Volume 3 Chapter 69 Maribel’s Melancholy
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”You twisted your foot badly, didn’t you? I won’t say anything bad, but it’s better to see a healer.”
”W-well… I don’t think it’s broken.”
”Thinking isn’t enough. I know you’re happy to see your lover, but please take care of your body.”
”L-lover? Manon.”
”Of course, he is your lover! Why are you so shy?”
Maribel emphasized this and moved aside for the female guard coming up the stairs.
Maribel continued.
”No need to hurry, Kian won’t run away. Kian, you will stay overnight in Izerland after meeting Oswald, right?”
”Yes, that’s the plan. So, Christy, we can meet anytime. First, get proper treatment, then we can talk calmly.”
”Okay. Um, Kian. The Master Knight position has been empty since Lady Eleonora’s father left. I’m so happy as your… your lover. Congratulations!”
Christy said this with a slight stutter, then smiled and kissed him.
After that, she handed a staff to the female soldier and moved away from Kian.
Priscilla, watching nearby, smiled wryly.
”Haha, Christina, you’re really in love with Lord Kian. It’s hard to believe seeing it in person.”
”There’s no woman who isn’t in love with Kian. He’s the most handsome man in the world!”
”Thank you, Christy. I love you.”
”…Yeah, Kian.”
”Hehe, even if you’re my best friend, it’s so sweet, I might throw up sugar~.”
”──That’s right. For someone like me, who missed the chance to marry, it’s a bit hard to watch.”
Eleonora gave a complicated look.
Christy waved her hand lightly.
”Well then, I’m off to the infirmary. See you later, Kian.”
”Ah.”
”Princess. I will take my leave too. Once the discussion this afternoon is over.”
”Yes, I will fly to the border fortress.”
Maribel replied to Eleonora, then turned her gaze to Kian and Priscilla.
”Both of you, sorry to keep you waiting. I’ll take you to Oswald’s cell now. I’ve already informed the guards, so Oswald should be in his cell, not attending the daytime work. Priscilla, you probably know, but he is a very dangerous man. Please don’t give him anything sharp like knives or metal scraps, and even paper or small branches should not be handed to him carelessly.”
* * *
Surprisingly, the teleportation gate to the prison facility was opened by Maribel.
At first, Kian thought she would call Lucretia, but it turned out to be Maribel herself who did it.
Kian was amazed, but the bureaucrats and guards watching calmly showed that it was not rare for her to open a gate like this.
Looking back, Maribel had wanted to open a teleportation gate on her own since they first met, without relying on Christy.
She must have spent these two months learning from Christy while focusing on her duties.
After passing through the gate from the square under the salon, Kian landed in the familiar courtyard of the prison facility, feeling a lightness as if he floated, without his head and body being sent to different places.
”Well, this really feels like a prison. It’s sad to think a man who climbed to the Knights of the Sun ended up in a place like this.”
Priscilla, who had flown ahead, squinted at the countless cat-tails growing at the base of the wooden fence across the muddy ground and murmured.
Although this prison facility is inside a fortress, it is located in the low area at the far northeast corner.
The work itself takes place in the ruined Main Castle, but at night, they have to return and sleep in this damp, cold place.
They are guaranteed minimal food and shelter, but the environment is still harsh.
A low buzzing sound came from behind Kian as Maribel in her dress teleported in last.
She was dressed in a skirt that barely covered her thighs and boots, but thinking of the grime on the prison floor made her feel too embarrassed to let it go any further.
Kian called out to Maribel, who seemed a bit nervous.
”When did you learn to open a teleportation gate?”
”About a week ago. I already knew the theory because Christy taught me. I was confident in my magic power and good at calculating coordinates, so once I recovered from my illness and my abilities improved, it was quick.”
”I was honestly surprised. I mean… Baron Mankovitch and the others always said that it’s dangerous for Your Excellency to learn teleportation, so it should never be taught.”
”Fringilla and McCutchen, even when they were alive, often said it was dangerous for me to learn teleportation, but there’s no causal relationship between me learning it and danger approaching. Rather, it’s very beneficial for quickly escaping dangerous situations or making travel easier. As for McCutchen, he probably didn’t want me to learn because he wanted to keep me like a caged bird.”
Kian think Fringilla and Mankovitch wanted to say that it’s dangerous for Maribel to put herself at risk, but perhaps it’s a feeling that will never be conveyed to her.
Priscilla, who had been listening quietly, finally piped up.
”Overprotection kills children, right? Speaking of which, McCutchen was always scheming about how to turn Lord Godfrey’s clever daughter into a fool.”
”Oh, Priscilla. Did you notice that man’s misdeeds and pretend not to see?”
”I am the Witch of Châtillon. It’s not my place to meddle in the affairs of other houses.”
Maribel smiled thinly in silence at the black-clad Witch who spoke so smoothly.
But her dark blue eyes showed no smile at all.
In Kian’s mind, Maribel seemed to be a kind person about anything, but it looked like she didn’t like Priscilla at all right now.
Maribel often liked straightforward people, like Christy, Lucretia, Mankovitch, and Eleonora.
She probably didn’t get along well with people like Priscilla, who easily told lies and hid things.
Maribel peeked into the observation tower with her right hand and started talking to the man who was the director inside.
During the conversation, she made eye contact with Kian and signaled, ‘You can go in now.’
Kian stepped forward, escorting Priscilla to the entrance of the underground prisoner facility after a long time.
As they walked down the dark hallway, which reminded him of a mine, Priscilla suddenly spoke up.
”Your Excellency seems to check the facilities in the town like this, going all around.”
”Do you think I’m too light on my feet?”
”No. There are things you can’t understand just from the numbers on the paper. For example, if you leave the Bloodsucking Kind rampaging in Ramsey alone, you can calculate the shadow it will cast on this year’s taxes from the trends and the number of victims decreasing. But you won’t know if you can leave it to Lord Owl or if you should use money to form an Adventurer’s squad unless you hear the real voices of the people there.”
Priscilla grabbed Kian’s shoulder and gracefully jumped over the brown puddle sitting in front of them.
”Your Excellency is someone who, if they feel limited by what they read on paper, has the ability to go and see the real situation for themselves. Most nobles don’t have the patience or the physical ability to fully understand things, so they just ignore them. Many central nobles barely maintain relationships with local officials or facility heads. Because of this, their people might be starving, and they still push through with the old tax rates, or they don’t even notice the magistrate’s corruption, just accepting everything on paper. I think many nobles’ children at the Royal Capital’s Academy are like that too. Or maybe there are some who know but just see people’s lives and deaths as mere numbers.”
”My father was like that too.”
”Hm?”
”My father was someone who saw people’s deaths as numbers. If there were safety issues on a site, but continuing the work was more profitable, he’d just let the people there die without a second thought.”
”I see. Well, that’s one type of tough businessperson. As long as it’s not against the law, such businesspeople might be praised, but they’re never blamed.”
Priscilla stopped at the stairs leading to Oswald’s solitary cell and turned to face Kian.
”Master Kian, would you consider hiring me if you plan to manage the territory as the Leader of Dacia?”
”Hire you, Ms. Priscilla?”
”Yes.”
Kian looked down at the witch’s black eyes, glittering in the red light of the magic stone lamp.
”But Ms. Priscilla, you’re a witch of Châtillon?”
”I will serve both roles. Head Magician of Châtillon and the trusted Head Magician of Lord Kian.”
”Would Sir Guy allow that?”
”I won’t let my brother speak up. I’ll show you how to handle both Châtillon and Dacia perfectly.”
Priscilla’s expression showed she was serious.
But as Kian, he couldn’t give an answer right away in a situation like this.
Before the issue of whether to trust Priscilla, Kian was just a lower-rank adventurer.
Everything should be reconsidered once serious development of Dacia begins.
It’s much too early for that.
After a moment of thought, Kian carefully opened his mouth.
”What’s your aim? It’s not just about bridging Châtillon and Dacia, right? You want to get your hands on the power and military strength of both Châtillon and Dacia?”
”Certainly not.”
The Witch cackled softly, then continued with a crescent moon-shaped smile on her lips, tinted with a hint of red.
”I just want to whisper to the future king.”
”Future king?”
”Yeah. It’s not Her Excellency Maribel or Guy who will rule the borderlands. Lord Kian, you will become the king of the borderlands, and eventually, a dragon that swallows Franz and Azrael. I’m sure of it.”
”────”
He widened his eyes at her words.
Priscilla let out a low chuckle, then like a white snake, she stretched her neck and flicked her tongue across Kian’s lips.
The sensual feel of her tongue’s flesh.
The sweet, raw smell of a woman’s saliva filled his nose.
The silence lasted only for a moment, as the saliva dried on his lips.
Soon, Priscilla blushed slightly and said with a hint of embarrassment,
”Just kidding!”
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply