It wasn’t because of Yerina that he was sweating, but rather some sort of immune response.
The royal priest who had rushed over said.
— Alongside mental and physical exhaustion, overlapping mana exhaustion often leads to recovery like this.
Balancing one’s body and mind is important.
Just as you must recover mana and physical strength, you must also rest your mind.
The priest of the royal family emitted a sacred aura as he rambled on in his speech.
‘… Oh.’
Come to think of it, was this the first time experiencing genuine holy power?
Only Yurran, whom he had met in class, came to mind, but that guy was a follower of the Bloodstone Cult.
Holy power was warm yet robust, unlike magic.
As if defying cause and effect, it began to heal injuries.
It reminded Ian of his own abilities for a moment.
— Well then.
The priest finished the treatment and walked away.
Ian sighed as he lifted his upper body.
He felt like he could move a bit now.
“… I wonder if they sleep without any back pain.”
Danya and Lina were sleeping deeply under a blanket soaked with sweat, indicating how tired they were.
Of course.
Both of them must have used up their mana completely.
They couldn’t recover mana within Richard’s prison.
Still, they endured without a single complaint.
Ian moved Danya first.
— Ugh… it’s too much to finish…
Danya squeezed out the last remnants of her mana to grow Snowflake Flowers for his master.
“Okay.”
Lina, in an unfavorable cold space, managed not to get exhausted despite focusing on others’ body temperatures and monster strategies.
— Ugh. Please press harder, master…
‘… What kind of dream are you having.’
Ian sighed again as he placed Lina next to Danya.
They both slept soundly, showing various signs of their efforts.
“Hoo.”
Now that he looked at them, they really went through a lot.
“I’ll rely on you for the next scenarios too.”
— Nom. Drink it…
Instead of responding, Danya played with her cherry blossom-colored hair.
Ian chuckled as he tidied up their hair.
While he was doing that.
— Clack! Clack!
Footsteps sounding urgent could be heard from afar.
They slowed down in front of the treatment room.
Creak.
The door cautiously opened.
The Third Princess, quite disheveled, peeked in from beyond the door.
“Your Highness?”
The princess awkwardly stuck out her tongue.
“I heard you woke up.”
Creak.
The princess opened the door and came in cautiously.
“I was planning to just sneak a peek at your face and leave.”
Then she plopped down on the bed.
The princess’s face was filled with worry.
It was quite a fresh sight.
Asteria, the Princess of Rebellion.
Asteria, who would not hesitate to do anything to ascend to the throne.
Contrary to her public image as a gentle princess, she had an endlessly cold real self.
Ian chuckled without realizing.
“Why are you laughing! I was genuinely worried about what would happen if you didn’t wake up!”
“It looks like Your Highness’s condition is worse than mine.”
“Huh?”
Asteria blinked in front of the mirror that Ian held up.
Asteria looked at the corner of her own eyes for a moment.
The deep, dark circles under her eyes were a form of guilt.
To her, everyone was a kind of chess piece.
To ascend to the throne, she used them and sometimes discarded them boldly.
But Ian was different. His talent and unique humanity intrigued Asteria. After he saved her life, Ian became the first person she found “humanly intriguing”.
It must have been like that.
However, she needed to send someone to the north.
She needed someone trustworthy.
Ian naturally came to mind.
But Grand Duke Richard of the North was cruel and audacious, much more so than Asteria had anticipated.
Karen’s emergency report was full of things that shocked her.
Asteria immediately crossed over to the North with as much force as she could muster.
What caught her eye was Ian, who was sticking a sword into Richard’s heart.
She couldn’t help but worry about Ian, who fell like a puppet whose strings were cut, with all energy drained.
She should have been happy that Richard had fallen, she should have been overjoyed, but for some reason, her guilt and worry about Ian took priority.
The result was the dark circles under her eyes.
“… This, this is…”
Ian chuckled as he watched the flustered Asteria, unable to respond like herself.
Two sides of Asteria.
The actively flirtatious and somewhat provocative appearance, and the ever-serious, power-strengthening Princess of Rebellion, both in different directions, were equally resolute and strong.
But when she looked so exhausted and defeated, it was, well, something.
It’s ungodly cute.
“You must have had a hard time cleaning up.”
“Yeah, well. There was a lot to do, so it was tough!”
The princess mumbled, then fell silent.
Her ears seemed a bit red, but Ian attributed it to the lighting.
There was silence for a moment.
The candlelight softly illuminating the surroundings swayed with the cold wind coming through the window.
Just when the silence didn’t seem so bad, Asteria spoke.
“You’ve done something truly remarkable. Taking down Richard.”
Richard, Grand Duke of the North, had died.
One of the key figures of the Bloodstone Cult had fallen.
It would undoubtedly halt their reckless expansion.
Not only that.
One of the support bases of the Second Prince, who was ahead in the race for the throne by using Richard and the Bloodstone Cult hidden behind him, collapsed.
Befitting his grandeur as the Grand Duke of the North, he will bring about tremendous changes throughout the Empire and even the continent.
“… Therefore, I must say this to you.”
Asteria’s eyes, like the night sky, stared at Ian.
“Thank you, Ian.”
Her gentle touch took Ian’s hand.
“And.”
Silence fell again.
Heat shimmered in Asteria’s eyes, following the swaying candlelight.
“I was worried.”
“… Yes?”
“I was worried. These dark circles. They’re because I was worried about you.”
Ian was embarrassed.
The Asteria he knew was not the kind of person who would say something like this. Why would a princess who viewed people as chess pieces be worried about him?
Is she in ‘Sl*t Mode’?
But Asteria’s gaze was serious.
It was Serious Princess Mode.
At the same time, her cheeks flushed red.
As if embarrassed.
“I was worried. I thought maybe you’d suffer because of me.”
Ian managed to respond.
“… I wouldn’t suffer because of you.”
“But I said evidence was enough. So why take risks like that…”
“Because I need to be compensated. It was too much for a small amount of evidence. Now can I expect a bigger reward?”
Hah.
The Princess sighed and smirked.
“You really… sometimes, it seems like you’re more ambitious than I am.”
“I do have quite a bit of greed.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant ambitions toward people.”
“Yes?”
“Acting like you don’t know, keeping your distance.”
Ian felt unjustly accused.
He didn’t remember doing anything like that.
But before he could defend himself, the Princess’s mouth twitched.
“It’s frustrating.”
Ian thought to himself.
Perhaps, rather than Asteria in her sl*t state, the real her might be more unsettling.
Her l*stful eyes soon regained their color.
“I’ll do my best to reward you.”
“Thank you.”
She added a few explanations.
The number items were in the palace’s warehouse, and once things were sorted out here, they could visit the palace together.
Since Ian already knew this, he nodded in understanding.
The Princess continued.
“… Actually, I’m worried if that will be enough for you.”
Sigh.
She smirked.
It was a smile that mixed a devilish charm with something deadly.
“If it’s not enough, I’ll give you myself.”
◆
The next day.
With Ian and Lina sufficiently recovered to travel, they, along with Danya, prepared to return to Lichten.
The princess mentioned she needed to handle a few more things before joining them.
In reality, many nobles were implicated in the incident.
Some survived the collapse of Richard’s dantian, but many did not.
Of course, the princess bore no responsibility for the situation.
“If the princess handles this, the North will soon become her stronghold.”
As expected, the Third Princess was always politically shrewd.
Yerina, now the new Duchess of the North, also needed her support.
“I’ll say it again: you’re always welcome here.”
After exchanging greetings with Yerina, a carriage arrived smoothly.
It was the same carriage the princess had taken on her way here.
Danya, who had ridden in it before, muttered a bit disappointedly.
“Huh? The swing is gone. Nyah.”
…Wait. Why was she disappointed?
The approaching princess laughed.
“I think I can slow down the acting now. Thanks to someone.”
“Yes?”
“If the main woman flirts with others, doesn’t that make you unhappy?”
“?”
Asteria, who smiled brightly as she looked at Ian’s confusion, continued to speak.
“Oh, I forgot to mention. You’ll notice when you look around, but the situation in Lichten City, specifically at the Lichten Academy, is quite precarious.”
“On thin ice?”
The princess replied.
“Yes. First, the saint candidate Aria is not in good condition. Because of this, tensions between the clergy and other factions are slowly coming to the surface.”
“Not only that, but Raymond oversees the Lichten branch. Emilia is working tirelessly to expand her influence by any means necessary.”
“Just keep it in mind. Don’t act rashly. We don’t know how the Bloodstone Cult will respond to you, so be extra careful.”
As the carriage departed, the princess added one more thing.
“Once I return, I’ll be able to exert more significant influence.”
◆
They decided to use a portal as their means of return.
The reason was simple: Ian had no desire to ride the trans-mountain train of the North again.
Portals were faster and more convenient.
Arriving at the Northern checkpoint felt like entering a terminal.
“Wow, there are so many people here.”
“It’s packed like ants, nyah.”
Although magical portals were primarily used by wealthy merchants and nobles, they were also accessible due to the lack of reliable transportation from the North to the mainland.
Because of this, various shops and eateries filled the checkpoint.
Danya’s ears perked up, listening intently.
Her nose twitched every time a pleasant scent wafted by.
Suddenly, Ian remembered Danya’s sleep-talking and chuckled.
“What should we eat before we go?”
“Really, nyah?!”
“My treat. Lina, pick something too.”
— Jingle.
Ian shook his coin bag.
Part of the compensation received from the princess.
Of course, he needed to split it with Lina and Danya, but they could just subtract that amount when they received it.
Excitedly, the two of them picked out what they wanted to eat.
Danya had a long soft serve ice cream that reached up to her face.
“Isn’t it cold?”
“Heh.”
Lina chose fruit covered in frozen sugar.
‘Classic insider.’
They enjoyed a brief respite at the customs office.
Buzzing chatter filled the air.
Laughter from Danya and Lina.
A peaceful scene after a life-threatening struggle.
A smile naturally etched on their faces.
Then, suddenly.
In the distance, he saw a person walking unsteadily.
The coffee in their hand shook uneasily, as if it might spill.
“Oops.”
The drowsy, unfocused person collided with another.
The coffee cup slipped from their hand.
The pouring dark brown liquid stood out vividly.
— Clunk.
Ian vaguely expected coffee to spill and make that noise.
However.
—……
Silence.
No subsequent sounds followed.
No.
It wasn’t just that sound that was absent.
The entire platform fell silent.
“…?”
Ian slowly surveyed the surroundings.
Everyone froze in place.
Danya’s mouth, wide open to take a bite of ice cream, remained as is.
Lina’s bright smile, hands gesturing with a handkerchief, froze.
Each droplet of coffee in the distance was sharply visible.
Time stopped.
Except for him.
In that realization, a single cold sweat bead ran down Ian’s spine.
— Clack.
The sound of shoes reached his ears.
Ian turned his head.
Whether he turned or the surroundings rotated, the still background was unsettlingly motionless.
— Clack.
The sound of shoes getting closer.
Who on earth was moving?
Obscured by so many people, no matter how much he turned his head, I couldn’t see.
— Clack
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.
Black shoes.
Black hair.
And crimson eyes.
Eyes so red, they seemed made from blood.
As their eyes met.
— Sasasasasasak
Goosebumps spread across his body as if hundreds of spiders were crawling on it.
“You must be Ian.”
