Chapter 32 - Part 2

「――Wow, what's this?」

　Dorothea blinked her eyes and walked into the warehouse immediately, touching the crystals and tapping them with a small hammer from the tool closet, etc. Eventually, she said with her eyes lit up.

「...Heh, it's an interesting material!」

「It is transparent like crystal, glows like magic, is unexpectedly lightweight, and has a texture like steel... Hmm? Maybe it can be used as a weapon?」

　Dorothea says so, and Alexis tells her, "Then, I'll leave it to you."

「I'll take care of it? No, I mean, please leave it to me!」

　Alexis laughed as Dorothea hurriedly rephrased her words after she had uttered them.

「Okay, I don't like formalities. You can talk to me normally without using honorifics」

「As expected of the sixth prince? You're just like people said!」

　Dorothea said and Alexis smiled.

**a

「As expected? How do they talk about me?」

「Eh? Well, you know, like you don't have a sense of identity, or you're a maverick or something...」

「――Oh, forget it. I think I know what you're talking about」

　Alexis let out a sigh. Anyway, there are always words that follow. Not like royalty, not like a king, one of the mediocre ones, commoner-like, bland. Wherever he goes, the evaluation is always the same.

「Now, let's move on to the specific weapons needed...――First of all, I would like you to prioritize building up the weapons of the members of the expedition team. As to what kind of armor we need...」

　For a while Alexis and Dorothea talked about the armor.

　Meanwhile, Fransisca waited.

　Finally, the development of the armor was underway at a rapid pace.

　Since Dorothea asked them to wait a week for the completion of the armor, Alexis and the others decided to continue to collect usable materials and to prepare to conquer the dungeon ahead.

* * *

　It was that night.

　When it was almost lights out, there was a knock at the door of Alexis' room.

「What's the matter Fransisca, did you miss my thing?」

　Alexis asked the girl on the other side of the door with a grin. Then.

「What? ...What did you just say to Her Highness?」

　It was Fatima.

「Fatima?!」

　Alexis was startled. He had thought Fransisca was the only one who knocked on his private door at night. What the hell was going on?

「...Can I open the door?」

　Fatima asked through the door, and Alexis answered, "Yes," hurriedly.

　Fatima opened the door and came in, still in her maid's uniform, with a pouty expression on her face.

「Alex, don't tell me you usually call Her Highness to your room? That's not good. It's true that we once allowed the princess to... well, you know, to engage in lewd behavior. But that was for a reason. Still, that doesn't mean we gave you free reign. Her Highness is an innocent person, so you should be more moderate in your behavior」

「Ahhhh, you're right...」

（I'm glad she didn't catch the details of my words...）

　Alexis was relieved inside.

　If the affair with Fransisca was revealed, it could destroy the trust they had built up so far.

　However, Fatima senses from Alexis' attitude that he is not listening to her well, so she asks him, "Are you listening to me?".

「Yes, I'm listening. Are you here to lecture me?」

　When Alexis asks a question, Fatima's cheeks suddenly turn red.

「I-it's not about that... But you know, we had an agreement...」

「Agreement?」

「...that you'd put some fluid in me periodically to keep the parasite under control. You said so」

　Seeing Fatima whispering shyly, Alexis remembered.

　That's right. He remembered that such a place was also a place to store his dong.