[V7C21] Fools Who Interfere with Love...

“Einhard.”

“Yeah?”

Lionel shifted his gaze from his old friend Einhard to the building in front of him. The silhouette of the palace was unmistakable, even through the cover of night.

“Isn’t this Ausahorn Palace?”

Having reunited with Einhard in the evening, Lionel enjoyed a meal and drinks while exchanging stories with his old buddy. Once it was time to leave, Einhard said something along the lines of, “I’ll introduce you to the perfect lady,” and brought him to the palace where Princess Cecilia was staying.

“Please do not tell me the ‘perfect lady’ you mentioned is Princess Cecilia.”

It was already deep into the night. Not even the First Prince could avoid getting called uncouth if he visited the princess at this late hour.

Lionel furrowed his thick eyebrows, but Einhard casually waved the white flower that was still in his hands, as if brushing off Lionel’s concerns.

“Well, that’s the facade, but I actually want to show you to someone else.”

“…? What does that mean?”

Lionel was puzzled, unable to read Einhard’s true intentions. Ignoring him, Einhard strode toward the back gate and whispered something to the gatekeeper.

Immediately, the gatekeeper put on a knowing face and let the two through without another word.

“…What did you say to the gatekeeper?”

“Nothing much. Just told him to cooperate with His Highness’s nighttime escapades.”

“Einhard!”

Blushing with a bright red face, Lionel made an attempt to retort, so Einhard withdrew his teasing smile and put on a serious expression.

“Come on, let’s not pretend ourselves here. The engagement talks may be progressing, but there’s just too little happening between you two. Everyone in the envoy is gossipping about it, you know?”

“…W-What?”

“Some of them are even getting upset, saying stuff like, ‘So our saintess isn’t charming enough for you,’ and such.”

Lionel grunted, at a loss for words. His engagement with Cecilia was all but certain, Lionel understood this much.

His mother was from the royal family of Randall, a small country located between Ridill and the Empire. As a result, the First Prince Faction never had a strong base of support within Ridill.

Hence, Lionel was expected to marry the daughter of a powerful Ridill noble, especially one with royal blood in her vines. This would allow Ridill to maintain the purity of the royal bloodline, as well as bolster unity among domestic nobles.

That said, marriage with the Saintess of the Empire was also an attractive proposition to Ridill.

Cecilia was the contractor to the ancient magical artifact, the Mirror of Bern. As long as she remained within Ridill, the Empire could no longer use their trump card.

In the war fifty years ago, Ridill suffered a major defeat thanks to that same trump card. Many who remembered the war rejoiced at news of the engagement, thinking that the Empire was finally submitting to Ridill’s might.

On the other hand, Lionel did not share their sentiment. That said, the reason had little to do with Princess Cecilia.

“I doubt Princess Cecilia is very enthusiastic about our engagement. She always looks so frightened…”

Hearing this, Einhard immediately raised an eyebrow and glared at Lionel.

Putting it that way sounded like he was shifting the blame onto Princess Cecilia. Realizing his mistake, Lionel rephrased his words.

“Forgive me for misspeaking. I do not blame Princess Cecilia for anything; all the problems lie on my side.”

“Oh, and what kind of problems might those be? Well?”

Einhard stared at Lionel, waiting for his answer.

Brushing off his question half-heartedly would be disingenuous, both as a member of the royal family and as Einhard’s friend.

After much internal struggle, Lionel revealed the feelings he had kept hidden.

“My previous fiancé, she… ingested poison, thinking it would be better to die than to go through with our engagement.”

Fortunately, the young lady had survived, and the engagement was annulled due to her sudden illness. However, the incident remained like a thorn in Lionel’s heart, refusing to be pulled out.

“In other words, you’re afraid that Cecilia-sama might end up committing self-harm if she doesn’t want to marry you.”

“I know, even I find myself pathetic. How could a coward like me sit on the throne…”

“Yeah, you’ve always lacked decisiveness. Well, I guess our Emperor is a bit too decisive though.”

Einhard started mumbling to himself, thinking that a balance of the two would be perfect. While doing so, he casually lifted his gaze… before noticing something and widening his eyes.

“Wait, what. Is that…?”

Einhard was staring at the balcony of the palace’s highest floor. A small human figure could be seen standing there.

The figure’s long hair illuminated by the moonlight was a beautiful silver color.

“Princess Cecilia!?”

Right as Lionel let out his shout, Cecilia’s slender figure tilted over the edge of the balcony.

＊　＊　＊

“Cecilia-sama…! Where… are you…?”

Monica rushed up the stairs, calling Cecilia’s name with a hoarse voice in between rough breaths.

However, none of her calls had resulted in a response. She had already reached the second highest floor, so the only two options were this floor and next one.

As she hesitated between which to check first, Monica found herself getting choked. Someone had grabbed the collar of her robe from behind.

(An enemy!?)

Right as Monica was about to counterattack with chantless magic, the person who grabbed her collar whispered in a quiet voice.

“Goodness, do I have to do everything?”

Her eyes went wide, as she recognized this voice. Meanwhile, the person tossed Monica towards the balcony.

Monica rolled onto the balcony with a scream, but from here, she could see someone on the balcony of the floor above. It was a slender figure wearing a light gown, with long silver hair swaying in the wind…

(Cecilia-sama…!?)

Cecilia looked terribly frightened, as someone had apparently cornered her. However, Monica could not see Cecilia’s assailant from her current position.

With vacant eyes, Cecilia grabbed the railing of the balcony and leaned out. Her delicate body passed over the railing and tilted further and further.

“I am leaving that side to you, my fellow Sage.”

Before her brain even registered the voice echoing from the corridor, Monica had already invoked a wind spell without any incantation.

She enveloped Cecilia’s body in the wind, just like she had done when gently lowering a flock of wyverns. Cecilia descended as slowly and softly as a feather.

Monica leaned out from the balcony and squinted her eyes to see where Cecilia would land. There was someone rushing toward that point with tremendous momentum.

(…Is that…?)

“NOOOOOOO!!”

It was Lionel, charging forward with the momentum of a raging bull.

Monica adjusted her spell to gently place Cecilia into Lionel’s arms.

His strong arms effortlessly caught Cecilia’s delicate body. After confirming this, Monica rested on the balcony and let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew, I-I made it in time…”

＊　＊　＊

Upon witnessing the scene below the balcony, the Dream Mage Casper Hutter clicked his tongue and turned on his heel.

(Why is the Silent Witch awake…?! Don’t tell me she was protected by a magical tool!)

Starting with the Silent Witch, Hutter had used mental interference magic to forcibly induce dreams to those guarding Cecilia’s room.

Mental interference magic was challenging to handle, and the slightest mistake could leave severe aftereffects on the victim’s mind. Therefore, Hutter had exercised extreme caution.

He didn’t want to harm anyone other than Cecilia.

(…Mia.)

When Hutter first arrived in this country and saw the Silent Witch, the image of his late sister crossed his mind.

Both had light brown hair and a plain, unassuming face… though they were not so similar as to be identical.

However, Mia and the Silent Witch were close in age, and they gave off similar auras. That was all it took to unsettle Hutter, and he made the foolish blunder of avoiding her.

But no, this was not Mia. The Silent Witch was one of Ridill’s Seven Sages… She was a bonafide monster, capable of using the extremely difficult school of illusion magic without a single incantation.

(If I’m up against a master of chantless magic… I stand no chance in a proper fight.)

Hutter contemplated his options while running.

If he were to escape, where could he flee? Having failed to assassinate Cecilia, he was now a wanted man in both Ridill and the Empire.

Duke Achenwall, his employer, would not spare him either. Begging him for asylum would only result in getting erased to ensure silence.

(In that case, I must kill the princess… even if it costs me my life!)

By subjecting Cecilia to powerful mental interference magic, he could drive her to the point of wanting to stab herself with a knife.

Hutter also possessed battlefield experience and knowledge of martial arts. Breaking Cecilia’s neck like a twig would be a piece of cake.

However, rather than killing Cecilia directly, Hutter had wanted to manipulate the false Saintess into suicide.

His sister Mia had chosen to sacrifice herself for Cecilia. Thus, it was only fair to have Cecilia choose death for herself as well.

(You deserve nothing short of eternal suffering! I’ll torment you until you offer your life as atonement!)

Hutter ran down the corridor with his face twisted in anger, frowning as he noticed someone in front of him.

Vaguely visible in the darkness, there stood a figure adorned in a black dress and a white apron. He had been spotted by one of the maids.

(Dammit! Why would there be a maid on this floor…!)

Hutter didn’t intend to harm anyone other than his target, but he no longer had the time to cast illusion magic.

“Out of my way!”

Instead, he would knock the maid unconscious with a tackle. However, in a completely unexpected turn of events, the maid casually slipped to the side to evade Hutter.

This sent a tingle down Hutter’s spine. It felt as though there was a blade pressed against his throat, chilling his body down to the bone.

“Fools who interfere with love…”

The tall maid with glasses jumped into the air, flipping the hem of her skirt with a flutter. The chignon cap holding her hair came loose, allowing her chestnut-colored long braid to dance in the air.

“…Die by my kick.”

Before Hutter knew it, he had been struck with terrifying force. The maid had delivered a powerful kick directly to his face.

“Gah…!”

Hutter collapsed to the floor, with blood streaming from his nose and his broken teeth scattered about. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a menacing smile and a set of ashen-purple eyes radiating murderous intent.

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