Chapter 75

"Sure enough, you came, Leen.

I've been waiting so long for you to come to my room."

After defeating all the guards in the hallway, I opened the door and entered his room, where Prince Terence greeted me with a smile.

I stood there, still holding my sword, silently glaring at him.

He remained unperturbed, still smiling.

"Since you're here, what happened to my guards outside the hallway?"

"They are all now sleeping soundly in the hallway."

"Really? That's good."

I felt a bit uneasy.

All the knights who were supposed to protect him were defeated.

Yet, the prince still wore a relaxed smile.

"Give up.

You have no allies left around you.

I have a few things I want to ask you──"

"Haha, really, it's great! I didn't expect it to go so smoothly!"

As I tried to get the information I was instructed to by my brother, the prince burst into laughter.

"Haha, you're really amazing! All the effort to bring you to Misra was worth it.

Ha, really amazing, Leen!"

In front of me, he laughed out loud, tears welling in his eyes. It was a side of the prince I had never seen before.

"What's so funny──?"

"No, haha... I'm sorry. I got carried away.

But, did you really defeat all the guards in the hallway?

Ha, you really are amazing, Leen──beyond my expectations.

I really appreciate it. Thank you for removing all my obstacles.

Now I can finally move forward."

The prince faced me without any fear, a full smile on his face.

"──Obstacles?"

"Yes, obstacles.

They made things quite difficult for me.

──Still don't get it?

I really wanted you to come here alone.

It was just my plan, my hope, but... I'm surprised it actually worked."

Prince Terence laughed a little more, wiped the tears from his eyes, and took a deep breath in front of me, who was probably looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"...No, I'm really sorry. I lost it.

I was just so happy. I couldn't help it.

It might seem sudden, but I really want you to cooperate with me.

There's no one else I can rely on.

...By the way, I think it's better to tell you this beforehand, but no one is listening to our conversation here.

I've secretly set up a device to ensure that no one can hear us. It took a lot of effort to set it up without anyone noticing?"

"Cooperate?"

"No, before that, I have to apologize.

I wanted to bring you here to talk alone... but it was quite difficult.

I thought a lot about it, and since your mother seemed to like you a lot, I thought it would be less suspicious if I pretended to be infatuated with a girl and tried to bring her to my room. Thanks to that, it seems you ended up disliking me, but I couldn't think of a more natural way.

Honestly, I think it was quite forceful. ...I'm really sorry."

"......Yes. Inviting me to your room was counterproductive."

"Yeah.

I realized it was a mistake halfway through, but I couldn't just stop. I was hoping you would notice my signals... but I think the hints were too few.

So, I thought if I provoked you, you might come. Your purpose for coming here seems different, though.

...I really feel bad about it.

Even though it was just an act, I made you very uncomfortable.

I'm reflecting on it, thinking I could have done better."

"......Act?

So, everything until now was a lie...?"

"Surprised, aren't you?"

"......I thought it was a strange story from the beginning.

It just barely makes sense.

...So, what's the story?"

"Will you listen to me?"

"......I may not believe everything."

"Ah, of course, that's fine.

You can decide whether to believe it after hearing everything.

It's really a hard-to-believe story.

Even I find it hard to believe... and I really don't want to believe it."

The prince looked down, as if deep in thought.

"......I don't have much time.

Please be brief."

"Ah, right.

In the end, I have one request.

I want you to help me kill your mother.

──Don't worry, I'll take all the blame, of course."

With his usual carefree smile, he declared he wanted to kill his own relative, leaving me speechless for a moment.

"......You, Your Highness?"

Without answering my question, the prince stripped the large carpet from the floor, revealing a blue glowing teleportation magic array.

"This leads to the underground 'Labyrinth of Lament.'

We don't have much time left.

Let's talk as we walk from here."