing deeply.
“Where have you been since this morning?”
“I’ve just returned from the slums outside the city. It’s terribly warm today—I’m sure you’ve been working hard here at the checkpoint.”
“Work is nothing, Brother. And you, not even affiliated with the Alhabah Temple, yet you undertake relief activities in the middle of summer like this.”
The man smiled and removed his robe. Opalescent eyes, hidden until now, gleamed beneath the hat’s shadow.
“…Huh?”
What is this?
“So, wouldn’t it be best to let these people through? I know them, you see.”
The soldier looked between Kaius and me, bewilderment written across his face.
“Oh! Is that so? Had I known you were with Brother, I would have let you pass at once. Please forgive my rudeness. Go right in!”
He and his companion quickly stepped aside, bowing so low their foreheads nearly touched the ground.
I was too startled to remark on the soldier’s sudden reversal. Kaius seemed similarly taken aback.
“…Did you know about this?”
“No?”
If I had, I wouldn’t have come with you.
The man pushed the stunned pair of us forward from behind.
“Come now, let’s go inside.”
Half of my own volition and half of his, we passed through the checkpoint, and I spun around sharply.
“Elion?!”
“Charlotte, what brings you here?”
“Well, we came to submit refugee application documents… Wait. That’s what I should be asking you. What are you doing here?”
Elion’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“When you show such passionate interest in a reunion, I can’t help but feel my heart flutter…”
He moved to greet me properly, reaching for my hand with a gentle touch. But before his lips could brush the back of my hand, Kaius snatched it away.
“So you’ve finally taken my advice and retreated to the background, I see.”
“Your Grace certainly has a talent for obstruction.”
Or perhaps the Mage Tower’s affairs have grown dull? You seem to be dabbling in unnecessary side projects.”
“The Mage Tower? I’m a devoted member of the Alhabah Temple, I assure you.”
“Your shamelessness, at least, remains consistent.”
“I’m grateful for the compliment. I pray the gods show Your Grace no favor.”
“Thanks for the blessing.”
Why do they have to strike sparks the moment they meet?
Both of you, stop it.
I wedged myself between the two stiff-backed men and forced some distance between them.
“So what are you really doing here?”
“If it’s similar to why you’re here, then the reason is similar. If it’s different, then it’s different.”
Elion gestured upward with his chin toward the Alhabah Mountains—where the temple stood.
“I came to investigate because the temple’s recent movements seemed suspicious. Had I known I’d meet you, I would have made myself more presentable.”
Elion smiled softly, brushing his own cheek.
He seemed to be posturing more excessively than last time. Surely he wasn’t deliberately playing it up just because Kaius was here?
Looking at Kaius’s expression, which was darkening in real time, that hardly seemed like the wrong guess.
“It seems you’re protecting refugees in Lucifenia as well?”
“Things just sort of ended up that way.”
I wasn’t about to lay bare everything that had happened in Seldwich.
Elion, who had been studying my face intently, closed his eyes and smiled.
“But there’s a problem. Even if we go to the Temple now, it’ll be difficult to obtain your Identity Certification right away.”
What was that supposed to mean?

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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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