INAT - Chapter 91

"Oh, you're being so foolish. Wasn't it just to blend in more safely among humans to receive information? Thanks to that, I was able to stay informed about the rebels for a long time."

"That's right! In fact, the problem with the failure of this rebellion lies with those ignorant people who failed to prepare properly. Who could have predicted that they would jump to such lengths just by believing the rumor that there was a descendant of the royal family?"

"That is correct. Since things have come this far anyway, let's see it through to the end. In a way, from our perspective, things are actually proceeding smoothly. We have helped the elves escape, and we have successfully left a spell at the main palace."

"That is correct. We just need to take advantage of the confusion to guide the Princess's body into the magic circle and begin the ritual."

It seemed that no rebuttal would work on the tightly knit elders.

Several elders, who had been gaping in bewilderment, noticed Iker opening his mouth and eventually closed their mouths tightly like seashells.

"Weren't you all following me because you wanted to gain something from me anyway?"

Iker gently tucked his long hair to one ear and spoke in a very gentle tone.

"Just hold on tight. Then I will give you a fitting reward."

Contrary to his gentle tone, the content was chilling. None of the elders opened their mouths. An aura that was utterly unapproachable surged from him.

In the end, Iker was so absolute that they felt they had no choice but to follow his will while cautiously watching his every move, just as usual.

"... Sorry."

In any case, the danger might have already begun the moment they accepted Iker. There was no way they could betray him. For they no longer had the strength to withstand Iker's wrath.

When they objected, the elders weakly hunched their shoulders and kept their mouths shut.

The elder, who had been clicking his tongue in disapproval while watching them, suddenly opened his eyes wide as if something had occurred to him.

"Ah. Come to think of it, do you know that Allegra ran away?" 

"Isn't Allegra the one you locked up in the Chamber of Punishment? No, how did she escape from there?"

The elders stirred. Then, as if a major disaster had broken out, they all began to discuss the matter seriously with one mind and one heart.

However, leaving them behind, Iker rose as if he had absolutely no interest and turned his gaze out the window. Looking at the sky beginning to gather dark clouds, he thought that a rainy day was indeed the perfect day, and his blue eyes deepened.

***

As I opened the window wide, hot air brushed against my cheek.

I leaned against the windowsill and inhaled the wind blowing through the bushes deep into my lungs. Unlike the clear sky, a pungent smell still lingered in the air.

As I lowered my head, knights moving in perfect order came into view, as if demonstrating the civil war that had broken out overnight.

'Still, the situation looks better than I thought. There doesn't seem to be any significant damage.'

I heard that almost all of them were cut off at the entrance to the Imperial Palace and couldn't even enter the main palace. It has become almost certain that humans were merely used to distract the elves.

'And what's wrong with Thierry? I think Wagen said something about an elf...'

He whispered so softly that I couldn't hear properly. Anyway, seeing him leave hurriedly with a serious expression, it seemed like something serious had happened, but instead of asking me to go with him, Thierry left only after repeatedly warning me not to leave the bedroom under any circumstances.

I turned my head and looked at Oscar, who was standing in front of the door. However, he, who had been scanning the inside of the room with a stiff posture, suddenly glanced at me once and grabbed the doorknob.

"Why all of a sudden?" 

Just as I blinked my eyes and tilted my head, the sound of knocking on the door woke up the room.

"The sous chef and the personal maid have arrived outside." 

"Oh! Is that so? Tell them to come in."

"Yes."

I quickened my pace. Since there had been a commotion last night, I was worried about Maud and Marie and had just asked someone to call them. I had assumed I would have to wait an hour, but a smile spread across my face at their arrival earlier than expected.

"Maud! Marie!"

"Princess! Are you alright?"

"Are you okay?"

Maud, who belatedly started using polite language with a look of realization, and Marie, who approached with a face full of worry, seemed to be in good condition.

I swallowed a breath of relief and approached the two of them. Then, I stretched out my arms and hugged them tightly.

"That's a relief. You look okay..." 

The two, who had been stiff with awkwardness, soon carefully wrapped their arms around my lower back. The touch of Marie, who was awkwardly gripping my waist tightly, and Maud, who was stroking my back as if to pat it, relieved the anxiety I had been feeling inside.

"You too, Princess. But why are you in this room?"

Maud slowly pulled away and looked around.

"I had some business yesterday." 

"What's the matter...?"

Wait, but what's with the honorifics? I chuckled, finding it amusing how she kept adding honorifics a beat late.

Maud herself seemed to find it funny and tried to lower the corners of her mouth, but I felt like I would burst into loud laughter if I kept looking, so I pretended not to see and turned my eyes away.

"Let's sit. Marie, come here too."

“Oh, me too?”

"Yeah. Let's sit down and talk." 

I entered a separate room that looked like a reception area. As I sat on the sofa and looked up, Marie and Maud were exchanging wary glances.

"It's alright. His Majesty is away for a moment."

“...Excuse me.”

"To get straight to the point, Lari came to my room yesterday."

Maud, who had been slightly furrowing her brow, opened her eyes wide. She waved her hand a couple of times to calm herself down as she fidgeted as if she were about to jump up at any moment.

"I think the rebels let her go. She came looking for me and threatened me, but then suddenly—I don't know why—she started writhing in pain and banged her head against the bedpost..."

Since I couldn't just talk about the elf however I wanted, I only shared a part of it, mixing it up appropriately.

However, since there was no other way to explain why Lari did what she did, I had no choice but to trail off. Perhaps seeing how pitiful I looked, a look of pity spread across the two of their faces.

“She’s dead?”

"Yes..." 

"You must have suddenly lost your mind. Seeing her do that all by herself, right?"

"That's right. Just as Sous Chef said. The Princess must have been very surprised."

Marie nodded vigorously as if agreeing with Maud, but soon looked like she was about to cry. I gave the two of them a faint smile.

"Are you... okay?"

Maud scrutinized my face thoroughly, still speaking in awkward honorifics. He seemed to guess that it must have been a huge shock to have witnessed firsthand the death of the body I once had.

Actually, at the time, I was just so horrified by the sight of Lari self-harming that I couldn't think of anything else. If I hadn't rushed into the dressing room and if Oscar hadn't cleaned it up right away, I would have been shocked for a long time, but now I felt nothing.

It feels scary, but I guess you could say it's mixed. Hmm... Actually, I don't know how to express this feeling.

"...It's fine. Sir Oscar wrapped it up well." 

I smiled as if nothing was wrong. Since I had nothing more to add, I took the opportunity to quickly change the subject.

“But Maud.”

"Yes, yes?" 

“Just speak comfortably.”

I felt like it was time to finally free myself from the awkward honorifics she's been using for a while.

"Marie, I've decided to be comfortable with Maud."

I gestured to Marie, so she wouldn't be surprised if Maud spoke informally. Perhaps sensing the awkwardness of Maud's polite speech throughout, Marie nodded with an expression that seemed to say, "Oh, I see."

"...Then I’ll take it easy."

"Alright. Anyway, how about the two of you stay at the main palace for the time being? Even though the situation has calmed down, I feel uneasy about having you come and go from other palaces... Ah, I will speak to His Majesty."

"Hmph, it's alright! How could I possibly dare to stay here?"

Marie widened her eyes and waved her hands. She's so firm... This won't do. I'll have to come up with another excuse.

"Even Marie couldn't come to me yesterday because of the ban on the ceremony. You really need to stay by my side, especially at times like this." 

"Ah... That’s true, but..."

As I briefly looked at Marie, who was hesitating and trailing off, Maud gently patted her back and turned her gaze to me.

"I'll do that. Actually, if you don't find us, we aren't in a position to just walk into the main palace on our own. I think it would be best to do as you say."

"Right? That's a good idea. Marie, you'll do as I say, right?"

"...Yes, I would certainly prefer to serve the Princess closely. It is just that I am worried about the Princess because you asked His Majesty to do this separately."

"Hmm, I suppose I should say I've gotten on good terms with His Majesty... I think I can ask for this much now."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Hmm. After having an honest conversation, I decided to become comfortable with His Majesty as well."

Since I couldn't tell Marie that I was 'Lari', I had no choice but to speak vaguely.

I looked at her expression, assuming that even saying this much would be enough for Maud to understand.

"Gasp... Really? That's a relief! Looks like things worked out well."

As expected, Maud noticed and immediately brightened up. She even smiled broadly and clapped her hands, suggesting that she had been quite sincere about the subtle suggestion to think carefully about Thierry.

"Yeah! He wasn't as scary as I thought."

"...It's probably scary." 

Maud raised the end of her sentence in an ambiguous way. Her tone was cautious yet filled with conviction, which was a bit funny. I couldn't hold back my laughter, especially when Marie joined in, nodding nervously beside her. I looked back and forth between the two of them and burst into loud laughter.

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