Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 49

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Somehow, I found myself in Alois’s arms, my cheek pressed against his chest. I straightened my slouched back, propped my chin on his shoulder, and wrapped my arms around him as I spoke.

“Ah, Your Highness, if it’s a creature made of magic, I can get rid of it…”

Just as I was wondering how he was going to carry me and fight with one hand, I realized that I could easily destroy it if it was a non-living object.

There were no rose vines around the magic puppets, so Alois’s movement seemed a little freer.

“Um…Saintess.”

“Go ahead.”

His body moved forward aggressively. I didn’t get why he was doing this if I could just get rid of them then I heard his explanation.

“To get rid of it, you have to see the object directly, right?”

“That is correct.”

“…Then I think it’ll be best not to see it.”

“Why?”

I replied succinctly, wondering if I was being a nuisance by asking questions in the middle of a battle. However, he replied in the same calm tone.

“It’s a corpse. So corroded that I can’t tell if it’s been days or decades and the bones and remaining flesh hang loose.”

I flinched. Finally, I realized why he was against it and I became vigilant against the unseen enemy.

Just imagining it was horrifying enough and I definitely didn’t want to see that.

“…Sorry, I’ll leave it to you.”

I’m sure the sight was too much for any sane person. If I was already feeling like this, who knew how he was feeling, but he sounded so calm that I just nodded.

And then it was over in an instant. His body jerked a few times, then stopped.

He seemed to start running again and after a while, he told me to open my eyes.

“We’re past all the rose vines.”

Alois spoke, looking like he didn’t struggle at all while carrying me.

But I felt sorry seeing him drenched in sweat, so I grabbed his hand and infused some divine power into him.

“Sorry for letting you do everything.”

“Well…I don’t think it’s anything compared to what you usually do.”

Alois smiled sweetly, his eyes crinkling. Seeing that, I had to acknowledge his skill in this area.

“Also, we’re here.”

Those words made me turn around. I found myself staring at a desolate place, a place that I had no idea how to find.

I couldn’t help but laugh at how easily I found it.

“Do you think this is the right place?”

“I think so.”

I slid out of his arms and patted his shoulder a few times. It was a habit I’d developed with my subordinates, and I quickly withdrew my hand, even though the damage was already done.

Since I unintentionally treated him like my subordinate, I was worried about his reaction, but he ignored it and simply said he was glad to be of help.

Thanks to that, I was able to focus on the scene in front of me. I expected the place to be dreary, but it was unexpectedly cute and cozy.

Well, aside from that…it didn’t seem like the letter sent to me was a lie.

Because…

“Found you.”

I found a little boy, about 10 years of age, dressed in high quality linen pajamas.

His fair skin and nearly-white hair gleamed under the sunlight.

He was a tiny kid. And at the same time, every instinct in my body told me I had found the right person. My heart began to pound.

I felt an energy so clear and pure, even purer than when I met the priests.

Although the letter angered me so much that I came to the imperial castle, I didn’t expect the result to be so satisfactory.

Right at that moment, the child turned around. When our eyes met, he tilted his head a few times before taking a step back.

I could tell he was obviously frightened, so I bent down to a squat.

“Hello.”

“…Who, are you? You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Since you invited me, I am allowed to be here, right?”

The child blinked a couple of times as if he didn’t understand, so I began to slowly envelop myself with faint divine power.

His eyes grew wider and wider, as if he could sense the same clear energy I felt when I first saw him.

“‘Are you… Lady Saintess?”

“I’m here at your call.”

Alois tried to help me up from my knees, but I pulled my hand away. I was squatting so that I could be at eye level with the child.

“Really?” the child echoed.

“Real.”

“Uh… for real?”

“Of course.”

“The letter, master scholar told me not to expect anything.”

Just like a typical child, he seemed to relax quickly and even shuffled to get closer.

“That letter, was it really sent by Your Highness…?”

When I stretched out my hand, the child looked startled, but quickly calmed down once my gentle divine power began to surround him. I placed my hand on his cheek and tried to fill him with strength, just in case.

It was like filling a broken glass with water.

Even as I poured out divine power, it didn’t seem like there was an end.

For me, giving divine power was as natural as pumping oxygen through the blood. The divine power I was channeling to the prince right now was meant to heal his wounds.

But for some reason, the wound seemed immeasurably deep.

“…”

“My wound…are you trying to heal it?”

The little kid asked, his eyes sparkling.

Seeing his reaction, the crease on my forehead unconsciously relaxed.

“Are you really here to save me?”

“…Yes.”

With a distressed look in his eyes, the child grabbed onto me as if he didn’t want me to leave. It almost made his previous vigilance feel comical.

“Then! Can, can you save me?”

His black eyes stared straight into my eyes.

Seeing my divine power continuously flowing into the child, I made him roll up his sleeves. And the countless needle marks made it clear why.

He was a prince who possessed basic healing powers. Even if I infused him with divine power, only a small portion would flow through, so he wouldn’t be as easy to treat as a regular person.

“Why did you think of writing to me…?”

“Because…master scholar told me Lady Saintess would be leaving the Empire…”

“And?”

“They said I should ask for help before you go…”

The kid began to talk slowly. He looked innocent, a far cry from the sole arrogance that I could find in the crown prince.

“But! I thought it wouldn’t work!”

“…”

“Because coming here is going against the emperor’s orders…and if you die coming here…you’ll be turned into a spell.”

As he tried his best to explain, the child’s arm slowly sank. As I listened to him talk, I watched his bruised and swollen arm heal from the needle marks and improve.

“Thank you.”

Something about his thanks felt very emotional. Rather than the desperation of someone clinging for help, it was the look of someone satisfied because they got to see something change.

“‘You shouldn’t thank me but His Highness behind me.”

“…Huh?”

“Because he’s the main reason I was able to come here to help you.”

Only then did the little prince’s gaze finally land on Alois, who stood behind me. Seemingly surprised, the child sucked in a breath and gasped.

“The one from—.”

“Shh.”

Alois interrupted the prince.

‘The one from?’ When I turned to Alois to ask what was going on, he just smiled as if he had no idea.

And just in time, the wounds were completely healed. I stretched out my arms and the prince blinked in confusion, so I picked him up.

Even for a 10-year-old, he felt so light.

“Why don’t we go inside, and Your Highness can tell me your story?”

The prince clutched me tightly, startled by the sudden lift. He reminded me of how I looked when Alois carried me earlier and I glanced behind me.

I expected Alois to be puzzled by my lack of questions, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

I watched him stare at me, simply smiling whenever our eyes met, and I put on a smiling mask in return.

He and I had a strange relationship. It was an ambiguous relationship, the kind that no one can really define.

***

The prince’s castle wasn’t too big. Compared to the temple and the imperial castle, you couldn’t call it small either.

However, the only problem, if you could call it that, was that it was surrounded by rose vines.

Considering the Emperor’s vast funds, I’m sure this was a simple matter that could be handled with a few high-ranked mages.

I followed the prince, walking along the garden. The silence was deafening, without even the clamor of birds, and I braced myself for any possible traps.

The prince led us to a small table, and once the three of us sat down, I locked eyes with Alois.

“This is the first time anyone has been here.”

The young child seemed unable to hold back and babbled with excitement. While going along with his tune, I slowly got to the point.

Since I came here looking for this child, Reneben knew what I was doing and was probably facing against the emperor. However, I was worried because I knew there was a good chance, he’d lose the verbal spat with the emperor without a ‘Saint’ to help.

“Is your name Yuina?”

“Ina is my nickname. That’s what the master scholar calls me.”

The child kept mentioning this scholar person since earlier. I was curious who he was and right then, Prince Alois asked a question.

“How many other people are here besides Your Highness the Prince?”

At that question, the prince, Yuina, rubbed his neck like he was embarrassed.

“Just Yuina is fine. I am not a prince. And in this castle… there are more people than I can count. And the people change every month.”

“Hmm…”

“What do you mean you’re not a prince?” I asked.

Yuina, with his bright blonde hair and face that looked like a copy of the crown prince, explained.

“His Majesty the Emperor doesn’t consider me human. The title of ‘prince’ is too good for me.”

“…”

Not a human, he says. If anything, a person with healing powers not sourced from divine power was truly a blessing.

The emperor, who experimented on a child to try and inject those powers into others, was the one who didn’t seem human to me.

No matter how corrupt he was, I hoped he would play within the boundaries of recognized human behavior.

“Sure enough, His Majesty the Emperor does not tell lies.”

Alois spoke crisply to Yuina who seemed sad.

“Because someone as beautiful as Your Highness is too beautiful to be human.”

Alois stared straight at Prince Yuina and smiled. Then he turned to me and said, ‘Isn’t that right?’ and I was forced to smile and agree.

Hearing me agree, Yuina’s voice became a little brighter.

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