Chapter: 609
Staring blankly at the sky, I heard crude insults that would even be hard to come across in a bar, followed by cheers that only made me wipe my face in disbelief.
What on earth led to this situation?
I came back today expecting a nice, peaceful rest! I didn’t sign up for this kind of insanity!
I certainly didn’t want some clumsy fox trying to hunt down René!
And I definitely didn’t wish for René to scatter those illusions with just a burst of magic!
As for the knights surrounding them, cheering them on, I’m tempted to drag them straight to the grave!
And that idiot Benedict, who’s cheering for the damn fox like his life depends on it, makes me want to smack him upside the head!
[That guy is surprisingly strong.]
[Considering Lady Lina’s not at full power, it seems like both sides are holding back. It’s hard to say who’s better.]
[This generation is packed with incredible talents. They might even rival the Age of Mythology, right Ruel?]
[Excluding us, this side might actually be better.]
What infuriates me even more is that even those two old coots who dragged me into this mess are watching the fight like it’s the best show they’ve ever seen!
Why are you muscle-headed fools rallying behind the others when I should be escaping this madness?!
Maybe I should just smash everything to pieces. If I crack some heads with my mace, it should calm things down a bit.
First, I’d throw Benedict into the frontline, then stir up trouble among the knights to create chaos, then I’d take down René while everyone’s in a frenzy…
“Hey, employer! Did someone put some drugs in the air?”
As I was seriously crafting my plan to cause mayhem, Karia’s voice snapped me back to reality.
Finally! A sane person has arrived! Two, in fact—Arthur came along too!
Oh, they’re such a relief; I might just cry!
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen Lucy Alrn swarmed like this.”
“Oh, so you do enjoy hitting and making me cry, huh? That’s your style?”
“If you keep talking like that, I might just leave.”
No way! I need someone to suffer in my stead in this situation! I desperately grabbed Arthur’s arm and spoke carefully.
“If you really want to know, I can tell you.”
“…Ahem. Sure. I’d really like to know, so go ahead and explain.”
“In that case, I guess I have no choice!”
Letting out a sigh of relief, the thought of sorting this mess out made my head spin.
Where do I even begin explaining?
Starting from the very beginning is probably the best way, right?
“It all started when that dumb fox kicked the gloomy prince away like some trash.”
“Wait, what? What did you do to my older brother?”
“I told you! He was kicked! Watching him roll like a ball was cute!”
The initial chaos was triggered by that crazy fox. She burst through the smoke and delivered a flashy blow to René like a hero in a special effects film.
The heir to an entire nation got ambushed in another territory. If you wanted to blow this story out of proportion, there’s more than enough reasons to make a fuss!
As I envisioned throwing the smug fox off a cliff, I noticed René staggering back up, glaring at her.
“Were you hurt in your pride? The gloomy prince shouts quite passionately, it seems.”
How dare that beast speak up to a prince of the realm? René yelled, and the fox transformed back into her human form with crossed arms and declared boldly:
“I don’t care if you’re the prince of the world! To me, you’re just a filthy pervert trying to monopolize Lucy’s beauty!”
“…Ah. Right. I remember now. Arthur said there’s a disgusting pervert next to Lady Alrn. That must be you.”
“Pervert? Hahaha! You’re joking! I just admire Lucy’s beauty! I’m not like some pathetic loser clinging to their desires!”
As things began to escalate, some tried to mediate, but given the circumstances, that was doomed to fail.
When the topic of engagement came up, the dumb fox was already gritting her teeth, and René was resolute, ready to pummel her.
Considering one is the owner of the forest and the other a future king, anyone trying to step in would only end up flattened unless they had comparable power and strength.
“Hey! Employer! What’s up with Benedict? Wasn’t he supposed to mediate?”
As Karia pointed out, if Benedict had stepped in earlier, they could have resolved things before they got out of hand.
Actually, he was worried all along, trying hard to keep the two from clashing until now.
“Sex drive!? Hah! There’s no way I’d be interested in a body that weak! If it wore pants, you couldn’t even tell it apart from a boy!”
That was before René spouted those words.
“Prince! No matter who you are, I can’t accept that! Our daughter is beautiful regardless!”
“Don’t bother; those who speak like that usually have the most interest!”
“Exactly!”
“Stop slandering me, you beast!”
When the clueless Benedict jumped in, unnecessarily scandalized, the situation escalated further.
“No way! Even if Benedict is obsessed with his daughter, that’s…”
“No, that’s highly likely to be true. I underwent something similar in the past.”
“…Insane.”
While I secretly wished for both of them to just wipe each other out in their fight, I knew that couldn’t happen and reluctantly stepped into the chaos myself.
“Are you two perverts going to match in a beauty contest? Yapping away like that suits you both so well.”
It was at least a step forward that the old guys got these two to spar rather than just bickering.
But their duel got twisted in the rumormill to be a battle between the forest owner and the first prince. Initially applauding the fox, some knights now found themselves cheering for the prince’s pure intentions!
“What happened between you and the first prince that made him so emotional? The way he is now is nothing like him.”
“Why don’t you ask me?! Have you forgotten already? Or are you just eager to be humiliated again?”
“Is there even a shred of memory left?”
“Isn’t it pretty similar to how the useless prince hounds after me? They’re both just pathetic beyond compare.”
As I considered that Karia might have some insight, I turned to her. Yet, all I got was a baffled shake of her head.
“I wasn’t in the kingdom then. I have no clue.”
But can’t you at least dig something up through your information network?
“If I had, I would have told you already. Strangely enough, details from that time are missing. It seems like the information department deliberately erased them.”
With Karia only knowing there were a few encounters back then, I let out a sigh.
Guess it’s back to the island we go.
Sigh. Whatever. Enough about that; can you at least tell me how we can solve this situation, Karia? You must have some idea!
“Can’t we just wait until they settle things? They’re clearly not going all out anyway. It’ll probably end quite appropriately.”
“…You really think that’s not their full strength?”
Arthur frowned watching the fox dart in dozens of directions while René danced around, dodging.
But this time, Karia was right.
Neither of them was fighting to their fullest. If they were, their mansion would’ve been a pile of rubble by now. But before that could happen, Benedict would probably step in to put a stop to it.
In this moment, I wondered if I could even step in. Could I take on the forces they’d generate?
Hmm. I’ll just have to try, but I doubt it’d be like last time when I fought Lasha. This wouldn’t be hopeless enough to have no chance. If it’s just acting as a shield, I can definitely manage.
“Prince!”
While I was lost in thought, someone yelled from the entrance of the mansion.
The official, who seemed to be a royal bureaucrat, shrank under the knights’ gazes but didn’t step back.
“The First Queen says she needs your help!”
Up until the bureaucrat spoke, René hadn’t even spared him a glance, but the moment the title ‘First Queen’ was mentioned, she halted.
“That’s enough.”
The fox, ready to charge, showed some dissatisfaction, but at the same time, René didn’t spring for an attack—she simply lowered her weapon.
“Are you backing down because you think you can’t win?”
“Did you call me a pervert? Well, fine. Think what you want. What changes even if you add another nickname at this point?”
“Hah! Is your mother’s orders so precious to you?! What kind of jerk would toss aside their feelings for that hag and marry her instead?!”
The fox’s remark was undeniably insulting, but no one entertained that idea, considering how much nonsense had been thrown at each other until now.
But I felt differently. For some reason, I instinctively recognized that was the wrong thing to say to René. The cold, blunt hostility in his eyes gave me pause.
In an instant, I reinforced my body with holy power and raised my shield to block the fox’s path.
“Prince! Didn’t you say it’s enough right here?”
However, his sword never met my shield. Instead, it was Benedict who moved first, grabbing René’s wrist to hold him back.
“Let’s just call it a day.”
Staring daggers at the fox, René locked eyes with me for a moment, only to click his tongue and sheathe his sword.
“My apologies, Alrn Count. And… Young Lady.”
In a blink, the previous tumult felt like a mirage, and René composed himself, bowing politely before exchanging a few words with Arthur before leaving.
Walking confidently next to the bureaucrat, René appeared as if he was just like any other day, but oddly enough, his shadow felt much darker to me.
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