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Episode 30: Someone Is Back (VIII)
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The next morning.
As soon as I opened my eyes, the ducal mansion was in a mess.
I got up, dressed up roughly, and called the spy maid.
“Why is it so chaotic?”
“Ah, that…”
The spy maid was flustered.
“The capital is in an uproar right now, Princess.”
“Oh my god. Are you saying there’s something more upsetting than my presence?”
“Yes! Lord Joshua has just come looking for you.”
“Wow. He has left the house, but he is shamelessly coming every day. Is it because Alex is not there?”
I clicked my tongue and evaluated his brazenness, then tilted my head and asked.
“If Prince Heaton and Rodrigo are arguing about my marriage…”
“No, Princess.”
The spy maid shook her head.
“Prince Heaton probably doesn’t even have the mental power to do that.”
“Huh?”
“Yesterday, His Highness the Crown Prince showed up at the clubhouse and tried to kill his old teacher!”
I gasped.
What? Why was this happening so quickly?
It was what I wanted, but I was a little confused.
Actually, before the regression, the crown prince slowly began to choke those who had betrayed him.
Without revealing himself, he brutally harmed the picnic members one by one.
‘But this doesn’t start until a few months later.’
Besides, he didn’t kill his first opponent in the clubhouse.
I tilted my head, but the spy maid said,
“Since Lord Joshua is in the duke’s office, I think it’d be best if you listen to it yourself.”
“I will.”
I immediately ran down to my grandfather’s office.
In the office, Joshua was drinking tea with Grandpa. He was dressed very fancifully, as usual.
“You’ve woken up.”
Grandpa kicked Joshua next to him as he elegantly sipped his tea.
“Sit down.”
All of a sudden, I ended up sitting in the seat closest to Grandpa.
Grandpa looked at me and asked.
“Breakfast.”
Even though it was a simple question, there was something that made people nervous.
Of course, I answered without hesitation.
“I skipped it because I came once I woke up.”
“You didn’t eat?”
“Well, I mean, I just put it off for a while.”
At my words, Grandpa immediately ordered the servants.
“Bring Kiana’s meal.”
“H-Here?”
“You walked all the way here without breakfast, so how can I ask you to walk to the dining room?”
No, but how could I eat in the office…
I waved my hand and immediately tried to reject it.
“Oh, all I need is coffee…”
“No coffee on an empty stomach.”
“Then I’ll eat something and drink coffee…”
“I’ll have Kylon give his opinion and think about it.”
Kylon was the duchy’s doctor.
‘No, so now I can only drink coffee with the doctor’s permission!?’
I lightly hit the table and started protesting.
“I am very young and healthy…”
Joshua quickly pulled out a hand mirror from his jacket pocket and held it in front of my face.
I immediately clenched my fists and shut my mouth.
No matter where I looked, it didn’t look healthy… Looking here and there, it gave the impression that I would die from overworking in the lab…
“At this point, remove all the things that are harmful to Kiana’s health from the ducal mansion.”
“Yes!”
The spy maid shouted more cheerfully than ever.
It wasn’t long before the table in the office was filled with food.
While I was blinking in confusion, Grandpa held out a bowl of soup to me
“Your stomach is empty, so you should eat something warm.”
While slicing a sausage, Joshua said, “You’re so skinny, do you have the strength to hold a knife? I’ll cut it up for you.”
“Now that he mentioned it, your wrists seem to have no strength at all. Kiana, would you like me to help you with this soup?”
I shouted in protest.
“I am not a patient!”
In response, the two men stared at my face, their expressions practically saying, ‘You’re on the verge of being sick’. Their faces were beautiful, befitting the Prelai lineage, but also terrifying, so I flinched and lowered my tail right away.
“I, I can eat by myself. Exercise too… I’ll start.”
At the word ‘exercise’, both Grandpa and Joshua finally gave up. I had no choice but to start eating with a sigh.
Actually, I wanted to have coffee on an empty stomach first, regardless of breakfast.
Grandpa and Joshua smiled and laughed each time food went into my mouth. One of them muttered, “I didn’t feed her properly for 6 years, so I need to feed her well for 60 years.”
The other added a terrible statement, “I will ban research and only let her play and eat till her brain cells are plump.”
And it wasn’t until after I finished eating that Grandpa nodded and said,
“Kiana, thank you again for saving Hou. The academy’s handling and Rodrigo’s marriage proposal were so distracting that I couldn’t thank you enough.”
There was a look of satisfaction on Grandpa’s face.
“I’ll be sure to reciprocate. If there’s anything you want, let me know. Joshua, you can go now.”
“What? Why do I have to go?”
“Why are you here when I thank Kiana?”
“If that’s the case, I also have something to thank Kiana for?”
Joshua chuckled with a sarcastic expression. And he turned his gaze to me and expressed gratitude.
“Kiana, I heard you went to the clubhouse yesterday and accidentally caught a criminal who worshiped my fashion? Thank you.”
“…Isn’t that an impersonation rather than worship?”
“But there is no one who can impersonate me?”
Joshua shrugged his shoulders, not too surprised.
‘Indeed, you already knew.’
But he must have felt no sense of crisis. Which was why he just left it like that…
Anyone could see he didn’t seem to be particularly grateful to me. He just didn’t want to lose to Grandpa.
“But how did you know that the owner of the clubhouse was the bounty the Duke of Lisinis was after?”
“Oh, I heard about it in the Principality of Liloney.”
I made up something.
It was certain that Alex would destroy the academy, so there wouldn’t be any behind-the-scenes investigation.
“I overheard some professors talking about it in the academy. I don’t remember who. Well, to those people, it’s someone else’s business, so they probably didn’t think that they should be careful with their words.”
“I see.”
Sure enough, Joshua gave a rough nod and moved on.
“Kiana, that’s not the point. Anyway…”
‘What did you say, that was important!’
“The crown prince appeared at the clubhouse that day.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean by that…”
Joshua started talking. His gaze was serious.
“There was a middle-aged man named Orca Sedes. From what I’ve heard, it seems to be the same person you had a fight with at the blackjack table.”
“Ah, the loser who lived a crazy life?”
“…He was a former member of the Imperial Knights, and was the swordsmanship teacher of the crown prince. He was with him at the picnic where he fell off the cliff.”
“Hmm.”
Even though the loser’s body was in disarray, there were calluses on his hands. He must have really vigorously used the sword.
‘Also, he talked about the old days.’
It seemed the loser was once great enough to serve as the crown prince’s swordsmanship teacher. Everyone praised the crown prince, saying he was a talented person who would become the youngest sword master.
“After the crown prince went missing like that, he said he felt responsible and resigned from the knights, leaving entirely.”
“…And became an irresponsible gambling addict?”
“Well, that’s how it is, but…”
Joshua let out a light sigh before continuing.
“Anyway, it’s a mess right now because Orca saw the prince in that mess. You don’t know anything?”
“Not at all.”
My memory of Orca was completely cut off in the middle. Of course it was, since I had to deal with Avian after ordering the arrest of Arlene. I didn’t have time to look around.
Shouldn’t Orca be frantic in the mess of the guards arresting Arlene?
“According to Orca, the silver-haired, masked crown prince approached and tried to kill him.”
“So, where is the returned crown prince?”
“At some point, he suddenly disappeared.”
I probed, pretended not to know anything.
“…Didn’t he just mistake it? He might be a bit crazy. He was already very drunk then.”
“Everyone thinks so… Anyway, he was trembling, saying that it must be the crown prince. He tried to kill him, but he failed and left his whole body crippled. Particularly…”
Joshua added with a sigh.
“His right wrist was almost hacked off. Ah… didn’t you hurt your wrist too?”
“Oh. I think my wrist will fall off. What if I can never use my wrist again? I’m a little scared.”
As I mustered up sadness, Joshua hurriedly checked my wrist and muttered,
“…No matter how much I try to be protective, this really sucks.”
Last night, I immediately told the doctor, Kylon, to put on a bandage.
It was at the level of a slight scratch, so it wasn’t serious. In any case, it was something that would turn the capital upside down.
Until now, no one ever found a man similar to the crown prince.
Just like that, the missing crown prince slipped away from everyone’s memory. Naturally, most thought that the next emperor would be Heaton.
Yet, someone screamed frantically and crazily about the sudden appearance of the missing crown prince. Everyone couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Anyway, even if the crown prince came back, why would he kill his old teacher? I heard they had a special relationship.”
At my natural question, Joshua shrugged once.
Our grandfather, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, took a sip of tea in silence.
We must all be thinking the same thing. There was no need to say it out loud.