Chapter 29
Knock, knock, knock!
“Ugh… What the…?”
Early the next morning, before she was even fully awake, Elysia frowned at the sound of loud knocking.
“I didn’t even lock the door…”
There was nothing to hide in the room, and after the Duke visited the previous night, she hadn’t bothered with the door again. It wasn’t likely that it was locked.
And it wasn’t like the maids would knock so loudly either. If they wanted to wake her, they’d have just come in and shaken her awake.
Just as Elysia groggily lifted her head in confusion—
“Hey, are you skipping breakfast again today?”
A sharp voice came from the doorway.
And just hearing that tone made her head ache.
Elysia knew exactly who that voice belonged to.
“…Howell?”
Howell Sempherion. Her twin brother.
Realizing she was awake, Howell shouted as if he’d been waiting for the moment.
“Do you think this is the time to be sleeping so peacefully?”
“What is it now?”
“I heard you sparred with the Crown Prince!”
Lowering his voice as if afraid someone would overhear, Howell slipped into her room and added in a half-sigh.
“Father found out yesterday and went to the palace to apologize in your place!”
So that’s where he went yesterday.
Elysia had returned from the mage tower, and the Duke came back even later than she did. He’d been dressed for an outing, so she figured he’d gone somewhere.
But he went to the Imperial Palace to apologize?
“…Why apologize?”
It had been a mutual agreement, and the outcome had been consensual. What was there for the Duke’s house to apologize for?
Elysia froze, dumbfounded, as Howell continued.
“Exactly! If you hadn’t acted rudely toward the Crown Prince, Father wouldn’t have had to go crawling to apologize like that!”
“What?”
“Do you even realize what you’ve done? We rushed over to the palace yesterday, but His Highness wasn’t even there, so it was all for nothing—!”
“…Howell.”
Unable to listen anymore, Elysia called his name. She didn’t understand why he was so furious, but there was a serious flaw in his accusations. In a tone full of disbelief, she pointed it out.
“I acted rudely toward His Highness? Me?”
What on earth had she done? Blocked the Crown Prince’s flying sword with a pebble? Dodged his attacks? Sparred seriously at his request and won?
No matter how she thought about it, she had done nothing wrong. Rising from bed, Elysia spoke firmly.
“You really don’t know anything, do you?”
As she stood up, Howell flinched, startled.
“D-Did you just call your older brother ‘you’?”
+15 Suspicion!
Howell is now worried she might hit him!
…So he’s scared after all?
LOL Howell got scared
He’s terrified but still offended she didn’t call him ‘oppa’
He won’t lose to his sister!
Ugh.
He may be her older brother, but they were twins—same age! Acting all high and mighty was ridiculous.
Elysia didn’t back down and addressed him directly. She felt this much needed to be cleared up.
“Yeah, you. You really don’t know, do you? I didn’t ask for that spar. His Highness commanded me to duel him.”
“What?! Then you really did spar with him? Why would you go along with something like that?!”
“Ha…”
Talking to him was impossible. Even after she said it wasn’t her will, he still found fault with the fact she sparred. And then he took it further.
“Do you even have a brain? Are you stupid? In a situation like that, you should’ve said ‘I can’t spar,’ or ‘I’m too scared,’ and come straight home! Actually, why did you go to the palace in the first place? Are you insane?!”
So basically, everything’s my fault, huh.
He was encouraging her to do the complete opposite of everything she’d done. It made her wonder if he trusted her at all.
Elysia had nothing more to say. He acted as if she must have done something wrong in any situation.
“…Enough. Don’t judge me when you don’t even know the details.”
So he went to the palace for nothing, huh? Clearly, he hadn’t even heard the Crown Prince’s explanation and had just jumped to conclusions.
No reason to deal with this further.
Elysia turned away, clearly annoyed, but Howell wasn’t finished.
“Hey! Do you even understand what it means to beat the Crown Prince in a duel? You know how obsessive he is! Even if he seems to let it go now, he could turn around any minute and drag you back to the palace over it—!”
“I told you to stop. He doesn’t even care about me.”
No matter what she did, his interest level was always zero. He was just some psycho pretending to care.
Well, okay, his interest level did randomly rise at the end… but even then, it was only 30%. It was probably a bug, or just a delayed reaction. Besides, Jerome and the Commander had vouched for her during the duel, so it should all be fine.
Elysia sighed—right then:
“A m-message from the Imperial Palace! Sent by the Crown Prince!”
“…?”
“…?”
A voice called from the mansion’s entrance.
Both Howell and Elysia turned their heads in surprise.
They’d been so busy arguing that they hadn’t even noticed the ruckus or the carriage crossing the garden.
A message from the Imperial Palace…?
Elysia frowned. Speak of the devil. Why now of all times?
What reason would he have to send someone?
She was still scowling in confusion when Howell interjected triumphantly.
“See? I told you! The Crown Prince is up to something again. Just stay in your room!”
Judging by his serious expression, he was convinced Elysia had caused yet another mess. He even tried to block her with his arm.
But Elysia didn’t hesitate a second longer.
“You’re hilarious. I’m already out of my room!”
“Hey! Get back here!”
Try to catch me—I’ve got the higher Agility stat!
Elysia slipped past Howell and dashed down the stairs faster than anyone. Realizing she was still in her nightclothes, she grabbed a shawl and wrapped it tightly.
“Let’s see what this is about…”
She stepped forward, eager to hear the message—when a cold voice stopped her.
“Elysia. What brings you out so early?”
…The Duke.
She turned her head. There stood the Duke, already dressed to receive guests.
Of course. No way the Duke wouldn’t show up if the palace sent a messenger.
The messenger had surely come to report directly to him.
“…It sounded like a commotion, so I came down.”
“You already know what the commotion is, don’t you?”
The Duke’s sharp tone called her out immediately.
“You knew it was news from the palace, and that it was from the Crown Prince. Isn’t that why you came?”
The Duke’s lips curled into a crooked smirk—not out of amusement, but as if to say “I can see right through you.”
…Anyone would misunderstand this situation.
It totally looked like she came running at the mention of the Crown Prince. As if she had feelings for him—which she didn’t.
“Fix your shawl before you speak.”
He even pointed out her nightwear as if he’d expected her to rush out like this.
The Duke turned from her with a look that said “of course,” then addressed the messenger.
“She’s ready to hear it. Speak.”
“Ah, y-yes… So…”
The messenger, eyeing the tension between them, cautiously began to speak.
“T-Two days from now, the Imperial Palace will host a banquet.”
“A banquet?”
“Yes.”
The Duke frowned. After a pause, he muttered,
“…They don’t usually host banquets without a reason.”
“It’s at the request of the Temple.”
“The Temple?”
This time, Elysia asked.
A banquet, requested by the Temple of all people? That’s odd.
Noticing the confusion on her face, the messenger nodded and continued.
“Yes. They said they wish to deliver a very important prophecy—”
“…!”
Prophecy.
The word made Elysia involuntarily clench her fist. As far as she knew, the first prophecy from Remegol could only be one thing—
It must be the prophecy about Frillian’s descent!
She barely had time to process the shock before the messenger, voice trembling, blurted out the next part like a rapid-fire gun.
“A-And His Highness the Crown Prince specifically requested to take Lady Sempherion as his partner for the event—”
“What?”
“What did you say?!”
The Crown Prince’s partner request!
Both the Duke’s and Elysia’s faces froze in unison.
