Ch.150149. The Culprit (3)

# 149. The Culprit (3)

Outside the infirmary, I wait with her and Riel for Aelin’s surgery to finish.

In the meantime, we resumed our earlier conversation.

“If the culprit is really on that side, we need to find them quickly…”

Riel, who had been fiddling with her phone the whole time, answered.

“Ah~ Nothing’s going to happen.”

“That sounds quite dangerous.”

“Oh…”

Suddenly, Riel exclaimed while looking at her phone screen.

I asked her, “What is it?”

“Well, she’s supposed to arrive tomorrow.”

“Who?”

“The princess.”

The princess.

She was probably referring to Luna.

‘But… how is she coming?’

Diabolica had clearly stated that she would only permit Luna to leave if she found a suitable fiancé.

And I, whom Diabolica had in mind as that candidate, had rejected the proposal.

Yet she was coming anyway, which meant either Luna had persuaded her mother well or Diabolica had simply given permission.

It would be impossible for her to have found a fiancé in such a short time.

“Is she really coming?”

“That’s what my mom said.”

“I guess that settles it then. But if she’s arriving tomorrow, she must have left quite a while ago?”

“Yeah, but why?”

Nothing particularly special about this fact.

But hearing it made me feel somewhat uneasy.

And the reason was very simple.

“Who’s she coming with?”

“Someone from our side probably went to escort her?”

“Still…”

There’s a high probability that someone in the Persian Kingdom is currently communicating with Bael.

And someone capable of using this level of magic could easily have discovered that Luna was coming to our country.

‘They likely already know…’

And if they’re waiting in ambush in that situation, it could be extremely dangerous.

Even if our people went to escort her, the opponent wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

Since they’re in contact with Bael, they must at least possess a certain level of skill.

“Let’s go too, just in case. Where are they now?”

From the way she spoke, it seemed they were quite close, so we should be able to reach them quickly.

***

An elf was conversing with someone through a magic circle.

This elf was hiding in a vast forest near Lucerne, the capital of the Empire, waiting for their prey to enter their sight.

And now, after some time had passed, the prey had entered the elf’s field of vision.

“That’s it… for sure…”

A luxurious car that would make anyone gasp in admiration at first glance.

That car was the prey.

Two elves were riding in the car driven by an Imperial driver.

Among them, a girl who appeared about 19 years old spoke to her friend.

“Wow… so humans travel in these things? Did you know about this, Nixie?”

“How would I know?”

Nixie, Luna’s friend who had been called by name.

Seeming reluctant to answer, Nixie gave Luna a meaningful look and asked:

“But how did you manage it?”

“What?”

“You said they wouldn’t give permission before. Why did they suddenly allow it?”

“It’s nothing special. I made a promise.”

“A promise? What kind of promise?”

Nixie tilted her head at Luna’s words.

Luna looked at Nixie and explained the nature of the promise.

“I told Mother that I’d go to the academy and find the fiancé she mentioned.”

“But… wasn’t she concerned about your safety in the first place?”

“Safety is fine. I have you. And though I don’t like saying it myself, I’m quite strong too.”

Luna seemed to firmly trust Nixie, her longtime friend and companion.

Indeed, Nixie had excellent skills and good character.

“And though we won, they must be struggling now too. That’s probably why she gave permission.”

“But I don’t think Her Majesty would approve of just anyone… do you think it’s possible?”

Considering Luna’s current position, abilities, and appearance, it would be difficult to find a man of similar caliber even at the Imperial Academy.

“And she really liked that guy who came before. It seems like it has to be him or no one.”

“But… he said he has a girlfriend…”

“That doesn’t really matter, but it hurts your pride. You’re going to be a queen, after all.”

A queen becoming a concubine to a commoner…

While not without precedent, it was certainly a matter of wounded pride, as Nixie said.

But that was only on the surface; in reality, it probably wouldn’t matter much.

“But our people might not care about such things…”

“That’s true. Everyone’s too busy with their own affairs.”

In truth, for the people of the Persian Kingdom, research in magic and item creation would be far more important than who the monarch was or whether they were someone’s concubine.

And fundamentally, they weren’t people who paid much attention to others’ affairs.

“But there’s no need to fixate on him specifically. He already rejected you once…”

“Rejected?! You asked him?”

“Yes, I asked if he would do it, but he turned me down. Said he has a girlfriend.”

Luna’s reaction was surprisingly calm for someone who had been rejected.

Since there were no feelings involved between them, she didn’t seem to mind at all.

Nixie, on the contrary, seemed more excited and tried to provoke some emotion from the indifferent Luna.

“Doesn’t that make you want to prove something? Even if he has a girlfriend, he rejected YOU.”

“I don’t really feel anything about it.”

“That’s a shame… it would be fun if you stole him away…”

“What’s fun about that? That’s just trashy behavior.”

Luna grimaced at Nixie’s words.

Nixie then asked her:

“So you’re giving up on him?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“How boring, giving up so easily.”

At that moment, the car they were riding in came to a stop, and the driver spoke to the girls in the back seat.

“We’ve arrived. You can get out now.”

“That was quick! It only took about three days?”

“Let’s get out quickly. I’m tired.”

Nixie seemed to have lost her earlier energy, and Luna also appeared drowsy, perhaps due to the late hour.

So they promptly got out of the car.

Their eyes were met with towering buildings.

Luna marveled at the sight.

“Wow! They’re so tall!”

“You sound like a country bumpkin.”

“No, it’s fascinating. Back home, the only tall thing was the Tree of Life, but here they’re everywhere.”

Luna’s provincial reaction.

Nixie sighed deeply at her response and spoke.

“You’ve seen them before through those drone things.”

“Still, seeing them in person is different. Look, people are coming too.”

Luna was thoroughly enjoying the experience of seeing the new environment and scenery firsthand.

Unaware that someone was targeting her.

“There she is…”

About a few hundred meters away from his prey.

The elf drew his bowstring as his target entered his field of vision.

“If I just kill her… then I can see…”

The meaning of those words was unclear.

But one thing was certain: Luna’s life was in danger.

Luna, unaware of this fact, waved to those who had come to greet her.

And among them was the one who had rejected her proposal.

However, he alone wore a different expression from the others.

‘Why is he like that?’

Unlike the others, he was running toward them alone, and his expression was uniquely serious.

Nixie noticed this and muttered in a small voice:

“Why is he acting like that?”

“I wonder…”

And at that moment, the sound of a bowstring pierced everyone’s ears.

Luna instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

‘Huh?’

A long arrow right before her eyes, her whole body covered in goosebumps.

Her heart raced madly, and her brain screamed at her to run.

But unfortunately, she couldn’t.

It was already too late.

‘Am I… going to die?’

Honestly, when Mother had first said it was dangerous to go outside, she hadn’t believed it.

It had never happened before, and she thought it never would.

But seeing this scene now, she realized that her mother had been absolutely right and her own thinking had been utterly foolish.

Luna blamed herself for her foolishness, for letting her guard down in such a situation, and apologized to her mother who had always given her sound advice.

“Mother… I’m sorry…”

Then she tightly closed her eyes.

Nothing entered her vision—not Nixie’s shocked expression, not the arrow.

Not even her own tears.

The myriad emotions felt in this fleeting moment.

A single teardrop, the crystallization of those emotions, plummeted to the ground.

Yet through this process, Luna herself remained unharmed.

Surely the arrow would take Luna’s life faster than her tear could hit the ground.

‘Why…?’

Luna realized this and very slowly opened her eyes.

What entered her sight was a horrific scene.

Luna couldn’t hide her shock.

‘W-why?’

What she saw was him—the one who had been running toward them just moments ago.

The arrow that had been aimed at Luna’s life was now lodged in his chest.