Chapter 107

Я&e;a‌d́ &o;n KatR‍​ｅａ​ｄɩnｇＣaf&e;

“Lady! Lady! Are you there!”

“Huh…?”

Camilla’s eyes widened at the voice.

Soon after, dozens of knights came running into the enclosure.

Shining armor, cloaks with emblems, and the knight at the very front spotted Camilla and shouted loudly.

“Lady! You’re safe!!”

“Ugh, what?! How did you know I was here?!”

“We heard that you had gone into the forest, Lady. And we followed the suspicious smoke rising above…!”

At the knight’s words, Camilla raised her head.

Dark red smoke was suspiciously swirling in the sky.

It was the smoke that Lucy had spread out while the goblin skeletons and the bandits were fighting, a kind of signal.

So that the escort knight searching for Camilla could come this way.

“But this place is…”

The knight looked around.

“It looks like a bandit’s hideout.”

A makeshift tent pieced together with odds and ends.

Axes and swords lying on the ground.

On the wall was a crookedly drawn skull flag, and next to it, traces of a broken and spilled barrel.

Such a space in the forest could only be a bandit’s hideout.

Above all, on one side, burly men were kneeling.

They were bleeding from various parts of their bodies, their faces exhausted as they hung their heads low.

Camilla pointed at them.

“Those guys were incredibly rude to me. They forcibly dragged me away, locked me in a prison, and threatened to strip me naked and hang me upside down if I didn’t behave.”

“I-Is that really true!!”

The knights’ faces turned grim.

“These bastards, daring to treat our lady like that!”

The knights bound the bandits and began to drag them away roughly.

“We’ll strip you naked and hang you upside down!”

The bandits, with no energy to resist, were dragged by the knights and disappeared outside the enclosure.

Now, only Camilla’s escort knight, Camilla, Lucy, and the goblin skeletons remained.

“Shall we return now, Lady?”

At the escort knight’s words, Camilla nodded brightly and held Lucy’s hand tightly.

“Princess, we’re going back now~”

“Yes.”

Lucy glanced at the goblin skeletons.

Clatter, clatter.

About twenty goblin skeletons stood in a line, quietly looking up at Lucy.

Thin, skeletal torsos.

Scratches remained on every bone joint, and some still had their arms twisted or legs slightly crooked.

But no one tried to fix them.

They just stood quietly, straight, towards Lucy.

Like soldiers waiting for their next command.

Or like children waiting for a farewell.

Lucy approached.

One by one, she carefully stroked their heads in turn.

A small, warm hand passed over the creaking bones.

“…You’ve worked hard, soldiers.”

Lucy said softly.

One of the goblin skeletons tilted its head slightly, then raised its hand and tapped its chest.

It was a sign of gratitude.

“…Yes.”

Lucy stroked another head.

“You too.”

And another.

Clatter.

Clatter.

Clatter.

The goblin skeletons all quietly tapped their chests.

“See you next time.”

As Lucy waved her hand, the goblin skeletons turned into black smoke and disappeared.

Lucy slowly turned around and took Camilla’s hand again.

“Let’s go now, Camilla.”

“Yes!”

Their footsteps moved.

On the quiet forest path, sunlight was breaking through the leaves.

And behind them, unseen, a faint smoke lingered slightly before slowly dissipating.

◈

Since returning from the forest, Camilla had become almost like glue.

“Princess, wait a moment! Where are you going!”

“…Bathroom.”

“Ah, ah! I’ll go with you!”

“Together…? That’s a bit…”

“Then I’ll wait in front of the door!”

“…You don’t have to.”

“No! I’ll wait!”

Wherever Lucy went, Camilla followed, and all her attention was focused solely on Lucy.

“Princess, are you enjoying the book?”

“Princess, would you like some tea? I’ll blow on it to cool it down for you!”

“Princess, have this. I’ll feed it to you! Ah~”

Just until recently, she had been glaring at Lucy and trying to keep her in check, but now she was rubbing her face against Lucy’s arm.

At this point, Lucy was starting to fear the effects of that flower, the Lumiela’s Tears.

‘The effect is like a succubus.’

Of course, she didn’t dislike it.

Camilla was soft, fragrant, and cute.

She could dote on her as much as she wanted.

They even took a bath together.

“Princess, I’ll wash you!”

“No, I can wash myself…”

“Aww~ Just stay still~”

Meanwhile, Alex was becoming increasingly alienated.

He grumbled at Camilla for no reason.

“Camilla, aren’t you coming to our mansion a bit too often these days?”

“What?”

Camilla glared.

“I always come here every day, though?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m saying you come too often.”

“What’s wrong with that? And I’m not coming to see you, you know? I’m coming to see the Princess.”

“…The Princess is busy. She’s reading a book. You might be bothering her.”

“Bo-Bothering…?”

Camilla’s expression became anxious.

She ran to Lucy in a hurry and looked at her with restless eyes.

“P-Princess, am I bothering you?”

“…No. It’s okay. More importantly, don’t fight, you two.”

“We’re not fighting. Alex is just picking a fight for no reason.”

“I-I…”

Alex scratched his head.

A look of injustice on his face.

“It’s because you’re sticking too close to the Princess…”

Camilla was sticking to Lucy so much that Alex had no room to intervene.

In other words, Alex was keeping Camilla in check.

Camilla shrugged.

“I like the Princess. The Princess likes me too. We even kissed.”

“Ki-Kissed…?”

“Yeah. A really sweet and romantic kiss~”

Alex’s pupils trembled.

In his mind, a scene of Lucy and Camilla kissing flashed.

Alex’s face turned bright red.

“Ki-Kissing… you shouldn’t kiss. Not already. No, more than that, that’s something a man and a woman do…”

“Tsk, tsk.”

Camilla clicked her tongue and wagged her finger.

“That’s why the second son is no good. You’re caught up in such shallow prejudices. You should learn from Billy oppa~ That’s how you can get chosen by a dragon and become a disciple like Billy oppa~”

“…”

Alex’s face became gloomy.

His older brother and the eldest son of the Norchell family, Billy, had become an incubus and left for the Demon Realm, but it was known around that he had been chosen by a dragon and became a disciple.

No matter what, if the heir to the family became an incubus, the image would be tarnished, so it was a lie that Lucy suggested.

Therefore, the fact that Billy became an incubus was only known to Lucy and Godwin.

“Big brother Bi-Billy definitely… didn’t have any prejudices.”

“Right! Learn from that! Alex! You can do it too! It’s not hard! Just open your eyes!”

“Th-Then maybe I should try it once…”

At that moment, Lucy’s expression hardened.

Lucy said to Camilla.

“Um, Camilla… could you maybe bring some snacks from the kitchen?”

“Ah, yes! Of course! Princess! I’ll be right back! Please wait a moment~!”

Camilla hurried out of the drawing room.

Lucy closed the book she was reading and approached Alex.

Alex was looking at the floor with a tearful face.

“I-I too, like big brother Billy…”

He muttered the same chilling words.

Lucy gently took Alex’s hand.

And said firmly.

“Alex, absolutely not.”

“…Yes?”

“Don’t listen to Camilla. If you become like Billy…”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll cry.”

“Huh…! Princess?”

“Yeah. So don’t ever think about becoming like Billy. I like you the way you are now. Got it?”

“Ah, okay…”

“Think about the family. You’re the only heir now.”

“Yes…”

Just then, Camilla returned.

“Princess~ Snacks are here~ Huh…?”

Camilla’s gaze turned to Lucy and Alex.

The two were close, and they were even holding hands.

“Alex… what are you doing to the Princess right now…?”

Camilla placed the tray of snacks on the table and approached Alex.

Glaring at Alex as if to kill him,

“Who do you think you are, touching the Princess’s body…?”

She grabbed Alex by the collar.

As if she was about to punch him.

“U-Ugh…!”

Alex’s face turned pale as if he was terrified, and Lucy hurriedly stopped Camilla.

“No. Camilla. I grabbed him. Alex didn’t do anything wrong.”

“P-Princess… why would the Princess… hold the hand of someone like him…”

Camilla’s voice trembled slightly.

Various emotions crossed her face.

Confusion.

Shock.

Sadness.

“Th-Those things… should only be done with me…”

Lucy sighed softly and stroked Camilla’s hair.

“Camilla, do you want to hold hands too?”

At those words, Camilla raised her head quickly.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her cheeks were slightly puffed out.

“…I-I want to!”

“Here.”

As Lucy held out her hand, Camilla grabbed it tightly with both hands.

As if she would never let go.

Then, glaring at Alex, she said.

“Alex, why don’t you go out and play? Why are you always in the drawing room? You’re a man, playing with dolls. Are you a girl?”

“Wh-What’s wrong with dolls… that’s prejudice…”

At that moment, Lucy seemed to realize something and her expression hardened.

“Alex. Go out and play. Go out and swing your sword. No more dolls from now on.”

“Ett… Why? I like dolls.”

“It’s for the sake of the family.”

At Lucy’s firm voice, Alex hung his head low.

He trudged out of the drawing room.

“Hmph, I don’t know why he’s acting like that.”

Camilla grumbled.

“I can’t stand him.”

“…”

Lucy wore an awkward expression.

Just until recently, Camilla had been making all sorts of attempts to attract Alex’s attention and had gone into the dangerous forest to get the Lumiela’s Tears.

But now she couldn’t even stand him.

The Lumiela’s Tears seemed to be a rather scary flower after all.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
This is the leading. Fighting~!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Well that explains things. Oh yeah, and NTR established between kids.

Pretend that no one is being wronged here, that’s just how it works.

Just like how I pretend that Kat is the source of all evil.