Chapter 91 Refreshing Smile
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It appears that Princess Liliana, the “Angel” of the Asgard Kingdom, has been kidnapped. And they named me as the culprit.
Prince Liam and the Holy Knights are currently barging into the theater I own. In the dark night, lit by streetlights and magic lamps, the knights stood with a heavy, threatening presence.
”Wait, Your Highness. I was scheduled to hold talks with Princess Liliana here tonight. I was simply waiting for her. Surely you don’t think I have any reason to kidnap Her Highness?”
I calmly stated my innocence.
Then, the blue-haired scholar accompanying Prince Liam—Elliot Valias—cut in, as if he’d been waiting for this exact moment.
”That’s exactly why!” he snapped. “You figured you were above suspicion, so you went and snatched Her Highness! Bad luck for you, Grimlock! Her Highness’s guards gave clear testimony that your Grimlock family’s people took her!”
”That’s the deal, Xenos Grimlock!” Aldrick barked. “Give it up already! Keep gettin’ in the way of the search, and I won’t go easy on you!!”
Prince Liam’s other aide, a green-haired giant named Aldrick Stonewall, slammed his huge fist into his other palm with a CRACK! to scare me.
(…You just want to fight, don’t you.)
I let out a heavy internal sigh.
Then another side joined in.
”Pardon me,” Prince Azim said smoothly. “I have received reliable information that my sisters are also being held captive in the basement of this theater. I must request that you allow us to search the premises.”
Prince Azim of the Zahara Kingdom was also present with Prince Liam and the Holy Knights. After Elliot and Aldrick, he stepped forward quietly, with clear authority.
Damn. Him too.
True enough, his sisters work at this theater. They’re not being imprisoned, of course—but they are here, that much is certain.
So now I’m being accused of kidnapping both Princess Liliana AND the princesses of the desert kingdom. Simultaneously.
At this point, this is no coincidence. Someone set a clever trap.
I needed to be careful. I decided to first ask for more details about the princess’s abduction.
”I understand there are multiple accusations against me,” I began carefully. “But before you search this theater, could you explain the circumstances of Princess Liliana’s kidnapping?”
This proposal does not reject their demands outright. By asking for details, I create a “pause,” disrupting their rhythm and slowing their push for a search. At the same time, I can get more information from them.
Prince Liam began relaying the testimony from his guards. Apparently—
Someone threw a special magical artifact at the princess’s carriage, forcibly inducing a “Sleep” status effect on everyone. White smoke billowed from the artifact, and the guards were overwhelmed by an irresistible drowsiness, one after another losing consciousness.
In their hazy stupor, the guards clearly heard the kidnappers’ voices.
They were laughing and saying: “If we take this princess back to the [[Star of the Desert]], we’ll get a fat reward from our client, Xenos Grimlock!!”
And that’s how I became the prime suspect.
First of all, that was sloppy.
Seriously? That is way too obvious!
Well, I suppose it’s natural suspicion would fall on me. Prince Liam has to investigate something, after all—
Kidnapping, huh…
That reminded me of “that game event” this world was based on.
In the original game, Liliana was kidnapped shortly after her engagement to a powerful noble was finalized—then she vanished without a trace. The game speculated the culprit was a radical from the pro-war faction who resented the peace between nations.
Princess Liliana’s engagement hadn’t been officially announced yet. But it must have been progressing behind the scenes.
Which meant this kidnapping happened right before the announcement.
That was the likely picture.
I didn’t have the full details.
But the recent bombing had made me completely forget the possibility of her being kidnapped soon. And if that happened, we of the pro-war faction would be the first suspects.
What bothered me was how openly the kidnappers tried to frame me. They made a point of mentioning this theater and my name.
I did not know who set this trap, but they did a number on me.
At this point, there was only one move I could make.
”Very well,” I said. “If that’s the case, I will allow a search of this theater. However…”
I paused for effect.
”Regarding the theater’s underground facility—where many female employees reside—the search will be conducted only by Her Highness Elenor and Serena-jou.”
The commotion had drawn attention. By the time we talked at the theater entrance, Cecilia, Lizel, Elenor, and her knight-guard Serena had arrived, looking worried.
Kyle the elf was still there, watching. Probably just rubbernecking, the idiot.
Prince Liam had spotted my fiancée Cecilia when she appeared—and his “refreshing smile” had fixed on her hard. By then, he’d stopped listening to half of what I said.
His response to my proposal came a beat too late.
Before he could answer, Elliot—the instigator—leaped at the opening.
”This proves you’re hiding something!” he shot back. “You’re making such a strange condition because you’ve got something underground! That’s it, I’ve got it figured out! Princess Liliana and the missing Zahara royal sisters are in the basement of this theater!”
Liliana wasn’t there—but the disguised Pharma and Leela, no, Princess Fatima and Princess Layla, certainly were.
His reasoning was a personal grudge dressed up as logic, but it was half right. That stung.
”What! My beloved sisters truly are in the basement of this theater!” Prince Azim exclaimed, his voice rising. “If that’s the case, I’ll force my way through if I have to!!”
The famously sister-obsessed Prince Azim had taken Elliot’s bait perfectly.
”If you’re gonna get in the way, try and stop me from breaking in! Come on, Grimlock!!”
Aldrick, who just wanted to fight, was fully fired up now.
Ah…
Here I was, trying to have a calm negotiation, and these three idiots were determined to bulldoze over it with sheer momentum.
For one brief moment, I was genuinely at a loss.
—
Summary:
Xenos faces simultaneous kidnapping accusations for Princess Liliana and the Zahara princesses while maintaining calm composure. He strategically proposes allowing a search with conditions, but the “three idiots”—Elliot, Aldrick, and Azim—derail his negotiation with emotional responses. The scene ends with Xenos genuinely at a loss, setting up an unresolved confrontation with the theater’s hidden secret at stake.
—
Trivia:
Xenos is both innocent of Liliana’s kidnapping AND guilty of hiding the Zahara princesses.
The kidnappers deliberately named Xenos to frame him—too obvious for genuine criminals.
Prince Liam’s “refreshing smile” is a facade masking political calculation and personal interest in Cecilia.
The original game’s lore specifies Liliana disappears after her engagement announcement.
The bombing incident earlier had distracted Xenos from remembering Liliana’s kidnapping event.
Azim is famously sister-obsessed and easily manipulated by any mention of his sisters.
Elliot’s accusation is half-right—someone IS hiding in the basement, just not Liliana.
The Zahara princesses are disguised as Pharma and Leela, working at the theater.
Xenos’s strategy of creating “pause” (間/ma) is a deliberate negotiation tactic.
The three idiots operate on “sheer momentum” rather than logic or strategy.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Liliana – Known as the “Angel of the Asgard Kingdom” for her golden hair and sky-blue eyes, this princess is the younger sister of Prince Liam and Elenor. While maintaining a refined, angelic public facade, she is a manipulative mastermind who wields explosion magic. As Serena’s liege and the true culprit behind recent assassination attempts, she carefully hides her dark nature behind whispered, noble asides.
• Lilia – Xenos’s fiercely loyal, trauma-resilient Head Maid is a lovely, pale, busty woman with long dark hair, a chest tattoo, and a nullified crest. Dressed in a black uniform, she maintains refined, icy elegance when disciplining others, especially Elenor. While formal and efficient with guests, she masks deep, jealous anxiety for Xenos, finding her greatest joy in serving him and sleeping by his side.
• Liam – Liam Asgard, the golden-haired, emerald-eyed First Prince of Asgard, is Liliana’s older brother and the liege of Elliot and Aldrick. Betrothed to Elisabeth, he is an arrogant yet fundamentally kind man who speaks with elegant grace. Though he underestimates his rival Xenos’s Zero Mana status, he shows consideration toward him, even as his obsessive pursuit of Cecilia threatens his political standing.
• Elliot – Elliot Valias, a tall, slender, blue-haired noble and intellectual aide to Prince Liam, masks his deep, unrequited love for Elenor with crude, condescending arrogance. A pseudo-intellectual prone to quick accusations, he harbors murderous, freezing hostility toward Xenos Grimlock, driven by intense jealousy over Xenos’s intimacy with Elenor.
• Grimlock – Xenos’s family name.
• Aldrick – Job: Aide to Prince Liam; Relationship: Subordinate to Liam; Appearance: Green-haired giant; Note: Battle-obsessed and simple-minded. Job: Holy Knight; Note: Muscle-headed battle maniac.
• Xenos – Job: Heir to a high-ranking noble house; Relationship: Owner of Lilia; Has romantic connections with Elenor, Cecilia, and Lizel; Item/Magic: Summoning magic, [Substitution Collars]; Note: Was caught up in a Royal Palace explosion and missed three days of school. Pragmatic and calculating personality. Job: Noble of Grimlock family, protagonist; Relationship: Manipulator of Princess Liliana, pursuing Serena; Item/Magic: [Ring of Transformation]; Note: Reincarnated villain with game knowledge, calculating and arrogant. Job: Theater Owner and noble of Grimlock family; Relationship: Fiancé to Cecilia; Item/Magic: Game knowledge/metaknowledge; Note: Reincarnated villain protagonist who knows the original game script.
• Azim – Job: Prince of Zahara Kingdom; Relationship: Brother to Fatima and Layla; Note: Famously sister-obsessed and easily manipulated by his sister complex. Job: Prince; Note: Hopeless sis-con searching for missing sister.
• Elenor – Princess Elenor, the haughty, analytical “Saint of Light” and sister to Liliana, is a silver-blonde swordswoman and healer with gray-blue eyes. Though a noble princess and Grimlock’s fiancée, she is the protagonist’s submissive, magic-sealed slave. A tsundere torn between royal dignity and affection for Xenos, she balances sharp retorts with intense devotion, often appearing in revealing cosplay.
• Serena – A competent, intellectual knight of the noble Crystalight family, this personal guardian to Princess Liliana is distinguished by long silver hair and an elegant, formal bearing. Deeply devoted to the princess yet easily flustered by unexpected advances, they have just arrived earlier than expected to the VIP room.
• Cecilia – The eldest daughter of the Vermillion Duchy and a former saint, she is Xenos’s fiancée and one of his romantic interests. Known for her flame-red hair, blue eyes, and pet, Lumiá, she possesses a cold yet playful nature. Though she rejected Prince Liam, she adores Kuuko and teases Lizel. Lilia shows no jealousy toward her. She occasionally uses a ring to adopt a revealing dancer’s disguise.
• Lizel – A petite, graceful Blanchet count’s daughter, wind mage, and academy student with pink twin-tails, purple eyes, and a signature smirk. Known for her protective, anxious tsundere nature, she is Luca Dalton’s fiancée, Grimlock’s classmate, and Cecilia’s friend. Disguised in a dancer’s costume, she walks the “Path of Light” and is one of Xenos’s devoted romantic interests whom Lilia does not resent.
• Kyle – Job: Elf operative; Relationship: Pawn of Xenos; Note: Patrols theater perimeter, given permission to attack suspicious individuals. Job: Elf; Note: Bystander turned participant in argument with Elliot. Job: Elf; Note: Present at the scene watching the proceedings out of curiosity.
• Fatima – Job: Princess of Zahara Kingdom; Relationship: Sister to Azim and Layla; Note: Disguised and hiding in the theater’s underground facility.
• Pharma – Job: Disguised identity; Relationship: Alias for Fatima; Note: Working at the theater under a false name.
• Layla – Job: Princess of Zahara Kingdom; Relationship: Sister to Azim and Fatima; Note: Disguised and hiding in the theater’s underground facility.
• Leela – Job: Disguised identity; Relationship: Alias for Layla; Note: Working at the theater under a false name.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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