352. Not taken away, but taken away (1)
“For some reason, there are a lot of people even though it’s late.”
After the meeting, Lucia came out of her store and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Starting tonight, outsiders are allowed to enter. I guess that’s because there are a lot of people coming from far away.”
“Ah, for some reason… They are looking at us curiously…!”
“Strictly speaking, it seems like they are looking at Zeto, not us. I guess there are a lot of people who came to see Zeto? Since the article was written that way, there is no way they wouldn’t be interested…”
As if what Crank said was true, not long after that, two women who had been whispering and looking sideways at me approached us.
Looking at the old-fashioned dresses that are hard to find at the academy, they seemed to be the daughters of an unknown family.
“Um… Are you the Zeto who appeared in the newspaper…?”
“…That’s right.”
She couldn’t even pretend to be in a situation where she was wearing the academy’s uniform and her eyes were covered with white bandages.
“Look. You’re right, right?”
“Oh my, looking up close, it’s really…”
The two ladies look at me and swallow their saliva.
“So what happened…”
“…Oh, by the way. Look at my mind. I enjoyed reading the newspaper that wrote Jeto’s story. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to know the driver who will become more famous in the future? I never thought we’d meet in passing like this. “I didn’t know.”
One of the young ladies makes a roaring sound and twists her hair.
“If you don’t know anything else, you won’t remember the face…”
Crank, stunned by the appearance of the nobles, muttered quietly. Seeing that Lucia was clinging to Crank with her mouth closed, it seemed like she didn’t seem to be getting along well with her daughters.
“hahahaha, that’s too much praise.”
I was suddenly bitten by two young ladies and gave a cursory answer while raising the corners of my mouth.
Dealing with nobles is very tiring. Moreover, it was easy for young ladies to get into trouble if they misbehaved even slightly.
This is because their community, formed by drinking a cup of expensive, tasteless tea to look elegant, is very tight-knit.
“Oh, so Miss Clementine was with you too?”
Soon after, her two daughters recognized her and greeted her, as if they had spotted her as she was leaving her store. It seems that they were daughters of the Kingdom of Terrasia.
“…I haven’t seen these faces in a long time.”
Yuri didn’t seem to like them very much, so she slightly nodded her head and greeted them with her eyes.
Given the fact that they called each other by their last name and not their first name, it seemed like they did not have a close relationship but simply met as daughter-in-law.
“Miss Clementine, I heard the news. You said you were going to meet with the 1st Prince?”
“Who said that?”
“Oh my, it’s been a long time since word of mouth spread among us… You sure didn’t think we wouldn’t know, right? hehehehe…”
A young lady laughs, covering her mouth with her fan.
“……”
On the other hand, Yuri’s face was hardening in real time.
“Congratulations, Miss Clementine. In the end, the ‘Burning Flower’ will take the crown princess position that every woman in the Kingdom of Terrasia covets. Like Miss Clementine, I do not have great family or great abilities… Should I catch at least one knight?”
Her daughter looked at her glass with a smile, and as she continued speaking, she turned her head to me.
It was a gesture with a lot of intention.
Yuri, who was watching this, clenched her fists, raised the corners of her mouth, and opened her mouth to send them away.
“If you’re done with your business, it’s late, so let’s go back now.”
“Why? Since I’ve been to the Academy for a long time, I thought I’d take a look.”
“The academy is not very safe when outsiders are allowed in. Do you know how much the bounty is on Cadet Zeto’s head? The assassins who failed to target Cadet Zeto did not know that the night was scary. “I don’t think it would be a problem to catch two wandering ladies.”
Yuri taps my neck with an indifferent expression and then points to the two ladies.
It was certainly something that could have happened at any time, holding two young ladies hostage who seemed incapable of mana, let alone magic, and demanding gold coins.
Well, regardless of that, Yuri was now telling them to get out of her sight.
“No way… That can’t be…”
“Yes… There are cadets around… Right?”
The two young ladies who were immediately singled out stutter and fall into fear.
Despite her threats, her threats show no signs of disappearing, and eventually she continues her words in silence, creating flames on her fingers.
“Well, it’s not surprising if a fireball suddenly pops out from somewhere. It’s a busy time for cadets preparing for exams.”
“…Well, are there such cases?”
“Sometimes my shield flies to the side of the road.”
In response to the question the young lady threw into the air, Crank responded by showing off the thorn-studded shield he was carrying on his back.
He was a crank who took my advice from the East and upgraded his shield.
“……”
From Noble mtl dot com
The two ladies, who were looking at Crank’s scary-looking shield, made eye contact with her and Yuri’s, and Yuri, who had kept her mouth tightly shut, quietly shrugged her shoulders.
“Um… Miss Edfled…? I think it’s best to go sightseeing… When the sun is out…”
“Okay, then we’ll just leave. Let’s have some tea next time, Miss Clementine.”
Only then did the two young ladies, who had goosebumps all over their bodies, probably feel that Yuri was killing them, shrug their shoulders and hurriedly leave the place.
“Take care, Miss Edfled… Who is next to you?”
Yuri, who was waving her hand while looking at the backs of the two ladies who were walking away, muttered.
I asked Yuri, turning her head.
“What are these people doing?”
“They’re just young ladies who enjoyed a bad tea party together for a while before coming to the academy. They’re amazing people who have the talent to criticize others whenever they open their mouths.”
“Then what is the story about the first prince?”
“……Zeto, how about we talk about that later?”
Naturally, when asked about the 1st Prince, Yuri avoids the answer.
“Right now, I’m busy enough just with the special class exam.”
Although Yuri was trying to sound bright, her expression was still dark.
The situation did not look good a few days ago.
‘The progress is faster than expected…’
In the game, the Terrasia episode began in earnest only after a month had passed since I returned to the East, but now I couldn’t last even a week, let alone a month, before something happened.
The meeting that took place this time will definitely be an opportunity to talk about marriage.
This is a marriage that not only the 1st prince himself but also the king of Terrasia is pushing for. The goal is to create a link for the future king’s successor to the Clementine family, a powerful duke in the kingdom.
So the pressure is bound to be severe.
The Clementine family has always had a strong loyalty to the royal family, but this time, that loyalty is broken.
It was significant that the crown prince of the Kingdom of Terrasia was a pagan with strong ties to a dark sect that worshiped demon gods.
After learning the secret, Yuri had no choice but to reject him even more strongly, and soon a rebellion broke out.
The incident that triggered the rebellion was always the same.
Prince 1 tries to confirm Yuri’s purity.
You might think this isn’t a big deal since Yuri is pure, but this is also an act that seriously hurts one’s pride.
This was something that even the king of Terrasia was surprised by.
The king summons the crown prince and asks him a question.
Why did he do such a thing?
The crown prince’s answer was so remarkable that I still remember it clearly.
‘I have lived in an academy where nobles and commoners are equal, so I should be able to believe it too. ‘Isn’t it strange that I ended up rolling around in bed with an unknown commoner?’
The king of Terrasia probably also felt it around this time.
He said maybe he had raised a monster himself.
But if you realize it by then, it will be too late.
He was too old and did not have the energy to abdicate the first prince, who had already established himself with nobles for a long time.
There were various scenarios after that, but none of them could be considered a happy ending.
First of all, the result of Yuri leaving the academy cannot be avoided.
The Clementine family is not weak in power, so pictures were sometimes drawn showing the Clementine family on the side of the empire, and I believe that if that happens, a war will break out between the empire and the Kingdom of Terrasia.
What would happen if a civil war broke out between humans in a situation where the resurrection of the Demon King is just around the corner?
Even if the military power of the Amman Empire is strong, it will not be able to defeat the Kingdom of Terrasia without causing any damage, and the demons will lick up the blood shed in the civil war and grow in size.
It is very likely that he put the bounty on my head right now. The mastermind must be the dark church hidden behind him.
No matter what, the first prince must die for everyone.
The problem is that he is not just a prince, but a crown prince. What would happen if the heir, who was expected to inherit the throne from an old king soon, was assassinated right before taking over the throne?
In this world where the excellent medical technology called divine power is well established, natural or accidental deaths are not that common.
The person who profited the most from assassinating the crown prince will be accused of being the likely culprit. Considering the current situation, there is a high probability that the young second prince and the head of the Clementine family, Xerath Clementine, will be singled out.
Unless a saint who can distinguish between lies is appointed as judge, it will be very difficult to prove her innocence.
If the first prince dies and the second prince also abdicates, there will definitely be nobles who will benefit greatly. Even if I were to call her, wouldn’t she be questioning the saint’s power?
Therefore, overt assassination should be avoided as much as possible.
In order for the dispute to not prolong and for everything to be resolved amicably, a plan was needed to remove the first prince while also placing the second prince as the rightful successor.
‘I have a plan in advance, but…’
Now that things were like this, it was necessary to approach the royal family of Terrasia sooner than planned.
In that sense, this open test may have a great effect.
“Miss Yuri.”
“Why?”
“Because my ears are always open.”
I smiled at Yuri, whose face was full of worry, and patted her ear.
At this, Yuri shakes her head.
“…Thank you. But it’s not something Zeto should worry about, so don’t worry too much.”
No matter how I look at it, it seems like it will soon become something I have to worry about.
To protect her, he had to take away her virginity.
…That was exactly the plan.
Oh? Oooooh? Is it the time? This soon?
What?