Chapter 66. Lunatic, the Exiled Pink Prince

Author's Note:

No, you're not the only one confused by this title (・∀・) Even I had to double check it when editing and writing, lol

Lucilline stared into those dazzling pink eyes, unable to peel himself away... almost as if his entire being was slowly being sucked into the void. Marriage? Princess of Miriam Kingdom? Temporarily exiled? Those questions flooded his mind, making him unable to keep up with what was before him.

The pink-haired woman shuffled forwards, gently enclasping one of Lucilline's hands in hers.

Now that they stood side by side, Lucilline realized that Layla was taller than him.

"What do you think? It is a great offer." Layla winked.

In order to remain eye contact, the pink Princess had to bow her head down, allowing their noses to briefly brush past one another—

In an instant, Lucilline's face flushed bright red. His eyelashes trembled, droplets of tears hanging on the edges, resembling the morning dew sliding down a tea-green leaf. Whenever the black-haired nobleman became shy, his lips would part open in shame.

A chuckle spilled out of the pink Princess.

"As expected of my Lucilline," Layla teased, "You really are so cute." Pink hearts seemed to be pulsing in her pink eyes. She truly had the urge to pinch the black-haired nobleman by the cheek.

"I'm not your Lucilline." The nobleman retorted. "I haven't yet agreed to your proposal."

"Yet?" Layla's eyes widened in shock. "So that means I have a chance!?!"

It was then Lucilline realized that he'd pushed himself off the edge of an extremely high cliff. There was no saving for him—

"An exiled Princess wants to court someone from a neighbouring country? You might as well just give up." It was then that the person hanging off of the black-haired nobleman's shoulder had pushed himself up. Dimitri wore an ugly expression, his gentleman-like facade had contorted into shambles. His snarky grin revealed a part of his true inner thoughts.

The Crown Prince spat, "I don't think you have any chance of scoring with Lucilline."

Layla merely shrugged at the opposition. "Temporarily exiled, may I remind you? It is not like I've been banned from Miriam Kingdom, after all, I am still this kingdom's Tenth Princess. I am merely forced to get some fresh air."

Then, her face of excitement had stilled.

Her eyes scanned over the injured blonde-haired man, who hung over Lucilline's shoulder. "You shouldn't get so confident of yourself, just because you are the Crown Prince."

An underwhelming silence had fallen over their heads.

Lucilline blinked. Once, then twice.

He recoiled in shock: "You know who we are!?!"

Layla found him even more amusing. She laughed twice, "Of course. It is so obvious—the Crown Prince couldn't have exposed himself even more. He wears all white, is dressed in armour, and leads a group of professional knights." Her eyes fell on Lucilline, "and for my cute Lucilline to follow someone like him around, then you mustn't be someone ordinary either... right?"

She outstretched a hand to pinch the black-haired nobleman's cheek.

Before she could touch him, her hand was swatted aside.

Dimitri frowned disapprovingly, "Don't touch—" what's mine.

However, he did not get to finish his sentence. A gash of pain torn through his back, and he was forced to muffle his voice, his throat bobbing up and down.

The Crown Prince collapsed lifelessly on the black-haired nobleman's back.

"...Dimitri!" Lucilline blurted.

*****

The night had dwindled away, and the sun brought forth light to the world once again.

Lucilline and the group had found another inn to stay at, this time carrying two injured comrades instead of one (Willow and Dimitri). Jacques had more patients to treat, and the other knights were in a state of unrest, on guard for any potential demonic activities.

However, the daylight had solidified their hopes.

Normal demons were afraid of sunlight, thus lessening the chance of there being an attack.

"Say, I won't push the marriage matter anymore," Layla negotiated, "But how about you return me a favour for protecting you from the demons?"

Lucilline hummed coldly, "...Depends on what the favour is."

They sat before the beds, where the unconscious Willow and Dimitri were laid to rest. Jacques had already treated to both their wounds. The Crown Prince's injuries didn't even leave a scab, while Willow seemed to regain some colour in her skin.

"How about a kiss?" Layla teased.

She was returned with a cold huff.

"I was just joking," Layla laughed, "I am not so shameless in my pursue of you. I wouldn't go so far to steal your first kiss—" Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "It's your first kiss, right?"

Lucilline glanced at her, "maybe."

At that instant, Layla almost rose up from her chair. All her hair seemed to stand on end, rising like a pink hurricane—a storm brewing in the distance, resembling the fiery spirit of whitened blood. Her face was torn in shock, "Don't be a tease, Lucilline! Tell this honourable Princess if you've had your first kiss! I am not picky about these things! I just want to know if you're a virgin or not—"

"Definitely a virgin." All of a sudden, an indifferent voice spoke up.

Farrah had entered the room, only to be greeted by the persistent whines of the pink Princess. She decided to end this complicated matter, sealing the deal with a cold confirmation.

Layla heaved a sigh of relief. "See, Lucilline? Why are you trying to stir trouble when you're clearly so innocent? How funny," She twirled a finger in her locks of pink hair.

Meanwhile, Noah had also entered the room. The scrawny and timid young man knocked on the door, then closed it politely.

His back was hunched, almost as if from fright.

"Princess, a-about that matter... have you discussed it with them yet?"

Layla paused in her actions. She sat up straight, her gaze blurry as if in contemplation. "Hmm... I was waiting for everyone to gather in one place before discussing the matter."

"...what do you mean by that?" Lucilline pursed his lips.

The pink-haired Princess frivolously smiled. "I wasn't lying when I asked if you could return me a favour. I sought you out... mainly because of this."

The atmosphere fell silent.

Cold beads of sweat slid down the Princess' temple. She quickly added on, "Of course, I only came to have an interest in you Lucilline after getting to know you more. In the beginning, I thought of you as someone with great resources and strength. But in the end, I totally fell head over heels for you!"

Lucilline did not react.

He wasn't sure how he felt about everything.

"Are you done yet?" All of a sudden, the door opened again. Augustine walked in, a displeased expression crawling over his face, as if he'd witnessed a bunch of ants squirming around his platter of cake—those disgusting bugs feasting on what he had from the start. "We are out on an adventure, not to fool around with love affairs."

His displeasure was all aimed at the culprit of it all— Layla.

The pink Princess merely laughed it off. She was used to all sorts of malice and jealousy. After all, her beauty was coveted by many of her fellow sisters, and her swordsmanship was often greeted by the envious stares of her brothers.

"Forget it. I have something I'd like you and your group to help me with." Layla huffed, "Think of it as something you owe me—since I did save you from the demons."

Augustine wanted to retort. We didn't need your help.

"Oh," Layla smiled mischievously, "and think of it as me pursuing my true love."

Lucilline blushed at that. He was never used to such a straightforward way of confessing.

*****

It was afternoon when Willow and Dimitri woke up. They were meticulously fed with more medicine before gathering all the knights and group members to the room.

"...do I have to stay in bed?" Willow felt the corner of her mouth twitch.

She and the Crown Prince were sitting up in separate small beds, while the rest of the group sat surrounding them, their backs leaning on the chair.

"Yes, Willow," Azalea tried to explain it to his older sister, "You have just recovered from the earlier injury. We are not going anywhere, so you and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should stay in bed." His dazzling purple eyes shone like amethysts, coming to a rich and vibrant surface when he became serious.

Willow sighed.

There was no way to beat him in an argument. After all, she was soft back when they were at the village... and she still was soft.

"Shall I discuss what I need everyone to help me with?" Layla began, her head of bright pink hair attracting all the eyes. After multiple heads nodded and signalled her to continue, the pink Princess smiled in content. "Here is the deal. I need you all to help me capture this underground bandit group."

"They have always been troublemakers—those bandits. They steal and rob stores for cash, sometimes sell a few slaves on the black market and whatnot."

Hearing about the last line, Willow's eyes thinned.

Her entire expression had cooled by a few degrees in temperature.

"Us—the Royal Family—have always been trying to get rid of these bunch of nasty bandits. Lately, they even managed to rob one of the carriages that was supposed to transport the most expensive and gruellingly romantic wine to Miriam. Unfortunately," Layla sighed, "Some of my royal siblings were there at the time, and they were given quite the fright."

"Mother— the Great Empress; Queen Agerico; was angered and since then, the warranty for those bandits' arrest had grown higher." Layla babbled on and on. "Most of my royal siblings are vying for her attention. They all wish to prove their own capabilities by capturing those bandits. But who do they think they are? Capturing those bandits is not a small deal—especially for amateurs like them...."

"Eldest Sister is most sensible... oh, but third sister is truly a pain in the ass. She swings her sword like it's her pillow... as if made from feathers. Fourth brother have gotten better, but to beat me? Nah! He still needs another fifty years!"

It was then Dimitri couldn't stand it anymore.

"What do you need us to do?" His locks of curly blonde hair was soft through the sunlight's glaze, but those pair of hazel brown eyes had little to no interest in the Royal court's affairs.

Layla stopped babbling on about meaningless subjects.

She smiled, revealing a tiger tooth, "Luckily, I managed to track down the leader of those bandits. Those bandits are very wary of the Royal and noble families. One little alert and they're gone in an instant. So... that's where you guys come into place!"

Two ordinary knights, Azalea (knight in shining armour), Jacques (mage), Dimitri Von Arthur (Crown Prince of a neighbour country), Percival (the heir of a noble family from Lydia), Farrah (amnesiac Demon Princess), Lucilline (the third Young Master of a noble family from Lydia), Willow (maid), and Augustine (butler)...

These individuals were all unfamiliar to the bandits!

"This should work," Layla smiled smugly to herself. "With you guys, those bandits won't suspect a thing! None of you are registered or affiliated with the Royal family of Miriam, and with a little disguise, you will all look like the most common common-folk ever! I am so smart!"

Lucilline: ...smart, indeed.

"You want us to capture the bandits?" Percival raised a brow. The son of House Delta had barely spoken ever since the encounter of Layla, but he voiced his doubt, "What are you aiming to gain from this?"

Layla laughed gleefully.

"Of course money and riches! Haven't you seen how poor my poor servant, Noah, looks like? He's so scrawny, he might just collapse any second!"

Everyone's eyes turned to look at the scrawny young man.

Indeed... Noah did look pale and thin—unbefitting of a servant that served the royal family.

"Then I'll agree first and foremost." Lucilline stated. "If you've gone out of your way to find us, then I'm sure that you trust in our capabilities. Since you managed to track down the bandits, then our work should be to capture them. Next," he raised up a puzzling point, "What do you mean by 'a little disguise'?"

*****

According to the intel gathered by Layla, the bandits often visit a secret underground brothel, hidden from the views of society.

To capture those bandits without alerting them, a little disguise was necessary.

"I'm so sorry, Young Master!" A sob broke in the room. Willow began to hiccup on her own tears, "I shouldn't have cut my hair so short! If not, then I could have disguised myself in your stead!"

A handkerchief wiped away her tears.

"Don't apologize," Lucilline sighed. "I don't have much else to offer, so a little disguise is all I can do to help." The plan was to disguise one of their own people as a brothel worker. With such a method, luring the bandits into a ready-for-ambush room was easy to achieve.

Willow's short hair had inevitably affected the job.

Additionally, the colour of white in her hair, her short height, and her intense strength was an anomaly amongst all stereotypical brother workers.

"We can't have Nineteen risk herself for this either," Lucilline sighed.

Farrah was like a ticking bomb. This amnesiac Demon Princess was indifferent and ruthless to all beings. If one of the bandits were to irritate her, then perhaps nobody would be able to walk out alive. A Royal Demon was still a Royal Demon.

Thus, that left Lucilline Rubius...

"I can ask if we can make the clothes less revealing," Willow suggested. "But I doubt that we can get anymore clothes. It is already a miracle that we managed to get something."

Lucilline analyzed the brothel worker's clothes.

It was a simple maiden gown—there was nothing wrong with it. The soft pink colour blended in with the flowers sewn upon the fabric. However, the dress only reached to the knees with nothing blocking from underneath. A mere blow of the wind would send the dress to flow upwards.

"I'll go see Layla... and see if she can change this dress." Lucilline picked up the maiden gown, then left the room.

He walked across the hallway, then found the other room which Layla was staying at.

Lucilline knocked gently on the door. "It's me."

He waited for a while, then a response sounded from the other side of the door. "Come on inside, Lucilline! The door is unlocked." The voice sounded low and unfamiliar.

The black-haired nobleman hesitated. Who is inside?

But they must know him, since they recognized his voice.

Lucilline gently pushed the door open. When he looked inside the room, the black-haired nobleman had to rub his eyes twice... blinking them...

He doubted what he'd seen.

A tall young man stood before him, having to bow his head down to stare into Lucilline's eyes. His locks of hair were a familiar vibrant pink, but was cut short just barely below the shoulders. Bangs of pink hair brushed past his pale forehead, as if a flamingo nestled upon a jade statue.

His adam's apple remained uncovered, with his collared suit buttoned just below, revealing his long and pale neck. His slender legs were long and crossed one over another.

The pink-haired young man smirked. "What do you think?"

Lucilline frowned.

The door was slammed shut.

"Ahh! Wait, I'm Layla, Lucilline! Don't you recognize me?" The pink-haired young man quickly opened the door again.

Lucilline was in shock.

The reason why Layla had a flat chest... was because she was instead a he? However, Lucilline fell silent. He remembered that the pink-haired Princess went in the hot springs with Farrah. If they were both naked... then how did Farrah not react!?!

"The truth is that my identity as a Princess is a disguise." Layla smiled. He wore a guilty smile, "I am actually a Prince."

The door was slammed shut again.

Lucilline felt his brain overheat, small wisps of steam rising from his head. Farrah owes an explanation to me! (ノಠ益ಠ)