国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 272

No—it wasn’t even a ceiling. It looked like some kind of silk canopy.

‘What is this? And why is the bed so wide?’

I sat up and looked around.

The ceiling was unfamiliar, but the room was not.

“...”

I was in Charlotte’s bedroom.

I had been inside once before, and recognized the room immediately.

I was apparently sleeping in Charlotte’s enormous canopy bed.

“Y-You’re awake!”

Charlotte, who had noticed me wake up, practically threw herself at me and hugged me tightly.

‘The bed sure is wide.’

She had probably been watching over me from beside the bed, and to reach me, she had to climb onto the bed and throw herself at me.

“Oh, oh... uh. Yeah,” I responded.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Your eyes or your hands, are they okay?”

“Oh, uh... yeah. I think I’m okay.”

“Thank goodness.... Thank goodness...”

I wasn’t afraid of some pain, but I didn’t expect myself to be in perfect condition either. Thankfully, unlike the last time I used Mana Reinforcement, my body still felt almost at its best. Charlotte, who was still hugging me, pulled back slightly to look at me.

Her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Thank goodness. Thank goodness, Reinhart, honestly.”

“Oh... um. Yeah. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

Charlotte, with clear tears streaming down her face, wrapped her arms around my neck again.

She didn’t scold me or say anything else.

She just held me silently for a while, relieved that I was safe.

After a moment, she began to sniffle gently. As the tears began to fall, her emotions overwhelmed her, and Charlotte began to sob uncontrollably. Not knowing what else to do, I patted her back.

“I’m okay... It’s not like it’s the first time something like this has happened to me, right?” I said.

“Yeah,” she replied between sniffles.

“How long has it been since I passed out, and what’s the situation now...? I’d like to know.”

Given my penchant for fainting after every serious confrontation I had, I always woke up curious about the state of affairs.

However, waking up in the princess’s bedroom was particularly unusual.

“J-Just a moment...”

Charlotte seemed to think it was best to stop crying first. She sniffled for a while, catching her breath, and then pulled away from me.

Covering her reddened eyes, she asked, “Are my eyes swollen?”

“... Do you think they’d swell that quickly?”

Well, to be honest, they were slightly swollen.

How bad a person looked with swollen eyes varied from person to person, and Charlotte could afford a little swelling.

Charlotte lowered her hands away from her eyes.

“Not much time has passed. The incident happened the day before yesterday, and it’s Friday today. The reason you’re in my bedroom... is to keep others from knowing you were in my palace.”

I had passed out on Wednesday night, slept all Thursday, and only woken up on Friday.

“Fortunately, the heavy thunderstorm and constant rain prevented the truth of what had happened from getting out. It not only prevented people from noticing, but also disrupted surveillance magic and other such means. Only you, me, and Dame Tana know what happened. The palace suffered quite a bit of damage... but you don’t need to worry about that.”

Sabioleen Tana had taken the blame for my actions. But I knew that neither Charlotte nor Tana would fully understand what had happened.

“I thought it would be best to keep your presence a secret, so I had you sleep in my bedroom. As for treatment... It was risky, but instead of calling a priest... I used an elixir.”

“... An elixir?”

“Yes.”

‘Was it the elixir I’m thinking of?’

As far as I knew, there were only a few bottles of it in the entire empire, and they were considered a national treasure. It wasn’t just a simple healing potion.

‘No wonder my body feels unusually fine.’

“Is it okay to use something like that so casually?”

“... Why would you consider it casual?”

I felt oddly touched by her words.

“Besides, I wasn’t the one who provided it. It was Dame Tana.”

‘Touching moment canceled.’

As the leader of the Shanapell Knight Order, she could probably procure an elixir if needed.

‘Anyway, I’m fine, but I wonder if Sabioleen Tana is okay. From the way Charlotte is behaving, she seems to be.’

Knock, Knock.

—Your Highness, may I come in?

It was Sabioleen Tana’s voice, coming from beyond the door.

‘Speak of the devil.’

Charlotte looked at me. It seemed like she was asking for my permission to let her in.

‘What’s this? This is her room, so why is she asking for my permission? This feels weird!’

I nodded, and when Charlotte called out that it was okay to enter, Sabioleen Tana, in her uniform, walked into Charlotte’s bedroom.

“... You’re awake,” Sabioleen Tana said to me.

“Ah, yes,” I responded.

She peered at me sitting casually on Charlotte’s bed, but did not offer any particular reaction.

Both Charlotte and Tana probably had many questions for me.

How I obtained Tiamata, what happened after Tana had fainted, and so on.

She pulled up a chair and sat by the bedside.

‘She’s rather far away.’

Though she was sitting beside the bed, it felt as though she was still quite a distance away. Charlotte, who was sitting next to me, scratched her cheek.

“You really need to change this bed,” I said to her.

The bed was excessively large and uncomfortable.

I could understand why the bed in the dormitory had been such a profoundly eye-opening experience for Charlotte.

“Since I’m not in pain, let’s sit somewhere more comfortable and talk.”

I got off the bed and moved to the trio of sofas.

Charlotte took the head seat, and Tana and I sat across from each other.

“First of all, I want to thank you, Reinhart. I don’t know all the details, but you saved not only me but also Her Highness that night.”

The palace had suffered some damage, and Sabioleen Tana had to have kept quiet about the part where she had been subdued during the fight. If she hadn’t, Charlotte would probably not have been allowed to continue staying in the palace.

She had to have filed a false report. Charlotte, having composed herself, looked at me.

“I haven’t properly thanked you either. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Reinhart,” Charlotte said as she smiled at me.

It wasn’t the eerie and unsettling smile she had worn while being consumed by the dark power.

I hoped Charlotte would always be able to smile in this manner.

Awakening the Incantation power was secondary.

I had done all of this for Charlotte, and not for personal power.

“Before you ask me anything, I would like to understand the situation first,” I said.

I looked at Charlotte. “Has the issue with you been resolved?”

I had awakened the Incantation power and had commanded the entity controlling Charlotte’s body to disappear.

The question was: did it really disappear?

Before I explained anything, I had to know that.

Charlotte looked hesitant. “I’m not sure. But I was fine yesterday... and there was this... indescribable feeling before that. It was hard to endure. It was like something was trying to consume me. I was overwhelmed by a mixture of anxiety and a sense of danger that tormented me every night. But suddenly, that’s all gone.”

“And your power?”

“It’s still there.”

Her anxiety was gone. Perhaps it would turn out to be not enough, but for the moment, at least, Charlotte was safe.

Her ability to control shadows still remained, which was a lingering concern. Charlotte was reluctant to use her ability, so she didn’t demonstrate it.

I finally understood why Charlotte hated her ability. Who could take a liking to a power that seemed to be slowly consuming them?

“Alright. We’ll have to keep an eye on the situation, but it’s clear that something has changed in Her Highness. If it was something Divine Power could fix... We tried everything, both magic and Divine Power, but nothing worked.”

Both Tana and Charlotte looked at me.

“Reinhart. What exactly did you do?”

Incantation... It had already manifested itself in me, so it would show up in a physical scan.

“It seems my supernatural power has gotten stronger.”

It was undoubtedly a dangerous power, but I couldn’t hide it, so I had to tell the truth.

***

I explained the situation in detail.

I brought up Tiamata first. A sword with dark power that I had acquired in the Dark Land.

Charlotte already knew about it, so explaining it was easier. I explained to them how the item, which had been presumed to be a Demon God Relic, had become imperfectly soul-bound to me, and how, after considering several courses of action, I had purified it, and it had transformed into Tiamata.

I left out the part about there being no distinction between the gods of demons and humankind. I simply said that Tiamata had been in a corrupted state.

While I explained this all to them, I had to bring up Olivia Lanche.

Both Tana and Charlotte were understandably stunned.

The fact that Tiamata could be corrupted and that I had been chosen by it seemed to be too much for them to take in.

“This is... a complicated issue, so I had to keep it a secret,” I said.

“I understand,” replied Charlotte.

“It’s definitely something that could turn the religious world upside down,” added Sabioleen Tana.

It took them quite a while to recover from the shock.

In any case, given how things had eventually turned out, neither of them had any further questions. Charlotte even thanked me for telling her about it, as it seemed to alleviate the concerns she had about the missing Demon God Relic.

Then there was the matter of my supernatural power.

Since I couldn’t really explain the concept of Incantation, I only described it in vague terms.

I described how, during the battle with the entity that had taken over Charlotte, I had commanded it to disappear, and that it really did. There was only one logical explanation for that.

“So you’re saying that your Self-Deception power can now affect others?”

“That seems to be the only explanation.”

A form of Self-Deception that could now affect others besides myself.

In essence, the concept of Incantation wasn’t that much different.

If Self-Deception was a power manifested through belief, Incantation was a power that could be manifested through giving a command or making a declaration. That was how I understood it.

“So, the solution was... a supernatural power.”

Supernatural powers were the equivalent of explaining something by saying “It just works.”

They could not be explained, and they produced profound effects that were manifested through means that defied the logical reality of the world.

Therefore, even if it wasn’t something that could be easily understood, the fact that a supernatural power had resolved Charlotte’s issue, an issue that other methods had been unsuccessful in addressing, was completely acceptable.

Tana clearly still found it difficult to accept this absurd situation that had somehow become reality, but she still looked relieved, as if she had finally found an exit after wandering through hell.

“So that means... you’re the only one who can heal Her Highness’s condition,” Tana said.

“... Yes, that might be the case.”

For the moment, Charlotte’s condition, which had been gradually deteriorating, had improved, but no one knew what might happen in the future. I was the only contingency plan they had.

In a way, I was becoming Charlotte’s personal physician.

Despite this, Charlotte wore a serious expression.

“Your ability is too dangerous,” she said. “As dangerous as mine, or even more so.”

The evolution of Self-Deception... The fact that it could now be made to affect others made the ability inherently more dangerous.

Neither Self-Deception nor Incantation existed in the original story.

Therefore, I didn’t know what this power was capable of. While the Incantation power that had just awakened might not be absolute, if it continued to grow, it could very well achieve the impossible.

Of course, Charlotte wasn’t considering eliminating me because of the dangers my ability could pose.

“I don’t know how your new ability will be assessed, but I’ll instruct the Temple to keep it a secret.”

To protect me, she suggested keeping my new power a strict secret. She would order the Temple authorities to keep silent, and the only one who might understand the true nature of my ability would be Mr. Effenhauser.

Indeed, it was a dangerous ability. In the battle against the dark entity, it was me who had ultimately subdued Charlotte when Sabioleen Tana couldn’t.

Of course, there were other ways of looking at it. If Tana or another high-ranking holy knight had been wielding Tiamata, things might have turned out differently.

In many ways, Tana had been fighting a bad matchup while being in terrible physical condition.

Keeping my new ability a secret was undoubtedly the best course of action.

Tana seemed to have a different thought.

“What if Reinhart stays at the Spring Palace?” Tana suggested.

It was impossible to say for certain that Charlotte’s condition had truly been resolved. Since we couldn’t predict when something could happen, it made sense for me, the only person who could intervene, to live in the Spring Palace with Charlotte.

It might not look good publicly, but since the princess’s life was at stake, the emperor might not oppose it.

“No. Even if we keep it a secret, Reinhart is in the same class as Vertus. If he comes here to live, Vertus will find out eventually, and then Reinhart will be in danger,” Charlotte said.

Tana seemed to consider this. “That’s true,” she conceded.

Charlotte was prioritizing my safety above all else.

Both that night’s battle in the palace and the fact that I had saved Charlotte was being kept secret because, if such news spread, Vertus might try to eliminate me, regardless of the honors I might be bestowed for saving the princess’s life.

Vertus probably didn’t even know I was in the Imperial Palace.

“Does Vertus even know about your condition?” I asked.

“He doesn’t know the details, but he knows I don’t have long to live.”

It would be strange if Vertus didn’t know about this situation.

There was no need to constantly keep tabs on an opponent who was going to collapse on their own. That was why there hadn’t been much conflict between them in the recent past.

However, I had saved Charlotte’s life. In other words, the opponent he believed would collapse on their own had been revitalized.

If Vertus found out about it, I was as good as dead. That was why Charlotte had made the bold decision to have me sleep in her bedroom. It would be dangerous for all of us if Vertus found out the truth.

“But... Right now, Reinhart is the only one who can ensure Her Highness’s safety,” Tana said.

Sabioleen Tana had to admit that she couldn’t protect Charlotte, and neither could the imperial family.

There was no place in the world where Charlotte was safe. She was only truly safe while I was by her side.

“I guess I’ll have to return to the Temple, after all,” Charlotte said.

“...”

I couldn’t live in the Imperial Palace, so the only other option was for Charlotte to return to the Temple and live in the dormitory with me.

Sabioleen Tana recognized that this was the best choice for both me and Charlotte, so she eventually nodded.

***

It had only been a day, and neither Tana nor Charlotte believed that one uneventful day meant everything would be fine going forward.

“Reinhart.”

“Yes, Dame Tana?”

“I must keep this matter a secret from everyone else, but I have to report it to His Majesty.”

“...”

“My personal loyalty aside, it’s necessary to convince His Majesty that Her Highness’s condition has improved, and that no further measures are needed.”

Charlotte looked at me guiltily.

Sabioleen Tana was not in Charlotte’s camp, but the emperor’s. While she was for the moment responsible for the princess’s safety, her true loyalty lay with the emperor.

There were to be no secrets to be kept from the Emperor, especially when it came to Charlotte’s well-being.

The situation was slowly growing more tangled up. I, the prince of the Demon Realm, was slowly becoming entangled with the emperor as well.

“Yes, it’s alright,” I replied.

“I will do everything in my power to ensure you are not put in danger. I swear on my honor,” Tana assured me.

It was the vow of the continent’s strongest warrior. If I were to be endangered because of this, she would lay down her own life. Such was the weight of her vow.

She suddenly bowed her head toward me. “You saved not only Her Highness’s life, but mine as well. For that, I am truly grateful.”

“Oh, well... there’s no need for you to...”

There was genuine gratitude in her gesture.

Sabioleen Tana stated that she would report the detailed circumstances of that night to the emperor and took her leave.

Only Charlotte and I remained in the bedroom. Charlotte brought over a tea set and, with practiced ease, brewed some tea and handed me a cup.

“When I brought you into the Imperial Palace, I didn’t think about Vertus at all. There was no need to.”

Charlotte had believed that she was about to die. Therefore, she probably hadn’t cared if Vertus found out that I was in the Spring Palace. After all, it wouldn’t matter who a worthless rival was friendly with.

“Reinhart, to be blunt, saving me won’t be good for you,” Charlotte said matter-of-factly.

She was straightforwardly stating that saving her was a mistake on my part.

Seeing her sad smile, I frowned.

“I don’t need to hear that.”

“...”

“I’ll do it again if something like this happens. No matter what Vertus thinks.”

Charlotte seemed taken aback by my words.

I smirked and looked at her over the brim of my teacup. “See? It turned out just as I said.”

I had told Charlotte that I would save her. When she’d asked how, I said I would find a way.

She had responded pessimistically, saying that anyone could say such a thing.

In the end, though, I had saved her. Charlotte stared at her own teacup for a moment, then nodded slightly.

“You’re right... I’m sorry for not believing in you.”

“From now on, just take my word for it. I’m never wrong. I’m always right.”

Charlotte laughed brightly at my boastful words. “Yes, I’ll believe in you. Always.”

I hadn’t expected such a response, so I was a bit flustered.

Charlotte took a sip of her tea, and I followed suit, sipping the milk tea she had made.

“Anyway, I don’t know what will happen in the future, but Vertus will surely try to find out how I’ve survived. Even if he can’t harm me directly, he’ll be out for me again, so it’s crucial that no one finds out that you were in the Spring Palace. Fortunately, your entry records have been erased. Hardly anyone saw you, so Vertus doesn’t know who was here or what happened.”

“Well... That’s a relief.”

“Because of this, you can’t leave the Imperial Palace.”

I was puzzled by her words.

‘Wait, didn’t she say I couldn’t stay in the Spring Palace? Now she’s saying I shouldn’t leave the Imperial Palace? Did she lie to Sabioleen Tana?’

Seeing my confusion, Charlotte smiled mischievously.

“You silly thing. You know already.”

Charlotte gestured towards one of the walls in her bedroom.

The secret passage...

“You can use that to leave. It connects to a gate within the capital. You know that while the incoming side of the gate is heavily monitored, the exit is less so.”

There was a way to leave the Imperial Palace without anyone knowing it, and it was in Charlotte’s bedroom.

“Also, there’s this.”

Charlotte walked to a corner of her room and opened a magical safe. She took something out and handed it to me.

It was a small golden brooch.

“What is this?”

“A warp gate is a two-way thing, right?”

“Right. And so...?”

“Being able to leave means you can also enter through it, right?”

Charlotte explained how to activate the brooch. It seemed to work by opening it and pressing a switch-like mechanism.

“If you activate this brooch and pass through any warp gate within the capital, it will connect to the warp gate in the basement of the Spring Palace.”

“...”

After placing it in my hand, Charlotte held my hand.

Her hand was trembling slightly.

“I’m... giving you something that lets you enter my bedroom... at any time. Without anyone knowing...”

Charlotte’s face was flushed, and her voice was shaking even more.

This wasn’t something you would give to just anyone. ‘In fact, has she ever given this to anyone before...?’

This was essentially a secret key that allowed someone to infiltrate the imperial palace unnoticed.

“Do you understand... what this means?”

Charlotte couldn’t even look me in the eye.

“It means you trust me this much, right?” I asked.

“...”

Charlotte stared at me intently, pouting slightly. “Yes. It means that, whenever I need you, you can come and help me.”

Charlotte, acting a little sulky, crossed her arms and stared out the window for a while. Her face was as red as a beet.

“This time... Don’t throw away this gift.” Her voice was trembling, probably recalling what I had said before I’d fainted.

Honestly, I didn’t remember exactly what I’d said, since I had been on the verge of losing consciousness.

“Of course not.”

In exchange for discarding the gift that had signified a final farewell, I had received a gift that allowed me to meet Charlotte anytime.