Ch.8181. Who Said That?

“····Who, did this?”

Everyone could instinctively sense it.

Though they weren’t exactly sure how the Etherian Princess and Selden Alphonse knew each other, it was clear that Reagan would die here.

Reagan’s forehead beaded with sweat.

Then his father’s words came to mind.

Flaunting the Strom family name wouldn’t solve anything, and under no circumstances should he upset the Etherian Princess····.

Who was the Etherian Princess?

A person who killed without blood or tears.

A woman who wouldn’t hesitate to kill even her own sibling.

Reagan trembled with a flushed expression.

Click-! Click-!

When Selden remained silent, the Etherian Princess slowly drew the sword from a royal knight’s waist.

Shing-!

Then, with no change in expression, she spoke.

“One of the people here must be the culprit, so I’ll just kill everyone.”

There was no lie in the Etherian Princess’s words.

Sophia and Reagan knew all too well what path the princess had walked, and cold sweat trickled down their faces from tension.

The royal knights also remained silent, still kneeling.

The princess pointed the tip of her sword at Reagan’s chin.

“You’re the most likely suspect.”

The panorama of life that supposedly appears before death unfolded in Reagan’s mind.

The royal knights his friends had called····

He never dreamed it would create a butterfly effect that would dig his own grave.

Reagan banged his head on the floor and raised his voice, desperate to survive.

“I-I didn’t do it. I was just beaten.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll kill everyone anyway. However, if that’s a lie, the Strom family will cease to exist in the Eastern Continent.”

These were the exact words Reagan had said countless times to other nobles.

Hadn’t he just said the same thing to Lina and Rohan moments ago?

Reagan was dumbfounded.

Since he was going to die anyway, he needed to be honest for his family’s sake before death.

“A-Actually, I did—”

“We were just friends fooling around, and it turned into a fight.”

It was Selden.

Everyone’s gaze turned to him.

Though most expressions clearly asked ‘Why are you lying?’, everyone kept their mouths shut.

Instead, they breathed sighs of relief.

If Selden had remained silent, they too would have been doomed.

The Etherian Princess’s gaze shifted to Selden.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, he’s a friend I’ve met a few times. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, and I noticed he’d grown bigger, so we were just joking around when emotions got a bit heated.”

“Joking around to the point his face is swollen····”

The Etherian Princess seemed lost in thought as she stroked her chin with her hand.

Meanwhile, Reagan with his bloodied face wasn’t even a concern to her.

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

“····You’re hard to figure out.”

“I apologize.”

“Fine, let’s have tea tomorrow.”

“As you wish.”

With that, the Etherian Princess nodded and gracefully left the scene.

All the royal knights followed behind her.

And then.

After confirming the Etherian Princess had left, Selden slowly approached Reagan.

Everyone knew there was no one to stop him now, so they could only watch.

“I-I’m sorry····”

Reagan sniffled with tears.

Ignoring this, Selden bent down to meet his eyes and flashed a grin.

“Now, time for another beating?”

*

“Selden, I fell for you as a man today!”

“Haha…. Sorry, things got bigger because of me.”

After giving Reagan a stern lesson, we moved to another tavern where Rohan spoke with spittle flying.

“What do you mean things got bigger!? The Etherian Princess took care of everything, so even Reagan can’t do anything about it. Lina, am I right?”

Lina Covet also scratched her head and agreed with Rohan’s opinion.

“Yeah, that’s right····”

“But why do you look like that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing····”

Seeing Lina’s discomfort, I guess I must have beaten Reagan pretty badly earlier.

Well, I had to make sure he wouldn’t try to climb over us again, so it couldn’t be helped.

I poured a drink into Lina Covet’s glass and spoke.

“Lina, I’m sorry. I had to properly punish Reagan or he might have caused trouble for you and Rohan.”

At that, Lina Covet hesitated before breaking into a smile.

“····I see, I didn’t know you cared about us that much.”

Rohan, who was watching our conversation with pleasure, leaned toward me.

“That’s right! By the way, what’s your relationship with the Etherian Princess?”

Sophia was curious too, as she quietly sipped her drink while subtly leaning in to listen.

It must seem strange.

Even I don’t understand why the Etherian Princess is being so nice to me.

The Etherian Princess is a woman who calculates well.

She moves with a precise distinction between gain and loss.

Honestly, I didn’t think she would kill me.

I expected her to give me a public scolding for the sake of relations with the Strom family.

But.

This is just····

Threatening to erase the Strom family from the Eastern Continent, and instead taking my side?

It was a development I couldn’t have imagined, so I was just as confused.

Of course, thanks to that, Reagan probably won’t be able to strut around anymore.

“I’ve just had tea with the Etherian Princess a few times.”

“Come on, that’s a lie!! The Etherian Princess cared more about you than Reagan?”

“I really don’t know, I tell you?”

Sophia narrowed her brows at Rohan, who was about to interrogate me thoroughly.

“It might be a sensitive topic for him.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“What’s important is that we survived today.”

Lina and Rohan simultaneously sighed, probably recalling what had happened earlier.

Then Sophia turned her gaze to me.

“But why did you do that earlier?”

“Do what?”

“I’m wondering why you needed to save Reagan by calling him your friend.”

There are several reasons.

Taking down the Strom family would mean reducing the Etherian Princess’s power because of me.

Even if things followed the original story, he would die by the protagonist’s hand, so I couldn’t go that far.

And besides.

Reagan certainly deserves to die, but he’s still useful.

If I wanted to kill him, I could do it anytime without borrowing the Etherian Princess’s hand.

I gave Sophia a smile tinged with pretense.

“It would be disrespectful to the Princess. I didn’t want her to kill a bug because of me.”

“····I suppose so.”

In the uneasy atmosphere, only Rohan remained cheerful.

“Selden, can I visit your family estate after the royal banquet?”

“Not now.”

“Why not!?”

“I’m in exile.”

“Exile?”

“My father caught me frequenting pleasure districts.”

I explained calmly, but Rohan raised his voice in surprise.

“As a man born!! You should be able to go to pleasure districts!!”

“Haha, it’s not just that, I’ve made many mistakes, so my father sent me into exile.”

“That’s right! This is how you show repentance! A man can visit pleasure districts out of curiosity!”

Sophia looked at me sitting beside her with a lukewarm expression.

“Then why didn’t you go to a pleasure district today? I once overheard my father talking with a friend, and he said Lumestia’s pleasure districts are the best.”

“You want me to cause more trouble after being exiled?”

“You’ll have your coming-of-age ceremony soon, so what does it matter?”

“No thanks, I’ve made good friends like you instead.”

Sophia smiled faintly.

Rohan exclaimed in excitement.

“Wow!! Then I’ll come visit you in exile!?”

“Well, there’s not much to do there, but if you insist?”

“I’m coming to see a friend! Right?”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

I wonder if becoming friends with Sophia was really a good choice, unlike with Lina and Rohan?

Sophia, like the Etherian Princess, is destined to die at the protagonist’s hands.

I keep unintentionally growing attached.

Even today, the Etherian Princess worried about me before the Strom family, and became angry when she saw my injuries.

No wonder my head is getting complicated.

‘I really don’t want friction with the protagonist····’

Even though I just met Sophia today, after all we’ve been through, I want to save her from the protagonist.

Not to mention the Etherian Princess.

I picked up my glass and smiled gently at Rohan.

“Sure, but don’t complain if it’s boring.”

“Of course not! Despite appearances, I’m not one to go back on my word.”

This feels like the most enjoyable drinking session since I became ‘Selden Alphonse.’

Perhaps after being tormented by crazy women every day, having drinks with normal people for the first time made the alcohol taste especially sweet.

Sophia, who had been quietly sipping her drink, tapped my waist with her flushed face and finally opened her tightly closed lips.

“Let’s go get some fresh air.”