CH 39

“How are we going to get out of here?”

“Well, we…aren’t going out of here!”

“What?”

“It’s probably going to be okay. There must be a way out on the other side of this trap. From there, someone will come to help us.”

Someone will come to help? I thought as I tilted my head.

Remembering Leon’s despair from earlier, someone who is working here, I thought to myself that there is no way help is coming that easily. Perhaps hearing our conversation, I heard Leon’s objection from alongside the wall.

“No, I’ve said that it’s impossible for someone to come and help. It doesn’t lead anywhere beyond this point. A cave-in of this magnitude would take three days to dig up! Before that, we will suffocate and die! Aaah! What should we do?! If the prince dies, my friends will be…!”

“…Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“Yeah, well, for that part, that’s why it’s called a test of love.”

I was dismayed at the incomprehensible reason that surfaced again.

Seeing my face, Vivienne gave a wry smile and told me an additional explanation while laughing.

Actually, there is an underground water vein flowing at the end of this tunnel. And it seems that help would come from the outside in the shortest possible distance, following the water vein and targeting places where the ground had become soft. And finally, she concluded it with another unintelligible word.

“The hero with the highest affection meter will come to help. Probably Mika ”

That’s right. I don’t really understand, but what Vivienne read is a romance story, albeit a bloody one. If a young lady is kidnapped, caught in an unexpected cave-in, and feeling despair in the dark, the person she loves will surely come to her rescue, if we are talking about love.

Surely, Mika will be looking for me desperately. Something like an affection meter doesn’t matter, Mika would normally come to look for me.

—However, I wasn’t fooled.

“If there is a place where the ground is softening, I’ll cast my magic from the inside. Tell me where it is.”

“Huh?! Ehh~! No, no way! While you’re feeling distraught and frightened, Mika will come to help, then he’ll look at Your Highness Nagi who’s smitten! I won’t tell you!”

“I’m not even frightened in the first place!”

“I’m not telling you! It’ll be absolutely cool! I want to see it! I definitely want to see it! Your Highness Nagi feeling smitten by him!”

In addition to my words not getting through to her, what she was requesting was too troublesome.

The way I speak to her gets even worse than when I talk to Mika. But, that’s right, if Mika comes here to rescue us from the outside… The thought of it made my heart feel like it was acting strangely, so I hurriedly brushed it off.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll blast it from every side. I’m good at water magic. I’m royalty of the rainy country of Pluvia, after all.”

“T-that’s terrible! Just because it’s earth magic weakness, you want to destroy my construction? No. I won’t let you. I’m not moving until Mika arrives here!”

With that, Vivienne ran up to Leon and sat down next to him.

I looked down at Vivienne with a tired stare, wondering if she didn’t care about getting her dress dirty, and reluctantly, I sat down beside her on the other side of Leon.

I decided to get Leon on my side.

“Hey, Leon. It seems that there is a place where the ground is soft. We can get out of here if we aim at that place. Please help me persuade her.”

“No! I won’t let you! Even if you told me with such a beautiful face, I won’t give up!”

“If we survive, your friends will be safe as well. You only have one choice.”

“…Hey, you people… are you really nobles?”

I looked at Vivienne, who had turned the other way with a pout, and ground my back teeth. We have to somehow get this woman to tell us where the soft ground is. Otherwise, there is a good chance that I will be seriously smitten by Mika.

I thought about what to do and realized one thing.

(That’s right. Since earlier…I’ve been told so many times that I have a beautiful face…)

It occurred to me that perhaps this could be an experiment in smoothing out the process of getting people to do what I say. Currently, Vivienne wouldn’t have a bad impression of me. And then, she said again and again that I have a beautiful face.

If so…

I placed my left hand on Leon’s raised knee, leaned forward, and extended my right hand to Vivienne’s cheek.

“Eh!” Like that, Vivienne looked at me in surprise. I stared into Vivienne’s crimson eyes, remembering only the scene in my head where Antoine beguiles Count Kishar.

Placing her chin on the back of my left hand and tilting her head slightly, I slid my hand on Vivienne’s left cheek.

“Hey… Tell me, please?”

“!!!” “!!!”

I could see that along with Vivienne, even Leon turned red and froze. But I observed them to see if the experiment was a success or not.

At that moment—

It was then that a tremendous thud sounded and the earth layer on the other side collapsed. In the distance, the earth fell in chunks and light came through.

And then—

“Nagi!!!”

Ah… This is not good, I thought.

I wasn’t the protagonist in the love story or anything, but I thought that this is not good.

His clear voice shook my eardrums, and I heard my name being called. Even though it was just that. Relief, happiness, and many other joyful feelings ran through my body.

Mika jumped down from above and ran while looking straight at only me.

“Ah… Mika…”

Without realizing it, I stood up. I didn’t have time to pay attention to Vivienne, who had her hands over her mouth and her eyes wide open. Just like the protagonist of a love story, I don’t want my heart leaping with excitement, or my eyes almost blurring into tears, it’s all too embarrassing, and I don’t like it.

But… more than that, I’m happy.

Even though it was only a few hours. In the previous life, we were able to stay so far apart for a longer time. I…

Mika’s arm wrapped around my back.

He embraced me tightly, and I could feel his warmth. Mika’s refreshing smell spread.

Mika’s voice came softly right next to my ear, as if he was relieved from the bottom of his heart.

“…I’m glad.”

That alone already pushed me to the limit.

I wasn’t ready to put my hand around Mika’s back. However, the warmth against my cheek made me lean my head a little closer.

I thought Vivienne would definitely make fun of me, but… I can’t help it.

Because I thought the same, too.

I really shouldn’t have thought of such a thing.

Still…

(……I missed him.)