I wanted to go see Elhardt as soon as possible, wondering whether he’d finished getting ready and whether those people had prepared some shabby clothes for him.
At some point, my thoughts must have started showing on my face, because the Crown Prince gave a wry smile.
“Are you that impatient? The other person must be busy getting ready, too.”
“I was supposed to be there helping him.”
“I sent my personal attendant, so there’s no need to worry. He’s every bit as capable as you are, Ser.”
How would you know how capable I am?
My eyes narrowed sharply, and the Crown Prince tilted his head.
“Have you ever picked out clothes for a man?”
Of course not…
“Have you ever styled a man’s hair?”
Naturally, I hadn’t. I’d severed a few heads, but that was another matter.
“Do you know the measurements of your prince’s clothes?”
That was a problem.
Now that I thought about it, I didn’t know anything at all.
“Let’s spend a little more time here, then head over when the banquet is about to begin. I’ll let the detached palace know as well.”
Hmm. Not ideal. I was just starting to get tired of looking at jewelry.
“Or… would you like to look around the Crown Prince’s Palace a little more? You only saw the first floor earlier, didn’t you?”
Oh, that was tempting.
But if I looked too delighted right away, he might grow suspicious.
“You must be busy, Your Highness. I couldn’t possibly impose on you.”
“I’ll be using that as an excuse to take a break myself.”
…It wasn’t as if he’d let me leave even if I refused.
He asked for my opinion while clearly intending to do whatever he wanted.
It worked out well for me for now, but the man really did have a nasty personality.
I nodded as though reluctantly agreeing and followed the Crown Prince.
‘Since I’m here, I should thoroughly check out the other areas, too.’
And see if there were any more things I could get my hands on.
I hoped I could get a whole box of tea to share with Elhardt.
If I were to be a little greedier, I’d ask for a couple of bottles of fine liquor and some fluffy slippers, too.
***
“Here, I’ve brought your meal.”
Elhardt glanced at the servant setting a heavy basket down on the table, then asked,
“Where’s my maid?”
“She was taken away by the Crown Prince.”
“What? Why?!”
Elhardt cried out in surprise.
“Ah! You startled me. Why are you shouting?”
Rick, Elhardt’s personal informant who had been undercover in the Cradion Imperial Palace for years, grumbled.
“He took her along to help her get ready for the banquet.”
“Why didn’t you just say that from the start instead of saying she’d been taken away…? No, wait. Why is the Crown Prince personally taking care of this?”
“Who knows? Maybe he’s fallen head over heels for her.”
Rick answered absentmindedly as he lifted the lid of the basket.
“Whoa, no wonder it was so heavy. Just how many people is this supposed to feed?”
Elhardt, however, paid no attention to the food and paced frantically around the room.
Watching him, Rick let out a deep sigh.
“Your Highness, is this really the time to worry about that mysterious maid? I’m already uneasy about whatever scheme the Empire has in mind by inviting us to the banquet.”
“I’ll take care of myself. But she…”
Elhardt stopped and let out a long sigh before murmuring weakly,
“She doesn’t know the common sense of this era.”
After a brief silence, Rick lowered his voice and asked,
“Your Highness, are you really certain that maid is ‘that person’?”
“Yes.”
Elhardt answered firmly, without a moment’s hesitation.
“But that maid really…”
Rick paused, searching for the right words.
“She looks about the same age as my youngest sister.”
“Then our theory from back then was probably correct.”
“You mean the one about the flow of time and space being severed inside the Black Rift?”
Elhardt nodded.
“Yes.”
“But what if Your Highness is mistaken?”
At Rick’s question, Elhardt recalled what had happened that night.
“…I almost wish I were.”
The night she had suddenly fallen right on top of him.
The overwhelming attraction had robbed him of his reason. Casting aside his usual caution, he had crossed a line.
‘And I thought it was fate.’
He had never imagined he would become the protagonist of that irresponsible, absurd tale of love at first sight.
The silver hair spilling into his arms had gleamed like a snowy field beneath the sunlight, and her sky-blue eyes were enchanting, as though they held the stars.
Her beauty was so divine that, for a moment, it had robbed him of speech.
He had been afraid of losing her.
Overcome by desperation, he had made reckless promises and reached out to seize her.
Whether the Emperor had sent her or someone else was behind the scheme, he had found it utterly impossible to resist.
The moment he kissed those soft lips, it had felt as though even his soul were being stolen.
‘Without realizing that she was someone I had no right to desire.’
He first realized something was wrong when he saw her effortlessly conjure ancient magic with her own hands.
There were no mages in this era who used magic the way she did.
‘And she even said she wasn’t a mage.’
She claimed she could only use basic household magic.
And there was one more thing.
“Look at this.”
Elhardt took a pendant from inside his clothes and handed it to Rick.
“Wait, isn’t that… the one you always carry with you?”
“Yes. I took it from the royal treasury after distinguishing myself in my first campaign.”
The treasury had contained all sorts of treasures, beginning with the founding king’s weapons and artifacts. Yet the only thing Elhardt had chosen was this utterly useless pendant.
As if entranced, he had picked it up. Inside was a portrait of a beautiful woman.
“Huh? Wh-what…?”
Rick opened the pendant and peered inside. His eyes widened.
“Isn’t that the maid?”
“She looks like her to you, too?”
“Looks like her? It’s not just a resemblance. It’s the exact same person!”
For some reason, Caleb, Bardia’s second king, had collected all the portraits of Iserna Airvayne that remained in the royal palace.
He had also personally intervened in the historical records, ordering every description of her appearance to be erased.
Because Caleb’s actions had been so shocking, this particular matter had not been considered especially significant.
People had simply regarded it as another bizarre act of a tyrant.
Now, more than three hundred years later, not a single clue about the expedition commander remained.
Perhaps this pendant Elhardt possessed was the only one left.
“Um… Is there any chance it belonged to another king? Perhaps he secretly put a portrait of his mistress inside?”
Faced with a reality that was almost impossible to believe, Rick asked the question. Elhardt gave a wry smile and shook his head.
“There’s a message from the founding king to her on the back of the portrait.”
He, too, had harbored the same suspicion and opened the pendant to check.
“Oh! Let me see, too…”
Before Rick could touch the portrait, Elhardt snatched the pendant away.
“Don’t even think about it.”
His instincts told him that it was a secret of the founding king’s that no one else should be allowed to see.
Rick stared blankly at his empty hand before edging closer to Elhardt.
“If that maid really is ‘that person,’ wouldn’t that be an enormous advantage?”
Elhardt tucked the pendant securely into his clothes and replied curtly,
“What advantage?”
“Why, it’s the return of the hero who ended the Dark Age. With someone that powerful on our side, we could catch Cradion completely off guard, couldn’t we?”
“Yes. There will be plenty of people who think just like you.”
Elhardt sighed and sat down at the table.
Until just a few days ago, he’d struggled to even finish a bowl of watery gruel. Now, his table was laden with food that looked delicious even at a glance.
“But to me, things look utterly bleak.”
Whether Iserna Airvayne had returned alone or alongside every member of the expedition, they deserved to be properly rewarded.
But what was the state of Bardia now?
Rather than being prepared to welcome its heroes, the very fate of the nation was hanging in the balance.
“Now that things have come to this, we’ll have to move up our plans.”
“…Are you serious?”
“We can’t let the turncoats be the ones to welcome the expedition, can we?”
Those disgusting people would use every underhanded trick at their disposal to exploit that formidable force for their own gain.
Of course, the Ser he had come to know was absolutely not someone who would let herself be used by anyone.
‘I don’t want her to see me looking so pathetic anymore.’
That was the problem.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Rick. You have an older sister, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. Why?”
“Is there any way for a man to make a good impression on a woman who’s roughly three hundred years older than him?”
At the look of utter shock on Rick’s face, Elhardt buried his face in his hands.
Yes, the real problem was…
He had already fallen in love with someone he wasn’t even allowed to harbor feelings for.
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