Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 50

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“Plus, Your Highness the Prince does possess blood that is not really human.”

“You’re…right. That’s probably why they won’t let me out of here…”

Just when I thought Alois was cheering him up, he said something that brought the prince down. I kept watching, not wanting to speak up and ruin what he was trying to do.

“It’s human nature to envy what belongs to another. Pardon my discourtesy but his Majesty suffers from the same fault. Perhaps that’s why he’s kept Your beautiful Highness here and refused to send you to anywhere else.”

Because he was so soft-spoken, he was more persuasive than me, who made people flinch when they first saw my face.

When written down, his words were nothing special; there were soothing words that anyone could say to a child. But coming from his mouth, it had a strange charm that mesmerized you to listen.

Then again, that’s why I chose him.

I liked his exceptional smarts, his good looks, his strange, mesmerizing charm, and the ease with which he could play someone like a fiddle in the palm of his hands.

He was my excuse to get away from this empire.

“Um, then can I leave here?”

Yuina’s words made me freeze.

Taking him out now…Honestly, I just woke up and threw the clothes on my body. I had no plan and my only understanding of the situation was what Prince Yuina had written in her letter.

Taking him out right now would be…

“…Is that too much?”

…there’s no reason why we can’t.

When he looked at me with those eyes, I figured, why not use the Saintess title to do crazy things sometimes.

“Of course not.”

“…”

“I will get you out of here.”

Having said that, I realized that I would have to borrow Prince Alois’s strength again and I couldn’t help but sigh.

A strange sense of anticipation flickered in the child’s eyes.

Seeing the anticipation in Yuina’s eyes, I placed a light kiss on his forehead. All of his wounds had healed, but nothing was more difficult than healing the wounds of the heart.

For once, I tried to imitate Prince Alois and let out a soft, non-pretentious laugh.

“Will you trust me?”

“I’ll…trust you.”

The prince’s eyes shone. It wasn’t hard to pick up the slender child.

Somehow, I kept wanting to carry him and when I opened my arms, he seemed to recognize the gesture this time and trotted over to me.

I could clearly feel the unique aura of the Imperial family from Yuina as well.

Just as I was about to take the child into my arms, Alois blocked my path and smiled.

“Allow me to carry His Highness the Prince.”

“…Your Highness, do you realize what I am about to do…?”

He nodded his head, “I think I know.”

“Don’t you need to appeal to the Imperial family?”

“His Highness Yuina is also the imperial family, is he not?”

I paused. My thoughts, who had been flowing seamlessly, suddenly stopped because of him.

I had to admit it. Compared to him, I was simply outclassed.

I didn’t have the talent or brains to do hundreds or thousands of calculations at once like Alois. At best, I could only think of how to get out of this situation. I couldn’t plan a hundred moves ahead.

“Indeed.”

But now, I could tell he was trying to entrench himself in the corrupt imperial family and the politics.

“You’re right, indeed.”

I had to say it twice. Seeing Prince Yuina in his arms looking up at the sky, I nodded my head.

“Can I really go out?”

As he stared at the sky, the young prince asked the same question he’d asked so many times and I answered in the same way I’d replied those many times.

“Of course.”

“The scholars will be angry if they find out.”

“Well, the Saintess is stronger than those scholars.”

“His Majesty the Emperor might criticize Lady Saintess.”

I was about to tell him not to worry again, but Alois drew Yuina’s gaze.

“Do you know who the supreme being of this world is?”

“…?”

“It is Her Holiness. She is the only one, the only unique position, not bound by any anything, no nation, or people.”

“But the scholars say the temple is under the imperial castle.”

That fact the scholars in Yuina’s castle talked that way meant that many people have always thought the same.

“Then you must have been taught wrong.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, it’s wrong.”

“…”

“So from now on, you will have to learn what’s right.”

“Huh…?”

“I will help you with that.”

We started walking back to the area with entangled rose vines. I expected to hear the noise of people searching for Yuina and I was right.

“Your Highness!”

The voices of people anxiously searching for Prince Yuina drummed in my ears, but I ignored them.

“I think with three people, it’ll be difficult to pass through the same way we did earlier.”

It sounded like a casual remark from Alois, but it made my hair stand on end. When we were coming here, I had no idea what was on the other side or how big it was, so I entrusted myself to him, but it was different now.

After twisting my wrists a few times, I replied.

“Should I do it?”

I looked straight in his eyes. For an instant, the masks on our faces fell off, revealing an impassiveness. Although it was merely an instant, I felt like I’d seen into his mind.

“What do you mean?”

That carefree attitude of his. Asking even though he knew!

Ah, seriously. Feeling like I was playing in the palm of his hand was not always a good feeling. Then again, since I was watching his carefreeness one step away from his palm, I suppose we were even.

“Exactly what I said.”

“…I will follow whatever Your Holiness desires.”

It felt like a roundabout way of telling me that the mess afterwards was going to be my problem.

I tensed my fingertips and stretched my hand toward the thorny vines.

Since there were so many, it would be more effective if I touched it directly. The thorny stems wrapped around my hand and began cutting deep into my flesh.

Alois took it upon himself to cover Prince Yuina’s eyes.

It was painful, and I had to use quite a bit of effort to get rid of the vines. Before long, the vines vanished into thin air.

They turned into ashes and scattered into the air like they were carried by the wind. It was quite ridiculous to see.

I’m sure the Emperor had spent quite some effort to set up this spell. Many people would have lost their lives to something that was easily reduced to ashes by my hand.

Once the rose vines disappeared, the space became a wide, open field.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Alois’s praise felt like something the priests would say after a demon extermination. I simply nodded at him and wiped the blood away with my handkerchief.

I could read the longing for me in his eyes.

After all, if he had me, the power I possessed would also be used for him. And he was aiming for that.

As I covered the scarred back of my hand, I knew that my goal was achieved but I hadn’t thought about the aftermath yet.

As Alois freed Yuina’s eyes, I put my hands behind my back and smiled like nothing had happened.

Still, I knew it would be a headache. Considering I’d just announced my intention to leave the Empire for a while, although I didn’t know when, I didn’t have an immediate plan for what to do with Prince Yuina.

That said, I was confident I could handle it.

* * *

I was at a crossroads of choices for a while.

Do I go straight back to the temple, or do I go through Reneben, where the Emperor was.

It was either a chance to spread rumors, or a chance the emperor could use to up this story.

While I was hesitating, Alois walked ahead of me.

He chose the direction of the Emperor.

Alois stroked Prince Yuina’s nape a few times and easily put the child to sleep.

My eyes twinkled with rare sincerity, and I asked Alois what kind of ability that was, but he laughed awkwardly.

“It’s a method often used in the East, using a pressure point to put people to sleep. It’s a unique method that doesn’t cause any harm to the body.”

Whether it was the vastness of his knowledge, his drive, or his judgment, each of them were incredible.

Just like a beast hiding its fangs, he always hid his tail and stayed away from risky plays.

“When you get a chance, please show me too.”

Recalling how he touched the Prince’s neck, I ran a hand over my own neck but as expected, nothing happened.

“A chance—.”

Alois began and turned his head away from me.

“There will be plenty in the future.”

His words were enough to misunderstand but I knew exactly what he meant so I nodded.

After all, I was the one who chose to follow him.

“You’re right. I will be seeing you a lot in the future.”

Half a year passed, then a year. That is the time I spent in the Empire.

In all that time, I never thought of expanding my horizons beyond the Empire.

Aloys was just my motivation. Who knows when it would have happened, but once I became stable, my gaze would have eventually turned to another country anyways. Alois only made that day come a little faster.

Just the sound of our footsteps echoed.

I believed in my choices. Even if it was the wrong path, it was pointless to regret it. I just had to bear the damage that came my way.

This wasn’t unfounded confidence. Or me foolishly saying I would bear my own pain. I knew I could handle and overcome it, and I knew that even if I made mistakes, I would arrive at the most optimal conclusion in the end.

That’s just who I am.

Even if I didn’t arrive at the best outcome, it was the ideal one I chose.

That path had to be the best one.

It was a small price to pay for the privileges I enjoyed as a Saintess.

Just as I expected, the people from the temple were gathered together and clashing against the people from the Imperial family.

“You’ve got a lot of guts to block the temple.”

“Having guts is a fundamental requirement of being in the Imperial family.”

Alois and I began a quick chat. It was a superficial shallow exchange.

“Well, I did tell Reneben not to push too hard…we didn’t come here to fight after all.”

When you really look at it, they were just having a conversation. Reneben was speaking in a bland, casual tone and the imperial knights were taken aback, not knowing what to do.

But since the emperor was standing behind them, they couldn’t leave and had to block his path.

 

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