Even after drying his hair with a towel, droplets of water continued to drip from his silver hair. If it had been Irik or Ash, I would have ignored them getting drenched in the rain…
Sigh.
But that wasn’t an option for him. It seemed Redian had been searching for me for over an hour.
“You really…”
“…”
In the past and now, Redian was my only way out. In a state where even my own identity was unclear, Redian was essentially my lifeline. And fortunately, unlike in the original story, Redian and I had a good relationship…
Doesn’t he follow me too much?
Is this okay? Did I treat him too well?
“You do it.” I tossed the towel at Redian.
“…”
But instead of using the towel, he just shook his wet hair with his hands.
The original Redian Hyu Rixon was a character without blood or tears. He was said to be an emperor who stood on a pile of corpses. But this wet puppy in front of me now…
He certainly looks like the male protagonist.
And his shirt, soaked with rain, revealed the lines of his body. The tightly muscled arms and shoulders, even the slender scars visible through the fabric.
“Rere, do you like me that much?” I asked casually while looking at him.
“…No,” Redian answered slowly but firmly.
What? No? No? Noooo?
“Then why were you making such a fuss to find me in the rain at dawn?”
“I wanted to check something.”
Check?
Our gazes intertwined in the air.
“…!”
“Is there really a scar?”
The chill of his body, dampened by the rain, enveloped me. Suddenly, Redian had come so close that our breaths intertwined.
“What scar?”
“Ash Benio…”
His persistent blue eyes were fixed on my neck.
“Did you really get hurt because of that b*stard?”
Ah, so that’s what this was about.
There had indeed been an incident where the old Siani Felicite got hurt. Evidence of that was a very faint scar near Siani’s collarbone, but it was so faint that it was hard to notice unless you looked closely.
“No. There’s nothing there.”
“Can I check myself?”
“…What?”
“The scar.”
The proximity was too close, and there was no hesitation in Redian’s response.
“I just want to make sure it’s really not there.”
Normally, I would have told him not to fool around. But I couldn’t respond because his voice was too low and calm.
“Or, are you lying to me?”
“…”
Was it because his body was warming up from being wet in the rain? Or because of those dark blue eyes looking at me? The air strangely thickened between us.
“Princess! The culprit behind the mischief has been caught! Uaargh!” Aeron burst in, opening the door urgently. “What are, what are you doing…”
His face was visibly shocked. After all, a man and a woman drenched in the rain, Redian holding my wrist, our proximity as one, and the bed… To someone unaware of the context, it was a scene ripe for misunderstanding.
“Look! I told you Redian is too much of a man! To share a bed with, didn’t I!”
Too much of a man, what’s that…?
“That wolf-like guy finally!”
“No, Aeron. Don’t jump to unnecessary conclusions.”
I understood Aeron’s misunderstanding well enough, so I cut him off firmly.
“…”
Moreover, Redian’s gaze toward Aeron was so fiercely murderous that I had to intervene.
“Oh, right, you said the culprit was found?”
“Yes, yes! It was found.”
“Who is it?”
Fire seemed to spark from my eyes as I thought of the day’s event. My head cooled significantly.
“Well, it’s a mage named Stony, affiliated with the Ministry of Magic, but…”
Aeron’s expression turned serious. Ah, I knew it would be something like that.
“Surely Stony wasn’t acting alone. There must be someone else behind this, right?”
It wasn’t something a minor mage whose name I’d never heard could manage.
“That couldn’t be determined.”
What do you mean? After all this time, they couldn’t figure out the most important part?
“Why?”
“That’s…” Aeron hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Stony is dead.”
What?
* * *
In a dimly lit room, a man was furiously wielding a brush.
“…”
His golden hair was disheveled, surrounded by scattered wine glasses and paintings torn apart just as they neared completion. The scraps littering the floor all bore the face of one woman.
“Damn it!”
Once again, a piece of parchment was violently ripped apart. A woman’s face being painted was torn in half along with it.
“How dare you…”
His room was filled with identical paintings.
“Siani Felicite, you!”
Every wall and display case.
How are you, in my presence, with that lowly b*stard…
Whether Siani cherished that knight or not, Ash hadn’t felt threatened. Siani loved only him. She knew no love but his. So he believed she would return to him once she grew tired of that lowly man.
But, but! Having actually seen that knight, Ash couldn’t maintain his sanity. The silver hair and the dark blue eyes peeking through it were unforgettable.
“What should I do? How should I handle this?”
Should he hire the underground guild to kill that b*stard? Would Siani be saddened by that? He hoped she’d crumble in front of him in utter despair!
Ash knew he was becoming increasingly insane.
“Young Master.”
“…What?”
Someone burst into the room suddenly. The aide, witnessing the chaos, cautiously spoke.
“Stony has died.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The drug spread at the right moment, causing instant death.”
“Well, it was bound to happen anyway.”
Regardless of the competition’s outcome, Stony wasn’t meant to live longer than two days. They had always planned to kill Stony at the right time. Like the grand duke had taught, the evidence must be completely eradicated.
“But, the Duke Felicite seems not to let this go easily. He’s determined to investigate thoroughly. Sigh.”
The aide’s expression turned troubled.
“Now that Stony is dead, that might not happen, but if there’s a problem, what will you do?”
“Ha, stupid.” Ash ran his hands through his hair, exhaling sharply. “Just frame them before the duke finishes the investigation.”
“Frame? Who?”
“Those Norma! Siani’s knights, those b*stards!”
The aide had no response. Why was the subject suddenly shifting to the Normas?
“Spread the word that it was a curse brought upon by the Norma!”
“That’s…”
“The trash that should be rotting in the underground castle dared to run wild in the sacred imperial palace, angering the goddess!”
Ash’s voice dripped with madness.
“That’s why the monsters went berserk, and the magician Stony died. Stony was innocent!”
He then gave a twisted smile to his aide. “…How about it? Perfect, isn’t it?”
At that moment, his aide realized. Ash’s emerald eyes were completely lost.
* * *
The next day passed in a flurry. Using the free pass I received from the emperor, I was able to reach his office.
“I’m sorry about what happened at the monster hunting competition, Princess.”
His languid golden eyes turned to me. I hadn’t noticed it at Ash’s welcoming party because I couldn’t see it clearly. After all, he’s his uncle. His face indeed resembled Redian’s a lot.
“But with Stony’s death…”
“Your Majesty, it’s not just about magician Stony, as you know.”
“…Indeed. But with Stony dead, there’s not much we can do. Moreover, he died leaving only a word of being wronged.” The emperor’s face grew serious too. “So it’s hard to determine whether Stony acted deliberately or fell into an unfortunate trap.”
I could understand the emperor’s position. He always had to be fair, and the dead couldn’t speak.
The answer is clear.
But if he weren’t the Emperor, I would have already grabbed him by the collar and shaken him. Sigh, the class system.
“Especially since it’s been revealed that the Princess’s knights are those ‘Norma’ from the underground castle.”
His fingers, adorned with a golden ring, tapped on the table.
“It seems some nobles are feeling uncomfortable.”
“…Uncomfortable?”
I had been holding back, but at that moment, my tone turned icy.
“Surely, there have been unfavorable rumors about the Felicite family and the Norma. And now, with monsters evolving and even a wizard dying…”
“Ha! Are you saying it’s our fault?” I, who had been quietly listening to his words, eventually let out a sigh. “Your Majesty.”
“Y-yes?”
I could feel the emperor flinch at my call.
“Anyway, we did win, didn’t we? So, please hold the award ceremony. Make it grand.”
“…Huh? Wouldn’t that provoke the nobles even more, making them outcasts?”
“Yes. Their gaze is the problem, not my children, who did nothing wrong.”
Let’s see them. Whether even after seeing my children on the podium, they will still say they are cursed or that they were rummaging through trash! Would such nonsense still come out?
“We won by an overwhelming score difference. So, please make it a grand event. Then.” I deliberately lowered my voice. “I’ll slightly adjust the land value of the Belleng district for you.”
