“Mugu! Mugugugu, mugu, mugugu, mugu!”
“O-okay, calm down, Rouge. Prince Lucas and Princess Lucretia are right in front of you.”
Roan-san and Alissa-san both wore wry smiles, and Lily gave me a reproachful look that seemed to say, “Why did you forget to tell them about the stand-in?”
W-well, it can’t be helped, there were a lot of things going on! It completely slipped my mind! And Rouge, your hands are getting covered in drool, so please stop trying to talk… !
“Hey, Rouge. It’s been a while. How have you been?”
Perhaps feeling sorry for our flustered state, Prince Lucas approached us. When we tried to kneel, the Prince raised his hand to stop us, and with a friendly smile, he placed his hands on Rouge’s shoulders.
“How many years has it been since we last met like this? I’m sorry, Rouge. It was the first time meeting my sister, so I surprised you.”
“Eh, um, eh?”
“Let me introduce you. This is Lucretia, my current sister.”
With that, Prince Lucas introduced Lucretia (the fake one) sitting on the sofa to Rouge. Lucretia… or rather, Merry, who was playing the part, stood up from the sofa, put her hands on her hips, and puffed out her chest proudly.
“I’m Lucretia! Nice to meet you!”
…Yeah, she doesn’t sound anything like her when she talks.
“Luc, eh…?”
Rouge wore a puzzled expression. She seemed to be bothered by the low quality of her own fake. But with this, she finally seemed to understand that the other person was a fake.
After confirming that Rouge had calmed down, Prince Lucas turned his face towards Lecty.
“Nice to meet you. I am Lucas von Reese, the third prince of this country.”
“H-h-h-how do you do…”
It seemed that Lecty’s tension had reached its peak after seeing the Prince for the first time. She was no longer able to even speak properly. Prince Lucas chuckled at Lecty’s state and urged us to sit on the sofa, saying, “Let’s calm down for now, shall we?”
“Hey Hugh, is that girl alright?”
“…Probably, maybe.”
Roan-san asked me as we passed each other on the way to the sofa, but I couldn’t say for sure that she was okay. Lily was desperately calling out, “It’s okay, calm down,” but it was doubtful whether Lecty could hear her.
Alissa-san placed teacups in front of us as we sat on the sofa. It had a refreshing scent, so the contents were probably herbal tea. It seemed that she was trying to ease Lecty’s tension.
“Now then, first of all, Miss Lecty. Thank you for rushing here at my request. On behalf of the royal family and the people, I would like to express my sincere gratitude.”
“N-no, I’m not that… I haven’t done anything yet…”
“No, you came all this way to help my father. First, I want to commend you for your courage. Thank you very much.”
“Y-yes…”
Lecty breathed a sigh of relief at Prince Lucas’s words of gratitude.
He’s a terrifying person after all… He adjusted his tone, way of speaking, and speed of speech, and instantly eased Lecty’s tension. This guy is more suited to being a con artist than a prince…?
Just as I thought that, Prince Lucas looked at me and smiled. …I should stop thinking unnecessary things.
“Prince Lucas. So, how is His Majesty the King’s condition…?”
Lily asked Prince Lucas with a somewhat stern expression.
“He’s stable for now. However, the situation is still unpredictable.”
At Prince Lucas’s words, Rouge, who was sitting next to me, gripped my hand tightly. I squeezed her hand back a little harder.
“Your Highness, it’s about time.”
Roan-san, who had been talking to someone outside the room, called out to Prince Lucas. It seemed that preparations for the meeting with His Majesty the King were complete.
“Then let’s go. You can follow me.”
We followed Prince Lucas as instructed. Now that I think about it, is it really okay to rush to a sick person with such a large group…? Merry, Roan-san, and Alissa-san were also behind us, making it a total of eight people.
After going up several flights of stairs and walking down a long corridor, a door with glittering decorations appeared. Prince Lucas stopped in front of the door and knocked three times at regular intervals.
That must have been the signal, as the door slowly opened from the inside, and a white-haired middle-aged man appeared.
“Hey, Chenser. How is Father doing?”
“No change.”
The man called Chenser by Prince Lucas quietly shook his head.
“Marquis Chenser Prime. He is the prime minister of this country.”
While I was wondering who he was, Lily quickly whispered in my ear. The prime minister… so he’s the head of the bureaucracy, one of Prince Lucas’s support bases.
“Are these the ones Prince Lucas was talking about?”
“This is Miss Lecty, who possesses the Holy Maiden Skill, and her classmates. Is it alright to let them into the room?”
“Of course. Please, come this way.”
It seemed that the matter had been discussed in advance, and Marquis Prime invited us into the room.
The King’s bedroom was the opposite of the door’s extravagance, with almost no decorations. There was a four-poster bed and a sofa large enough for several people to sit on, and the other furniture was minimal. The spacious room felt somewhat desolate.
And in that room. The one lying on the four-poster bed must be His Majesty the King…
His beautiful golden hair, the same as Prince Lucas and Lucretia, was spread out on the pillow. His once-handsome features were gaunt, and his complexion was pale. Rough breaths escaped from his chapped lips.
I had heard about it, but this is…
Even a layman like me could tell at a glance that he didn’t have much time left. After trying various treatments, they had no choice but to bet on Lecty’s Holy Maiden Skill as a last resort…
“Miss Lecty, without further ado—”
Just as Prince Lucas was about to ask for treatment, it happened.
“Excuse me, Lucas.”
The door we had entered was forcefully opened, and a large, imposing man with blue hair and a large crescent moon-shaped earring on one ear strode into the room.
He looked to be in his early twenties. His handsome and well-defined features were somewhat similar to Prince Lucas and His Majesty the King. He was over 180 cm tall, and his well-trained physique was visible even through his clothes.
The fact that he called Prince Lucas by his given name meant that this person was perhaps…
“Well, well, if it isn’t Prince Brute. I heard you were going to inspect the Second Division today, so why are you here?”
“Well, I thought I’d come see if the rumored Holy Maiden Skill can really cure my dying old man. Don’t worry, I won’t get in the way.”
As he said that, the blue-haired imposing man plopped down on the sofa. So, this is Prince Brute after all…
I glanced at Prince Lucas’s reaction, and he was wearing his usual smile. It seemed that Prince Brute’s intrusion was already expected.
But,
“Oh, by the way, things are getting a little troublesome? It seems that that idiot brother of ours is secretly moving behind the scenes again.”
“…Prince Slay?”
The smile disappeared from Prince Lucas’s face.
“It seems he’s taking those baseless rumors seriously. Between that and Duke Lecherie’s perverted old man incident, I think he’s getting too impatient.”
“…………Haa. I wonder what he’s done this time.”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Less than a minute later, the door to the room opened.
Standing in the doorway were Prince Slay, whom we had seen at Duke Lecherie’s Mansion, and an elderly man in priest’s robes.
And one more person.
“No way…”
Rouge’s eyes widened in surprise. I was also genuinely surprised.
There, swaying her cherry-blossom-pink drill-like twin tails, was the girl who should have been a humble nun—Rosalie Saint.
Thank you for reading this far (‘ω’)ノ
♡, comments of support, ☆, follows, are always encouraging me to write ( ;∀;)
I would be happy if you thought it was even a little bit interesting m(__)m