Chapter 53

#053 Not Letting Go (1)

"Why are you doing that?"

Christel's clear voice pierced my ears. I quickly turned my gaze to check on her.

Her usually clear, light gray eyes looked straight at me.

"Is the princess alright?"

"What? Of course I'm fine... "

At that moment, Christel's words trailed off.

The light in her eyes was slowly fading.

A chill ran down my spine from the back of my head to my heels.

She turned her head away from me, like a puppet on a string, and stared straight ahead.

As if someone was standing beyond the two apple trees.

But no matter how hard I looked, there wasn't even a sparrow to be seen.

"Princess Christel?"

"......"

There was no response. I swallowed hard.

A misty valley, two people with unfocused eyes, the echoes of people's shouts and screams from the other side of the mountain.

And,

-Swish!

That damn sound. I gritted my teeth. There were only four apples left on the tree.

Though there was no evidence, it was clear that the invisible apple thief had caused this state in the two of them.

The medium was probably this fog.

"Father, it's my fault."

Prince Cedric said this and took a step forward.

I quickly moved in front of him.

My hands were short trying to cover Demi and my face, but I had to stop him from leaving the sanctuary if it came to it, even if I had to kick him.

"Your Highness, can you hear me?"

"You didn't sacrifice yourself for me. Rather, I should—"

"Stop talking nonsense."

I cut him off. Seeing his pale face and sunken eyes, my brow furrowed on its own.

The queen had passed away when he was young, so why was he having such extreme thoughts? It made me uneasy.

Surely he hadn't been feeling this way all along?

"Why is my sister here?"

Then, a trembling voice echoed in my ear.

I turned to Christel with a very bad feeling.

"Why is my sister here? If she got married, she should be happy, not here!"

Her voice was stained with sorrow and affection. My breath caught in my throat.

It seemed that both of them were seeing family members who had left them.

I couldn't let this continue, even temporarily.

"Go. It's dangerous, go to your brother-in-law! Hurry!"

"Princess, you mustn't leave!"

Damn! I quickly stepped in front of her.

The distance between the two protagonists was too great, and my legs trembled.

[Pull yourselves together, both of you!]

I immediately invoked the divine favor.

From the sanctuary that had been emitting a gentle golden light, a sudden bright radiance enveloped the two of them.

The divine favor was only effective on living beings inside the circle, so I never had to shout it when dealing with monsters.

I had no talent for physical combat, so I couldn't just bring a monster within a 15-meter radius.

-Swish!

The holy light soon released them.

Through the fading light, I saw Christel blinking her large eyes.

It worked. A sigh of relief escaped me.

"Huh? Just now, my sister... "

"Are you back to your senses? Quickly cover your mouth and nose. What about the prince?"

Christel quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom.

Her eyes were red, but she seemed to have grasped the situation and said no more. And the prince...

"......"

His orange irises were burning.

A heat that could burn everything in its path.

Even though I knew it wasn't directed at me, a primal fear trickled down my spine.

His consciousness seemed to have returned, but I wasn't sure if he was in a rational state.

The ether in my body churned restlessly. Or was this even mine?

"......How dare you."

"Your Highness, calm down. If you see another hallucination, cover your eyes with cloth—"

"Monsters like that don't have my father."

The man's voice dropped to a low, earth-shaking tone.

The tips of his jet-black hair swayed ominously. He was taking off the black glove on his left hand.

A tingling sensation ran through my fingertips, a reasonless tension.

"You shouldn't do this now. If you go outside the sanctuary, it's dangerous because the monster is still hiding, and you'll see hallucinations again because of the fog. For now, the princess has a magical artifact that can cause an explosion, so—"

"I will not forgive it."

He gathered his left hand like a flower bud. I had seen this scene somewhere before.

-Snap!

The sound of his fingers touching echoed. Christel gagged and collapsed.

My gaze locked with the prince's for a long moment.

-Whoosh!

Then came the flames.

The bright red flames born from the man's hand engulfed everything except my sanctuary in a raging inferno.

The fog, the valley, the trees, and the moss, the grass, the forest, and the earth—all turned blood-red in an instant.

It was tyrannical and merciless, like a child acting out.

The sight made my head hot. I felt dazed from the heat.

-Keeeee!

A nearby monster, which had been hiding all along, let out a cry of pain.

Thud, thud! The sound of something massive collapsing echoed.

Someone's ether pulsed violently. It didn't end there.

-Kweee!

-Krrr, krrr!

-Keeeee!

I lifted my head slightly. From the mountaintop, the mountain slopes, and the foothills...

The monsters were each letting out their final cries.

Some came from very far away, some from very close.

The peak, which had been visible high up, glowed red like a beacon.

It seemed the prince's rage had finally dominated the Duke's Mountains.

My throat burned in the dry air. My insides were scorched with shock and confusion.

Why had he hidden such power until now...

-Kee, kee, kee

Oh.

"Dem, are you okay?"

I comforted the leserpanda that had burrowed into my bosom and stuffed the handkerchief into my pocket.

Amidst the confusion, I didn't know what to judge first, but seeing Demi trembling made my heart sink.

The fog had all burned away, so it couldn't be causing hallucinations.

Maybe he was afraid of the fire... Wait.

A red warning light flashed in my mind. I immediately turned my head.

"Your Highness, stop. Using so much ether is dangerous—"

With a thud, a small body collapsed into me. I instinctively caught the child.

At the same time...

-Whoosh...

The inferno that had mercilessly consumed the mountain ridges suddenly dispersed.

It was an unbelievable sight.

Millions of embers, carried by the spring breeze, gently shattered and flew away with the sunlight.

The young embers seemed to mock the scene, as if it were nothing more than a momentary whim.

In the end, what remained before my eyes was...

"Really, it's unbelievable even when I see it again."

It was a green mountain again. Christel muttered, dazed.

I leaned against a leg and scanned the surroundings.

The ether of fire that had only judged the monsters in the vast mountains had scorched only the gravel and rocks in places and then vanished without a trace.

What I had witnessed was hard to comprehend.

It was an immense power, and even more astonishing control.

I couldn't close my gaping mouth.

-Keeeee!

Demi slipped out of my arm and clung to Christel's legs.

Only then did I look down at the child, whose body was boiling with heat.

"Ah... "

My breath caught, and my tongue stiffened, preventing any words from coming out.

The unconscious child's eyes didn't open, but I knew the color of his irises.

His jet-black hair and stubbornly closed lips were familiar.

As I carefully lowered my posture, the large shirt sleeves that enveloped the boy fluttered.

His forehead was drenched in cold sweat, as usual.

"......Said."

I called the prince's name softly.

*

"Lord Duke, the mountain fire is subsiding!"

"Good heavens, my Lord... "

"The Lord God is protecting the Empire!"

"It's a miracle, a miracle!"

Thousands of people in the audience burst into loud cries, tears streaming down their faces.

Nobles and commoners alike, they all cheered and threw the items they were holding into the sky.

The plain was filled with applause, whistles, praise, prayers, embraces, and comfort.

François Dume looked at the 'dungeon' with a dazed expression.

The miracle that had just occurred was clearly the prince's power.

No one else in the empire had ever manifested fire ether, so it was certain.

Moreover, the prince was the only one born with the qualifications of a holy knight in this land.

That he had publicly demonstrated his abilities was certainly a cause for celebration and overwhelming emotion.

But...

"Hmm."

His chest felt tight. The duke clenched his fist and pounded it on his ribs.

By now, the noble young man must have turned into a child.

And the person he would be entrusted to was a royal priest from the new kingdom, who had come as a hostage.

Even if the prince and the cardinal trusted him, and even if he himself had acknowledged the prince...

As a vassal, the duke couldn't help but feel anxious given the situation.

"Maybe I should go back up there—"

"Uncle. Stop and sit down. You need to focus."

A clear voice echoed in his ear. He quickly turned around.

Elizabeth, sitting diagonally on the outdoor bed, was staring intently at him with her arm in a splint.

"......How's your arm?"

"It doesn't hurt."

"Prince Karamar is listening, so try to be a bit more sincere."

Elizabeth finally calmed down and looked to the side.

Ganel, who had not left her side since she came down the mountain, still had tear marks on his face.

I felt guilty for causing him unnecessary worry. It wasn't a serious injury.

"......The healing priest set the bone perfectly, and since you're usually healthy, you'll recover quickly. The painkiller the prince gave you also worked well. Did you take care of that?"

"Yes? Yes, I did."

Ganel's honey-colored eyes curved into a smile. It was fortunate that he could smile even after crying.

The viscount continued without hesitation.

"Whatever is happening up there, it's because His Majesty trusts the prince. So, Uncle, just sit back and watch. This is the best spot, isn't it?"

"Best spot?"

"If you leave, I'll bring Bengajem to sit in your seat."

"That, that's not possible!"

The duke quickly sat back down. Elizabeth sighed softly.

Is it really okay for someone like this to hold a dukedom?

"There's a signal from the sky. Go for the rescue."

*

I'm so embarrassed I could die.

This is the conclusion I reached after much deliberation.

I'm so embarrassed I might die.

"Wow, the body can shrink due to ether depletion."

"Indeed... "

"Sleeping, she's an angel, an angel. So beautiful."

Christel poked the cheeks of the sleeping Said... Prince... Anyway, the kid.

I was lying the child flat on the sanctuary and holding one of his elbows.

The kid had used so much ether that even physical contact couldn't quickly replenish it.

Damn, I need to get him back to his original size so we can either continue the tournament or go down the mountain.

I tried my best to think rationally in the twisted situation.

"Did you know, Your Highness? That His Majesty was using ether."

"......I saw it for the first time today."

It wasn't a lie. I had only seen him use it in his child form before.

Crazy, it's not like it's a real-life <Detective Conan>...

"Then, among outsiders, I was the only one who knew. No wonder there were so many conditions for using ether, and you turned into a child if you made a mistake."

You should have given me a heads-up.

I managed my expression while harboring absurd resentment.

The secret about the prince's ether that Christel knew would have made the situation a million times better if I had known it and if Christel had known I knew it.

My throat felt choked with sorrow.

"You must have had to hide it. Your child form looks exactly like you. Anyone would recognize you as the prince. It must have been a significant weakness considering your position."

"......"

My ears burned with shame.

No, isn't it normal to think someone is family when they look exactly the same? Is this my fault?

"Someone who doesn't know the situation... They could interpret it differently, right?"

"Hmm. If His Majesty's personality and behavior were different, maybe. But I don't think he would act that much."

Stop hitting the bones, you'll end up with just the meat...

-Kee, keee

Demi circled us, talking to the sleeping child.

Thinking about it, Demi must have known too.

"Ha... "

How can I face him when he wakes up?

Should I just bite my tongue and die? Then I could go home right away, couldn't I?