CH 100

I let out a breath and opened it again, hoping to find something about Alice in it.

There was a description of each day’s events and what happened to Alice that day. I understood that it was a diary, and continued reading.

Most of the content was about how cute Alice was, which was quite disheartening. Just then, I felt a warm breath in my ear, and an aching sensation ran through me. I was horrified and turned my head in panic.

“That’s dangerous.”

Behind me was Mist, her hair swaying like a cherry blossom at night. I see. So she was reading with me, peeking out from behind my shoulder.

If you want to read, just ask me and I’ll……be happy to help, but that’s Mist. I understood that it was her mischievous mind that made her not call out to me, and I gave up.

I apologized to Mist and started reading, when I felt a presence behind my shoulder again, which convinced me that there was a mischievous spirit in Mist. As I continued to read along with Mist, she opened her mouth.

“The princess’s father is awesome…….”

After saying that, Mist put her chin on my shoulder, as if she was tired. My shoulders became heavy, and Mist’s hair touched my cheek, which should have been annoying, but the gentle, sweet flowery scent of her hair tricked my brain into thinking it was pleasant.

I felt ashamed of myself, my cheeks burning, and I answered without taking my eyes off the book.

“Oh.”

“What’s your father like, Chris?”

Mist asked, staying in the same position, as if she was somewhat comfortable with the situation.

“He’s the kind of guy who’s passionate about finding the Royal treasure.”

“……Your parents are pretty good, too.”

My shoulders felt light and I turned to see Mist staring at me with pity in her eyes.

Shut up. Just leave me alone.

Sensing my grumpiness, Mist chuckled and said,

“I wonder when the king found out about the princess’s participation. Besides, the princess didn’t seem to have been told anything by her parents.”

Mist’s words made me wonder if I hadn’t noticed in the first place. I flipped through the diary and opened it to the most recent page I could find. Then I found a page with a very long sentence.

[I’m not sure what to do. What if she gets hurt? I have to cancel it as soon as possible! But my retainers are insisting not to cancel it, so I have to do something! I’ll never forgive anyone who injures Alice! To put it mildly, I’m going to bury them. I’ll even go so far as to cut off the whole family!]

When I reached that point, I got scared and turned the page. A couple of pages of similar text followed, but as I continued to flip through, I found important information. It was a list of mock battle locations!

Reading the text before and after, it seemed that he had realized that no one would raise a hand to the princess in the battle itself, so he had decided to choose a place where they could march and camp without getting hurt.

This information is huge. I don’t have to think about the king’s interference, and if I know the location, I can set traps in advance.

Just as I was satisfied with the information I had obtained, my eyes were suddenly covered by something soft. I tried to pull it off, thinking that Mist was probably covering my eyes with her hand, but I heard her serious voice.

“Something doesn’t feel right.”

“As I heard Mist’s voice, I thought I caught a brief glimpse of green light in the darkness.

“Someone’s coming.”

With that, Mist let go of my hand, tiptoed over to the bed, and opened the canopy so as not to make a sound.

I was engulfed by Mist’s unprecedentedly tense expression, and without knowing why, I climbed into the bed as she invited me. Mist came in later. I didn’t say a word, and as I was holding my breath, I heard the door open.

Oh no! Has the king returned?

My heart beats so fast that it seems to jump out of my throat from impatience and anxiety. If I’m found out here, even if I’m lucky enough to get through this, there’s no way I’ll be able to escape in the castle until tomorrow morning.

I hear footsteps and I can also feel a presence approaching. I can’t breathe, as if my body has forgotten how to breathe. Just when I was about to give up, I heard footsteps and the sound of the door opening again.

“Sorry I’m late, Prime Minister.”

I heard a chuckling man’s voice.

“No problem.”

I hear a different man’s voice than the one from earlier. The voice sounded almost disgusted. I breathed a sigh of relief, but was soon overcome by a great sense of urgency and doubt.

Did he just say “Prime Minister”? If that’s the case, then what do the people who are fighting for power at this time of night want to do?

Leaving my doubts behind, the men continue talking.

“What’s the plan for the mock battle?”

“Since the day I found out she was going to be in the mock battle, I’ve sent my closest bodyguard, Sergeant Ameretia, out to inspect.”

“I see. What about the matter at hand then?”

“Yes. I’ve already heard back from them that they’re ready to receive us at any time. There have also been reports of clues being found, and if we have some time left, we should be able to find a……large amount of……Is there anyone there?”

My heart jumped uncomfortably at the sudden words of the Prime Minister. I struggled to control my body from jumping up and down in response. My pulse surged upward as if it was about to break through my skin.

I’m about to lose control, and I slowly turn my head to look at Mist, afraid that I might give her away. Then she just smiled at me gently.

I felt reassured by her calmness in such a situation, and gradually my heart, which had been raging wildly, became quiet.

“Prime Minister. Do you have to do that all the time?”

“Yes. I can’t let anyone hear.”

“Yes, you can’t. The clock is ticking, and we can’t afford any setbacks.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sure that day will come soon.”

Then, after some idle chatter, the men said their goodbyes.

“I’m going to have to go back to Alice, because she came out to go to the bathroom.”

Then, when I could no longer hear their voices, I heard the door open again.

I let out a deep breath as I realized that the men had left the room.

“Huh!”

The air in my lungs exhaled, and even though I was released from the tension, my body still trembled slightly.

I was really scared. For a moment, I wondered what was going to happen, but I stopped thinking about it because I didn’t want to remember.

“That was a close one.”

In contrast to me, Mist laughed out loud as if nothing had happened.

I let out a chuckle at what a great person she is. Then, I asked Mist the question I had.

“Why did you run to bed?”

“Because when I looked for a place to hide, the bed immediately caught my eye.”

“That’s not true. No one who could remain so calm in such a situation would do such a rash thing.”

Mist gave a cute little chuckle and began to chuckle happily.