Chapter 5

■ Alvan, the Son of the Count of Sauerland

Alvan was born as the second son of the Count of Sauerland.

Incidentally, he had six siblings, so every day was very lively.

"Alvan, I have some business in the capital. Would you like to come with me this time?"

At the age of ten, when his father asked him this, Alvan immediately nodded.

"Yes! Can I? Father!"

"Call me Chief."

The territory of Sauerland is a warm and rainy region by the sea. It functions as a port town, and the people make their living through fishing and trade.

However, this is just a facade. Sauerland is actually a secret organization primarily focused on intelligence gathering.

Unlike the northern Schönhait, which is isolated from the surroundings due to its rugged mountains and cold climate, this territory borders other countries and has interactions with various nations across the sea, making it the first to be drawn into any conflict.

Therefore, gathering information to prevent such conflicts was considered the most important task to protect the territory.

"Hey, I'm Alvan! What's your name?"

"I, I'm Bianca..."

Perhaps this encounter between Alvan and the second princess, Bianca, in the dilapidated palace in the capital was not a coincidence.

Alvan's intelligence was far inferior to his father's.

Even if it was a well-thought-out plan, Alvan genuinely liked Bianca and had always wanted to save her.

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"…What are you doing?"

After taking off his armor, Alvan returned to the hideout in the capital and found a familiar person relaxing in the living room.

"Ah, Alvan, welcome back."

"…I'm back."

Feeling as if his heart was being tightly gripped, Alvan maintained a stern expression as Bianca greeted him with a troubled look.

A thought of how they seemed like a newly married couple crossed his mind, but he shook it off.

The problem was the other person in front of Bianca.

"Alvan, you were thinking about how we looked like a newly married couple, right? You've always been so bad at hiding your thoughts."

The handsome young man with tanned skin, a few years older than Alvan, laughed heartily.

(I can't get angry; I'll just fall into his trap.)

Despite this, Alvan felt a surge of anger at the sight of Bianca and this person meeting in the hideout and even serving tea.

"A, Alvan?"

Trying not to make a sound, Alvan found himself unconsciously hugging Bianca tightly. She's mine.

"You don't have to be so defensive."

The man, who laughed brightly, seemed to understand the situation.

"Daniel, what are you doing here?"

The merchant Daniel, rumored to be the lover of the first princess, was right in front of Alvan.

Smiling, Daniel responded to Alvan's question.

He grew up like a brother in the border territory and was an excellent spy.

In contrast to Alvan's immaturity, Daniel's skills as a spy were highly advanced.

This time, he had taken on the role of a merchant and risen to prominence by serving the conservative nobles.

Ironically, this led to him becoming close to the princess and becoming her favorite.

"I thought I'd come see Alvan's face one last time. And the princess here, too."

"…Are you leaving?"

"Yeah. I'm being exiled, you know?"

The man stretched and stood up lightly, shouldering the bag he had left on the floor.

"…How much of this was planned?"

Not knowing anything, Alvan could only ask this. He cared deeply for Bianca, and the Chief had tacitly approved of it.

He was only told to protect the princess if she was in danger, so he never neglected to gather information related to her.

"That ball, you mean?"

In response to Alvan's question, Daniel spoke.

"I was surprised at the ball. I thought it would end with the engagement being broken, but then the young lady from Schönhait… hah, she really jumped in, didn't she? I was scared."

"…So that wasn't planned?"

Alvan, who had been gathering information at the ball, had also seen the young lady from Schönhait appear from the sky, spinning down from the second-floor balcony.

(Was the appearance of the young lady from Schönhait a coincidence?)

He had assumed it was part of his father's plan, but it seemed it wasn't.

"The purpose of the ball was to disgrace the son of the Marquis Mertz. When that girl appeared, everything fell apart, hah."

"Is that why you gave that signal?"

"Yeah. I knew you were there. If Adelheid was out, the next target would be Bianca, you know, those stupid adults."

Just before leaving, Daniel had pretended to follow Princess Adelheid but had glared at Alvan.

(Receiving that signal, I rushed to Bianca. It was a close call. I didn't expect the conservatives to move so quickly.)

"…Well, it looks like I won't make it in time, so I'm going."

"Make it in time for what?"

Alvan asked, and Daniel smiled faintly.

"Adelheid is leaving, right? I thought I'd intercept her on the way."

"…What?"

"It's a secret from the Chief. He might know, though."

"…What?"

"It's more certain to have her fall from the throne than to force a merchant like me into a royal marriage. I didn't expect it to happen so soon, but I'm glad I got to see you one last time. See you."

With a wave, Daniel opened the window and disappeared.

(What? Daniel was really in love with Princess Adelheid? And he said something dangerous.)

Princess Adelheid was heading west.

She would go missing along the way.

(I can't tell what's part of the plan and what's not.)

Alvan stopped thinking about it.

"Um… Are you okay? He's like a storm. He's the princess's lover, right?"

"Yeah…"

This fragile, silver-haired princess was Alvan's everything. That was enough for him.

He felt a bit of sympathy for Adelheid, but she had always oppressed Bianca. He couldn't forgive her.

Alvan and Bianca stared blankly at the open window.

—And then. News reached the capital that the carriage carrying Princess Adelheid, heading to the western palace, had been in an accident and was swallowed by a large river.

Additionally, the princess's safety was unknown.

"Wow… He really did it."

Alvan, looking at the newspaper, muttered, recalling the merchant's smile.

Thank you for reading (´・(エ)・｀)

(´・(エ)・｀) (Yandere confinement ending...)