Volume 4 - CH 7

“Your highness. It seems that you called my squire last night, did you have any instructions for me?”

That morning.

I called out to the prince, who was out on the terrace between official duties.

The prince smiled and replied,

“I wanted to talk to her for a while. I was rejected.”

“She seemed troubled, so I told her there was no need to go. I hope you will refrain from such calls from now on, Your Highness. She has not yet decided to join the palace, and she is not your maid.”

The prince turns to me with a straight face and says, 

“I think I may have misled you somehow. I really just wanted to talk to her over a cup of tea.”

“At such a time of night?”

“I’m usually up late at night because of my official duties. Everyone usually adjusts to my schedule, so my sense of time seems to have been a little off. I apologize.”

The prince apologizes honestly.

But it’s doubtful.

“Would you please apologize to Ifa as well?”

“……Please do that on your own. If you really want to invite her to the palace, that is.”

The prince’s eyes widened in surprise at my answer.

“I’m surprised. I had thought you would refuse to allow Ifa to enter the palace.”

“….. In the first place, your highness, do you really intend to bring that child into the rear palace?”

“Of course.”

The prince nodded widely.

“What is it that you like so much about her?”

“The way she looks, I suppose.”

“…….”

“I’m not talking only about her beauty. I’m talking about her intelligence.”

The prince said, a little embarrassed.

“I’m guessing but…… Ifa is one of the best students in that school, isn’t she?”

“Well, she usually comes in first or second in the written exam.”

“I knew it!”

The prince said happily.

“The queen is also customarily involved in political affairs in Astiria. The woman who will be my wife must be intelligent.”

“Huh.”

“In addition, …… Ifa is very beautiful and pretty. She has the flair to be the face of the country. What’s more, she’s also my type……”

The prince coughed once and continued.

“As for me, if possible, I would like to have her as the first queen and have her support the king’s political affairs.”

The prince said in a serious tone.

Then he looked at me with a delicate expression.

“I don’t care if she’s a slave or not. I don’t care …… if she and Seika were once close friends. Her past will also be kept under wraps.”

“I don’t have that kind of relationship with …… Ifa.”

“Mu, is that so. However, for a squire and a master, you guys seemed somewhat close……”

“She is what is called a domestic birth slave. She was brought up in the house with me since she was a little girl. She’s like a younger sister to me. Although I’m younger.”

“I see, that makes sense. If that’s the case, then …… Seika-dono, I would like to ask you again. Will you give her to me?”

“……”

“I will pay any amount of money. I’m sure that entering the rear palace of Astiria will be a blessing for Ifa. In your capacity as her brother, could you wish for her happiness?”

“If you’re asking me to sell her, I won’t do it.”

I said.

“But if she wants to enter the rear palace herself, …… then I will free her from her slave status in this country. That won’t be a problem.”

“Mhm, I, I see. ……. Then…….”

The prince said with some difficulty.

“I wonder if I can get you to talk her into it.”

What?

“I’m afraid she’s avoiding me……”

“You…”

I said, my face scrunched up.

“You should at least try to seduce girls yourself. Your Highness, you’re a prince, aren’t you?　You’re good-looking, and probably not many people are as fortunate as you are, and…….”

And at this point, I shut my mouth.

I was about to start a sermon.

“Anyway, I’ll only respect Eefa’s wishes. I don’t intend to do anything unnecessary.”

“I see, no, that’s the right thing to do. Seika-dono really is thinking about Ifa, isn’t it?”

Then the prince asked quietly.

“When …… would she be willing to be freed from her slave status?”

I answer with a slight furrow of my brow.

“Well, there’s nothing good about being a slave. I would like to free her, but the Empire requires adult guardianship to do so. At the academy, I’m a bit confined.

“I see……I understand.”

The prince nodded firmly, while I wondered what he had understood.

I then remembered another thing I wanted to talk about.

“By the way, Your Highness. Tomorrow I am going to enter the mountain where the dragons live.”

“What!? …… that mountain?　That’s reckless. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ll be fine. I just want to arrange some supplies. May I ask?”

“Ah, aah, I’ll have my subordinates prepare them, but…… is there something you need so much as to need such an arrangement?”

“It might take a few days, so I need food and a change of clothes.”

“Certainly, it will take more than a day to enter the mountain and investigate,…… but I see, it will take several days,…….”

The prince mumbled something and then nodded broadly.

“I understand. I will arrange everything you need for your investigation.”

I watched him and thought to myself, scrutinizing him.

“…..Thank you”

He’s …….

I hope he’s not thinking of something extra.

****

The next day.

I was carrying my backpack up the mountain behind Protoasta.

The prince had prepared exactly what I had asked for, but it was not until this morning that I found it all, probably because it was so urgent.

Thanks to this, our departure was a little later than planned.

Yuki asked over my head, 

“Is the dragon’s nest far away?”

“It’s far away. We have to make a detour to get there. We won’t be there by nightfall, so we’ll have to camp somewhere.”

Normally, birds do not fly at night.

However, monsters do not have a problem with darkness, as evidenced by the fact that they did not hesitate to attack us when we encountered them in the dungeon.

There are records of dragons flying in the sky at night.

I didn’t want to deal with it in the dark too much.

Normally, camping out in the mountains would be fatal, but beasts and small fry monsters could be managed with barriers and shikigami.

If I wanted, I could use owls and light jutsu to keep going through the night, but I didn’t want to tire myself out on the first day.

There was no need to overdo it.

The destination, the current location, and the surrounding terrain are all grasped by hawks and crows.

If a beast or monster is nearby, I can easily sense it by a mouse or a white-tailed hawk.

The mountain, where no man has ever set foot, is like a garden to me.

“……”

However, I was very worried about Ifa, who came to see me off..

I’ll return as soon as possible.