Volume 3 Chapter 6 Part 1 (1/2)

Volume 3 Chapter 6 Part 1

Translator: Kurehashi Aiko Editor: Queenie

Although an unexpected calamity like that happened, thanks to the power of His Highness Klanven and that man’s strength. Fortunately, there were no casualties and we could end our excursion there peacefully.

I just hoped that this event wouldn’t become a source of trauma for the children, but since both His Highness and that man were there, it seems that the children managed to cope with the situation. It must have been because they saw the monsters getting destroyed with ease.

Both the boys and the girls were smiling and the look in their eyes were saying: ‘I want to become a Priest when I grow up!’ or ‘I want to become a Knight!’.

That man still seemed to be at a loss when he was dealing with children, and seeing him like that brought nothing but a smile to my face. It may have been bad for his image, but there was nothing about Edilka that the children should be scared of.

I do believe that the children were initially scared of him because they didn’t know his true nature, but after all that, I was glad that the children warmed up to him. And, well, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t ever so slightly jealous of that fact.

「Did you remember something that makes you smile like that?」

「……I just wanted to thank you once more, Your Highness.」

「Right, think nothing of it, really. Still, what about him?」

I couldn’t deny the mild words of His Highness. During lunchtime today, I was smiling brightly the whole time, and now he was poking my side with his elbow, staring at me and wanting to know what was going on.

By ‘him’, His Highness must have probably meant not the the knight Edilka Vince, but rather the royal magician Agedilus Von Lancent.

A Hero who saved the world and now was responsible for organizing the festival, he suddenly stands up from his seat and leaves. Maybe he was called for some urgent matter.

I don’t really know much about his work and his whereabouts, but I could easily imagine that voicing that concern right now would do me more bad than good, and so I answered vaguely.

「He seems to be anxious about a lot of things. I hope that the two of you can get along. Think you could do that?」

「Indeed, it seems that there’s a whole lot of things troubling Edilka, but I think he shall manage to fulfill his duties nonetheless.」

I do get the feeling that His Highness wasn’t taking my words seriously.

「You think? Well, you might be right about that.」

His Highness said that while playing around with his spoon. Once I reminded him it was a sign of bad manners, he drove it back into his soup. But instead of putting it to his mouth, he just stirred it and stirred it. Seeing that he had no intention of actually eating it, I leaned towards His Highness.

「Your Highness? Is the lunch perhaps not to your liking?」

It has already been several days since I was left with taking care of His Highness. I thought that by now I would have a firm grasp on his liking and habits, but seeing him right now I could clearly say this was not the case.

「This situation, do you find this strange?」

「Excuse me?」

「I thought it might be about time, so it would be easier to understand that way. See? Just take a look.」

「…………?」

As His Highness said that, he pointed towards his soup plate. It was a plain vegetable soup and there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. The castle’s cooks truly went all out when preparing it, the pleasant aroma was penetrating my nose. I honestly couldn’t see what was wrong with it.

「Um……?」

「Ahh, I knew it, you don’t understand? This, I’m talking about this.」

His Highness struck the silver plate with his spoon, making a loud noise. Both the spoon and the plate collide and get scratched nastily. The action was so ungracious that I couldn’t believe that someone from the royal family could actually do that.

But before I was able to say anything, my eyes were drawn to the silverware.

「This, is…」

I was at a loss for words. Both the spoon and the soup plate were slowly turning dark, and devoid of their usual luster. I immediately understood that this was because there was poison mixed into them.

I managed to keep myself from taking the plate and spilling its contents, instead I lowered my head in a deep, apologetic bow.

「I-I am most terribly sorry!」

My whole body was trembling. What was I supposed to do now? It wasn’t something that I could just dismiss as ‘I didn’t know’.

Even if it wasn’t my fault and I had no idea, I could very well be charged with an attempt at the life of His Highness. It was a crime that I would be forced to take responsibility for. And not only that, once the rest of the royal family became aware of this… I felt my head getting dizzy.

His Highness fell silent. The silence was dragging for so long that at some point I dared to raise my lowered head. However, His Highness’s gaze was not directed at me. He was staring at the poisoned plate with his usual, gentle expression.

「Your Highness……?」

When I spoke gently to His Highness, he raised his spoon and put it into his mouth, and then wiped it with a napkin.

I could only watch as His Highness lowered his spoon and again put a huge serving of the soup right into his mouth. During that time, he avoided looking at me.

「Your Highness!?」

「Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all.」

「What are you saying, Your Highness! Quick, please spit it out!」