The tall, black glass bottle contained a red liquid.
Perhaps because it was similar in condition to the unknown medicine that the Emperor had given him, Perdes frowned and openly showed his dislike as soon as he saw the medicine.
“What is this?”
“It’s a magic potion that temporarily puts you in a state of apnea when you drink it.”
“The state of apnea? You mean it’s similar to being dead?”
As I nodded, the wrinkle between Perdes' eyebrows deepened.
“So you’re telling me to drink this and pretend to be dead?”
"Yes, that's right."
I thought that the smart Perdes would notice right away, and he was right.
“They say that if you eat it once, you will fall into a coma for about a week, so you can even attend a funeral without any problems.”
That is, the fourth Prince of the empire, Perdes de Vincent Athanasius, becomes a completely dead person.
“Then you can completely escape the Emperor’s sight.”
“That would be true. Unless the Emperor is crazy, he wouldn’t be looking for dead people and trying to kill them again.”
Perdes spoke in a gruff voice as if he was not pleased with something.
Even his slightly frowning eyes showed his discontent.
Why are you doing that?
“Don’t worry about what happens after you wake up. I’ve prepared another identity for you.”
Perdes' eyes blinked slowly.
“...Another identity?”
“Yes. Instead of losing your status and name as the 4th Prince, Lord Perdes will live as a member of the Erotia family, a knight family of the Kingdom of Artina.”
It was one of the rewards for pushing Prince Philos.
I have already received permission from Lord Logos.
“Even though you are part of the family, you are distant relatives, so you have no duties or responsibilities as members.
“...”
“So you can freely travel the continent and live your life doing whatever you want.”
Even though I said various things like providing financial support for the trip and offering full support if any problems arose, Perdes' expression did not improve at all.
Why?
I thought you would like it, of course, but I was a little taken aback by the completely unexpected reaction.
I don't think it's because I suddenly told you to stop... No way?
“Excuse me, are you afraid of losing your status as Prince?”
I asked cautiously, wondering if that was the case, and Perdes laughed in vain as if he found it terribly absurd.
“Young Lady seems to think I’m the kind of person who’s obsessed with the throne.”
“No, I just asked because I thought you didn’t look too happy about me giving you the freedom you so desperately wanted.”
After hearing my answer, Perdes stared blankly at the vial containing the red liquid before opening his mouth again.
“Young Lady, do you really want me to leave?”
It was a rather unexpected question, so I looked at him in silence, not knowing what to say in response.
Perdes looked straight into my eyes and asked again.
“It seems like you don’t need my help anymore?”
“No way. Absolutely not.”
“But why are you sending me away?”
“As I said before, I’m worried that Lord Perdes might be put in unnecessary danger because of me...”
“I told you too. I just have to protect Young Lady.”
The story has gone round and round and has come back to where it started.
I let out a sigh of frustration, but Perdes suddenly grabbed my hand.
What all of a sudden?
I looked at him, a little surprised.
“I don’t want to leave.”
Perdes looked at me with a more serious face than ever before and said.
“It’s not that I won’t leave for the rest of my life. Not now, at least not while Young Lady needs me.”
“Why is that..."
“Why, why? I told you. I’m not leaving because Young Lady needs me.”
That is, he is willing to stay even if it means taking risks to help me.
At that fact, all kinds of complex emotions, including emotion, welled up from the depths of my heart.
Unable to look at his face straight, I lowered my head slightly and pulled back the hand he was holding.
“It would be dangerous.”
“It’s okay. I was prepared for this from the moment I held Young Lady’s hand.”
A loud voice rang out from above.
“And after intervening this much, I don’t feel like backing out now. Since I’ve already started, I want to see it through to the end. I want to watch with my own eyes the Emperor, who was so proud of owning the world, fall.”
Perdes never seemed to want to leave, no matter what I said.
Rather than sighing at that fact, I feel happy first... Is it because I can continue to receive his help in the future?
Or is there another reason?
'I don't know.'
When Sir Aldor said he would remain by my side loyally, I felt more sorry than relieved and happy.
Just like in my second life, I was also worried that Sir Aldor would be killed by the Emperor.
But Perdes was the complete opposite, so I was curious and uneasy about that part.
But what was certain was that I was glad that Perdes had agreed to stay by my side.
I was also grateful.
"And."
I raised my head and looked at him in a slightly playful voice that was different from before.
Perdes, whose eyes met mine, smiled with his eyes folded prettily like crescent moons.
“Only then can I protect Young Lady if something happens to you.”
His laughter, which had the appearance of both a boy and a young man, was both childish and alluring like a succubus.
My heart was pounding, and I felt uncomfortable looking at his face for a different reason than before, so I avoided eye contact and touched my neck for no reason.
“You asked me to protect you earlier.”
“Then let’s correct it. Let’s protect each other.”
“I don’t have a hobby that requires protection from someone weaker than me.”
“Even if I’m not as good at swordsmanship as Yeong Lady, I’m not weaker, right?”
So said Perdes, rolling up his sleeves.
Then, the muscles that were appropriately positioned on the arm became visible.
He was so tall that I had to look up for a long time to see his face, and his shoulders were broad.
It was all the result of hard training over the years.
When I first saw him, he was a skinny kid who looked like he hadn't even gotten a bowl of soup, but when did he grow up so much?
It was a new and refreshing experience.
When I stared at him intently, Perdes made an awkward expression and coughed in vain.
“What’s on my face? You’re staring at me so intently.”
“Then I won’t look at it.”
As I tried to turn my head, Perdes hurriedly waved his hand.
“That’s not it! It’s ten times, no, a hundred times better to see it than not to see it, so just watch it.”
“...”
“It’s real. It’s real, so just look. Should I bend down so you can see it better?”
“Phew.”
I was joking around a bit to match his antics, but Perdes was so serious that it was funny.
When I burst out laughing, Perdes' expression changed in three stages.
The first stage is confusion.
The second stage is an absurdity.
The third stage is a relief.
“What, were you kidding me?”
When I nodded, Perdes let out a deep sigh of relief and collapsed into his chair.
My legs seem to have lost their strength.
He muttered as he washed his face dry.
“I was worried because I thought Young Lady was going to send me away, but luckily, that’s not the case.”
“You don’t want to leave that much?”
“Yeah. I want to be with Young Lady.”
Perdes was startled when he heard what he said, then he added in a hurry.
“That’s not what I mean when I say I want to be with you. I mean, I want to help you, Yeong Lady. So I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
“I didn’t have any strange misunderstandings.”
Perdes sighed deeply in relief at my answer and sighed in relief.
“Then that’s fortunate...”
“But what did that mean?”
This time, playfulness kicked in and I added a few words, and Perdes' eyes grew as big as lanterns.
Looking at the reaction, I started to have questions I never had before.
“What did you mean?”
I asked persistently, desperate to hear the answer, and this time Perdes answered while avoiding my gaze.
“Well, there are more important things to say right now.”
“What's more important to say?"
“Yeah. I told you I had something to say about the Imperial Knights coming tomorrow.”
I thought he was just beating around the bush, but he wasn't.
Now that I think about it, he did say something like that at first.
I was so busy with other stories that I forgot about it.
“What do you want to say?”
The atmosphere that had been lightened by our teasing each other became heavy again as Perdes' expression became serious for a moment.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since, but I don’t think I should just hand that bastard knight over to the Emperor.”
“You said before that it would be better to just hand it over.”
“That’s right. If the culprit disappears, the Emperor can find fault with us.”
Perdes continued, resting his chin on his clasped hands.
“But if you think about it differently, even if you hand over the culprit, the Emperor can easily find fault with us. Using things like false testimony as an excuse.”
“...!”
Why did I always think that guy would tell the truth?
Did I overlook the fact that the Emperor was actually trying to trap us with lies?
I sighed at how foolish I was, and I was truly grateful that Perdes pointed that out to me.
Sometimes I think it's fortunate that he took a risk and stayed by my side.
“Then what should I do? If I don’t send him back quietly, then they’ll say something about it.”
Should I choose the less risky one of the two?
So which one should you choose?
What should I do...
“Let’s kill him.”
While I was seriously thinking about it, Perdes said something unexpected.
“Kill that man in front of the Imperial Knights.”
Perhaps because it was similar in condition to the unknown medicine that the Emperor had given him, Perdes frowned and openly showed his dislike as soon as he saw the medicine.
“What is this?”
“It’s a magic potion that temporarily puts you in a state of apnea when you drink it.”
“The state of apnea? You mean it’s similar to being dead?”
As I nodded, the wrinkle between Perdes' eyebrows deepened.
“So you’re telling me to drink this and pretend to be dead?”
"Yes, that's right."
I thought that the smart Perdes would notice right away, and he was right.
“They say that if you eat it once, you will fall into a coma for about a week, so you can even attend a funeral without any problems.”
That is, the fourth Prince of the empire, Perdes de Vincent Athanasius, becomes a completely dead person.
“Then you can completely escape the Emperor’s sight.”
“That would be true. Unless the Emperor is crazy, he wouldn’t be looking for dead people and trying to kill them again.”
Perdes spoke in a gruff voice as if he was not pleased with something.
Even his slightly frowning eyes showed his discontent.
Why are you doing that?
“Don’t worry about what happens after you wake up. I’ve prepared another identity for you.”
Perdes' eyes blinked slowly.
“...Another identity?”
“Yes. Instead of losing your status and name as the 4th Prince, Lord Perdes will live as a member of the Erotia family, a knight family of the Kingdom of Artina.”
It was one of the rewards for pushing Prince Philos.
I have already received permission from Lord Logos.
“Even though you are part of the family, you are distant relatives, so you have no duties or responsibilities as members.
“...”
“So you can freely travel the continent and live your life doing whatever you want.”
Even though I said various things like providing financial support for the trip and offering full support if any problems arose, Perdes' expression did not improve at all.
Why?
I thought you would like it, of course, but I was a little taken aback by the completely unexpected reaction.
I don't think it's because I suddenly told you to stop... No way?
“Excuse me, are you afraid of losing your status as Prince?”
I asked cautiously, wondering if that was the case, and Perdes laughed in vain as if he found it terribly absurd.
“Young Lady seems to think I’m the kind of person who’s obsessed with the throne.”
“No, I just asked because I thought you didn’t look too happy about me giving you the freedom you so desperately wanted.”
After hearing my answer, Perdes stared blankly at the vial containing the red liquid before opening his mouth again.
“Young Lady, do you really want me to leave?”
It was a rather unexpected question, so I looked at him in silence, not knowing what to say in response.
Perdes looked straight into my eyes and asked again.
“It seems like you don’t need my help anymore?”
“No way. Absolutely not.”
“But why are you sending me away?”
“As I said before, I’m worried that Lord Perdes might be put in unnecessary danger because of me...”
“I told you too. I just have to protect Young Lady.”
The story has gone round and round and has come back to where it started.
I let out a sigh of frustration, but Perdes suddenly grabbed my hand.
What all of a sudden?
I looked at him, a little surprised.
“I don’t want to leave.”
Perdes looked at me with a more serious face than ever before and said.
“It’s not that I won’t leave for the rest of my life. Not now, at least not while Young Lady needs me.”
“Why is that..."
“Why, why? I told you. I’m not leaving because Young Lady needs me.”
That is, he is willing to stay even if it means taking risks to help me.
At that fact, all kinds of complex emotions, including emotion, welled up from the depths of my heart.
Unable to look at his face straight, I lowered my head slightly and pulled back the hand he was holding.
“It would be dangerous.”
“It’s okay. I was prepared for this from the moment I held Young Lady’s hand.”
A loud voice rang out from above.
“And after intervening this much, I don’t feel like backing out now. Since I’ve already started, I want to see it through to the end. I want to watch with my own eyes the Emperor, who was so proud of owning the world, fall.”
Perdes never seemed to want to leave, no matter what I said.
Rather than sighing at that fact, I feel happy first... Is it because I can continue to receive his help in the future?
Or is there another reason?
'I don't know.'
When Sir Aldor said he would remain by my side loyally, I felt more sorry than relieved and happy.
Just like in my second life, I was also worried that Sir Aldor would be killed by the Emperor.
But Perdes was the complete opposite, so I was curious and uneasy about that part.
But what was certain was that I was glad that Perdes had agreed to stay by my side.
I was also grateful.
"And."
I raised my head and looked at him in a slightly playful voice that was different from before.
Perdes, whose eyes met mine, smiled with his eyes folded prettily like crescent moons.
“Only then can I protect Young Lady if something happens to you.”
His laughter, which had the appearance of both a boy and a young man, was both childish and alluring like a succubus.
My heart was pounding, and I felt uncomfortable looking at his face for a different reason than before, so I avoided eye contact and touched my neck for no reason.
“You asked me to protect you earlier.”
“Then let’s correct it. Let’s protect each other.”
“I don’t have a hobby that requires protection from someone weaker than me.”
“Even if I’m not as good at swordsmanship as Yeong Lady, I’m not weaker, right?”
So said Perdes, rolling up his sleeves.
Then, the muscles that were appropriately positioned on the arm became visible.
He was so tall that I had to look up for a long time to see his face, and his shoulders were broad.
It was all the result of hard training over the years.
When I first saw him, he was a skinny kid who looked like he hadn't even gotten a bowl of soup, but when did he grow up so much?
It was a new and refreshing experience.
When I stared at him intently, Perdes made an awkward expression and coughed in vain.
“What’s on my face? You’re staring at me so intently.”
“Then I won’t look at it.”
As I tried to turn my head, Perdes hurriedly waved his hand.
“That’s not it! It’s ten times, no, a hundred times better to see it than not to see it, so just watch it.”
“...”
“It’s real. It’s real, so just look. Should I bend down so you can see it better?”
“Phew.”
I was joking around a bit to match his antics, but Perdes was so serious that it was funny.
When I burst out laughing, Perdes' expression changed in three stages.
The first stage is confusion.
The second stage is an absurdity.
The third stage is a relief.
“What, were you kidding me?”
When I nodded, Perdes let out a deep sigh of relief and collapsed into his chair.
My legs seem to have lost their strength.
He muttered as he washed his face dry.
“I was worried because I thought Young Lady was going to send me away, but luckily, that’s not the case.”
“You don’t want to leave that much?”
“Yeah. I want to be with Young Lady.”
Perdes was startled when he heard what he said, then he added in a hurry.
“That’s not what I mean when I say I want to be with you. I mean, I want to help you, Yeong Lady. So I hope you don’t misunderstand.”
“I didn’t have any strange misunderstandings.”
Perdes sighed deeply in relief at my answer and sighed in relief.
“Then that’s fortunate...”
“But what did that mean?”
This time, playfulness kicked in and I added a few words, and Perdes' eyes grew as big as lanterns.
Looking at the reaction, I started to have questions I never had before.
“What did you mean?”
I asked persistently, desperate to hear the answer, and this time Perdes answered while avoiding my gaze.
“Well, there are more important things to say right now.”
“What's more important to say?"
“Yeah. I told you I had something to say about the Imperial Knights coming tomorrow.”
I thought he was just beating around the bush, but he wasn't.
Now that I think about it, he did say something like that at first.
I was so busy with other stories that I forgot about it.
“What do you want to say?”
The atmosphere that had been lightened by our teasing each other became heavy again as Perdes' expression became serious for a moment.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since, but I don’t think I should just hand that bastard knight over to the Emperor.”
“You said before that it would be better to just hand it over.”
“That’s right. If the culprit disappears, the Emperor can find fault with us.”
Perdes continued, resting his chin on his clasped hands.
“But if you think about it differently, even if you hand over the culprit, the Emperor can easily find fault with us. Using things like false testimony as an excuse.”
“...!”
Why did I always think that guy would tell the truth?
Did I overlook the fact that the Emperor was actually trying to trap us with lies?
I sighed at how foolish I was, and I was truly grateful that Perdes pointed that out to me.
Sometimes I think it's fortunate that he took a risk and stayed by my side.
“Then what should I do? If I don’t send him back quietly, then they’ll say something about it.”
Should I choose the less risky one of the two?
So which one should you choose?
What should I do...
“Let’s kill him.”
While I was seriously thinking about it, Perdes said something unexpected.
“Kill that man in front of the Imperial Knights.”
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