Ch.8282. But, why weren’t you honest yesterday?

“I am the only daughter of the Leyton family. And our family has a relationship with Princess Etherian that goes beyond mere friendship—it’s an intimate connection.”

“Oh? I see.”

“You don’t have to pretend to be surprised if you already knew.”

“How can you be so sure that I knew?”

The bustling streets had grown quiet as the night deepened.

The street lamps were gradually losing their brightness, and the lights that had been on in each shop were turning off one by one.

Sophia gently arranged her hair with her fingers in the soft night breeze as she continued speaking.

“I heard your conversation with Rohan when he came to stop you from hitting Reagan.”

“What conversation with Rohan?”

“Reagan mentioned being close to Princess Etherian. But you didn’t even blink, as if you already knew.”

At the time, I had been so worked up that I couldn’t see anything clearly, and I couldn’t even remember what conversation we’d had.

Only after Sophia mentioned it did I recall the situation.

I let out a casual laugh, playing it cool.

“Haha! If you’re interested in the royal family, who doesn’t know that the Strom and Leyton families are close to Princess Etherian? Everyone in the tavern ran away fearing trouble, didn’t they?”

“…But you didn’t run away. Rather, you spoke as if it didn’t matter to you.”

“Hmm, stop beating around the bush. What’s your point?”

“As I just said, I’m the only daughter of the Leyton family. I’m even a late child, so I’ll soon inherit the family.”

“And?”

Sophia slowly turned her gaze toward me.

“I think I need to know about your relationship with Princess Etherian.”

I understood what she meant.

The Sophia family is devoted to Princess Etherian.

And if she’s about to inherit the family, she has some right to know.

But.

I was in quite a predicament because I couldn’t exactly tell her that Princess Etherian tried to kill me three times before we became friends.

I also had a feeling that, given Sophia’s personality, she wouldn’t just let it slide like Rohan did.

“…Can you keep what I’m about to tell you to yourself?”

“Yeah, my father taught me that if you want to live long, you need to keep your mouth shut.”

“I once saved Princess Etherian from an assassin.”

“W-what?!”

“I can’t tell you the exact details. Anyway, it’s not a lie.”

I explained it simply without going into complicated details.

After all, it was true that I became connected to Princess Etherian by saving her from an assassin.

Sophia flinched in surprise, her fingers trembling.

“Princess Etherian was almost killed by an assassin…?”

“Well, she almost died. And I saved her.”

“Are you saying you saved the Princess from someone skilled enough to assassinate her?”

“It just happened that way.”

“Are you that strong?”

“I’m not weak. Didn’t you see me teaching Reagan a lesson earlier?”

I made a few punching motions in the air while pouting my lips, which made Sophia bend over with a snicker.

“You’re really funny.”

“What’s so funny?”

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit. What were the royal knights doing if they were by Princess Etherian’s side?”

Yeah, good question.

What were the royal knights doing, and how did I end up saving Princess Etherian…?

Looking at Sophia’s skeptical expression, I also snickered.

“Don’t believe me if you don’t want to.”

“No, I believe you. I just laughed because you made it sound like you saved Princess Etherian all by yourself.”

Even if I told her the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.

Feeling it would be a waste of breath, I simply nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I tend to exaggerate.”

“Now that you’ve become acquainted with Princess Etherian, I think we’ll be seeing each other often.”

“It’s not like that. My relationship with Princess Etherian is just a personal acquaintance, not a family connection like yours.”

Sophia shook her head briefly.

“No, I think we’ll see each other often.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’ve never seen the ice-cold Princess Etherian get angry on someone’s behalf before.”

It was a surprising moment for me too.

When Princess Etherian said, “One of the people here must be the culprit, so I might as well kill everyone,” it was truly chilling.

Feeling like the conversation kept drifting toward Princess Etherian, I quickly changed the subject.

“Aren’t you glad though?”

“About what?”

“If I hadn’t stopped you from speaking, we probably would have had to go through with a marriage, right?”

“…I did that on purpose.”

“Huh??”

“I have no intention of marrying a man arranged by my family.”

I sighed, my mouth hanging open in astonishment.

“Haaa… we just met today.”

“So what? I concluded that someone like you, who can’t stand by and watch injustice, wouldn’t be so bad. Even though I might seem reckless, I move according to my plans.”

Looking at Sophia nonchalantly saying whatever she wanted, I was dumbfounded.

By the way.

I thought she was the quiet type since she was just sipping her drink alone while Rohan and Rina were having a noisy conversation, but was I mistaken?

Or is she showing interest because she thinks I’m close to Princess Etherian?

I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my finger and nodded slightly.

“Fine, good for you.”

“I won’t refuse if that’s a compliment.”

My first night in Lumestia.

While the moon hung quietly in the sky and the stars gradually shone brighter, our conversation continued until dawn.

*

“You didn’t return to the palace yesterday?”

Princess Etherian came to my room for our scheduled tea time.

Barely suppressing my hangover from last night, I spoke up.

“It seemed too late to return to the palace, so I stayed at a nearby inn for a short rest.”

“…How do you know Sophia?”

“We met by chance at the tavern.”

“By chance?”

Somehow, I felt like I was being intensely interrogated by Princess Etherian.

She must be curious.

After all, there had been no connection between Sophia and me before.

I adjusted my posture while sitting in the chair.

“The tavern was full, so we ended up drinking together. We got to know each other through conversation.”

“I see.”

“But why did Your Highness visit the tavern?”

At my question, the Princess hastily turned her head toward the window.

“…I just went.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Princess Etherian’s flustered expression.

“Kuk!”

“Why are you laughing?”

Have I really become comfortable with Princess Etherian?

I swallowed my laughter and mentally scrambled for a way to survive.

“I-I’m sorry. I was just moved that Your Highness was worried about me last night…”

Princess Etherian cleared her throat repeatedly, her face turning bright red.

“Ahem!! Are you mocking me because someone who once tried to kill you is now worried about you?”

Judging by her expression, it didn’t seem like she was about to try to kill me again.

I smiled broadly and continued.

“Haha, no. I was truly touched last night.”

“But why weren’t you honest yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“I actually knew everything already. That’s why I went to the tavern.”

“…Pardon?”

“I overheard the commotion outside the window. Reagan’s friends were talking to the royal knights.”

“You mean you went to the tavern after just hearing the circumstances?”

“They said Reagan was being beaten by a silver-haired man at the tavern.”

Ah…

Now the puzzle pieces fit together.

I thought it was strange that Princess Etherian suddenly came to the tavern…

Well, silver hair is rare, and she must have been certain that I was the only crazy person who would dare hit Reagan, one of the royal family’s closest aides.

But still.

If Princess Etherian knew the whole story, why did she pretend not to know?

If I had kept my mouth shut, would she really have tried to kill another close aide, Sophia?

I cautiously asked Princess Etherian.

“Were you really going to kill everyone in the tavern if I had kept quiet?”

“I was going to kill them all.”

“Even though you already knew I had a dispute with Reagan?”

“I knew. However, I didn’t expect you to have injuries on your face as well.”

I felt that saving her from the assassin had made quite an impact.

In the original story, Princess Etherian had lived cruelly and coldly from a young age to avoid living the same life as her uncle.

All for the succession battle with Princess Sairin.

But.

She had prioritized me even at the cost of losing power within the palace if Reagan were to die.

Knowing what kind of character Princess Etherian is, it gave me mixed feelings.

I gently placed my teacup on the table and spoke.

“Thank you very much.”

“Only after leaving the tavern did I hear from the royal knights about everything that happened there. After hearing it, I only regretted not being able to kill Reagan.”

“…Haha, he’s a crazy fellow.”

“But I still haven’t heard. Was there a specific reason you didn’t tell me what Reagan did wrong yesterday?”

It might be sympathy for Princess Etherian.

I also didn’t want to see her suffer a more miserable defeat in the future war with the protagonist because of me.

If that happened, I would be plagued by guilt for the rest of my life.

THUD-!

“Selden!”

While I was slowly pondering my thoughts, the door suddenly opened with a “thud!” and someone called my name without knocking.

Princess Etherian and I reflexively turned our heads toward the sound.

And there stood Princess Sairin with a stern face.

Behind her was Butler Oliver, sweating profusely after failing to catch Princess Sairin.

‘What’s going on now?’