Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 99

A small discussion began under the bright sunlight.

“Lady Ronella, I have a few questions for you.”

“…”

“Ronella, can you answer them?”

“Alright. If Lady Emilone wants, I will answer your questions. Ask away.”

Of course, it wasn’t much of a “discussion.” It was more like Alois’s one-sided interrogation, and my role was to coax answers from her when she stayed silent.

“What did you do with half the blood that was collected here?”

The only person who knew where half the blood that was collected in this country had gone, was Ronella. Technically, she hadn’t used it herself, but still.

“…The dark mages took it.”

“…”

“Actually, there was a cabin with other dark mages behind that place yesterday and they should have barged in halfway but… for some reason, they never showed up.”

She looked down at her nails, replying half-heartedly. It seemed she had no intention of pretending to be the sweet, kind Lady Ronella Nestro in front of Alois.

“Is that so… And why did they need the blood?”

I glanced over at Alois, who had vanished yesterday during our raid on the nobles’ gathering with the priests and Reneben, claiming he had other business.

He wore the same neutral expression, like he didn’t know anything, but I had spent enough time with him now to see through that.

“To drink, maybe…? You know they need human sacrifices to become dark mages so…I think they said something about becoming stronger when they bathe in human blood…? But that’s not true, obviously.”
…Oh my God.

I dropped the cookie in my mouth. Bathing in blood…? Even Alois, who was hard to surprise, couldn’t control his expression this time.

“That sounds unbelievable…”

“Um, Lady Emilone, I want to eat that cookie over there.”

“Huh?”

Not caring that Alois and I were bewildered, she casually opened her mouth and pointed at the cookie in front of me.

She could easily reach it but I figured she just wanted to act spoiled, so I picked it up.

“Allow me, Lady Emilone.”

Ronella had opened her mouth, clearly wanting me to feed her, but just as I was about to oblige, Alois intercepted it.

Before Alois could stuff the cookie in her mouth, Ronella pulled back.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What else? Your ladyship seems to be struggling to reach the cookie, so I was helping you.”

Anyone watching would never believe that this woman was the princess of House Nestro.

How did she hide this side of her this whole time…? She turned away from the cookie in Alois’s hand and shifted towards me.

“Lady Emilone.”

Their two voices overlapped as they called out to me. Ronella…I mean, the girl I couldn’t name so I ended up calling Ronella, was surprisingly affectionate toward me.

I never thought that would happen.

“Ducal Princess, if you’ve agreed to cooperate with the Saintess, shouldn’t you start by answering my questions properly?”

“Well, you keep asking useless questions. Forget that, Lady Emilone, it’s lunchtime. How about we go eat and—.”

Yesterday’s events were more or less wrapped up. Honestly, I’m sure it would have been more difficult but since I managed to convince Ronella to stay here, it was basically resolved.

Of course, dealing with the nobles would be difficult but Alois smiled and said I should leave it to him, so I figured that part was handled.

“Haa… Lady Ronella, I hate to say this, but…do you know why there’s no issue with you being here, even though you’re supposed to be in the Empire right now?”

“It must be thanks to Lady Emilone.”

She answered concisely and picked up the cookie she’d been eyeing earlier. Then she brought it right to my lips, and without much hesitation, I ate it.

“…That’s right. It’s thanks to Lady Emilone.”

Alois was usually calm but today, he seemed very annoyed as he tucked his loose hair behind his ear and let out a sigh laced with anger.

“But it’s only possible because Lady Emilone requested that I vouch for your identity, and a stand-in has been arranged in the Empire.”

“…A stand-in?”

“Don’t worry. I told them to lie in bed and pretend to be sick…”

Alois handed me a few documents from the table beside him. Inside was a detailed explanation of how they had resolved the matter so that no controversy arose over Ronella’s sudden disappearance from the Empire.

“But, you cannot stay here forever.”

“…What might you be talking about, Prince Alois of Eseah?”

Alois narrowed his eyes and his next words to Ronella sounded like a declaration of war.

“I’ve sent letters to the gentlemen your ladyship usually likes to meet.”

“…Lady Emilone!”

Ronella quickly turned to me.

I didn’t see anything wrong with what he did, so I paused, considering how to explain when Ronella looked at me with pitiful eyes.

“Hmm…Ronella?”

“Do I have to go back to the Empire?”

“..Calm down, in the first place, the Empire is—.”

“You said you’ll protect me.”

“…”

“Are you going to leave me alone in the Empire?”

She returned to the version of Ronella I knew, the one who always acted like she found everything amusing and tears began to fall from her eyes.

She looked up at me, wiping her tears with her sleeve while the shawl hung loose over her shoulders.

“Is there anyone in the Empire that would harm you?”

“Of course, the dark mages w—”

“You can take care of that bunch, Ronella.”

Her expression became even sadder. Watching her, I gave her a lazy smile.

“Since you chose to stay in that position, even if someone was hurt… you should guard it well, don’t you think?”

“Lady Emilone…”

“And since I promised to protect you, you can come to me if you need my power. I’ll stand by you.”

She moved closer, then suddenly knelt at my feet. That alone was enough to fluster me but then, she rested her head on my lap.

“I wanted to stay by your side a little longer though…”

It overlapped so much with her childish expression from yesterday that I couldn’t help but lightly stroke her hair. Today, she was warm, and color had returned to her face.

As I stroked her soft black hair, Alois reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“Lady Emilone, can we talk privately for a second?”

“Your Highness Alois, you should let go. I’m talking to the Saintess right now—.”

“I should be asking you what you think you’re doing, showing such rude behavior in the middle of the temple.”

“Her Holiness hadn’t said anything, so I don’t see why you—.”

If I let the two of them go on like this, it was obvious this would never end.

“Both of you, quiet.”

“…”

I made a firm mental note not to never let the two of them be alone together again, and rose to my feet.

“Ronella, go wait in the bedroom for a bit.”

“…Yes.”

“Good girl.”

I patted her head a couple more times, like stroking a small animal, and Ronella eventually nodded up and down.

Was this really the same Ronella who made me so nervous yesterday? Seeing her follow so obediently now…I couldn’t say I hated it.

* * *

Maybe it wasn’t for nothing that Ronella had lived such a long life. She casually said that being in an ordinary temple like this wasn’t much of an issue.

Thanks to that, we decided to stay at the temple for a while longer.

As we entered the pure-white temple, the white-haired attendants we were familiar with greeted us with polite nods. Their gazes, filled with curiosity or longing, reminded me of when I first became the Saintess.

“Lady Emilone, I’ve received word that the Crown Prince is personally coming to retrieve Lady Ronella.”

“…The Crown Prince?”

Alois nodded, and I suddenly felt a headache.

Ronella’s sudden disappearance meant the sudden disappearance of the ducal princess of Nestro.

That was why I had Alois create an alibi for her…Of course, I needed someone to come take her back but…

“Why the Crown Prince, of all people?”

I honestly didn’t think he would come. We sent the letter late last night, and he was literally the Crown Prince.

I was quietly hoping the Duke would come instead.

“Because she’s Princess Nestro.”

“…”

“Everyone knows how much the Crown Prince cherishes her.”

Alois muttered as he glanced outside, and I agreed. Whether it was due to brainwashing or genuine affection didn’t really matter right now.

“But Alois.”

“Yes?”

“When are we going to the third country?”

“…Ah.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted us to visit three countries before we go to Eseah?”

I climbed the stairs and opened the door to my assigned room. Judging by how lavish it was, it must’ve belonged to someone of high status. I felt a little guilty.

“I don’t think we need to stop by.”

“…?”

“The last country in my plan had quite some issues due to the hobbies of their royal family that’s been going on for some years.”

“Hobbies…?”

Alois walked past me while I plopped onto the bed and swept open the half-closed curtains.

“Yes, hobbies. More than a dozen royals in that country are known for their bizarre hobbies.”

“…What kind of hobby exactly?”

It didn’t sound like anything normal, and it couldn’t possibly be anything good.

“Earlier, Lady Ronella was talking about dark mages bathing in blood, right?”

“Indeed…”

And I wasn’t surprised. The next words out of his mouth were nothing good. Honestly, it was a little hard to hear…

“They’re the same. They love human blood. Because of that, many innocents have suffered.”

I was tired because I barely got any sleep after listening to Ronella’s story last night.

As I flopped back onto the bed, I asked:

“Then why do you say we don’t need to stop by anymore?”

“Eseah Kingdom has made them a vassal state.”

“Hm…”

Hearing that, it made sense. I didn’t sound like a problem Alois couldn’t solve on his own.

He likely mentioned it just to prepare for the worst but since he already solved it himself, there was nothing more to worry about.

“Then the only place left to visit is…”

“Nowhere.”

Next would be the Eseah Kingdom.

I guess I was about to meet royal related to Alois by blood. Somehow, I was looking forward to it.

“By the way, Lady Emilone. Is your injury from yesterday okay?”

“Ahh…”

During tea, Ronella had been glancing at my shoulder. Maybe she felt sorry about it. There wasn’t even a scar, let alone any trace showing I’d been hurt.

“No need to worry about it.”

I sat up to drink some water. Alois quietly came up to me and pressed his lips to my shoulder, over my clothes.

I tipped back the glass of water on the table, moistening my lips, then I gently ran my fingers through Alois’s hair.

“Please don’t get hurt.”

“I’m fine, Alois.”

“Even if you heal quickly, it doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.”

It’s not like I was getting hurt because I wanted to, but Alois had a point. It did hurt, so even I needed to be careful.

*.*.*

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