Chapter 57

Chapter 57

I could think of three places that might be in danger. Of these three, I knew I could help two areas. The first place I thought of was the odalisques’ harem. For a while now, some of the brothers have been talking about raping these women. They couldn’t do it so far because it wasn’t easy to get into the harem. Thankfully, everyone believed that the women’s blood was cursed, and the door to the harem was still covered in blood.

The next place I could think of was Prince Camille’s quarters. This was my obvious priority. There were also a few odalisques as well as the Virtuous Priestess there. Prince Camille’s place was attacked once already. I didn’t doubt that the brothers would hesitate to raid it again.

The Sacred Day of this month was coming up again. I believed in Eriez’s ability to protect the prince, but I thought it would be best to avoid this possible situation at all if possible. Prince Camille and Eriez should be sent somewhere safe.

Finally, the third place…

“Eri… What are you doing here at this time of the day…?”

My most trusted brother was in Prince Camille’s quarters. He didn’t look as comfortable here as I used to be. It was already dark outside, and I didn’t see the prince. Was his Highness already in bed? Well, it didn’t matter.

Eriez was kneeling on the floor with a small lantern beside him. I knew he could hear me approaching him, but he didn’t even move. I sat beside him and asked, “Eriez… I have a favor to ask of you.”

“…”

“Will you listen?”

He continued to ignore me, and I thought that perhaps he thought I came here to offer my body to him again. However, when I touched his back, the answer I heard from him was very unexpected.

“Juya, I already checked on everything you asked before. The secret place in the prince’s quarters has been cleaned. Following Prince Camille’s wish, we have reinstalled the secret door as well, but… What we saw at the end of the secret hallway… I don’t think it is right to keep it a secret.”

“… So you saw the Virtuous Priestess, which means you probably saw Prince Camille and her together too.”

“You were his teacher! So you knew too!”

Eriez stood up and grabbed my collars. He was obviously angry at me and blamed me for keeping this a secret, and I understood why he felt this way. Only those who loved the prince would be able to accept what he was doing with the priestess.

Eriez continued, “Juya… You didn’t tell me a thing… At first, I thought maybe you had a good reason for it, but… There isn’t, is there? I heard that even though you reported this to the Goddess’ warrior, he didn’t do or say anything about it… Is that true? What the hell is going on here? Everything that His Highness is doing is being a spoiled bastard who is obsessed with that woman…”

“Eri! Don’t talk ill of Prince Camille.”

I covered his lips with my fingers. Eri once told me he would try to convince the priestess if he got a chance. I assumed he did try by now, and I also guessed that he wasn’t successful.

He glared at me and panted angrily. “… so are you on his side still? Will you always defend his Highness?”

“And what did you do, Eri? Did you have the courage to threaten the Virtuous Priestess with your sword? Isn’t that what you said you would do last time we talked about it? You sounded like you would kill her if she didn’t obey you.”

“N-no… Of course not. I was just saying it. I didn’t mean it, obviously…”

I looked at Eriez, who looked tired and upset. I realized that he must be sitting here and waiting for His Highness to recognize that what he was doing was wrong.

However, there was a much more important thing he needed to do now. I put my hands on his shoulders and explained, “Some of our brothers are planning to escape this place. The warrior ordered me to stop them, but I can’t do this alone. You, however, have many brothers who follow you. They are the ones working in the east wing constructions, right? You need to get them to monitor the other brothers and arrest them if necessary.”

“What? But you just told me the warrior ordered you to do it, not me…”

“I have many other things to do, and besides, the brothers who follow you don’t like me that much. It’s probably because…”

I pulled Eriez closer and kissed his cheek.

“It’s probably because they think I seduced you and ruined you.”

“Juya…”

I didn’t have much time to explain everything to him. This place needed to be prepared as soon as possible. I stood up and passed by the servant, who bowed to me. When I entered the prince’s bedroom, I saw that His Highness was on the bed and was turned away from me.

“Your Highness, it’s Juya. Please forgive my rudeness…”

Eriez followed me into the room. It was too early for him to be going to sleep. Besides, the prince knew his teacher, Eriez, was sitting outside his bedroom, silently protesting. There was no way this boy prince was sleeping soundly.

I approached him and bowed deeply. I saw the prince’s hand peeking out from the blanket, so I kissed the tip of his finger lightly.

“Your highness.”

“… Juya… Do you also think that what I did was wrong?”

“That is not what I came here to talk about. Please let me talk to you face to face, your Highness.”

Prince Camille’s voice sounded quiet and weak. I grabbed a lantern from outside and placed it on the bedside table. I looked around the bedroom and saw in relief that there wasn’t much to pack.

I turned to Eriez and explained, “Eriez, you told me that I could use you when necessary. So, I will take up on that offer now. Someone among us is trying to create chaos in Minurd so he could escape. One of the best ways to create this chaos would be to attack this quarter then kidnap and rape the Virtuous Priestess and the odalisques. They could also question Prince Camille about what he did with the priestess… And even blame the Goddess’s warrior, who knew everything but didn’t stop it from happening… If all of these things happen, it will be impossible to control the situation.”

“What? Then…!”

“So Eri, what you need to do is take your followers and make sure to arrest any brothers who try to escape. When you do, you need to bring them here. Until you return, I will do my best to protect this place in case of an attack. I think we need to be vigilant until the upcoming Sacred Day.”

Eriez obviously wanted to question my authority, but the boy prince stood up and asked, “Juya? What are you talking about? If you mean the Sacred Day, then…”

I turned away from the prince when I realized that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I had to make an effort not to stare at him.

I explained, “We need to move fast. Right now! Your Highness, please grab whatever you need and stay in the library. Eriez, when you return here, make sure to return to the library, in front of the secret door.”