65 – I think I said something that would cause a lot of misunderstanding.

When I woke up, it was pitch dark.

How long did it take for my eyes to get used to the darkness and be able to recognize the surroundings?

I was lying on the bed in the guest room of the duke’s mansion where I was staying.

It was dark in the room, and I thought it might be night time, seeing as there was no light outside the window.

“Keep off…!”

As I tried to get up, I involuntarily moaned at the sharp pain.

When I lowered my gaze, I could see the bandages wrapped around her body, albeit in a faint shade.

“Ah…”

Yes. Obviously hurt

In fact, there are traces of intensive treatment on the shoulder pierced by the rapier, the leg cut by the dagger, and the abdomen that was properly hit by the dagger.

Obviously stabbed, the elf woman who was still able to move ran towards Riel…

Mr. Eve, who arrived just in time, blew away the elf woman who rushed at her as if she was prepared for her death.

If Eve arrives there, Riel will be safe.

“Whoa…”

I somehow managed to organize my thoughts, and collapsed on the bed again with a sense of security and fatigue.

I felt throbbing all over my body.

“Haa…”

A martial art that was learned while training hard in the barren northern land, to the point where it was runner-up in the Musinje.

Having heard from her mother that she has some talent, she learned enough magic to use it as an aid during battle.

But the result is, as soon as the number of enemies increases to two, I am in a hurry to block them.

Besides, if I did something wrong, Riel could have been in danger.

“It’s still a long way…”

I was conceited.

I was confident that there was no one in my grade that would be defeated, and that I could protect Riel.

But what is this situation?

So, I had to become stronger.

Strong enough to always protect Riel, an important person.

With that resolution, she surrendered herself to the feeling of fatigue and drowsiness.

When she opened her eyes again, bright sunlight was streaming in through her window.

Wrapped in the hot summer air, she pulled herself up.

For a moment, a sharp pain hit my body, but it was tolerable enough.

Just then, I heard the door open.

“Ah…!”

Riel’s bright red eyes shook as if in surprise.

Luca, the maid behind her, also opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Seeing that Riel’s eyes were watery, she said with a shy smile.

“Jo…Good morning. Riel…”

Riel came up to me quickly with frequent steps and hugged me tightly.

Her throbbing pain came from her shoulder, which had been pierced by her rapier, but she suppressed her voice and held back.

“Huh… I’m glad… I’m so glad…”

Seeing her crying in my arms, I stroked her back while holding back her pain as she climbed up.

As expected, I worried about her and her Riel.

He hugged her after she cried for a long time, feeling her warmth and making a promise to become stronger again.

As time passed, I finally let out a sigh of relief from her when I finally heard the truth from Riel.

It was really fortunate that Mr. Eve arrived.

As for the three raiding elves, they said they were imprisoned in the dungeon of the duke’s barracks.

In the case of the elf who fought Mr. Leelu, he suffered bruises and fractures, but otherwise he was fine.

Among the elf sisters, her older sister was directly hit by Riel’s magic, and although she hit her barrier to block it, she couldn’t stop it.

The problem is the elf who made the last charge.

In her case, like her older sister, she was in a state of exhaustion due to burns all over her body, and it was said that her life was in danger due to Riel’s magic, Leelu’s arrow, and Eve’s kick that she was hit with while making the last charge.

The moment Mr. Eve was about to put an end to it, he was stopped by his subordinates who told him that he had to find out who was behind it, so he somehow managed to save his life.

If it was just us, we’d have to put an end to it before it got any more dangerous, but if the knights were there, it would be better to arrest them and find out who was behind them.

As I was talking about this and that with Riel, the door opened and two people came in.

Her exclusive maid, Phyllis, and her Luca, who went to call her.

“Brother, I’m glad you came to your senses.”

“Yes, sorry to worry you, Phyllis.”

“No, I should have accompanied you. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

“No, I was the one who asked you to stay. You don’t have to feel guilty.”

On that day, I was the one who asked Phyllis to stay with the Duchess.

I can protect Riel with my own strength. It was my current injury that my pride that thought so called.

There is no need for Phyllis to feel guilty.

“So Phyllis, don’t look so gloomy.”

“…Yes.”

Seeing that her dark expression eased a little, she smiled.

Shortly, another person entered as if following the two maids.

It was none other than Riel’s brother, Prince Andrew.

He saw Riel holding my hand, and she narrowed her eyes slightly, then quickly erased that expression.

…As expected, if you want to become the next duke, you definitely need that level of emotional control.

“You must have come to your senses.”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

“……”

Prince Andrew, who was silent for a moment, stood in front of me and bowed his head.

“…I heard from Riel. Thank you so much for protecting my little sister.”

“No, I almost put Riel in her danger.”

“But in the end, you protected Riel. I think that alone makes her bow down.”

Although embarrassed by the sudden situation, Prince Andrew continued his words.

“As the next duke of the Duke of Ignis, for protecting my precious family. I am very grateful.”

“……”

If I had to say this, I thought it would be rude to continue to decline and remain humble, so I accepted the thanks quietly.

After Prince Andrew left the room, Mr. Eve and Her Highness Aine entered the room this time.

Mr. Eve thanked him for protecting Riel until he arrived, but His Highness Aine…

Perfect!!

“Oops!!”

A light honey chestnut hit me directly in the head.

“To make people worry!!”

He was angry and had a temper.

Her protesting gaze was directed at her, but she soon withdrew it.

Because the two emotions of joy and relief were clearly conveyed in her eyes as she lowered her head after hitting the honey chestnut.

Although the way he expresses himself is a little clumsy, he has always been affectionate.

…Although I used to make it fit for training to the point of being close to bullying.

Still, if I caught a cold, he would stay by my side and take care of me, and even make me porridge and bring it to me.

…The porridge tasted really bad.

Anyway, she was almost like my own older sister to me, and I understood very well that her actions just came from worrying about me.

“Sorry.”

“……”

Her Highness Aine, who was silent for a moment at my apology, shook her head from side to side and opened her mouth.

“…Sorry.”

“Yes?”

“It’s like my commanding miss. I should have figured out that I was a diversion.”

I was speechless at Her Highness Aine’s words.

Her purple eyes were stained with guilt.

“It can’t be, Your Highness.”

“…But.”

“In that situation, rather than splitting forces by anticipating a diversionary operation, the first thing to do is to reduce damage by quickly deploying manpower.”

In fact, there were only minor damage to the building and minor injuries, but no deaths or serious injuries.

It was all thanks to the quick input of the Knights and the command of Highness Aine and Prince Andrew.

“Your Highness made the right decision.”

In my words, His Highness said nothing.

After meeting the son of the Earl of Toth, who allegedly injured his younger sister, Andrew sat in his room and immersed himself in contemplation.

The servants of the house who were in a coma suddenly started going wild.

And the intruders that appeared after the knights went out to subdue them.

According to Lilu, the elf who remained in the mansion at that time, the intruders were three elves and five fairies.

As a result of interrogating some elves who came to their senses, they said they did not know about the client.

But judging from the presence of fairies among the intruders, there was no doubt that Saint Velia was involved.

I remembered the time to interrogate the elves.

The one in charge of the interrogation was Eve, her younger sister who had just arrived at the mansion, but went out on her own.

Her eyes were literally the kind of eyes that would rip her opponent to death, so it was Alicia and herself who acted as her role to stop her.

Three of us interrogated the elves.

“…The client doesn’t know. We get the request in writing with the advance payment.”

Aside from the burns all over the body, those were the words of one of the elven sisters whose magical power was depleted.

“The request we received is an assassination. The priestess there, the dark-haired boy, and the red-haired girl.”

“…Yes? Me?”

It was none other than Alicia who opened her mouth with a bewildered expression at those words. She

She didn’t believe it, but she looked surprised that she was one of the assassination targets.

“There will be chaos in the city. Follow the guidance of the fairies, infiltrate, kill the target, and bring all the priestess’s belongings. That was the request we received.”

You want me to bring all of Alicia’s belongings?

After hearing her words, Alicia and Andrew looked at each other.

Could Saint Velia’s purpose be the seed of the new World Tree that Alicia took?

It is now Riel carrying it in her arms.

Andrew predicted that, but Alicia, who came out of the interrogation room, denied it.

“There is no way Saint Velia knows about the seed of the new World Tree. That’s because Yggdrasil denied it herself.”

While doing so, Alicia took out another object.

It was a small marble that she once entrusted to Andrew.

“I think this was Saint Velia’s purpose. It is a jewel containing a little of the world tree Yggdrasil’s power.”

“It was something like that.”

“Yes. So I think it won’t matter if you keep entrusting the seed to Lady Riel.”

Hearing that, Andrew nodded his head, but replied with a worried face.

“But then, isn’t Alicia in danger?”

“…If Saint Velia is aiming for this, so be it.”

“……”

Seeing Alicia answer casually, Andrew was silent for a moment.

Within seconds, Andrew, who lifted her head and walked over to her Alicia, looked at her and opened her mouth.

“Miss Alicia.”

“Yes?”

“Stay by my side.”

“…Yes?”

Alicia opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Alicia is a lifesaver for me and my mother. I will do everything in my power to protect her.”

“…Ah…Ah!! That’s it!”

“…?”

Alicia lowered her head, her face red.

Meanwhile, after receiving a report that the injured Kyo Wentos had regained her senses, she went straight on…

When she thought about her now, in her own room, a belated feeling of shame came over her.

“…I think I said something incredibly misleading.”

Andrew Ignis had never been in a relationship until he was this age.

As far as I heard, my father and mother were also love marriages, which are rare among nobles, and he himself shouted out loud that he would follow his father into a love marriage.

However, when I was young, I was busy studying to become the next head of the family, and I had many friends during my academy days, but I had never dated a woman.

He shouted so loudly that he was going to be in a relationship.

During his school days, there were quite a few female students who wooed him, but Andrew, who was good at reading people’s emotions, knew that they were attracted to him because of his status as a duke.

Maybe that’s why he kept away from women even more.

Maybe that’s why, it seemed that the kingdom’s marriageable age had already passed and its senses were paralyzed.

Maybe that’s why she said such misleading things.

Just then, she heard a knock on her door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

The one who entered was a member of the Knights Templar.

“What’s up?”

“Prince Andrew, you have a guest.”

“Guest…? Ah! No way!”

After that, what the knight brought was a red-brown haired man.

Are you the same age as Andrew? The clothes he was wearing seemed to be of expensive material, but had a modest appearance.

“Andrew! I came after receiving a letter.”

Seeing him say hello, Andrew welcomed him.

“Welcome, Gilbert. The circumstances are as described in the letter. Can you help?”

“hahahaha… I’m not going to inherit the family anyway, and since I’m in the position to play and eat at home without working, there’s nothing I can’t help.”

The young man called Gilbert scratched the back of his head and laughed.

His name is Gilbert Reime.

He is the son of Count Leyme, but he is the third son, and he himself has no ambition to inherit the family, so he has been hanging out at home.

Yet, his talent is real.

Andrew, who was an academy classmate, said while holding Gilbert’s hand.

“Please take good care of me. Gilbert. Even if it means saving our duchy.”

“Well, at some point, take care of a good portion.”

Gilbert, who had been saying that, said as if he remembered it.

“Hey. But I saw your little sister in the hallway earlier, and she’s gotten a lot prettier.”

“I don’t know which one you’re talking about, but if you touch either one, I’ll kill you.”

“hahahaha, don’t worry. My preference is the older sister type.”

‘That’s why I’m worried…’

As Andrew muttered to himself, he thought of his older sister, Eve.

She wondered if Eve was too mature for her age.

If I said this in front of her Eve, I might be burned to death.

She thought about Alicia after that, and then nodded her head.

She said let’s be careful not to meet Alicia with this guy.

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