169 – Post-processing (1)
I returned to the mansion under the cover of darkness, hiding her face with a hood, defeated the knights, and returned to my room with Nana.
“… “Your Highness, do you really intend to do that?”
“Yes, I’m going to get caught someday anyway, so I’d rather do it, brother…” “It would be better to tell Abama before it gets to your brothers’ ears.”
Recalling the decision I had made several times in my mind before coming here, what I took out was an emergency communication crystal ball that is only given to the royal family.
When mana was injected into the ball, which looked no different from an ordinary crystal ball except that it was gold in color, the room was filled with golden mana.
After a while, the golden light gradually ceased and what was reflected on the wall was Abama’s eyes, whose eyes were half closed, as if she had just coughed.
I could feel the passage of time as I saw that there was more gray hair than when I last met him.
[Uhm… ?]
When Abama looked at me, she looked embarrassed for a moment, but she soon put on a benevolent expression as if she had never done that before and spoke.
[I thought this was going to be Euclid, but there was a beautiful lady. Lady, may I ask your name?]
“… Yes, Euclid von dervaart.”
[Ugh… ?]
From now on, I plan to tell Abama everything that has happened so far, honestly and without hiding anything.
But whether Abama would believe it was another story.
I was worried that if I were Abamama, I would have believed this story, but to my surprise, Abamama listened to me and Nana’s story, nodded her head repeatedly, and she believed this story.
“Mi, you believe me?”
[Yes, I knew for a long time that your mother was planning something, and more than anything, there was no reason for Nana-kyung to join in and spread these lies.]
If someone had made this up, it would have been done to frame me and my faction, and this was a very unnatural thing.
The faction has already disbanded and there is no one left, and I am a long way from the throne compared to my brothers. What can you gain by coming and framing me now?
Furthermore, even though he could make up words, he could not make up the evidence of defeating the devil.
“… “But I didn’t expect you to trust me so easily.”
I didn’t think people would believe me, so I made preparations such as telling people about things that only Abama and I knew about, but surprisingly, things went smoothly.
I trusted you so easily that when I was embarrassed and couldn’t find anything to say, Abama spoke as if I was hitting a player.
[It must have been very difficult.]
“Yes?”
[The things you have been through so far. Actually, I should have noticed and stopped it somehow, but it only left you with painful memories. I’m really sorry.]
As Abama lowered her head while saying that, I waved my hands in despair and said,
“Oh, no!! Rather, I should have been honest first, but I couldn’t because I was afraid of what would happen later. I’m really sorry!!”
[Thank you for saying that. But I guess the reason you contacted me today is to sort things out since you can’t do the transformation anymore, right?]
“…… Yes.”
[Okay, first of all, I have no intention of scolding you, nor do I have any intention of finding and punishing the nobles who were in your faction.]
If the matter was already known, they would have to be punished for show, but fortunately, only a very small number of people know about this matter.
Abamama did not want to see his blood, making a big deal out of something that could have been quietly covered up.
There are a few people in your faction who know your secret, but if your life is precious, you won’t make fun of them lightly.
[First of all, we decided to cover up this matter, and now you are left, but I plan to treat you as dead.]
It was a reasonable choice since he couldn’t pretend to be a prince like before unless he could turn into a man.
I had contacted Abamama with the intention of throwing away everything I had lived so far, so I was prepared for this, but what I heard next was somewhat unexpected.
[And you must live as my illegitimate daughter, my daughter whom I have kept hidden until now.]
“Did you say daughter?”
It was so unexpected and generous that I thought for a moment that I had heard wrong.
But after hearing what followed, I immediately realized that what I had heard was correct.
[Of course, there are conditions. She is marrying Count Ian Bartow, who is said to have defeated the great evil.]
At first, I did not understand the true meaning of those words, but the moment I saw through the greed hidden behind Abamama’s kind and gentle face, I understood their meaning.
[I am not doubting Count Tow’s loyalty. But we can’t just leave someone like that alone.]
My father was jealous. Ian is strong enough to defeat the Archdemon single-handedly.
[I won’t go so far as to tell you to seduce and manipulate me. But you can definitely do something to be friendly to the royal family….]
“Oh, no…” !! This can’t be done by Ian… !!”
[…] … What?]
When did I start liking Ian? I’m not sure because it was the first time I had an ambiguous feeling called affection, but I think it was probably when I received a marriage proposal from Ian.
To me who gave up on life as a woman… No, a person who taught that joy to others who had no choice but to give up, even if only for a moment.
I have always had love for him, who helped me forget the painful reality for a while.
‘I can’t do it…’ .’
He risked his life again to save me. I can never betray him and act like I did in the past, tying him up with a leash.
“Abama… This thing… !!”
What I took out from the drawer while glaring at Abama with a trembling voice was a dagger that I had purchased for self-defense but had never used.
I unsheathed the dagger and raised it high, stabbing it towards my chest and saying my last words.
“Please, with my life…” !!”
*****
“Just――!!”
Moving her hands faster than you could yell at him to stop, Sir Nana stunned and incapacitated Euclid with minimal movements.
Even at that urgent moment, Euclid fainted as if he was falling asleep, perhaps out of consideration for Euclid. Even though he fainted, he did not let go of the dagger in his hand until the very end.
How determined was that delicate and weak child to not let go of the dagger even though he fainted…? .
As a parent, I had mixed feelings about whether I should rejoice in my child’s growth, or feel sad that she showed her growth in this way.
“Lord Nana.”
[…] Yes, Your Majesty.]
“What kind of person is Count Ian Bartow in your opinion? He should honestly confess what he saw and felt.”
[Now that you say that, I will honestly tell you what I felt, at the risk of being rude. He is a madman.]
“…… Madman?”
I thought it would be a radical expression when I said that I would risk rudeness, but even so, I am a crazy person.
I thought it might be a bit of an exaggeration since warriors are often foul-mouthed, but Sir Nana’s expression was extremely serious.
“Tell me a little more detail. “What kind of person is he specifically?”
[…] Before I say anything, Your Majesty, do you know about a technique called Baldojutsu?]
“Baldosul?”
He only has similar knowledge with the sword as other nobles, so he doesn’t know much about it, but he knows what kind of sword sword technique it is.
A swordsman had once demonstrated Dongbang’s assassination technique of pulling a sword out of its scabbard and cutting down an enemy in an instant.
“If my knowledge is clear, I guess I know what kind of technology it is. But why does that name suddenly appear here?”
[He believes that the technology is the best and is obsessed with it. Anyone who insulted Baldosul in front of him was not spared bad trouble.]
“Huh? It’s a bit unusual, but what’s wrong with that? “It wouldn’t be that special for an unmanned person to focus on one technology.”
[…] … He went beyond the common sense of an ordinary person.]
After that, the story that Lord Nana told me was so shocking that I thought it was a joke, or rather, it was a joke.
Even if we leave aside his bizarre fighting method of using only Baldojutsu, the eccentricities he did to promote Baldojutsu were all beyond my understanding.
“The more I listen to your story, the more I can’t imagine what kind of person you are. So, how are your skills?”
[If I were to judge it from my humble perspective, I think it has a lot of room to grow to the same level as the Sword Master or perhaps even better.]
“…… Right.”
His strength could easily be guessed from the part where he defeated a demon with territory all by himself.
That’s why they tried to recruit him as a member of the royal family by forming a relationship with Euclid. I never would have guessed that he was someone with skills close to sword mastery.
Just imagining what would happen if such a person fell into the hands of someone from a foreign country or someone who thought about scandalous things made my eyes turn dark.
“I will ask you directly. In your opinion, what would you do to embrace him? “Is he someone who can be recruited for s*x, money, or a title?”
[He is a man who would be happy to introduce martial arts as a required liberal arts subject at the academy rather than to give him a title or a fief.]
“I didn’t mean to listen to jokes like that.”
[…] … I hope this is fun too.]
“Ha….”
I’m sure there are other people who can put that talent to better use, but why did heaven give talent to those people?
From noble mtl dot com
What happened was that it was time to consider whether to introduce a martial arts class at the academy.
Nana, who was watching me, carefully opened her mouth.
[Your Majesty, I dare to guess that what you are concerned about is that he gets close to foreign countries and people who plot scandalous things.]
“That’s right. “Why is there even a good idea?”
[I don’t know if it’s a good idea, but… There is one method that I think is best for now.]
“…… “Tell me.”