97 Ninety-seven. Thanks.

"... I see. His Majesty the King and Claude are trapped under the castle."

Walking the road to the royal castle.

I was asking Klaus about the state of King's Landing.

"Yes"

Klaus agrees.

"We also immediately thought of rescuing His Majesty and His Highness. But... the demons are not only in the city, but also in the castle. It's impossible to rescue them so easily."

Well, yeah.

As I nodded, Klaus continued.

"When I heard the story of the Virgin, all the demons who had dominated the King's City thanks to you were destroyed. Now we can go and rescue the captive majesty."

The truth is, you wanted to help His Majesty the King, either immediately or by throwing your own life at him.

Klaus is such a man.

With the help of Douglas, the demons were wiped out.

Suddenly the dragon came to King's Landing and destroyed the Demons. It would have been the best we could have done just to grasp the current situation.

Therefore, Klaus and the others had no way of knowing whether the Demons had indeed been destroyed.

I'm serious about Klaus.

I must have felt more regret about the situation than anyone else, and I must have been struck by helplessness.

…………

"Elaine? You look dark. Are you okay?

Nigel cares about me.

"Yes, no. It's okay... but when I thought I'd finally meet Claude, I kind of got upset."

"You're the one who banished you. I can't help it. If I look at Lord Claude's face, I might say one or two things."

Nigel shrugs her shoulders.

This is something I was prepared for.

If you save the kingdom, you will inevitably face Claude.

But... what do we talk about now?

"Haha. Eliane, what are you worried about?"

Douglas hits me in the back with pleasure.

"This may not have been the case when you were in the kingdom, but now you are better than Claude. For Claude, you are the Messiah. I'm not going to make a rough impression."

"... is that so?

Given Claude's personality, I don't think he's going to change his attitude just because something like this happened.

But when I looked at Douglas's face, I saw some courage.

"If he should say a terrible thing to you, I will crush you. I hope you feel like you're on a big boat."

"Yes, Elaine. You're not alone."

Douglas and Nigel encourage me.

... yeah.

That's right. You don't have to hold anything alone.

I have people I can count on!

When I thought about it, I felt that my mind, which had become slightly heavier, was a little lighter.

"This way."

Eventually we followed Klaus into the royal castle.

It's been a long time since I climbed the castle.

But I don't have time to get emotional.

Guided by Klaus, we went straight to the dungeon.

Then descend the stairs and reach the floor where the dungeon is located....

"Elaine?"

I was there.

Strangely, the first thing we discovered was Prince Claude.

"Claude...."

Naturally, I will lose that name from my mouth.

Looking at Claude, the past ran over his head like a running lamp.

There was a lot going on until I got here.

Discontinued engagement... banished. And I met Nigel, the prince of my neighbor, and I got engaged to him. And even after saving the village of the Spirit... and leaving the Virgin, it was a pleasant day.

Claude at the tip of the iron lattice has run-down hair and clothes.

Honestly, I've never seen him like this.

Were they able to eat anything properly? They are considerably thinner than before.

But it's kind of ironic that he looks like this and sees it as Claude at first glance.

I must have spent the same time as Claude...

"What the hell are you doing here... no, I'm here to do more. Are you here to laugh at me like this?

Claude laughs powerlessly.

"Oh, you can still say that. I'm glad you're doing well."

"... as usual, don't say anything that strokes my nerves."

Claude frowned.

But... I feel more rounded than Claude when I was in the kingdom.

Well, rather than changing my mind, I just don't think I'm energetic enough to resist.

"Elaine... if you don't want to talk much, you don't have to. From here on out..."

"No problem. I'll take care of Claude."

Nigel cared for me from behind, and I kept staring in front of me.

It's easy to escape here.

But I want to face Claude directly from the front.

Did my readiness propagate (starch) around me, or did the others step back and try not to pinch their mouths on us?

But... it was an accident.

This reunion with Claude does not give rise to wonder and hatred.

Is it because he's weak?

I am also a favorite to make.

"But... if you're not welcome, shall we go home? I don't care about you anymore."

I'm gonna throw up a little prank.

Because I became interested in what Claude would do.

Claude doesn't know how to lower his head to people.

"......! I am the prince of this country! How dare you talk!

Is this a period of indignation?

But the next thing Claude said, I was unexpected.

"... please! You have a lot to say to me. But first... can you fix Leticia?

Claude said that and looked behind him.

Behind his gaze is a head-to-head jacket (is it Claude's?) There was a woman in clothes.

The woman is sitting in a small corner of the room.

The dungeon was dark and I didn't notice until Claude told me.

Is that...?

"... Ariane"

A small voice leaks from a woman's mouth.

The voice made me happy.

It's Leticia.

No doubt about it.

A woman who entered the royal family and perhaps drove Claude away.

And I was harassed by the banished man, who made the SS Adventurer Alberto carry a cursed sword.

"... what do you mean?

I know about Leticia now.

But I pretended to be dumb and asked Claude.

"Well, I don't know why, but Leticia got a terrible cut on her face! No matter what kind of healer you see, it doesn't always get better. Maybe you can fix Leticia.

Oh, dear.

Did the curse I returned appear on Leticia's face?

Oh, and even though I hid my face in my jacket, it seems like it has gotten pretty bad.

Couldn't it be cured by seeing a healer?

That's true. Because Leticia bounced back on her strong curse.

Only a fairly skilled de-cursor... no, it might still heal.

Only one (...) person can heal (...).

"Are you asking me to banish you now?

I was surprisingly cold in my mouth.

I wondered how Claude would react, but here again he acted surprisingly.

"Please!

Claude pushes his hands and knees to the ground and lowers his head.

"No one can count on you anymore. I don't care what happens to me if Leticia heals. So... I don't care about Leticia alone!

"......!

That's right. I'll lose my word to this too.

--K, Prince Claude is on the ground!?

That was something Claude had never thought about before.

I lost my word for a moment.

"... hah"

Exhale.

"I see. Let's take a look."

"Oh, really!?

"Well... we need to open this jail first. Douglas"

Hmm.

Douglas came forward and forced the door of the iron lattice open.

If you put it on a glass, it's like an iron lattice or a sugar mill.

I stepped inside and approached Leticia.

…………

"You don't want to be seen. You can keep your jacket on."

Crouch down and put your hand on Leticia's face over her jacket.

"... what are you doing?

It's so small that I can only hear it.

Leticia asked me with a small voice.

"What are you...? I'm going to cure you now?

"You know what I did to you? This is my own curse. And why?"

Leticia alerts them.

Now... I don't know what I want to do myself.

Leticia deserved it, so to speak. Because there is no stepsister to save her.

But...

"Claude was lowering his head. And I know he's not making any weird plans."

There's no way Claude can do that.

"Look at that, I'm not bad enough to be abandoned. Unlike you."

"... I won't apologize."

Leticia whispered.

You still seem to be fine.

Nature and laughter will go away.

Yes... this is good for her.

Because even if they apologize here, "Is there something behind it? I was just wondering.

I've been aware of her dark nature since I was in the kingdom, and it seems that this is her.

"It'll be over soon."

A gentle light shines around my hand.

"... it has healed. Please take off your jacket."

Leticia puts her hands on her most likely jacket and reveals her face.

"Leticia!

Claude, who was watching from behind, rushed to Leticia first.

And hold her tight.

"It's healed....! Your pretty face is back to normal! You don't have to be depressed anymore...! Thank you... Elaine! Thank you!"

"Really...? My face is back...?

Claude's eyes held Leticia in tears.

Tears wet Leticia's clothes.

Meanwhile, Leticia's puzzled expression doesn't know what's still going on.

Mm-hmm.

This is the face of Leticia I know.

No matter how strong a curse is, it's like this to me.

"Fufu, it's a friendly thing."

When I saw the two happy people, I was laughing too.

It was the first time Claude ever said thank you.