MBLIAH 36

Being forced into a mold by the subservient, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, but still, we talked happily for a long time, losing track of time.

And as the sunset approached, after receiving a message from Fahrenheit telling me to come back, I prepared to leave.

“You’ll have to come again.”

“Woof.”

“…May I hug you once?”

“Woof-woof.”

Nodding, Leiya hugged me tightly.

“Eh.”

Did a strange sound come out?

I panicked and rolled my eyes, but Leiya maintained a cool, hawk-like expression.

‘Did I hear that wrong…?’

“Then, let’s go.”

Leiya guided me from the reception room to the garden where half of the garden was.

However, at the end of the corridor leading to the garden, I heard a deep voice.

“Princess Aquila, you were here?”

“Oh?”

I looked up in surprise at the familiar voice I had heard many times before and turned to look that way.

Standing before me was a man with golden hair like melted sunlight, embedded with sapphires, and piercing eyes that seemed to hold the sky itself — a man with blond, clear eyes, reserved solely for royalty.

‘Zeroth…?’

No way. Why is the Crown Prince here at the Marquis of Aquila’s residence? I was so shocked I silently raised my tail.

Even more ridiculous was that there was not a single escort soldier beside him. Of course, there could be shadow knights, but at least visibly, there was no one.

“…”

My head naturally turned back to find him. It was unconscious.

Of course, I wished there were no knights at all.

I could feel the anger emanating from Ban towards Zeroth.

Isn’t his only purpose in life to kill Zeroth? If the two confront each other, a fight is inevitable.

Of course, Ban’s pheromones were needed to keep him close, so I didn’t dismiss that possibility entirely.

But right now, right here, I shouldn’t let him face Zeroth.

If Ban leaves the duke’s residence to attack him, and pretends not to notice, I could lessen my responsibility. But now is not the time.

“Hmm… Woof.”

Oh heavens. Even the sky seems indifferent.

Just beyond the wide window nearby, Ban was present. He had his eyes wide open, as if he had just noticed Zeroth.

“Ban…”

I couldn’t even imagine what he was thinking.

That pitiful, abandoned beast, watching the owner who dumped him, what was he thinking?

“Miss, have you been well? The last time…”

Zeroth seemed to be speaking to me, but my mind was too muddled to respond.

My head went blank. I couldn’t think of anything.

But one thing was certain.

Ban would definitely attack Zeroth.

“…”

For a while, I was lost in thought, worrying only about Rhaican and my future, when suddenly, I heard a snap sound as someone snapped their fingers in front of me.

“Princess!!”

“Huh?”

My senses snapped back.

“Mm… Woof-woof.”

“Princess, are you okay?”

Zeroth was smoothing his eyebrows and waving his hands in front of me.

“Woof, woof-woof.”

I managed to nod faintly.

‘Huh?’

But soon I became confused again. Nothing unusual was happening, even though something could happen at any moment. Zeroth looked perfectly fine and was even looking at me with concern.

Why?

“… Woof?”

I hurriedly looked at the window where Ban had been earlier.

‘Huh?’

Ban was gone.

Why? Ban’s sword was still at his waist. Why did he miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

‘Why…?’

I couldn’t figure out why, even inside the carriage returning to the duke’s residence, nor after arriving there.

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

Inside the carriage returning to the duke’s residence, Ban was lost in thought.

Why, why couldn’t he attack Zeroth?

He didn’t even realize I was blatantly staring at him, nor did he regret missing that rare chance earlier.

There was no Shadow Knight beside Zeroth. There was a strong hawk-eyed man, but she was just a messenger bird, no match for me.

‘But why…’

Why didn’t he kill Zeroth? It was a perfect chance to break his spear and strike his neck. Why?

Instinct pushed his body before reason. Instead of drawing his sword and aiming at Zeroth’ neck, Ban moved his feet to escape.

He chose to suppress his anger and wait for another time.

“…The reason.”

Strictly speaking, he didn’t not kill Zeroth — he couldn’t. Because the princess was staring at him with anxious eyes.

As if he knew the relationship between himself and Zeroth, as if he understood that he might harm Zeroth, that small body was trembling.

At that moment, his hand holding the sword moved as if weighed down by a heavy burden, not moving at all.

If he kills Zeroth here, what would happen to the Rhaican family?

His life wasn’t important. Anyway, his remaining goal was to approach Zeroth.

But the princess?

She could be in serious trouble for hiding the rebel who was targeting the Crown Prince’s life.

The third empress, Zeroth’ mother, loved him dearly. She wasn’t the type to refrain from harming the princess just because she feared the Rhaican name.

He was sure she would kill her. She might even transform into the goddess of revenge and tear the princess apart.

In short, the only reason Ban missed this perfect opportunity was because of the princess.

He was engulfed in self-disgust. He couldn’t understand at all. Why was the princess so important that he couldn’t act? What was so special about her? What was that woman, anyway?

He looked up at Irshelia. His gaze met hers. Her faint, trembling eyes looked at him anxiously.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, no. It’s just… you looked a bit complicated since earlier. Are you alright?”

“…”

“Is it not a health issue? I’m a bit worried.”

Worried? Such a thing should not be expressed by a noble princess to me. It should be unfamiliar. Yet somehow, it felt natural.

Ban almost forced a bitter smile and held back. He answered as coldly as possible.

“No, not at all.”

“Really?”

A sudden urge to touch her furrowed brows and softly stroke her cheek and lips arose.

But he restrained himself with strict rationality.

“Just feeling a bit tired, I suppose.”

He wasn’t fully sure about this unfamiliar feeling yet, but sensing something, he let out a sigh.

It was an exhausting outing.

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

“Princess Aquila. Who was that man you were with earlier?”

“Oh, that’s Kaharze, a noble from the royal family.”

At Leiya’s words, Zeroth’ eyebrows subtly furrowed. The back looked somewhat familiar.

He had hurried onto the carriage without seeing his face properly, but the aura and silhouette were familiar.

“…The princess had someone besides the Rhaican brothers to accompany her.”

He asked Leiya in a light tone.

“Indeed.”

Of course, Princess Aquila wasn’t so easy to read. She simply smiled brightly, brushing off his probing question.

“…You seemed quite taken with her?”

“I haven’t spent much time with her yet, but I think she’s a young lady I might get along with in the future.”

Zeroth smirked with a sardonic smile.

“Princess Aquila. You do realize, don’t you? That I supported your rise to power.”

“…”

“Don’t forget.”

Leiya frowned at his words.

Soon, she roughly shook her skirt and turned away, entering the Marquis’ residence behind him.

“…She’s a difficult woman.”

Muttering quietly, Zeroth then tilted his chin.

“Last.”

“Yes.”

Someone appeared from the void.

It was his shadow knight, newly recruited after killing the basilisk.

“That Kaharze guy is suspicious. Start an investigation.”

“Understood.”

~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~

It was quite late at night.

Faren couldn’t sleep.

He brushed his tangled silver hair back and sighed.

“Vikkel, is there still no contact from the Naepil Guild?”

“…Yes.”

Faren’s aide slightly frowned.

It was because the investigation into Ban, entrusted to the Naepil Guild, was facing difficulties.

The guild that rules the darkness of the continent, Naepil.

The leader of Naepil, a hyena beastman, was greedy and trusted money more than power.

Especially, being a hyena, she liked to travel in packs, so even the royal family didn’t dare to easily disturb Naepil.

They weren’t afraid to dig into secrets of hidden royals or nobles.

‘But is Naepil Guild ignoring everything?’

It was one of two possibilities.

“Either they’re hiding something, or they truly don’t know.”

“Yes?”

“Most likely the latter.”

In other words, Ban was a frightening enough person that the Naepil Guild shouldn’t speak carelessly.

It meant they had to threaten his life.

“…How dare he shut his mouth in front of the Rhaican?”

Fahrenheit finally showed a cold sneer.

His beautiful face gave off an odd, eerie atmosphere.

“Vikkel, I think we need to investigate on our own. Gather the shadow wolves.”

“Yes.”

“And what about Count Kelbes?”

“Yes, Lord Alek has already suppressed all his ties. But…”

Vikkel hesitated.

“We couldn’t find any evidence linking him to Serpens.”

Faren rubbed his furrowed brow at those words.

“Those sinister snakes.”

~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~

Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉

Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~~~Next Chapter~~~

Next chapter will be released on September, 26.

See you then!!